CHRISTMAS 2006

This was Christmas for us this year... Poor Rya was sick the days leading up to Christmas and during. She had a mild fever and nasty cough and runny nose and just plain sick. The little one tried to enjoy Christmas but it wasn't easy.

She was so congested she wouldn't eat or drink much of anything... popsicles were our only hope.

We still went ahead with all the Christmas plans and dresses... but Rya was in no mood for any of it.

The gold dress was a gift from our friend Christina... and the shoes from Teta Ramona.

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Next it was onto the green dress... a little more comfortable but still Rya was just surviving the torture.

Christmas morning and Rya was still sick but tried her best to get into the Christmas spirit.

The wooden rocking horse was made by Grandpa and should last a few years as it is a little big still. She loves her horses. The slide was from Ona and Alfred and Old Mocuite. You can hear and see Rya talking about the monkey that sat on her gift from Mocuite.

And don't forget about the awesome "horse" (zebra) from Cousin Aidan. Already a favorite.

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Not the greastest Christmas as we were all sick... it turned out to be a "surviving Christmas" kind of holiday. We were so thankful for our Family that came for dinner and games and all the great cheer... through hacking coughs and trumpet-like nose blowing.

God Bless us everyone!

No more Mullet

While she is too young to complain or know better... she has to endure hair cuts from mom.

Dad is growing his winter beard.

SNOW IN VANCOUVER!

Rya's first snow angel... with a little help from mom.
Vancouver doesn't handle snow very well... lucky for us we got a "snowday" out of the deal.

More video of our new little walker. This video was taken on Dec 1 she is now walking laps around the kitchen island.

Whistler Nov24-26and stuff (walking!)

Rya has really been trying to do things on her own. She loves to feed herself and somtimes with a spoon. She is also standing alone now and is quite proud of herslef for doing so. And yes,... she is taking her first steps alone now too!! Rya is careful but also really wants to get moving. She has aced crawling and does laps of the house... and moved up to running the walker around the house and neighbouhood and now is taking those first steps to get moving on her own. We caught it on tape!

Caught in the act! Daddy left her alone in her room a little too long... now she can open the drawer and pull out all her clothes. Grrr...

After a busy day of mischief one sure needs a nap.

Here we are in beautiful Whistler enjoying the snow and break from Vancouver rain. Although on our return to the rainy city we found that it had been snowing there all day and the next day was a snow day!

We stayed at the Marriot Hotel thanks to a getaway trip provided by Vida.
We met up with our friends from Seattle and enjoyed some goodtimes on the hill. Certainly a lot differnt experiance with Rya in tow but we wouldn't change it for the world.

Daddy and Rya took a dip in the outdoor pool at the hotel. Rya loved it... until we took her out. BRRRR... it was a quick rush inside to get her dry and warm.

It was a beautiful winter wonderland and great time together as a family and also seeing our dear friends Steven and Gabby.

I loved dressing Rya up in her first snow suit. It she reminded me of the little brother from the movie "Christmas Story" she is having enough trouble walking on her own... but now with a thick suit on... she is stuck! There were a few face plants in the snow!

Just thought I would throw this in... our little rabbit!

Halloween 2006

No, we didn't go trick or treating this year... but we did dress up.
There is somthing super cute about a little kid dressed up like an elephant.
and she is saying elephant now.. "epitant"
close enough.

We went over to our friends Chrissy and Rob's house to hang out with their little piggy Dakota.

Rya didn't know what the candy was... but she knew it was somthing of value... had to roll in it!

VIDEO CLIPS

This is for you Audra... I hope the girls get as much out of these clips as they did with the other ones.

This is Rya walking the stroller. She must be pretty close to walking by herself because she gets all fussy when she doesn't want to sit anymore.
I think she would have walked all the way home if I let her.



Not much happens here... just kinda cute.



Rya loves to crawl around in the grass... again not much happening here this is more for Ula and Sinead to kill time with.



And... Rya with Buffy. Yes.. she does say "Buffy"... well "buppy" close enough.
Enjoy.

