Under Fire!!!

My dear sweet Ryan, is still HARD at work at his Commissioned Officer Training and the crazy events seem to keep occurring. This past week he had an outdoor expedition, where he was instructed to be a wounded soldier without the use of his eyes. They made him pull his hat down over his face for the experience to be authentic... Well, as Ryan was army crawling through the woods he blindly crawled right over a fire ant hill... and got attacked....YIKES!! It was so bad he had to be medically treated!!
He's alright but, wow, what a crazy experience this all has been for poor Ry!! Two more weeks to go...

Oh so Sad!!

Ryan and I have been working at Crestline Estates for 5 years. We have spent practically our whole marriage there (other than 9 months). We brought two babies home to that house. And, had many many wonderful memories there. So, when I moved out of that home for good last week...I guess I wasn't surprised at how sad and strange it was. Our first real home went from home...to this....



...to this in no time at all.



It is sad...but I am excited for our new adventure as well!!

Captain Ryan Dick!!!

Ryan has been at Commissioned Officer Training now for a week and a half...it feels like he has been gone months...even longer for him. He has been able to call everyday and give me an update on how things at training are going and so far...it was been CRAZY!! Literally like the movies!!! Here is Ryan, all dressed in uniform, at church. Doesn't he look dashing? They had to be transferred by the bus load to church since at this point in their training, they are not allowed to leave.
Ryan has been eating a lot of these while at training. Yuck! In the lunch room, they are not allowed to talk to anyone, they have to sit in a certain position and follow certain protocols for everything!! In fact, his flight will be going on some sort of "expedition" soon where they will be dropped of in the wilderness in the middle of nowhere and expected to complete a mission. They will be sleeping outside, eating MREs and reenacting a real war time zone.
They are as strict as you would imagine, from the movies, at COT. Ryan, says they scream in his face, and give him demerits for having threads hanging from his uniform...like this one in the picture...if you can even notice it!! Ryan has something like 18 demerits that I know of so far for things like, strings hanging from his uniform, for not having his heals far enough apart while side stepping.
So, basically it sounds like even though I have been stuck handling Crestline and the move all alone, Ryan surely has it far worse. He has been amazing, as usual, and is excelling in everything he is asked to do at COT- including passing a physical training test!! Way to go Ry!! If anyone can do this, Ryan can. I am such a lucky lady :)

Here's a pic of one of the last evenings we were able to spend together before he left. It has become a tradition (3 years in a row) to go to Sundance to hear the Utah Symphony Orchestra play!! It is the most wonderful, amazing night ever!!
So, if you have a moment, say a quick prayer for Ryan. What he's doing is not easy! But I know he is capable of anything!! Love ya. Ry! Thanks for all your hard work!!

Daddyless :(

Ryan, being the wonderful, amazing husband and father that he is, is off to his commissioned officer training for the Air Force as of this morning(Tuesday July 5th)!! I dropped him off at the air port at 5:30 am this morning...after some long, HARD goodbyes last night. I have been without Ryan for one day now and I already feel SOOOO lonely without him. This could be a VERY LONG MONTH!! However, Ryan has it much harder than I do right now and I just hope he is happy and doing ok!!

Here's how our last few days went together... On the 4th of July, we spent the day going out to lunch, hanging out with Ryan's family who are all in town, and driving up the canyon. We also set aside some special time for just our little family to do some fireworks together before daddy had to leave early the next morning. Jane momentarily loved the sparklers...then she got too scared of them!
Beckham, as usual, was way too fearless!!

Both of the kids thoughts the colorful smoke bombs were the coolest! Our creative little Jane called it "Dragon's Breath."


This was Beckham's first experience with fireworks and let's just say...he was THRILLED!! Like father like son...heaven help me:)

Ryan had a lot of fun with the kids and didn't want the night to end when we had to finally put the kids to bed. He was so sweet and cried at the thought of leaving the kids...what a great daddy!!

Earlier in the week, Ryan got to take Beckham to one of his little gym classes. Beckham loved every minute of it and looked like an old pro!! He was so good at participating and trying new things and was very brave!

Ryan was super cute with him and really got into the class as well :)
One recent Saturday afternoon, we had the pool out for the kids to swim in. Ryan had been working hard around the park all day and when he saw that pool, he just couldn't resist jumping right in with the kids!! They thought having daddy in their pool with them was just about the coolest thing ever :)
We occasionally babysit my niece, Mae, on Fridays while Christina works and since it was so close to when Ryan was going to leave, we decided not to stay home. So we went to Jane's favorite place...the Provo Beach Resort. The kids had a blast!!
...and so did Ryan!
Mae was very brave and went down the slide all by herself over and over again!
Beckham was having fun in his own ways!!

The slide was, by far, the crowd favorite!



We also got to play in the fun water fountains at the Riverwoods Mall.

And at the one in Salt Lake...
So, now here we are...daddyless and husbandless...and it is so weird and lonely not to have him here. He left us a special surprise...a book that he recorded for us to read and to remember him by while he is gone!! Jane must have read that book and listened to Ryan talk 13 times today!! We are so lucky to have Ryan for our very own!!! Love you Ry, and good luck at COT!!

Almost There!!

We're moving away from Crestline around July 12th!!! Things in the office have been so hectic and crazy lately with home abandonments, legal threats from a contractor we should never have hired, constant complaints from tenants etc. etc.....and, needless to say, I have been unusually stressed. So, it feels like time has decided to move in slow motion. I am used to feeling like the weeks fly by way too fast, so this is a definite change for me. Why is it that we don't have any say in these things?

Anyway, I have been trying to keep the kids busy as well as myself (with things other than stressful office stuff) to try to give time a little nudge to get in the fast lane. I am just anxious to be in a clean, organized house again and to move forward with this adventurous new phase in our lives.

On the agenda, of course, has been lots of art projects!! Jane loved painting her very own wooden flower!!
I think she did an amazing job...Jane has always been very creative and good at anything art related!
I put my OCD aside to allow Beckham and Jane a chance to finger paint. They loved it...but boy, did it get messy!
We have gotten to visit with a few friends from our old ward...that was the very best ward in the entire world...oh how I miss it :) It was so great to see Whitney, Evan, chad and their new baby...she's a doll!
The boys all coordinated outfits- haha :)
Jane started her long awaited ballet class! She looked oh so cute in her pink tights, and dance shoes!! She jumped right in and gave it her all and was really darling!!
She already loves her teacher!!
Naturally, we have been trying to enjoy the sporadic good weather. Jane and Beckham love to swim!
Beckham was very brave and had no problem going right down the slide and into the water, cold turkey!! It was pretty funny to see how shocked he was at the cold water :)
Good ol' daddy spent his time getting grass and bugs out of the water for Jane who couldn't seem to enjoy herself unless the water was clean!!
We are making the best of summer, but are really excited and anxious to start our adventure! Ryan is leaving for Commissioned Officer Training in less than two weeks now yikes and thus begins the craziness...Doing Crestline solo fro while, movers coming, new carpet for the home, Christina and Terry taking over, living with my mom and eventually the big move to Delaware!! How exciting!!