Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

Sydney said she wanted to sit on Santa's lap this year and tell him what she wanted for Christmas, so we took her to the mall to see my personal favorite Santa. She was so excited, yet so nervous! It was so cute to see her anxiously wait in line. We made it to Santa and I said to him, "this is the first time she's come to sit on your lap." and Santa said, "Oh! But you waved to me last year, didn't you!" And I got all excited and said Yes! Yes she did! Wow, I can't believe he remembered her! We would wave at him from the upper level, or go down close to the fence and wave......wait a minute.....he probably says that to every little kid, because every little kid waves at Santa! Dang! I totally fell for it! I must be 4 years old too!

For as nervous as she was, she actually got right up to him and told him right what she wanted! I was totally impressed! She calmed right down after he told her to go over to the basket and get a candy and a book. And then we had a picture done. Peyton was thrown in there too. No screaming, but not the most pleasant of looks on the kid. Sydney had fun! We're counting down the days!

Thanksgiving

I know I missed the traditional day of saying "Thanks" about a week ago, but I think we should never be limited to just one day to tell the world and those in it how we feel. So in keeping with that, my family is beginning a new tradition. We will have strips of colored paper next to a jar. Throughout the year, whenever the mood might strike, we will take one (or more) of those strips and write what we are thankful for, what makes us happy, something good that happened to us, a good deed that we did or that was done to/for us, anything that will help us remember the things that are so great in life. As we put it in the jar, we will read it out loud and drop it into the jar. On the "traditional" day of thanks, we will pull out each strip and read it out loud again to each other and remember/laugh/cry over what each of us wrote. Then, we'll take all those strips and make a chain that will decorate our christmas tree, and we'll start all over with the strips for the new year!

I have several things I want to start as tradition with my family and am excited to get them going! But I do want to tell everyone how much I love them and how glad for all the love I have in my life! I am a very lucky girl and even though I may get frustrated with people or situations in my life, I know that what I have is irreplaceable!

Thank you to everyone for being a part of my life! I love you all very much!

It's an old picture, but it will have to do for the time being! :)

He's Walking!

Peyton is now walking....well, running but he really can't keep up so it's a fast fall! He is getting really good and chooses to walk before he tries crawling. Crawling is a last resort now, so cute! I bought him so shoes, which kids always have a hard time adjusting to new shoes and shoes in general when they are learning to walk, but he does really well in them! He tries to put on his own socks and shoes and loves to hand us our shoes....even when we don't want to wear them. He tries to put on Sydney's shoes too.



Sydney made a turkey out of her Halloween pumpkin and had so much fun! It makes a great center piece!

NVD - Myeloma

Just a quick note to alert you to the blog of a friend of mine. His name is Nick Van Dyk, and he has accomplished a great deal in his short life. One such accomplishment involves being a pretty cool prog-metal musician.

Anyway, I read his blog from start to finish this week. It contains an amazing story of perseverance and success, and I highly recommend it to all of you. I also recommend his music very highly, but only to those of you who appreciate metal music. :)

http://nvdmyeloma.blogspot.com

Homeopathic A&E

Best Weekend Ever?

By now, most people who read this blog are fully aware of the big news. To put it in blog terminology, this URL now officially pertains to one additional person. By that I mean to say that I proposed to Irina on Friday night, and she accepted.

For the more curious among you, I will tell the story in short format.

As some of you know, I have been planning to propose for quite a while now. Originally, I had planned to wait until December, meet Irina's parents, ask them for her hand, and then surprise Irina while we were both still in China. There has been some delay, however, in Irina's parents' move to Beijing, so the date of our trip keeps getting pushed back further and further. In the meantime, after meeting so many of Irina's family members and receiving so many emphatic well-wishes from all our friends, I realized that it was making progressively less and less sense not to be engaged. This became particularly clear while we were in San Diego. The assumption of our eventual betrothal has been there for a while, and it started to feel a little stupid that we weren't there yet. At this point, I informed a number of people that I would propose during the month of October.

I did my research and found what I thought would be the perfect ring. Then, I waited for the best moment. That moment came on Friday night. We came home from work, went to the gym, and then I told Irina that I wanted to go for a walk through Strathcona Park. Strathcona Park is where Irina and I had our first date. That day, we walked all the way around the park, talking, sitting on benches, enjoying the weather and scenery, and getting to know each other. It was an amazing day. So what better place to propose?

