Counter-post to "Yaki-Blaa"

 My mood while writing the previous post was probably not the best for blog updating.  We have since had several fun excursions that have improved my outlook of central Washington.  Most of these took place outside of Yakima, but it still makes me feel better finding things we enjoy doing.  A couple of weekends ago the ward had a campout at Ensign ranch, a church owned ranch in the mountains about half-way to Seattle.  We were all ready to go camp with the boys, until a big rain storm the night of camping made us change our minds.  The boys were so excited about the prospect of camping that we decided to drive up Saturday to experience half-camping (without the tent, sleeping out, rain, cold, or mud).  

There were many fun outdoorsy activities available and we took part in all we could.  We went out in the canoe (without falling in the water), we hiked around and enjoyed the scenery, and the boys and Ryan enjoyed playing on a giant slip and slide set up at the ranch (unfortunately, I have no pictures of that).

I loved leaving the dust of Yakima behind and enjoying being surrounded by greenery.  I love trees!

Luke fell captive to the gentle rocking of the backpack carrier and was asleep for most of the hike.  In this picture he was right on the verge of falling asleep and I could tell he wanted to smile but was just too dang tired. 

Not the most comfortable bed but it will work in a pinch. 

Yaki-Blaa

 That title sounds pretty negative, doesn't it?  I actually don't think Yakima is that bad, it's just that we did some reminiscing this week and I got to missing some of the other places we have lived.  A day or two ago the boys and I were sitting on a blanket in the front yard eating grapes and I thought, man I would love to be doing this on a beach.  Preferably, at Sandbridge while visiting my parents in VA.  I'm really bummed we can't go out there this summer, like we have every summer for the past 8 years!

Another day that had me missing the East/South/or anywhere with greenery was when we went on a hike to a supposed waterfall and pretty much ate hot dust the whole way.  I guess it has been a dry year because the waterfall was actually a water-trickle. I think the day was doomed from the start because we had to make a few stops before driving out to the hike, and then got lost for about 45 minutes, and then ended up starting at the hottest part of the day during 2 of our kids nap time.  Luke pretty much looked like this during the entire hike, latched onto the side of the baby carrier, blue eyes completely zoned. 

There is a highlight to this outing, however.  Actually two.  To start the hike you have to cross a fast moving river and the only way to cross it is on a creaky wooden bridge.  (Don't worry mom, the bridge had been fortified by metal poles and rope).  That was really cool.  The second highlight was that one part of the hike also went right next to railway tracks.  Upon seeing the tracks, Tate was adamant about seeing a train and asked about every 45 seconds during the hike when we were going to see a train.  Well, we hiked out and back and never heard a train.  By the time we got back to the van, Tate was screaming and crying because he wasn't able to see the train (he was one of the two who missed a nap).  We were all buckled in the van, ready to pull out when we heard the train whistle.  Wanting to end this adventure on a positive note, Ryan and the boys unbuckled as fast as they could and ran the first part of the hike to the train tracks.  They made it in time to watch the entire train go by, right next to the tracks.  Tate and Grant loved it and we were able to drive home with slightly less grumpy boys. 

Happy Birthday Buddy!

 It's hard to believe that Grant is now a five year old!  We celebrated his birthday a couple of weekends ago and I think he really enjoyed it.  It just so happened that the father/son camp out was the night of his birthday, so Grant was able to enjoy a night in the great outdoors with his Dad.  They were able to dodge the 10 year-olds waving around burning sticks long enough to take the photo above.  He also had a great time staying up late playing Uno with some friends.

 Christine and Sam also happened to be coming up to Tri-Cities that weekend so they added an extra hour to their trip to come hang out with us in Yakima for Grant's birthday.  The boys were so excited to see their cousins and I'm so glad we live closer now, so we can get together more often!

 Blowing out the candles!

