The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Though every night is a mini date night for Stephen and I - in our living room, Uriah asleep, snuggled on the couch with a glass of chocolate milk, cookies, watching our latest tv show addiction, or curled up in bed reading Harry Potter together - actual dates nights are extra fun and very cherished. I am still enjoying Stephen's free weekends (as I know he is, too) and am taking full advantage of his time and these summer nights.
Gail came over to babysit (and bless her heart for putting up with Uriah's new found voice and scrrrreeeam) so Stephen and I could get out. Just a few blocks from our house is the Boise Little Theater and the sign out front has said 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' since we moved in. Stephen and I read the series together before we were married and thought biking to a play (of a story we love so much) was much more of a memorable date night than driving to the movies. The entire cast was 18 and under, and it was marvelous! It was short and sweet and had us smiling and laughing the whole time. We biked to the Co-op for some necessary dessert when it was over and finished our out of the ordinary date night as we finish every night - snuggled on the couch in our pjs with a sleeping babe eating ice cream by the pint. Our life may be a simple one, but we are blessed and I am happy.

just keep swimming

While exploring Boise, we found ourselves at a local pool on a hot Saturday afternoon. It took Uriah a little bit to warm up to the water, but, as always, he loved it! We splashed in the kiddy pool, swam around in the deep end with him, and basked in the sunshine people watching - he loved watching the bigger kids run around!

I love having Stephen free on the weekends (for now) to spend time as a family. I love so much that this time came during these warm summer days where we get to get outside and explore! It is so fun to watch Uriah experience all these new things. We're so grateful we live in a city that has so much to offer.

P.s. how cute do my boys look in their matching swim trunks?!

P.p.s. in reference to the title of this post, were you all aware they're making a Finding Nemo II called Finding Dory?! SO excited!

two years

Last Thursday, Stephen and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary. Two years! ...Has it only been two years? I feel as though I have known and loved this man my whole life... Our adventures started the day we got married and have yet to cease. We have been through so much together and still have so much to look forward to. Marrying this man was the {first} best day of my life and he has been there to share in all the other ones since, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Stephen got home around 4 and my cousin Gail arrived just after to babysit for us. We biked to the Boise co-op to fill up our backpack with dinner, dessert and wine, and biked through downtown to the river. We had ourselves a quiet and romantic picnic dinner, riverside on the most beautiful evening. We talked, talked, talked about the last two years and shared many smiles and laughs. We continued our bike ride over the river and through campus before heading home to our sleeping baby boy. 

For our wedding, our friends John and Steff Winder made us a beautiful wood wine box with a bottle of Oregon made wine. The gift is a continuing one. After our wedding we put our vows into the box along with a letter to the other - a love letter. Each year on our anniversary we'll open the box, drink the wine, reminisce over our vows, share our letters, put a new one in the box to be read the following year and a new bottle of wine representative to where we celebrated our love that year. It was a beautiful and thoughtful gift... Last year, though, our wine box was in a box on a barge on its way to Seattle while we were celebrating our anniversary in Alabama. Instead of breaking it out when we got to Seattle, we decided to hold out until this anniversary... It was the perfect addition to our evening - rereading our vows and reading of our feelings for each other two years ago - feelings that have only grown since.

"Allison Karly Ryan,
You are beautiful! Before I make my vows to you, I want to thank you. Thank you for your commitment to our relationship. I have never had a doubt in your dedication to us. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family; I like them a lot. Thank you for being willing to go on this adventure of life with me. We aren't settling down, we won't have a house for a long time, but wherever we are together, that is home; you are my home. Thank you for wanting to be the mother to 4, 5 or 6 of our children. I know I make fun of you for having a piggy back that says 'baby money', but it makes me so happy to know our children will have the best mother to tuck them in at night. Thank you for letting me be a part of your honest pursuit of God. It's been amazing to see you grow in Him. Having faith in uncertainty, questioning and learning. My own faith has grown so much through you. Most of all, though, thank you for loving me. That is what drew me to you. That is how I knew you were my one. And in love is where I make my vow to you. I don't know if you have ever looked at the 'to-do' list on my phone, but there are two things that never get removed - to pray, and to love my wife. I know they sound like simple things, but it's amazing how easily they are forgotten in a stressful moment. So with God's help, I vow to love you every day, to give myself to you as it says in Ephesians 5:25 - 'In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies'. This isn't just one vow that will fade into memory, but loving you is the top of my to-do list every day, above school, above myself and anybody else. Because you are my one, my only, my wife, forever and a day with all my heart, I love you, Allison."

