Rose Bowl 2001

10 years ago, Ryan and I joined a few thousand fellow Boilermakers to cheer on our team at the Rose Bowl. Ryan and I made the trip out meeting up with a few friends, Dad, and Trish. It doesn't feel like it was so long ago. We thought we were so grown up then traveling and renting cars by ourselves. We drove our little "squatbox" rental car all over southern California. (Without GPS I might add.)
We visited Universal Studios for the pep rallies, attempted to go to the Price is Right, saw the parade from a distance, and had a great time with the game and festivities!
It was so great to be a part of the Drew Brees era at Purdue. Fun times!

PS-I don't have any pictures due to digital photography being futuristic at that time.

Rylan's Funny Face

Ryan taught Rylan this face a while back. We were able to get it on video Christmas morning. Maybe this is only funny to us, but what a great memory! (He also answers all questions with "no" now.)

Christmastime

It always seems that the month of December goes so quickly, this year has been no exception. We ended November with a visit to St. Louis to see Ryan's family. We celebrated the season with food, shopping, and hanging out. The whole family was together for the first time in years!

Rylan did pretty well with the car ride to and from Missouri. It takes a lot to keep him entertained for that long. These sunglasses helped.


Rylan also rode his first carousal at the mall while we were there. He had a great time.


December was then filled with many events. Angel Tree party at Monroe Circle, bridal shower for my baton buddy, musical at church, Christmas at the LeDonne's, Son City Kids Christmas, friends over, Christmas Eve, Christmas, 2 ear infections, and lots of running around. We missed Emily, Gabo, Eric, and Cindy as they stayed at their respective homes for Christmas. (We can't wait to see them in March!) Here are some images from our month. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dear Ear Infections...

Dear Ear Infections,
You have no mercy. You come and you go and come back again so quickly! I am about done with you as I can imagine Rylan is too. He would probably tell me if he spoke full sentences. I'm sure the new insurance company is excited because we have had 5 appointments since the relationship began on Oct. 1st. And I love how the doctor keeps saying "a couple more" of you and we will talk about tubes. How many is a couple really? I mean Rylan is only 17 months old. His usual upbeat personality has just been pummelled by your presence. I will be glad when you are gone forever!
Tomorrow, it is more antibiotics for you so we can try to move past this....again.
Until next time,
Amy

Purdue Basketball

This year, Ryan decided to share Purdue Basketball season tickets with one of his buddies. The ticket purchasing took place before Robbie Hummel blew out his knee again. This puts a damper on the season, but it was still fun to go down and see the exhibition game this week. Ryan will be going to half of the games this season. I will join him for some. It's great to see our old stomping grounds every now and then!

October Fun

Yes, I know October is over, but I thought I should still share some photos. October was one of my favorite months with Rylan. He began "talking" more this month. He says words like, Mama, Dada, football, eat, more, and our favorite "A bus!" He sometimes yells it all the way to and from daycare.

In October, we went to Chicago for Erin B's b-day and visited a pumpkin patch. Teri put some great pictures on her blog. You can see them here.

We also visited our local pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa Kring. Rylan had a great time running around and looking at all of the pumpkins. I am so glad we went on a week night, because it wasn't that busy.

We also celebrated Halloween with Zoo Boo the weekend before, and actual Halloween with Urgent Care, two ear infections, and a cough with wheezing. We got a couple of pictures at Trunk or Treat as well. Rylan was so cute as Purdue Pete, he just didn't understand that he needed to wear the hat and carry the hammer to get the point across. Ryan loves Halloween. It is much more fun for me now that Rylan is around.

Zoo Boo -- There is a zebra behind us

Trunk or Treat at West Side Church

I can't believe it's November already!

Oh how I love a deal!

This past weekend, I got together with some friends for a special visit from Texas and a birthday. Much to my excitement I heard about a website that gives discounts for fun things to do around town. We talked about it (well made fun of it) often though deep down we all wanted to check it out to see what deals we could get.
So tonight, I went to http://groupon.com/ to sign up for the daily email list stating what great deals I could get in South Bend. Bad news of the day...South Bend is NOT listed! WHAT!!?? This kind of stuff is right up my alley! I guess I'll just have to stick to http://moneysavingmom.com/ to find deals and great articles.