Ryan's Birthday and More

Well, I have taken longer than I should have to update after Ryan's birthday so I thought I had better get to work. Ryan's birthday went great. We had about ten or twelve kids here and the weather was nice so we were able to have it outside. Matt painted a football field in the grass and we had everything else all decked out in football stuff. Ryan got tons of toys and has been enjoying most of them. We got him a new bike and he is just loving that.

Colin is trying to be such a big boy now. He copies everything that Ryan does and wants to do more big boy stuff like play with playdoh. He an dI take the dog for walks in the afternoon after lunch if we haven't gotten outside much, just for a little change in pace. He doesn't like to be in the strolller, so I let him walk and explore the things that he finds in the grass.

Matt has a break from school right now. He got another A in the last class he took. Now he is signed up to take three classes this next term and he is signed up to CLEP an additional two. We will see. I hope he does well on the CLEPs that way he can knock out two classes very quickly. We just want to make sure that he is done with his bachelors before we leave here. He has been working of course and it has been much of the same as far as that goes.

This month was my first month selling Pampered Chef. So far it is going pretty well. I had my first show and I was very nervous, but I think I did good. I also started volunteering at the hospital this las week and I have now been there two times. I like it so much! I have fun, I get to see a lot of things, and I get to practice some of my skills. Last night one of the people who work there let me practice an IV on them. I got it on my second try and was very excited. They are also going to let me take part in all the training that they offer the corpsman (the Navy people). So I guess that I won't get to go to nursing school, but I am still going to get to learn so much.

We are moving right along into the year and in a couple of weeks Murhl and Lew, Matt's parents, will be here. We are so excited to show them around and spend some time with them. While they are here Colin will have his second birthday, so I will probably update some more after that. Hope everyone is well and that I get to hear from you soon!

Rainy Season is Here

Well, it is time for the rainy season here. So far it is not as bad as it was last year. It rains for days at a time, but then we get a day where it will be 80 degrees and sunny. Yesterday was that day, so you could see the whole neighborhood flocking outside to enjoy it. Then when we woke up today the sun was gone and it was back to rain. We have all been keeping busy though so I guess it is not too bad.

Colin is definately getting to be less like a baby and more like a two year old. He is talking a lot more now but still has a cute little baby face. He likes to do whatever Ryan is doing and gets frustrated when he is not able. He doesn't really play with other kids though and so you can usually find him doing his own thing, like following the dogs around the playground.

Ryan is doing Karate, but says he doesn't like it. We are going to make him keep doing it for awhile longer though. He might play basketball this summer, but we will have to see because I don't want to overload him at such a young age. He is doing well at school and getting very excited about his birthday. Right now he thinks five is the greatest age to be and often tells me that he can do something (like cross the street) because "that is what five year olds do!" Right now the forecast for his birthday is sunny. I hope it stays that way because I do not want to have 20 kids in my house.

Matt is taking part in another exercise rigth now and so he is having a long week. He is also a little more than halfway through this term. He can't wait to just be done with school all together. We got offered a three bedroom house the other day and so we went to look at it, but it was horrible. It was probably the same size as the one we have now but with an extra room carved out. It was dirty, old, and much worse than the place we have now. We turned it down and have decided that we will not reapply and we will just make it work where we are.

I have started selling Pampered Chef. I am really excited and I have my first show next week. Mom and Murhl are also having catalog shows to help get me started. I am also going to start volunteering at the hospital on March 13th. I plan on working there one night a week from 6pm-12am. I am excited to get started and start learning anything I can. I might even choose to volunteer in other areas to help me get an idea of where I might want to work when I finally finish school.

We have hit our one year mark here and are very excited to begin our next. We miss everyone so much. Even though we will probably never live next door to everyone, we would love to feel that we could get in the car and drive to visit you all. That is one of the worst things about being on an island, you can only go so far!