Grant requested a Wolverine cake for his birthday (which is kind of random since we don't have any Wolverine toys or action figures).  I was stumped as to what I was going to do for the cake.  Thank goodness for the internet and other people posting their creative ideas.  I found out how to make this cake here and it came together pretty nicely.  I traced Wolverine onto parchment paper and then was able to trace my drawing again with icing.  His mask and a few other areas got a little smudged by the time I took this picture, but it still turned out pretty good.  Grant loved it, which is really what mattered anyway.

 

I put together our traditional treasure hunt for the presents.  I love how excited the kids get deciphering and running to find each next clue.  Their excitement is infectious!

 Finding more clues!

 

 And at last, opening presents!  Thank goodness for the goody bags that every kid gets at the end.  No one even cried during the present opening this year, which was the best present they could have given us!! 

Grant is such a wonderful part of our family.  He is a fun-loving, energetic boy but he can also spend an afternoon being still, coloring or working in workbooks.  He is a great older brother and is especially kind and gentle with Luke.  He and Tate have become great friends and, though they still annoy and hit each other periodically throughout the day, Grant always sticks up for and protects his younger brothers (I tell him not to hit people but secretly I'm proud that he's willing to stick up for those he loves, even if that means decking bullies).  I love his sense of humor.  He's on his way to developing his father's wit and he's picking up my weirdness with his funny faces and random dances.  We love him so much and are so grateful to be blessed with him as our oldest child.  Happy Birthday, Granty!

Luke says Happy Birthday, too! 

(He loves to get two fistfuls of hair, then move in for a good scalp-gnawing, which is what he did shortly after this photo was taken.)

Continuing where we left off...part 2

 About a week after arriving in Yakima, we loaded once again into the van and headed back down to Utah. My brother, David, was graduating from BYU and my parents and sister and her family were going to be in Utah for several days, so we couldn't miss the party.  It was great to get together with family and it's always fun to be in Utah for a few days (especially when staying at Nana's).  We were able to spend time with family, go shopping, eat delicious food, make a couple trips to IKEA, and just have fun.  After my parents and sister left, Ryan also left to go to a shotgun course in Vegas with his brothers.  So it was just me, Nana and the kids for a few days, but it was still a lot of fun.  Oh, and I chopped off my hair. 

 My cousin Holly did a great job and I love the cut.  I can't tell you how nice it was the first few times I washed and then combed through my hair.  It was so quick to wash and then dry afterward, I didn't know what to do with the extra time!  I do sometimes miss having longer hair, but this is a fun cut and I'm enjoying having it shorter for now.

 So now we are done traveling and trying to get settled in Yakima.  Ryan officially started work the Monday after getting back from Utah and has really enjoyed it.  He really likes the people he works with and is excited about the opportunities ahead with the company.  Luke is really growing up in the month we've been here by learning how to sit up, crawl, and begin to feed himself. 

He was wondering where that last puff went he was trying to get in his mouth :)

 Tate has continued to be his regular self: a super hero, kick-boxing boy who also has a softer side that likes to clean, bake, and give hugs.  

Grant misses his preschool in the afternoons but still manages to keep himself busy during the boys' nap time by coloring or working on Kindergarten workbooks.  I think he probably already knows most things covered in the Kindergarten and 1st grade curriculums, but he's still excited for school in the Fall.

 We now have a lawn to care for here in Yakima and the boys are so excited to help (once again)!  They each had to take turns pushing the mower and running the weed whacker with dad, which has become a weekly obsession for them both.

 I like seeing these father/son moments.  Plus, I know it won't be too long before the boys are not excited to cut the grass.

Continuing where we left off

 On our journey from Ohio to Yakima, we stopped in Utah and Idaho for a few days to visit with family.  It was a great way to break up the drive and just happened to be over Easter weekend.  Most of Ryan's family were getting together anyway so we joined right in on the fun.  The boys were lucky not only to have another Easter egg hunt, but an Easter egg hunt on the farm.  Woo Hoo!!

 The highlight of any Wood get together for the boys is the non stop 4-wheeler rides.  I think they talked every adult into driving them around throughout the day.   

