Well 2017 was definitely a year of surprises for our family!
The kids are very excited for Christmas, we had the opportunity to ride the
Santa Train in Boulder City, NV last weekend and got a nice photo with the big
man!
Top Ten of 2017
10. Just a few days
after Christmas last year, Ryan was notified that he was appointed the
permanent position as the Associate District Manager of the Colorado River
District for the Bureau of Land Management in Lake Havasu City, AZ. It was with much heartache that we said
goodbye to our wonderful neighborhood and friends in Colorado in February 2017
to begin a new chapter in the heat of Arizona!
9. We completed the home study portion of our foster to
adopt and had to break the news to the agency that we were moving out of
state. In order to continue to pursue
this in another state, we would need to do many of the steps over again and
also have a home that would allow for the child to have his own bedroom. Most homes here are smaller 2-3 bedrooms and
we just barely lucked out in finding a 3-bedroom rental that had a decent sized
living space. So we made the decision to
post-pone this process until Ryan was in a high enough position for us to make
plans to stay long enough to purchase a home.
8. One night at
dinner, I said to Ryan “What if we just tried to see if we could have another
baby?” Two months later, we were
pregnant! Our baby boy is due to arrive in March. So far the pregnancy is going well and the
kids are really excited, even Audrey who was in denial for the first five
months is finally coming around!
7. Ryan is doing
great in his new position with the BLM.
He has to travel much more than in his previous assignments so that keeps
him very busy. He’s had amazing
opportunities to tour Washington D.C., Gettysburg, and Antietam through the
leadership programs he’s involved in.
6. I was introduced to the Lake Havasu MOMS Club chapter by
some other BLM wives and moms I met at the gym, so I joined and enjoyed it so
much that I am now serving as the vice-president. I am also a Cub Scout leader which I
absolutely love, I have had such a fun time with the boys. I’m also enjoying my
teaching assignment at church. Once a
month, I teach the lesson for Relief Society which is the women’s organization
in the LDS church.
5. Austin is in the
fourth grade and doing amazing! He loves
doing Cub Scouts, he loved that I was his leader, but now that he is 10, he
will be moving up to the next age group.
We also found an art studio in town that does kid’s art classes, so he’s been going to that every week and bringing home some amazing work! He is very interested in coding and
engineering as well, so he attended Camp Invention over the summer and loved
it.
5. Amilia started
Kindergarten this Fall. Since she barely
made the age cut-off, we were a little worried, but she is moving right along
and loves school and all her friends there!
She is definitely our social child!
Amilia enjoys going to a recreational gymnastics class once a week and is also a Daisy in Girl Scouts.
4. Audrey turns 3
right after Christmas. She is a whiz at
the computer and will probably be reading before she is potty trained! Audrey is enjoying going to a little
preschool co-op with some friends from church and also loves going to the kids
club at the gym.
3. We enjoyed a great
summer of travels to Montana for Randi’s Morgan family reunion and then to
Colorado to see our friends there.
2. In October we were able to do a fun Disneyland trip with
Ryan’s parents.
1.
We will be enjoying Christmas here in Lake
Havasu with the amazing mild winter weather and then will head to Las Vegas for
New Year’s Eve.
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year!
Love, Randi, Ryan, Austin, Amilia, and Audrey
