New Years Visit

Over New Years, my godparents, Laura and Hasty, came to visit us! It was a wonderful way to start the new year, reconnecting with them and pondering what the upcoming year would bring all of us. Auntie Laura and Uncle Hasty enjoyed seeing Bryce who had changed from a baby into a little boy. They loved hearing his words and playing trains with him. Thanks to our sitter, us adults were able to get out where we had some good food and great conversation!

Laura and Hasty reading a book to Bryce.

Brody adopts Laura as "his" whenever she comes to visit.

The five of us!

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas at home this year.

Andy has always loved Christmas. We have a houseful of decorations, tons of lights outside and this year, even two live trees. I've started to warm up to it all but I still wondered, is all the effort worth it?

Then Bryce entered my life and Christmas (along with other holidays) have become magical. To see the delight and joy that Bryce experiences when he sees a Christmas tree, Santa, reindeer, x-mas lights or hears holiday music has been amazing! It's especially adorable when we ask Bryce what Santa says and he says, "Ho, ho, ho."

Granted, we started reading the Polar Express book and watching the movie in August. I was hoping that Bryce might warm up to the idea of Santa so that he would sit on his lap. Not happening this year! Bryce was intrigued but completely petrified of sitting on Santa's lap. Oh well. Bryce still fell in love with many aspects of Christmas due to Polar Express!

This year, we were also blessed to share Christmas with my best friend, Emily. Emily came in on Christmas Eve and stayed until Dec 27th. Somehow, we both had the same idea of a pajama Christmas, because both Emily and I surprised each other with the same gift--new pajamas for everyone! From Christmas Eve until late afternoon on Christmas day, we spent the entire holiday in our new pajamas. We ate, drank, opened gifts, played with toys and enjoyed Christmas through the eyes of a child.

Here is Bryce opening his first present on Christmas Eve (his new pajamas!)

Bryce watching Polar Express. It's Santa and the reindeer.

Luckily, Bryce feel asleep early on Christmas Eve night!

Andy and Emily spent three hours putting together a kitchen that had over 100 pieces.

One of the first things Bryce saw Christmas morning was a train set. He was so excited about the train that he didn't really care about any other presents!

Although, he eventually went to check out the other stuff by the tree.

Playing with his new train set on Christmas day.

Bryce loved playing with Emily!

Even Brody got to enjoy some gifts.

Here are some of the lights from Randolph. We really enjoyed the "airplane lighthouse" and Christmas tree lit up on base.

Christmas '08 Videos

Bryce's first gift--a train set.


Brody's Stocking.


Bryce playing with a "Thomas the train" boat from Uncle Scott. (With some dorky commentary from Lisa. Although Bryce does say, "Ho, ho, ho")


Watching the train go around the tree.

Wurstfest & Playing Football

We went to Wurstfest in November. Wurstfest is a German festival held in New Braunfels about 20 minutes from San Antonio (many Germans in this part of Texas). Bryce fit right in with his mama's German blond hair!

Bryce LOVED this waterfall at the park. I was surprised he wasn't scared of the loud rushing water; instead he was fascinated by it.

Bryce in the carrier with daddy.

Listening to music and interacting with the band.

Playing football. Pure joy.

In this video, Bryce saw some boys playing football with a dad and decided to joined them. He had just gotten the ball when I started this clip. I'm sorry that you get to hear so much of me laughing--I was just having so much fun watching Bryce trying to play football with the boys!

Halloween Pictures

Halloween on base housing is awesome! I have began to love Halloween since we started living on base. Many people decorate their house; we put up some orange and ghost lights! For trick or treat, there are lots of children and you feel very safe with the military police and base safety out on patrol. We all had a great time!

Here is Andy as the conductor and Bryce as the little engineer.

Bryce loved the candy. Since he couldn't eat any of it, we tried to teach him to give the candy out to all the trick or treaters. For the most part it worked. Later in the night, he did try to eat the candy; right through the wrapper!


At a parenting group Halloween party. Bryce loved the costumes and kids!

Running with the kids.

Making a Jack-o-Lantern with daddy.

Andy's Next Assignment

Andy was recently notified that he was selected to attend an in-residence professional military school. He'll be attending the Army's Command and General Staff College for a year starting in July '09. The school is located at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas so we'll all move there in June '09.

