Fun in the Snow

Rylee got her first real experience out in the snow today. Heather dressed her up with so many layers that she could barely move. The second picture is of Rylee on the snow and she can't roll or get up. Well, at least she stayed warm.

Cold Weather

Winter has finally hit Buffalo. Most of the big storms are hitting south of us so far but it is getting pretty cold with strong winds. I didn't intend this to be a weather report because you can check that on your own if you like. I wanted to post a few more pictures on here. I actually brought my camera with me lately (and took pictures) so I have more to share.

Rylee sporting a hat and mittens

Rylee making sugar cookies before Thanksgiving. We only found one cookie cutter so we had to settle with hearts.

Rylee helping her Grandma Olson with cooking

We enjoyed the warm weather right before Thanksgiving down in Pennsylvania

Almost 200

So we went bowling yesterday for a dental school activity. I got really lucky and bowled 5 strikes in a row and ended up with a 196. It was my highest score ever but I rolled a lousy 1 on my last ball after a spare in the tenth. I could have easily passed 200. Anyway, Rylee thought it was a blast to push a ball down the lane. She got an 80 with bumpers...not bad.

In the Air Force...

I have been debating about joining the Air Force for a while now as a way to pay my tuition for dental school. I was accepted into the Air Force Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) this past week. We are pretty sure that we are going to do it at this point. I have not signed a contract at this point, but that could happen within the next month along with being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. It seems like a great opportunity for us. I would be obligated to spend three years in the Air Force following graduation. That time would allow me to get more practice as a dentist and get more confidence before I enter into a private practice.

More Pictures

I basically just needed an excuse to post a few pictures here so my face wasn't the first thing that popped up on the blog. So I picked a few new pictures of Rylee and here we go. Rylee got a cold the other day and hasn't slept much. She has been a little cranky and only wants to wear dresses even though it has gotten pretty cold. We just put the dresses on over her other clothes so she can stay warm. I am hoping she feels better soon.

Scott Tries To Fit In

Scott thought it was great having a girl until Rylee wanted to do his hair. He is now starting to feel out numbered so if you can't beat them you might as well join them. Doesn't Scott make a cute girl. Too bad he wouldn't take my suggestion and try on a dress. It would of completed the ensemble.

Rylee's first Kiss

Rylee got her first kiss this saturday. We were babysitting Parker, the child of one of the dental students. We were getting them ready for bed and they decided to kiss each other good night. I didn't actually capture the kiss but I do feel I captured the moment.

Palmyra Temple

We went to the temple yesterday and it was wonderful. It is really cool to think that our temple is the palmyra temple. We took Rylee to the sacred grove for the first time. New York looks beautiful right now with all the fall colors.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Rylee is obsessed with dolls right now. She spends most of her day carrying them around, pushing them in her stroller, or changing their clothes. The other day one of her dolls apparently needed a nap. Rylee placed her in her little bed and then went to her crib for her blanket and duck. This is the stuffed animal and blanket she always sleeps with. Then she read her doll a story. Finally she said prayers with her doll. It is fun to see how she mimics exactly what we do to prepare her for bedtime. She is becoming a little mother already. I thought it was so cute.

Trick or Treat

Scott and I took Rylee trick or treating for the first time. She loved getting the candy and putting it in her bag. We practiced all day wednesday saying trick or treat and she said it at maybe half of the houses we went too. She was very disappointed when we were finished. She would have trick or treated all night. Rylee was a cheetah and I was a witch. Scott dressed up as a cowgirl but did not let me take a picture of him. Rylee is enjoying all the candy she got and is very reluctant to share with her parents.

Trip to Utah

We took a trip to Utah a couple weeks ago for my sister Lisa's wedding. I could only go for about a day because of school, but Heather and Rylee were able to stay for a while longer. Heather vows that she will never take Rylee on a plane again because she was miserable. We had a lot of fun while we were there though. The wedding was wonderful and even Rylee had a good time. Heather and I went to the BYU v. Air Force football game the day after and Rylee went up to Ogden for Lily's birthday party. There is a picture of her below riding a horse and loving it. She adores animals of every kind. It was great being able to see family again since we don't get to see them often up in New York.