September 2006

Sorry it took so long to update Rya's Place.
Its has been a busy month. I went back to work and Mocuite
(Richard's Mom, Rya's Mocuite)
came to stay with us for the month. It was such a blessing to have her with us, great for Rya and great for us. Especially considering we didn't really have
daycare in place yet, that was a major concern and stress.
Thank God for Mocuite!


Rya's hair is now long enough in the front to sport the "Ula", the "Lulu", or the "fountain top" as it is called. Pretty darn cute I must say!
Rya likes hanging out in the back of Daddy's truck.
Daddy likes puting her there.

No comment.(sigh)

I had to get a shot of this outfit.
Her first halter top and yoga pants.
It is so fun to dress a girl.




"Stop making me say "duck" "
She so threw that duck on purpose!

This is Rya at rest after her big race.
We went to the Baby Fair and they were holding a crawling race.
There were 20 "athletes" and 5 heats of 4.
Rya was in lane 4.
She won her heat and then went on to win the final.
Rya was by far the fastest and most determinded racer.
Sadly mommy and daddy were too busy racing her to get any pics.
She won a $300 gift basket and these sporty red and white shoes.
It isn't such a bad thing that Rya isn't walking yet.


Her crawling has evolved a bit now...




On Sunday September 24 we decided to take Mocuite and Rya to Bowen Island.
It was such a beautiful, warm sunny day. We drove to the other side of the island and hung out on the beach and soaked in the sun... and salt!

A tender moment on the beach Daddy and Rya.
She may not want this to be on the blog when she gets older. (Sorry baby girl)

YUMMY MOCUITE'S FRENCH FRIES!

Hanging out for dinner at Ambelside beach.
It was a beautiful night with a bright clear sky, and perfect sunset.
Very fitting for Mocuite's last night here.

We were all a little sad to see the end of the night.

Rya's First Birthday August 7th 2006

Wow already one year old! what an amazing 12 months. It hasn't all been "cake" but when it is... it is so sweet.
Rya had all her local boyfriends over.. sadly mom (me) didn't get any pictures of the boys... Joseph, Mathew, and Nicholas all from our pre-natal class, Owen, Aaron, from Terps and Tots (aka Susi and Jeannie's boys), and Oden, Rya's new neighbour friend (My new neighbour friend Sasha). I feel like I am forgeting someone... ugh... I should have taken pictures... sorry Rya... will get nice shots for your second Birthday. This was just a nice gathering, a "playdate"... We have years to have big time parties!! this was an attempt to get some folks together... mostly for My benefit.

Looking very proud of herself with her little angelfood cupcake.
She picked at, poked, examined it....

And finally decided to eat it. This clip is really of Rya just eating her cake. Nothing exciting happens... although it was exciting for the parents ( her first cake!!!)

These are some snaps on the deck in her sand box... note the fine powdery dust of sand around the lips... that is imported sand.... but a pain to clean up.

Seriously she pulled that face all on her own. She is going through a stick the tongue out phase... all good, super cute... and certainly nothing like her mother.

Tofino July 30-August 3rd 2006

Our first trip to Tofino as a family!
We were really lucky with the weather as it was supose to rain... a lot. We only got a little of the rain, but the men made such a great tarp covering that it didn't cause too much damage. Camping with a little was is hard enough... everything wet... ugh!
My brother Malcolm and his soon to be some day future wife Jen were with us too. It was such a great time to spend together.
Our first morning however there was a bear in the campsite across from us. I saved the day and banged pots and pans together and he lumbered off. The day we left though... Jen and Mal had a not so great experience... they went to the beach mid day adn when they came back a bear had been in the stuff and ate all their food! A near by camper got a picture of it and will send it the Mal and Jen... I will try to add it to this when I get. YIKES!!!

Rya loved the beach, she was so happy to be just cruising around the beach. Once we put her down in the sand she happily crawled, and crawled and crawled away... only looked back a few times.

Poor old Buffy... the beach just isn't the same anymore with Rya following you around. He just can't seem to shake her.

We were pretty lucky that Rya was happy to talk to herself adn read while we were preparing dinner and things at camp. I don't think that will happen next time we go.

Just hanging out back at camp. We couldn't resist this one.

