Back to Palmdale
Topic: The States

 

So it's almost two months later... I am bound and determined to catch up on that Stateside visit! :) To that end: On Jan. 3, Ryan and I drove back to Palmdale. The next day, my Mom and I took Ryan for his very first haircut. In the humid climates of the UK and FL, Ryan's long hair wound into cute curls. Unfortunately, in the dry air of the desert in CA and NV, his hair looked more like a rat's nest!

I found a place called Castle Kid's Kutz. They specialize in kiddos. It was pretty neat. The whole place is decorated like a medieval castle. They had lots of toys in the waiting area. The chairs the kids sat in looked like cars and trucks. Unfortunately, the only open one for Ryan's appointment was pink and purple! The lady cutting Ryan's hair was really nice - and quick! The clippers she used looked like a peanut. There were plenty of toys to distract Ryan while he was getting his hair cut. He did really well, but was getting antsy towards the end. The whole time, my Mom and I took pictures like madwomen! :P

At the end, I got a certificate with a lock of Ryan's hair. It's a nice keepsake.

From there, we met up with my Dad for lunch at the Texas Cattle Co. at the mall.

I have to say, with his new haircut, Ryan went from a baby to a little boy! He looked so different. It was strange, but good.

I only had a couple of days in Palmdale with my parents, and they went by in a blink. We got in a nice drive, and of course a stop at my all time favorite Mexican restaurant, Ernie's Jr., in Eagle Rock, CA.

Unfortunately, Ryan's sleeping troubles continued. It got to the point where at bedtime, he wouldn't even stay in our room. I think everything got to be a bit much for him. I can't blame him!

I left for Florida on Jan. 6. I really enjoyed the time with my parents, and was sad to leave. However, I was heading back to Paula and Robert in Florida, so I was definitely looking forward to that! (To be continued...)

Na na na na, Na na na na, Hey hey hey, Goodbye! :P
Topic: This and That

First, I would like to wish Teresa a happy belated birthday!

Today Larry left for a long TDY. Ryan and I dropped him off at the airport this morning. He's going for some language training in the DC area. He won't be back until mid-July.

The first few days are always a bit of an adjustment for me and Ryan, but so far, so good!

I'm going to attempt to get to bed at a decent hour tonight, and will try to catch up more soon.

There seems to be something going around both here and in CA! Hope everyone is feeling better soon!

Ryan Report, Weather Report, Etc.
Topic: This and That

 

 

(This photo was taken yesterday. Too cute!) 

February is a weird time of year here, weather wise. We've had some clear, sunny, almost warm days. We've had windy, below freezing days. We've had snowstorms, hail, thunder, and just plain boring rain. Today was one of those wonderful, sunny days!

The daylight hours are getting longer now, which I love. It's light around 7am, and stays the way until almost 6pm. Yay! Someone said we're gaining two minutes of light a day. Works for me!

Ryan's doing great! He had a WIC appointment on Jan. 24. On that day, he weighed 29.6 pounds, and was 36 and 1/4 inches tall. He's grown three inches in just the last six months (and six inches total in the last year)! This has put him in the 25th percentile for weight, but he's still 50th in height. We'll just keep feeding him pasta! :)

He's still caught somewhere between recognizable English, and "Ryan." There are a few words that sound most unfortunately like others. For instance, "bridge" sounds more like a female dog, and "Percy" (from Thomas and Friends) sounds like an alternate word for a cat. Oh well! We know what he means! :P

Friday night I babysat for Sarah out at Menwith Hill. In the four hours I was at her house, two inches of snow accumulated on the car. I have a serious thing about driving in snow. One particular night in Frickenhausen, Germany did it for me. (Sabrina, Heather, and Shelly, if you're reading this, you guys know the night I'm talking about!!!) Even though visibility was poor (just a few yards) and the snow was coming down pretty good, the drive home from the Hill wasn't too bad. Once I got to the main road, it was better. The road had been gritted, and everyone else out there was poking along slowly as well. There's this invisible line on the way to Harrogate where the weather always gets better. Once I was past that, I was home free.

We didn't do much over the weekend, since the weather was cold and wet. Monday night, Sarah hosted this month's spouses coffee. The theme was Oscar night! It was a lot of fun! We could dress up either in formal wear, or as a celebrity (or however the heck we wanted!). I wore my green formal gown, since I'll use any excuse to wear it! (One of the ladies there was kind enough to tell me I looked, "incredible." Wow! I don't think I've ever been told that before in my entire life!:P) Luckily, one other guest wore a formal dress, so I wasn't alone! Sarah dressed up, and one other person dressed like a rock star. That was fun! (Everyone else was in street clothes.)

Sarah had set up a "red carpet" from the door to the living room. There was a "stage" in the corner, demarcated by big silver stars on the floor. There were movie snacks: bags of popcorn, movie candy, hot dogs, and nachos, all sorts of chips and dips. Yum!