We arrived at the park at around 7:00 PM, so it was already quite dark and a little cold. Irina was not amused by the starlight and the moonlight in the middle of downtown Ottawa. She was cold and she was worried about being in a public park after dark. After only a few minutes, she wanted to go back to the truck and go to a movie or dinner or something. "Are you sure?" I asked her. She shrugged and agreed to go a little further. After a while, she reminded me that she was cold and creeped out by the dark, so I told her, "Okay, we'll just walk a little further and then we'll turn back."

Finally we made it to the location of the first bench we sat on during our first date. It is in a clearing, with tall trees all around, and the Rideau River gently bubbling by. The moonlight cast a soft glow across the water and on every leaf. Again, Irina turned to me and said, "Ryan, I'm cold, and it's really creepy out here. Let's go back now." I asked her if she was absolutely sure she wanted to turn back, and she said yes. So I said okay, and then proceeded to explain in explicit detail how much she means to me and what a wonderful impact she has had on my life. At first she just shivered and laughed it off, but I went on gushing my heart out, and eventually she realized that I was saying something really serious here.

What she did not expect was a proposal. When I got to that part, she cried and was shocked and very happy. When she eventually got around to opening the box, she saw the ring and said: "It's perfect!"

Here is what Irina has to add:

Ryan started saying all these nice things to me, and I was so focused on the cold that I didn’t even clue in until he went down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife. Now, thinking back, I remember wondering why he kept one hand in his pocket the whole time as he was saying all those nice things! He swept me off my feet when I met him last summer, and was still doing the same in that moment. Couldn’t help but get emotional, so much so that I couldn’t even open the box until he asked me to, saying that what was in it was mine…hahaha. The ring’s absolutely perfect, and what I’ve always wanted…I don’t know how he knew! It’s nice and reassuring to know that the man you’ve been looking for all your life is yours. :)

Then we went to dinner at a place called Perkins. It's sort of like Denny's, so not exactly the kind of place you'd expect for an engagement dinner. However, Irina and I have a long history at Perkins and it's a place that means something to us. So on that level it was the perfect place to go next. Either that, or I am way too sappy and sentimental.

So there you have it. That's what Paul Harvey would call the rest of the story! Now we're both extremely excited and ridiculously happy and you can see it on our faces. One of our coworkers just came up to me and said, "I was just telling [another coworker] that 'Ryan and Irina make the best couple!' You should see her, she's just absolutely glowing." I agree, but I thought she has been glowing all this time.

Okay, that's enough of that. Back to your regular blog postings.

Everyone left on Sunday morning, so it was just us three to enjoy they day hiking in Snow Canyon. We stopped at the little campground to fill our water bottles before heading out and came upon a rattle snake slithering across the campground road. That'll get your attention. So I spent the hike being extra watchful. We had great fun and everyone else missed out.- Philip

One More Week

Jason leaves on Sunday. 6 days and he'll be on the road to our new home in Illinois! He is so excited to start his new job. We visited his office and we both have plans on how it is to be decorated...Jazz paraphenalia on the top of the shelves, Captain American sheild on the wall. He even has a window! We spent last weekend looking for a place to live. We found a nice, new duplex on the outskirts of Carbondale to the east. Here are some pictures of the drive from the highway to the house. They were taken from the car, and Friday happened to be a misty, semi-rainy day.

ON ROUTE

NEAT BARN NEAT BARN AGAIN

ONE MORE HILL
HERE WE ARE! they were painting, couldn't go it

THE BACK YARD--hard to get a feel from the car, but lots of space for playing!

SOME WOODS

The kids and I are going out for a week, we leave on the 2nd. We'll be taking the kids to the St. Louis Zoo, it was awsome! Penguins swimming around, Hippos swimming, beautiful place!

Kindred spirits

Garden gnomes have officially been taken to a whole 'nother level.

The Adventures of Ryan's Growing CV - Episode #21

Good morning, everyone. I thought I might take a little time and update you on my life, specifically in regard to my professional life. Please forgive a few important omitted details (names, project objectives, etc.). They must be omitted for legal and professional reasons.

