Sunday, August 31

We Have the Dirty Kid!

One of Kristyn's great fears is that we have the "dirty kid" at parties, church, or child care. Well, all I can say is I am glad she was not with us tonight at John's 40th birthday party when Addy found some dirt, or ash, in the woods and then coated herself in it.



I don't even know how to try to explain this picture, but it looks like something out of a horror movie with a clown who lures kids into the woods or something. To top off her dirty girl day, Addy is picking her nose, of course.


Needless to say, it was a bath night.

Saturday, August 30

Addy and Daddy Weekend

Mom and Jackson went to Chicago for Grandpa Ankerberg's Memorial Service this weekend with all the Ankerberg cousins. It was a little pricey for us all to go, but we are making the most of our weekend home alone, trying out some new Matchbox cars and tracks, watching Veggie Tales VHS tapes that were being tossed from the Chapel Library (10 in all), and hitting the pool as often as possible.

Mom took the camera, so no pics until Wednesday, but here are some of Addy's new phrases that I am not even sure where she picked up.

"That is my favorite X in the whole world!"
"Thanks Dad, that is the coolest toy ever!"

And she had Uncle Brett and I dying laughing last night as we read Llama Llama, Red Pajama, when she kept trying to say it herself and was yelling, "YAMA MAMA 'JAMA!"

Thursday, August 28

Back to School

The Boyers came down last week to watch the Tribe Women's Soccer home opener against Penn State. PSU is coached by two WM Alums who graduated in '97 with Scott and Jon. The kids were great, staying up until almost 10 PM for the first time ever, mainly because they had so much fun playing soccer with each other in the grass. It made for some great pictures!








Monday, August 25

Working for a Smile

More pictures that are only funny when your daughter is 2

Here is a conversation between Addy and Mom the other day that had us all laughing all night.

A: "Mom, where are my boobies?"
K: "Right here."
A: "Oh"
K: "Those are your private parts, nobody else gets to touch your private parts, except Mommy and Daddy when we take a bath."
A: Thinks about it for a little while, and then starts walking around pointing her hands and saying over and over again, "Nobody gets to touch my private parts!"

The Life of Jackson: Eat, Sleep, Cuddle





Saturday at BG

The Ritners, Simones, and Lees took their weekly trip to Busch Gardens together and the Dads we able to come last week. We took the kids down to the splash zone in the new roller coaster Griffin and got just wet enough to be fun for the kiddos.

Sunday, August 24

Tuesday, August 19

Welcome to Our Life...




Smiles All Around




Fixing a Broken Heart

Addy is happy to report that her future friend, Evey Falwell, is recovering well from her heart surgery last Friday. She had a small hole between her ventricles that was not closing on its own, so the doctors put a 10 mm piece of Gore-Tex in the wall to close it up. The muscle will now form scar tissue around it and they hope to not have to ever go in again. Craig and Sally are doing well after a couple long weeks of praying and waiting for the surgery. Praise God for two healthy friends who have had medical scares in the past month, Evey and Finn!




Here is the whole story from Evey's care page online: "

Evey was diagnosed with Ventricular Septal Defect a few weeks after birth. The hole between the bottom two ventricles of her heart did not close on its own, and after our second visit to the cardiologist, it was recommended that she undergo corrective surgery.

Dr. Francois Lacour-Gayet and his team performed the surgery on Friday, August 15th, 2008. A small gortex patch was sewn over the hole. Scar tissue will begin to form over the hole and she should have no further heart issues depending on her healing process. There were no complications during surgery."

Tuesday, August 12

Another Cousin on the Way!

"With the situation with grandpa I have been really second guessing myself, but I thought maybe some good news would be a good thing right now. I was able to finish my masters degree this week which was a huge answer to prayer, but the real reason I'm emailing is that it looks like I'm going to be a daddy! Kristin and I are extremely excited and expecting an addition to the family February 24th. If you're like our parents, then you've probably been wondering what took so long, but we are very pleased with god's timing. It's been killing me not to tell people until now, but at last the news is out. Kristin hasn't really been sick at all, but prayers are always appreciated. That's all.

Dan (Kristyn's Brother)"

Monday, August 11

Getting Ready for the Summer Games

It has been a crazy week at the Ritner house. After the Deerfield boys left Tuesday night, Dad had a staff retreat day Wednesday, elders Wed night, then left for Va. Beach for a two day Leadership Summit, did a wedding rehersal on the way home Friday, had a meeting and a wedding on Saturday, and we found time for another lunch with a fourth Deerfield baseball player who was in town on Saturday with his family. Oh yeah, then Dad preached on Sunday and led a Missions night....So we are excited about today's day off. Sadly, last week we found out as well that Kristyn's Grandpa Ankerberg is in hospice and is not doing well. His body is fighting some illnesses pretty hard, but they don't think he has much longer to live before he passes away, like within a week maybe. So that has been hard for us as well as Krsityn feels so far away and we try to figure out how she can be there for the service whenever they are. Needless to say, not many pics taken this week, but here are some videos and one of Jax in his new uniform.

If you want to check out yesterdays sermon, it is here, (Right click on it to download the mp3)



He is smiling at Mom all the time now, but still is giving Dad the cold shoulder. Must be a Mom/Son - Dad/Daughter thing. Addy always responded to me more at this stage too.





Monday, August 4

Boys of Summer




Sorry for no posts about Jaxx, the camera has been hijacked by me and my old baseball players from Deerfield who came out to visit this weekend and play some Williamsburg Gold. Max, Mike and Jeff all played for me as 9, 10 and 11 year olds on my travel team. We have had a great time at the pool, playing two rounds of gold, taking them to Chapel, eating out and sleeping in. They leave tomorrow night and then Dad has to get back to work writing a sermon for Sunday. Not nearly as much fun as my golf camp vacation.



Wonder how someone gets this nasty playing golf? Click on the video below. Peer pressure gets the best of Mike.