"Stephen,
I have watching you accomplish so much, and will continue to watch you excel at even more. You are going to become a doctor, and an amazing one at that. You are going to change lives and save lives. But know this...you started with mine. You saved my life. In an "Eskimo" shirt and skinny jeans, with gorgeous blue eyes, a killer smile and huge, loving heart... There you were. You, and this day, are what I have been waiting for, Stephen. You have been mine long before I knew who you were. I have loved you my whole life. How lucky and blessed I am is a fact I can't seem to get over. Never, have I met a man as loving, honorable, thoughtful, sincere, incredibly handsome and remarkable as you...my husband. And as your wife, by your side, this day and every day, I vow to... Madly and deeply and unconditionally love you to the end. To pray for you. To learn how to cook something other than 'crock pot chicken'. I vow to cherish you and value you. To be your number one face and your very best teammate. I vow to choose textbooks over sleep and study sessions over dinner dates. To support you. To encourage and inspire you, always. To honor and admire you. I vow to treasure in my heart all the wonderful things that make you, you. You, Stephen, are my seagull, my Eskimo, my giraffe. You are my one and only, my other half, my very best friend, my happily ever after. For forever and a day, with all my heart... I will love you."

parents and paddle boarding

Our first weekend here, my parents and sister made the drive up from Pocatello to see us in our new house. Though the three hour drive took them five (thanks, Harper!) and dinner was cold when they finally got in, I was very happy to see them! Harper is changing far too fast for my liking and I hate that I'm not always around to watch her grow, but I'm excited about the opportunities to see her more now that we're living so much closer! Gosh she's just so dang cute!

On Saturday morning we met up with my family at my Grandparent's house where they were staying. We had breakfast together, put the babes down for their morning naps, and I headed out with my dad and Stephen to buy us a couch! No more ugliest loveseat from Anchorage! Yay! We loaded up our new aviator brown leather couch (!!!) and met back up with mom and Ashley to feed the babes and do some relaxing. We then drove over to Caldwell (where I was born) to spend the afternoon with our childhood best friends - the Favillos. Brooke is here on summer vacation from college, Kristin finishes nursing school in December, just before getting married and moving to Chicago, and Janice and Gino had the day off - they're a busy family and it's hard to catch them all in the same room at the same time so I was very glad to see them! Brooke and Gino got to meet Uriah for the first time, and of course everyone loved watching Harper play and babble, it'd been a long time since they'd seen her and just as everyone always is, were so impressed with how smart she is! After lunch with them we drove into Boise to deliver our couch and hit the water (the only event of our weekend that I got pictures of). My parent's bought their paddle boards last fall and pretty much always have them in their car in case they drive by water. I've been three times with them, now, and it's always fun. (Though, last time I was attempting to show up Stephen with my yoga moves... on an inflatable paddle board... annnnd I fell in. Not so much fun. Stephen always chooses to jump in on his own, crazy boy.) It was a beautiful evening on the dock with perfectly clear and steady water. Harper went out with papa and momma a few times and did so good! I think she really liked it. And I LOVE her in that life jacket! We parted ways that night to meet back up on Sunday for a walk to Hyde Park for lunch and a trip to Target (because how can you not go to Target?) My family left before dinner time and it, thankfully, didn't take them five hours to get back home. Stephen and I enjoyed the rest of the evening with our family of three, soaking up all the Stephen would could get before he started school ...work? (Seriously, I don't know what to call it!) the next morning.

Thank you for coming to town, family! We loved seeing you as always and love that we'll get the opportunity to do it so much more, now. Thanks for your help in getting our couch and fixing our couch, dad, and thanks for loving us and our baby boy so much, all of you!