The water is freezing cold... even mid summer but Rya didn't seem to mind too much... She nearly crawled out to sea!

Rya loved the sand and luckily for us... she didn't love eating it. She did however love lying down on it and put her face right in it. Cute but messy.
On the last night Richard and I "aquired" some sand to bring home for Rya's new sand box. None of the store bought stuff for her... she has the finest qualtiy, floury, fine Tofino sand (shhhhh don't tell)

It was such a great trip with Malcolm and Jen with us... We were blessed with great weather and great times together. Rya got to know her Uncle Mal and (some day soon to be) Aunt Jen much better and also great for them to practice their signing skills too! better keep practising because Rya is catching up!

Trip to Victoria July 2-8 (vids)

We went to see Grandma and Grandpa in Victoria. Grandpa is retired now so we had some more time with him... this is a very good thing... it seems Rya is a little afraid of Grandpa... he is rather tall and scarey. Grandpa tried so hard to show Rya that he isn't scarey. By the end of the visit she was warming up to him... especially if that funny dog "Doogie" was around.



We visited with Lyn and her youngest Anna. Her oldest Eden was sick and at this point I just didn't want to risk Rya getting sick. She has been sick enough. I never thought I would be one of those moms who doesn't let her kid play with other kids who are sick... but having a sick kid SUCKS!
Then we went to Camp Thunderbird where our friends Luke and Libby live while Luke is Camp director. Ben was being a camper that week so Rya and Max had a lot of time to hang out together. Here is a video of their kiss... but it wasn't their first kiss. We missed the first one with the camera... it was too cute! Max knocked Rya over onto the floor and had one hand on her check and went in for a big kiss on the lips. So cute... but no more.. not until they get married!




Libby and I joked a lot about Rya and Max getting married... I think they were listening... they played so well together and couldn't keep their hands off eachother... this could become a problem in the future. No more talk of marriage!

Daddy's little girl

There it is.... Rya can now sign "Daddy". Richard has been working pretty hard on that one... but it paid off. Rya has also become a lot more huggy, finally hugging Richard and giving him big, slobbery, kisses.

Now that Rya is crawling she has found her favorite area of the house... any area where the dogs are. Toby just sits there and takes the poking and pulling and nose picking...too lazy to get up and move. Buffy gets up just as Rya gets close.. this is quite upsetting for Rya. All that effort to crawl over to Buffy and he gets up and leaves. This picture Richard "trapped" Buffy under the table and was subject to all the Love Rya could give. Buffy usually photographs quite well... looking proud and noble... not so much in this shot. Poor Buffy. Rya can also sign "dog".

CRAWLING!

Its official... Rya has started crawling as of today June 16th.
I was just grabbing the camera because she looked cute trying and then... she just started to move. That is the sound of shock in my voice.
Time to baby proof!

Washougal Washington June 9-13

Here we are hanging out at the Washougal MX race in Washinton... for those of you who don't know where that is, it is just north of Oregon. We came to see all the pros race but more importantly... to re-unite the "brothers" Richard, Steven and Robert. Robert was racing so we all met up and camped out. It was great to see everyone again... Great to re-unite the boys but also so nice to have the girls get together again. Ana, Gabby, Jill and the newsest "sister"... Rya. Unfortunately I got sick on the first day and was not having a good time with a cold and mother duties. I am sure one time we go camping it will be fun, but now... its just work. Still worth it though. Great to show Rya around and get out of the city.

Here is Rya with her new mentor... Maria Forsberg. She is an amazing dirt bike racer and all around great girl. Richard dreams of Rya folowing in her "path" and starting riding at 4. Also... getting Maria to coach would be nice too! (wink) Thanks Maria.

Hanging out in the trailer... not napping.

Toby's favorite spot while camping has beomce Rya's favorite spot. There may be some competition for the chair.

Ana Robert and Rya.
It was so nice to see our friends from Colorado... hopefully soon they will be moving a little more North and a little more West. fingers crossed.

Robert and Rya having a little cuddle.

It was Cousin Lachlan's Birthday on June 3rd. It is hard to share in the celebrations from so far away... This was the best we could come up with.
We sure miss all our Ontario family.
Lots of Love!