On the drive, we were also able to make stops and visit with Nana in Utah, Ryan's mom in Idaho, and Christine, Sam and their kids in Oregon.  We are excited about living in the West because we're much closer to a lot of family (except for my mom and dad, which we are sad to be farther from).

 After arriving in Yakima, Ryan had about a week and a half before he started work so we got busy unpacking.  The boys made sure they were available to "help" with as much unpacking as they could.  Ryan was a great dad and let them run the drill and hammer sometimes while they set up the furniture.  In this photo Ryan was putting a bookshelf together after the boys had gone to bed but as soon as they heard the electric screwdriver going they bailed out of their room and were offended to find that he had tried to "fix things" without them.  So they each got to put some screws in with the electric screwdriver then put the pegs in for the shelves (seen here).  So industrious!

 Luke took his pre-crawling movements to the next level by perfecting backward motion not long after we arrived in Yakima.  Here he backed himself nearly under the recliner and couldn't have been more pleased with himself.  Now (about a month later), he is in full crawling mode (post to come).

I promise I did not pose him for this shot.  He just knows how to work the camera.  What a cutie!!

Moving, Family, and Graduation

March in the Wood house was basically a big blur of packing, cleaning, looking for somewhere to live, Ryan's school & house-finding trips, finishing school, graduation, final hanging out with friends and everything else associated with moving across country.  The fun was exemplified by our house being worthy of quarantine status: Grant and Tate with fevers, congestion and coughs, me with a crazy sore throat, cough, and possible ear infection and all of us (except Ryan) with pink eye. (Most of this showed up as we were ready to move out so I really hope no one that came to help us caught anything!)

  My parents came to help us pack up and for Ryan's graduation.  They brought a few eggs filled with candy for the boys to have a little Easter egg hunt.  I had been so busy with all the moving business I hadn't even thought of doing Easter activities.  The boys loved it!

 He's such a handsome lad!

 We've had three years of Easter egg hunts in this backyard, we are definitely going to miss Ohio!

 Ryan's dad made the long trip out from Idaho and his brother, Farel, came up from West Virginia to be there for graduation.  They also helped with the moving process.  Here they are pictured in front of the Tetris masterpiece that is our furniture packed into 10 feet of space in a semi trailer.  Only Ryan has the skills and patience for such fine pack-manship.

 

  Unfortunately, I forgot our camera at Ryan's graduation ceremony, but we should be getting a few pictures from one of his fellow residents soon.  The ceremony was very well done and nicely celebrated and commemorated all their hard work.  Ryan worked very hard during his residency, surpassing many of his requirements.  But I think one of his greatest achievements is that through all the stress and busy-ness of his residency, he always put his family first and continued to be a wonderful husband and father.  We love you Ran and are so proud of you!

I just had to include this picture of Luke because it is so dang cute!

Happy Birthday Ran!

 Another birthday post!  Amongst all the busy-ness that March and April has produced for us this year, Ryan turned 32.  I feel like his birthday got somewhat neglected last year because I was still in the nausea/tiredness stage of Luke's pregnancy, and then this year again with getting ready to move.  I guess it's a good thing that Ran doesn't care too much about birthdays.

For the past several months before our move, I had been using up pantry items instead of buying more food that we'd have to move or give away.  By the time it came to making Ryan's birthday cake, our cupboards were pretty much empty.   Thanks to a friend, I found out about a pineapple cake that uses two ingredients: a yellow cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple.  It was really good (extremely moist, too).  I whipped up a little frosting and we had ourselves a birthday party!

The boys were good and let daddy blow out his candles all by himself.

 

Our favorite part of birthdays (besides the cake and presents, of course) is going on a treasure hunt to find the presents.  The boys were excited to help make the treasure hunt and drew their own pictures for the clues.  I think this was one of the most difficult hunts our family has had because we let Ryan try to decipher the pictures without help from the illustrators.  It took him a minute with a few of the clues but he eventually found the presents.  Happy Birthday Ran, we love you!!