We played a couple of games. One was a trivia game on the current Oscars. I didn't even know we'd had the Oscars, let alone who was nominated or who won! :) We played a movie quote game, which I am proud to say I won! (If you know me and Larry, you know pretty much most of our communication is in movie quotes!) We played a modified game of charades. I got to act out, "Star Wars." All I had to do was spin my hair into buns on the sides! :) The prizes for the games were free movie rentals. The favors were neat, too - mini Oscar statues, and cute frame/key chain - yikes! I can't think of the name of them - those boards with the top that they use right before the director yells, "Action!" (I ought to know what those are called!)

The night was a lot of fun!

I haven't forgotten I still need to write and post photos about the rest of our time in the States. Larry is leaving soon for a long TDY, so I will have lots more time to be online! :)

Hope everyone is having a great Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Topic: Holidays

Myspace Layouts
Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you to everyone who's sent me Valentine's Day wishes! I hope you all are having a wonderful day, and are touched by love today, and every day!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow???
Topic: This and That

I thought I would at least get caught up on what I've been up to since I've been back in the UK. :)

I have to mention that Monday the 5th, was the first night in the entire time we've been back in the UK that Ryan finally went to bed without any sounds of protest! I'm not sure why, but this time around, coming back here was particularly tough on Ryan. I'm sooooo glad he's finally adjusted!

So, Ryan and I got back to the UK on Jan. 11. (I will write about that when I reach the end of my Stateside recap.) That transition was hard for Ryan, however, except for dealing with his wacky sleep schedule, it was a lot better for me this year than last year. Last year I suffered from serious post-holiday letdown. I think part of that was because I didn't really have any friends here, and definitely didn't have a social circle. Also, the weather is a lot better this year. We've been very fortunate with a lot of sunny days. That makes a huge difference!

On the topic of weather, before I go any further, it snowed today! Ryan and I met Sarah and her boys at Winky's. Ryan and I took the bus, since Larry had the car. As I walked from the bus stop to Winky's, I noticed the sky and the temperature and thought it seemed like perfect snow conditions. (It was also called for in the forecast, but those things are almost never right!) After we'd been at Winky's a couple of hours, Sarah said, "Have you looked outside?" It was snowing quite heavily! I really didn't fancy the idea of walking much in a snowstorm. Sarah had the idea of calling Larry to see if he'd take us home (which I did and he did). Of course, by the time Larry came and got us, the snow had stopped falling and it wouldn't have been too bad for me and Ryan to walk in (it's a bit of a walk to and from the bus stops and home). Oh well. I was glad for the ride! I was also glad Ryan got to play. He didn't nap yesterday, and I think that's because he hasn't been getting enough exercise lately. He has gotten out some, but it's been so cold, we haven't stayed out too long. It was also very nice to get to chat with Sarah while our kids played.

Back to our arrival... It was also nice because Larry only had to work half the day, the day we got back, then had a three day weekend, so we could spend time as a family. Sunday the 14th we went to the Hard Rock Café in Manchester. That was fun. I got a very cool shirt.

Sunday the 15th was busy and fun. Larry watched Ryan while Sarah and I went to Betty's café for lunch. Afterwards, Sarah took me to see "Pursuit of Happyness." Later on in the evening, there was a babysitting co-op meeting at a pub called The Hopper. That was fun, except the service was glacially slow. The food was good, the company even better. I looked around the room and realized, that with one exception (a friend on tdy), all my Menwith friends were right there in that room with me. That was a good feeling. It was great to be back.

The 16th marked the first time Ryan ever said, "I love you!" I think he was just repeating it, but it still melted me into a puddle on the floor!

Since we've been back, we've gotten back into the groove here, running errands, actual running, etc.

Friday Feb. 2, Sarah hosted a Stampin' Up party. I'd never been to one before. Scrapbooking is something I've been interested in for a long time. I've dabbled a little, but never really gotten into it. I had a good time at the party. Unfortunately, I was really tired, so I didn't stay too late. I always love seeing the neat things people come up with, with scrapbooking. I hate to say it though, but I don't think I have the patience for it. Not right now, anyway. It's definitely something I want to pursue at some point, though.

The next day, Larry watched Ryan while Carissa and I walked around the shopping area, and had dinner. That was fun! It was good to get out and get some girl time.

I should mention that Ryan's first favorite movie is, "Cars." We watch it almost every day! It could definitely be worse...

Time seems to be zipping right by. I can't believe it's Feb. already.

Well, now at least I'm caught up on current events... just got to finish up with the trip to the States! I have two installments left: CA, and FL (both will have lots of pictures to go with).

Holiday?
Topic: Holidays
I just wanted to share with everyone that yesterday, the people out at Menwith Hill (at least those in the Army) didn't have to be in to work until noon, because of the Super Bowl! (What really amazed me, was in Germany, they got the whole day off!) I think that's pretty funny. (The Super Bowl started over here at around midnight.)

Vegas
Topic: The States

(Please click on this photo to see the whole album.)

Hello. Here is my next installment of my travels in the States!

