A long over-due update

Wow how time flies! Almost a year since my last post...lol. Life has been crazy but great. Dustin is in his 2nd year of medical school and next June we are planning to move back to SE Idaho where he will do his rotations for 2 years before graduating. I am continuing on in my nurse practitioner program this fall and will graduate the same year he does.
We are adding a new little face to our family. A baby girl due January 3. I am quitting my job to be a stay-at-home mom and have fun with Ryker. He is a very busy, active, wild, fun-loving little guy who is growing up sooo fast. It blows my mind.
I play the organ in sacrament meeting, and Dustin just recently was called to teach in elder's quorum periodically.
That is the update on our crazy lives! We did lots of traveling this summer, saw lots of family, and had tons of fun...but now are back into the grind. We are hoping to come home for thanksgiving and depending on what the baby is doing maybe even some time during christmas, we'll just have to see.
Hope everyone else is doing great.

Coming Home

We get to come home for a few days during Thanksgiving. We are super excited! It is about a 10 hour drive, so hopefully Ryker will do good. I have to work the Tuesday night, so when I get home Wed morning I will change and we will be on our way! YAY! I am hoping to get a little bit of sleep in the car. We will have to come back on Sunday. Dustin's mom is planning to come back with us for a few weeks to help take care of Ryker while I am at work. Dustin will be busy trying to study for finals, and so his mom graciously agreed to come help. We are grateful for that. Then December 12 or 13 we will be on our way back to Idaho again! That will be our 1/4 of the way done in Yak-a-hole mark. YAY!

My Sweet Baby

These pics are just a few Dustin took one night when I was at work. Dustin said that Ryker was on the floor playing with his toys while he was studying. All the sudden he hears Ryker batting at what sounded like a plastic bottle. Well, Ryker had gotten himself close enough to an old milk jug that was on the floor and he was hitting it. What a funny little baby! He is starting to get mobile now, so I guess we get to learn how to baby-proof our home now. :)


The next few pics were taken on November 9, Ryker's 7 month-old bday. I guess all parents feel this way, but I can't hardly believe that he is already so old! He is growing and learning so fast. I really love being able to take care of him.

Sleeping with daddy

This was too cute! One morning when I got home from work Ryker was in bed with Dustin. They were both sleeping all cuddled together. Ryker opened his eyes right as I took the pic, he must have heard me. I love coming home to my baby in the mornings!

Halloween

I know this is really late, but here is a few pics of our cute little frog! I was Sarah Palin. Dustin was, well, Dustin. Ryker looked adorable in his little frog outfit.



He also got a skeleton shirt from Grandma Z and Aunt Mike.
We had a fun night. We went to some friends house and watched Prom Night. It wasn't too scary, just a few parts that startled me enough to get a little scream. I wasn't the only one who jumped though, so it was ok :)

The Package

Aunt Mike and Grandma Z sent little Ryker his first care-package for Halloween. (They sent some good candy for me and Dustin too:) ) He liked pounding on the box before we opened it, and he loved playing with the stuff inside of it too. His little eyes lit up and got big as we pulled each item out of the box.




He even got his first taste of real candy. We let him suck on a sucker, but he was too interested in it. Mom doesn't mind that though :)



He really loves books. He would steal all of daddy's text books if we would let hime :)


There was a little bucket for him and he loved holding on to the handle and shaking it around.

Thanks Grandma and Aunt Mike for all the goodies!

My sister's visit!

It was so much fun to have my sister and her three kiddos come visit us in October! I was very sad to see them leave, but we had a good time while they were here. It surely made me miss Boise even more though, if that is possible. :)
Here are a few of the pics I took while they were here.

Poor little Braden's face...not more than an hour after they got here we were outside playing and he fell right into a 2x4 on our fence in the back yard. He was quite swollen and bruised the whole time they were here.


Brianna and Ryker became good buddies while they were here. Steph and I decided to do some canning while they were here. (17 quarts of applesauce and 22 quarts of apple chunks, so maybe it was a LOT of canning!) Brie took care of Ryker for us while we worked. It was fun for both of them!


My sister is so beautiful! I got some really good shots of her and Ryker while she wasn't watching. :)



This picture cracked us up! Ryker is sitting there with the rest of them...all of them being little couch potatoes! He loves to watch tv. Silly baby!