Andy was initially hoping to go to the Navy school in Rhode Island and we were excited about the possibility of being on the East coast. However, the Navy cut the number of slots available to the Air Force, so instead, Andy received his second choice, the Army school. This is still an amazing accomplishment seeing that only about 10% of Air Force officers are selected to attend an in-residence school in the first place. Of that 10%, only 5% are selected to a joint school, like the Army school.

We were "Kansans" at our last assignment in Wichita and have some great friends still there. Ft. Leavenworth is located about 30 minutes from Kansas City in a beautiful hilly part of the state. It may only be for a year but we still look forward to seeing old friends in Wichita and exploring Kansas City. As always, you are welcome to visit us wherever the military decides to take us!

Reserve Inspection & Nanna/Bampa Visit

Within a few days of getting back from Cincinnati, I had to work 9 out of 11 days at my Reserve unit. When I first joined the Reserves two years ago, I was named the project officer for a major inspection that our unit hadn't gone through in 20 years. This past weekend (Oct 18/19), it was finally time for the inspectors to grade our unit. Thanks to some really talented and hard working people, our unit not only passed the inspection but got a 95% Outstanding Rating. We were ecstatic!

After struggling to maintain my Reserve status these past two years with Bryce's health issues, it was especially gratifying to be there when the unit received the great rating. I am so thankful to my commander for letting me take a leave a absence during Bryce's first year and to TSgt Christina Reyna who left her three children at home many nights and weekends preparing for the inspection. Of course, I never could have done it without my own family support. I am so thankful to Andy for single parenting it on the weekends, my godparents help/encouragement and Andy's parents visits.

In fact, it was Andy's parents who came to San Antonio for a week to care for Bryce while I worked the crazy hours leading up to the inspection. Thankfully, I think they truly enjoyed being with Bryce for a week and I know Bryce loved it (Brody too!). Below are some pictures from their trip here.

The first two pictures are from a corn maze that Andy and his parents went to. Bryce LOVED being able to touch and play with the gears of the tractor.

Bampa feeding the goats with Bryce.

Bryce continues to like sports. With Nanna and Bampa here, he loved playing baseball with a team. This time, before he would bat, he always got Bampa's hat. It was hilarious and adorable.


Here is Nanna with Bryce at the Zoo. He enjoyed running up and down a small creek, getting wet.

Like Father, Like Son

As some of you know, Andy likes to play video games. It used to be mostly flying-related games like Microsoft Flight Simulator but he recently got the new Nintendo Wii. I used to think that I might be able to keep Bryce "shielded from the negative influences" of video games but I've finally realized that life father, like son. Bryce loves to pretend he is playing the games with Andy. In this video clip, Andy is playing a children's cow game.

Mimi and Cleveland Visit

After we were in Cincinnati most of the week, we drove up to Mentor to spend the weekend with Andy's family. Originally, we were going for Barbara's 60th birthday party (Andy's mom). However, on Tuesday evening of the week we were in Cinci, Andy's grandmother (Barbara's mom) passed away.

We will miss Mimi. She was a very special woman who loved and cherished all of her family. Andy was so lucky to grow up with Mimi in his life on a daily basis since her house was only a block away. We also feel blessed that Bryce got to know his great-grandmother. The picture below is from Jan 08.



Aunt Becky enjoying some love from Bryce.

Bampa showing Bryce how to keep the train on the track.

Uncle Kevin chillen with Bryce.

Uncle Scott on train duty.

Fun Cinci Pictures

Thankfully, while we were in Cincinnati, it wasn't all medical testing at the hospital. We also got to enjoy time with family and friends. Below are some of the pictures.

I love this picture of Bryce!

My sister Colette with her boyfriend, Simon, and his niece, Harmony. Colette brought Harmony to the hotel twice during our Cinci visit to play with Bryce.

Bryce and Harmony playing together. Harmony is only 3 days younger then Bryce!


Andy taught my dad and his family how to play "crud" at Dave and Buster's. Crud is a boisterous contact game played on a pool table. It is a popular game in the Air Force, especially among pilots. After about 30-minutes of running around the pool table pushing two balls across the table, Dave and Buster's finally broke up the game.

Bryce with my sister, Kylene.

My brother, Rian, Bryce, my dad and Kylene at Dave and Buster's playing a video game.

One of my best friends, Liz, came to the hotel to visit us. Below is a picture with Liz, her husband, Jeff, and 13-month old son, John.

My mom and Bryce at a park in Wilmington, Ohio. They had fun feeding the geese together.