Dear Sierra,

Wishing you a fun, happy birthday!

Love,

~Holly and Ryan 

Happy birthday, Jordan!

Love,

~Holly and Ryan 

Last Sunday, Sarah did autumn pictures up at the base. Click here to see Ryan's proofs: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ThumbAccess.aspx?e=3197062

(The password is: Ryan.)

Enjoy!

ps - Blast From The Past!

Click here for Ryan's photos from last year:

(Yes, that's the same shirt. )

Halloween 2006

It's definitely that time of year where the shortened daylight hours become noticeable. There have been a few mornings where it's been hard to get out of bed for all the gloom. Today, however, it's been sunny! This time of year the weather can really go either way, rainy or sunny. You never know. (And it can go back and forth between the two several times in one day!) It's also definitely cooler now. Last night the boiler went out (it does that a lot) and we woke up to a quite cool house.

Things have been hectic, with preparations for our move back to the States. Friday was spent in a flurry of last minute doctor and dentist appointments. Last week I was still coughing, so I went back to the doctor. I was told I was fine, and to give it a few more days. I'm happy to report the doc was right, and I'm all better now.

Friday night was my going away do with my British friends. We started the night by meeting for dinner at La Tasca, a tapas bar. There were about ten or so of us, and my friend Kirsty ordered for the whole table. It was quite the communal dining experience! I loved that tons of little tasty dishes of this and that were floating about the table, being sampled by everyone. We also had two big dishes of paella, which hit the spot.

After dinner, we went next door to Banyan's, where I had my very first cider. Very British! I was told I couldn't leave England without having one! It wasn't bad. I normally don't go in for anything remotely carbonated, but this was somehow different. I don't like beer, so cider was a perfect alternative. At Banyan's I also had my first raspberry mojito. I enjoyed it.

Eventually we made our way down to another club. A few of us wound up staying out rather late. It was fun! I had a great time hanging out with my friends. It didn't seem like goodbye, since I'm still going to be running with them a few more times. However, I'm glad we got a chance to have a night out before I leave.

We didn't do too much over the weekend. Larry and Ryan and I went to York and walked around.

Monday a vet from another American military base came up to Menwith Hill. I took the cats to get their shots and health certificates. It's weird to think that Monday we're sending them back to the States!

Tuesday I tried running again. (The week before I tried to run, and it did not go at all well. My friend Ellie kept asking me if I needed to go to the hospital!) This time I ran pretty much cough-free. Yay! It felt good to be running again, since I hadn't run much since the half marathon.

Today movers came to pick up a few odds and ends of Ryan's, so they'll be in the States shortly after we are. The rest of our things will be picked up the 29th through the 31st.

Only three more weeks here to go. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again: weird. 

Happy birthday, Iain! Hope you have a fun day!

Love,

~Holly and Ryan 

To Kim and Cesareo, I wish you both a very happy birthday!

Love,

~Holly 

Dear Madison,

Glitter Graphics & Comments

Love,

~Holly and Ryan

Today Ryan had his first visit to the dentist. Nothing is wrong, it's just that since we're leaving soon (and I've been derelict in my parental duties and haven't gotten him in before), we thought it'd be a good idea to take him in. He did really well. He sat in the chair and kept pretty still. He was definitely wary, but intrigued as well. The lady who did his mini-cleaning did a great job talking to Ryan, gaining his trust, and keeping his interest. The only part Ryan objected to was having his teeth examined by the dentist. For that exam, Ryan's head was in the dentist's lap, while I had the rest of Ryan on my lap. The dentist said if Ryan yelled, that would actually help, because then at least he's be able to see Ryan's teeth. Leave it to Ryan to find a way to yell and hide his teeth at the same time! I'm so proud...

I'm happy to report that Ryan's teeth are fine. I asked about the pacifier, and apparently there's no damage from it as yet. However, we are planning on weaning him off of it when we get back to the States. He is using it less, which is good. We're not about to take it away before a major move though.

On the potty training front, things have been going very slowly, but they have been going (no pun intended). I don't expect Ryan to be out of diapers any time soon, but we are at least moving in the right direction.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but a few weeks ago, Larry was holding Ryan before bed, saying goodnight. Ryan rubbed his hand on Larry's beard and said, "Grass!" I started laughing! I thought it was inventive of Ryan to come up with that word, since he didn't know the word, "beard." 

I know where Platform 9 3/4 is... or at least the sign for it! It's at the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York! Monday, Larry and Ryan and I took a trip there. (Unfortunately I forgot the camera, but I had my phone, so I snapped a quickie of this!) http://www.nrm.org.uk/events/index.asp (I recommend checking out the website.) Entrance to the NRM is free, which is all the more amazing given the depth and scope of the displays, which span over 300 years. Of course Ryan loved seeing all trains in their full sized glory. He wanted to climb on them, which unfortunately is quite frowned upon! We spent quite a while walking around, looking at all the trains. It was a really nice day out. 

Last Saturday we had a farewell do for Natasha. The evening started with dinner at the Thai Pavilion in Harrogate. From there we took a train to Leeds, aboard which we bedecked ourselves in black fuzzy halos, and black feather boas.

Our destination was The Birdcage, where we had reservations in the vip area. (Pretty much that meant we had somewhere to sit when we weren't dancing.) The music was good, but the show wasn't what we thought it would be. It was supposed to be a cabaret, and interactive (not sure what that was supposed to mean!), but it turned out to be the occassional lip synch/dance number fronted by a drag queen. Even so, we had fun dancing the night away. My feet suffered greatly for it, but it was worth it!