(Here's a happier one of Ryan, also from Carissa - taken at Middleham.)

It is just soooo wrong that's it still dark at 7:30 in the morning! We've had a lot of dark and dreary mornings lately. But on the bright side, those dark and dreary mornings have been morphing into quite lovely, sunny evenings. Today is nice enough that we are even barbecuing!

Yesterday was busy. Larry came back from work to get me and Ryan and take us to MHS, so we wouldn't have to walk in the rain to the bus stop. I dropped Ryan off at the CDC, then went over to Sarah's house. We chatted for a bit, then walked over to the Chapel tea room for some lunch. Our friend Michelle met up with us there. It was nice to sit and eat without worrying about Ryan wanting to get up and run off! :)

After lunch, we went shopping at the "Faire," which took place in the gym. It was pretty much the same as the one that took place in May, which was very similar to the bazaars on post in Germany. I got a lot of Christmas shopping done, which was nice.

I went to the commissary, then picked up Ryan at the CDC. I was thrilled to hear he did great! I even have a little report card of how his day went. The lady who took care of him, Miss Sarah, said Ryan was wonderful and she enjoyed having him there. Yay! When I arrived, Ryan was happily playing outside, and didn't want to go! I was so relieved he had a good day and enjoyed himself.

Just a few hours later, I was back on post, babysitting for Carissa and Tom. (Larry was at home with Ryan.) It was weird because I felt like I'd hardly seen Ryan all day!

I had fun babysitting, because their youngest son is still an infant, so he reminded me of when Ryan was that little. (Which I know wasn't that long ago, but Ryan's grown so quickly it sometimes seems like a long time ago!)

Today we've had a nice, relaxing day. Larry watched Ryan while I went for a run.

After dinner, we went to Toys'R'Us in Leeds and bought Ryan a track for his trains (a wooden, puzzle-piece type track for those little magnetic trains). We let him stay up late to play with it after we got home. (The time change is coming up, so he'll have to get used to being up later anyway.) It's always great to see Ryan having fun with something new we've gotten him.