This morning I received approval for a very big project. Most of the work I do involves conducting analyses for Canadian government agencies and Canadian subsidiaries of major pharmaceutical companies. This project, however, has been commissioned by the head office of a major pharmaceutical company, based outside of Canada.

We were able to secure this contract based on the fact that I have developed a unique and reliable analytical technique that takes longitudinal drug utilization studies into some new territories. The client in this case wanted to take advantage of these techniques to the greatest extent yet - my biggest-ever analysis of this kind. In addition, the client has provided an opportunity for me to write an article intended for a major medical journal. While this is not the first time I will have been published, it will be my most illustrious publication.

For my company, it will mean landing a high-profile contract that will put us among the names of international health care data research and consulting organizations with major scientific credibility. For myself, it will mean all of that - with my own name attached - and it will give me the kind of credibility as an economist that I never thought I'd have.

Personally, for a little guy from Podunk, Utah to have gradually worked my way into the major mainstream of heath economics with only a Bachelor's degree and a lot of ideas about philosophy and work ethics, it is gratifying and validating in a way I can't really explain.

In short, this means a lot to me. I am very excited about it. :)

Ryan

Labor Day Weekend

Stuff

So, no one has posted for a while so I thought I would. I know, I need to post about our wonderful anniversary, but I just haven't the time! Here are a couple pictures though, we have a ton more.

Also, something cute....if you hand Peyton a comb, or if he grabs one himself, he will comb his hair. It's stinking cute!

I don't know why that one is twisted! ha!

What a scare!

Here's what my windshield looks like after a softball-sized (or larger) rock came off a construction truck and hit my car. Darn thing just about came through the windshield. It even slpit it from top to bottom. Sooooo glad I wasn't on a motorcycle!

Guitar Show

So much to see! Including some really great packaging:


And a guitar that looked really familiar:

Good Luck Jenn!

Go get 'em in your 10 K today!

Gettin' Outta Dodge...

Crater Lake trip.

It rocked.

We camped, we hiked, we went to two ranger lectures, went on a boat tour, did an impromptu circumnavigation of Diamond Lake (in sandals!), and tried desperately to avoid the local rats:

They seemed hell-bent on giving me bubonic plague.

I also stopped at the Veteran's Memorial Living Sculpture Garden in Butte Valley, CA, on my way back to Marin. Pretty cool. Well, the Sculpture Garden was cool... the drive back was hot — over 100 degrees most of the way.

Race weekend

One of my favorite things about the Downieville Classic race weekend is how much the locals get into it. There's nothing better than seeing the town's elderly residents hanging out in rockers on their porches watching the revelry and waving as you walk past. (Except maybe hearing the sweet lady who runs the Downieville Grocery call a 190-pound, ripped & tattoo'd downhiller "sweetie" as she rings him up.) Volunteer camping is in two places: on the high school baseball field, and on the private property of a Downieville resident, right on the Yuba River. Many locals are volunteers, including a couple of teenagers who -- very creatively -- manned the bike check.

The town's population is 325. The racer limit caps at 800, so adding in significant others, friends, and kids, the town's population on race weekend at least triples, probably quadruples. Parking is non-existent, every hotel and campsite is full, the streets are jam-packed with riders and spectators. But even so, there's no theft, there are no fights, there's no frustration. And because there's also no cell phone service, everyone is forced to slow down and relax.

Except when they're on the race course, that is. ;)

Utah Arts Fest sword dance performance

I am not happy with the filming and editing, because you can't see our dance formations, poses, or fully appreciate the choreography. But at least we have video!

More Ottawa

These pictures are in reverse order of when they were taken.
Musical parade of RCMP

Start of musical parade of RCMP

US Army Black Knights parachute in to parade of the RCMP


Guests of honor at parade of RCMP

On trail at Pink Lake in Gatineau Prov. Park

Sunset from Irina's apartment.

At Irina's apartment.

At the Ottawa mint.

Rideau Falls on the Ottawa river.

Cool breeze on the Ottawa river tour made it quite cool and nice.

Ottawa river tour: Ottawa skyline.

Rideau Falls

Parliament building.

Here's comes our tour boat.

At Ryan's apartment.

Fountain near many foreign embassies.

Bridge to the Museum of Civilization with Parliment in the background.

National Art Museum with Notre Dame Cathedral in background.

Notre Dame Cathedral.

Applying sunscreen.

Parliament.