Rylee in her cute red dress for the wedding

Rylee and her cousin Lily on a horse

Lisa and Tyrell just married. Mazal Tov!

Rylee and her cousin Kiara playing together

I might as well give a little update on dental school while I am in the process of writing this. Buffalo is great. I have a big group of guys that I hang out with and we have a great time together. School takes a ton of time, but it is interesting and I am learning quite a bit.

A Day at the Zoo

For labor day we decided to go to the zoo. There was a great deal where you could go to the zoo for only a dollar a person. Rylee absolutely loved the zoo. She especially loved petting the goat.

Expressions

It is amazing to me to see the different faces that Rylee will make in the course of a minute while taking a few pictures. I thought I would put a few of them up here.

First off is the sweet smile

Then we get the monster claw

She seems to be processing something in this shot

A couple seconds later Rylee is having a good time laughing

Trip to DC

We took a trip over to Washington DC recently and checked the place out. It was fun and there were many places that we were not able to see in such a small amount of time. We saw all of the big stuff though including the capitol building and this cool truck in the middle of the grass. The memorials were neat and the Smithsonian exhibits were fascinating. I was amazed by the things that are available to see for free. We left Rylee with her grandma over in Virginia where were staying. I thought I would put a picture of her with her dog that I took while we were there.

Rylee's Words

Lately it has been fun hearing the new words that come out of her mouth. Her regular words are dog, no, yeah, shoes, ball, bath, and duck. Some of the fun words have been hippo, horse, and an attempt at alligator. She tries. She also has a new thing of wanting to wear dresses. She had a fun time dressing up in the pictures below. She finds most of the stuff to put on too.

Heather's mom had surgery about a week ago on her wrist. She is recovering well but we had to put this picture up because she doesn't tell anyone about it.

Parades

I played softball for quite a while yesterday at a local park. We had to fight the parade traffic to get to the field we were playing at. When we turned to corner to the park we learned that one of the fields was being used as a parking lot for the vehicles used in the parade--some American Legion labeled trucks, a slew of fire engines, and a dozen or so John Deere tractors. It's great being out in the country where tractors are a main attraction. I am just glad we were somewhere else during the parade.

More Pictures of Rylee

Time to Catch Up

We are currently in Doylestown, PA living with Heather's parents. It is great here. We have had quite the experience getting here though. First we took a trip down to Arizona to hike around in Sedona and to visit family. Then we had to make the trek across the country to Pennsylvania. I think we have recovered now, but it has been almost a month since we got here. I will put pictures up later because it isn't working right now for me.

Graduation!

It's great to finally be done with my B.S. in Biology. BYU was a great school and I enjoyed my time there. The graduation ceremonies were better than I thought they would be. The commencement with V.P. Dick Cheney was quite enjoyable. We only brought Rylee for the convocation and she proved to be quite a handful. She loves to climb stairs now and tried to go up and down the Marriott Center.

We had to get a family shot in front of the baseball stadium. Baseball fields look so great.

Rylee is entertained by the tassle flapping around.

My brother (Russ) and sisters (Amy and Lisa) who were able to come to the convocation. Tad had to stay down in Arizona. We are going to visit him this week though.

Me and my good friend Scotty Hutchison

Moving On...

We are currently getting ready to move on to other things as graduation gets closer. Our time at the Family Support and Treatment Center has been good and we are excited to go to the green part of the country. This is just a sample of the things that we have been doing lately.

Rylee is playing with the only thing left on her crib because everything else is packed and because she sleeps in a travel crib...long story.
The Blue and White scrimmage at BYU last Saturday.
Rylee and Heather seem pretty excited to be at the game.
Rylee is trying to figure out whether to keep the spices in the box or not. She really likes to unpack. We should get her to do everything when we get to Buffalo.

Happy Easter too!

Well, this wasn't actually from Easter but these two just look thrilled to be sitting next to each other outside.

Rylee and Aunt Amy sitting on the couch after finding their baskets full of (for Rylee) empty eggs...YES! They are awesome.

And a cool bus to drive around.

The Easter egg hunt begins. You would never know that nothing is in the bucket.

Taking a stroll down the sidewalk away from all those eggs.

Uncle Josh thinks this egg hunt is pretty funny while Rylee chomps down on a cracker found in one of the eggs.