Our Boise Fourth of July

Stephen didn't have to start school ...work? I don't really know what to call it and his new crazy busy schedule deserves a whole post of its own to explain... But, either way, he didn't have to be there until Monday so we had one whole week to explore Boise and spend time as a family. We live in the most perfect neighborhood for walks - three different parks within 6 blocks, the Boise Co-op one street over, Hyde Park shopping district a five minutes walk away (restaurants, antique shops, ice cream parlors, coffee shops...), and two blocks away from downtown (the Capitol building, shopping, dining...) We had so much fun figuring our way around Boise, Uriah in the stroller, Stephen and I hand in hand.

For the Fourth of July we got dressed up in our red, white and blue and headed downtown to watch the Boise parade.  It has been hot, hot, hot in Boise and the 4th was no exception. Searching for shade everywhere we went, we wandered through downtown stopping for a hamburger and frozen yogurt, past the fountain and to the capitol building, where we laid under a tree with our sleeping babe.

We spent the rest of the day hiding from the heat in our house, continuing to set up our home. Before sunset we ventured out again, past all our bedtimes, up the hill at Camel's Back Park. We had an incredible view of all of Boise and the surrounding towns. When the fireworks started you could see them from all over - we got to watch multiple firework shows at the same time! And it was beautiful! And fun :) I loved our 4th of July in our new home, in our new town...

I am so honored to live here in America, and so humbled by the men and women who give up their lives to defend it. We are truly blessed and I am truly grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you... A belated Happy 4th to you all!

Moving day!

It came all too fast, yet I'd been waiting for it and knew it was coming since the day we moved in... This was our most bitter sweet move, yet. We loved living in Seattle - we had an apartment in the most perfect location for us, and we were never at a loss of something to do or somewhere to go. It was new to both of us and we got to experience and explore it together. We brought our baby home to that apartment - that was Uriah's first home... He experienced so many firsts on that living room floor... Yet we have so many friends and family living in Boise. It is also an entertaining city with so much to do indoors and out. We get to be closer to my family in Pocatello and share so much more with them. Uriah will say his first words here, take his first steps here... Bitter sweet. 

We loaded up our giant Penske truck we shared with our fellow WWAMI friends on Sunday and hit the road early Monday morning. Dallin leading the caravan in the truck, Whitney and I with the babes in their car, and Stephen bringing up the rear in our car... with no air conditioning in the 109 degree heat... Bless his heart. A half hour into the drive and we were pulled over on the side of the road with truck trouble. This occurred more than once and became very disheartening very quickly. We wanted to get to Boise! But a couple hours and a few stops later, we were fixed and on the road for good. I loved the time in the car with Whitney - much needed girl time and a lot of entertaining the kiddos. And alas, we arrived! We were each seeing our homes for the first time and were very eager and excited!

And now we're here! Moved in and getting used to things. Which has been easy and enjoyable... I really feel this will be a good move for us. We have so much to look forward to here in Boise and we get to do it together, the very best part.

five.

Our little man is 5 months old, now. He's starting to grow up and not so much out...finally ;) Though those rolls are still ever so present and wonderful! He is rolling over constantly and trying so hard to go somewhere - kicking and moving his arms. He refuses to roll back onto his back, though, even though he's done it before... He is always in a crunch position, trying as hard as he can to sit up and he is so close to doing it on his own! He loves sitting up in our laps and looking around from a new position. He also loves standing and is bearing more and more weight on his legs, occasionally being able to balance on his own. He is smiling and laughing all the time at everyone and everything. He is truly a happy, happy boy! He is starting to go longer between feedings, 2-3 hours instead of 1 1/2 to 2. And that little extra time is very cherished ;) He hasn't had solids yet but is staring, grabbing, drooling, and chomping his gums every time we are around food. Since our Alaska vacation his sleep schedule has been turned upside down and we haven't made our way back to normal, but I'm hoping that since we're here and settled things will start to improve. He is a champ at going down for naps, though! He loves to lay in his crib and babble and play for ten (ish) minutes before falling asleep on his own. He does this in the morning, too - a very happy noise to wake up to :)

hello.

Hello to you, neglected blog. We've moved! (Said with big eyes, eyebrows raised and open mouth!) And finally have our internet set up. Soon to come, an update on our five month old, details of our move, our 4th of July, a weekend with my family, our two year anniversary, exploring Boise, and as soon as it's complete, our home! In the meantime, an Instagram sneak peak at all our recent happenings.