On Dec. 30, my parents and Ryan and I caravaned to Las Vegas. They were on their way to Laughlin, and Ryan and I were on our way to Larry's Dad's house in Vegas. It was really nice to have company on the road most of the way. We each had cell phones in our cars, so we could communicate back and forth. It definitely made the long drive go back more quickly. That is, until we hit the mother of all traffic jams.

I knew that close to New Year's is always a bad time to try to drive to Vegas. However, we thought we might be able to get away with it if we left early enough in the day. We didn't count on an accident that would back things up for miles... and hours!

We were (I think) about twenty five miles out from Baker. Traffic was stopped. What really blew my mind, was the atmosphere on the road. People were getting out of their cars - to look around, to let their dogs out to pee, to let their kids out to walk around. Across from me there was a caravan of three cars, and they had busted out their red plastic cups and were starting their party right on the road! (These same people had been making friends with Ryan, earlier!) The atmosphere became that of a huge street party. I even let Ryan out to stretch his legs a bit. I'd never been in a traffic situation like that. My Dad wandered out to the center divider to see what he could see. Someone in a vehicle traveling the other direction shouted, "Turn around!!! Go back!"

Traffic could be seen far enough ahead, so when it started moving again, everyone jumped back in their cars like at the end of a Chinese fire drill. Ryan was NOT happy to be rushed back into his car seat. It was all for naught though, since everyone made a mad rush to travel only a few yards. Things quickly came to a stop, and people were out of their cars again.

It'd been like this for a while, and people were starting to get antsy. People were trying to drive on the far right side of the road (my Mom gave a passing car a telling off to be proud of!), and down the divider. To the right of the road, there was a barbed wire fence separating the highway from a service road. My parents and I noticed a couple of people trying to look casual as they walked to the fence. One enterprising person had a pair of wire cutters. They made short work of the fence. What to do, what to do. Cars began literally pouring through the newly made gap, and onto the service road. I saw my Dad turn and go through, so I did too! My Mom called me on the cell and said, "If anyone asks, we've been on this road since Yermo!" :P

There was still heavy traffic to contend with once back on the interstate, however, I do believe the detour saved us a decent amount of time.

We stopped in Baker, per usual when driving to Vegas. My parents and I said our goodbyes, since we'd be going our separate ways from there after a few miles.

My parents left the interstate somewhere before State Line, and Ryan and I were on our own. Everything was fine, until somewhere not far outside of Las Vegas. It was dark. There was stop and go traffic. I'd been on the road for about six hours. I thought I was paying attention when suddenly I realized I'd rear-ended the car in front of me. Luckily, there was no real damage to the other car. The people were really nice. The first thing they said to me was, "Are you alright?" We exchanged names and numbers and they moved on. I sat there and cried. No one was hurt, but I was shaken up. I couldn't believe I'd let that happen. I felt awful.

I managed to get to Larry's Dad's house ok. It had been a very long day. I have to say that Ryan was great. He did really well being in the car that long.

It was great to see Larry Sr., and Grandma Layman! Ryan and I were there from Dec. 30th until Jan. 3. We also got to spend time with Larry's uncle Barry. While we were there, I took Ryan to two different playgrounds. I was starting to think of our trip to the States as Ryan's Whirlwind Tour of Playgrounds! I took him to eight different ones during our Stateside visit! Luckily, the weather in CA, NV, and FL was such that we could do that. Ryan is such an active boy, that he needed to be able to run around. He seemed to enjoy the playgrounds!

While in Vegas we mostly just relaxed and spent time with family. We got to visit our friends Toya and Greg, and their kids, which was great!

I took Ryan with me and went to one of the outlet malls in Vegas. I always have to hit the Nike outlet, and now of course Carter's. :) I fell victim to another member of the Eastern European Salesmanship Hit Squad! I wound up buying some cute nail design stuff that I have yet to actually use. Oh well!

Unfortunately, towards the end, Ryan was starting to have difficulties. We co-slept, since the bed in the room we were staying in is huge, and I didn't want to take the big cushion we were using as a bed for Ryan with me to Vegas. That may have been a mistake. It got to where Ryan would NOT sleep unless I was in bed with him. That was rather inconvenient! If I put him in bed, he would stay there, but he'd just cry and cry. I thought he'd eventually fall asleep, but he'd keep it up for quite a long time. After a while, I'd give up and either bring him back out to the living room, or simply go to bed myself.

Other than that though, we had a very nice visit!

Birthday
Topic: This and That

Happy birthday Tara! Hope you have a wonderful one!

Love,

~Holly, Ryan, and Larry

Oh my...
Topic: This and That

Oh my... It has been a while, hasn't it? (If my emoticons worked, I'd put an embarrassed face here!) I just wanted to touch base and let everyone know we're alive and well. I've been a bit sidetracked lately with a pet project. I will endeavor to catch up some more here soon, though.

The last Harry Potter book comes out July 21. I am at once excited and sad! I can't even imagine how JK Rowling must feel...

Birthday
Topic: This and That

Happy birthday Amber! I hope you have a great day!

Love,

~Holly, Ryan, and Larry