Home and gone...

Chad and I traveled to New Jersey to watch Ryan graduate from Basic Training for the USCG.  It was a short trip.  We were supposed to land in New York at 10:00 Thursday morning and drive the 3 hours down the ocean to Cape May, New Jersey.  Instead we had numerous layovers and landed in New York at 6:00 that eve.  We got our rental and followed our GPS all over the city....I'm not sure where it was taking us?  We are a little confused as to why anyone would live there???  We ended up getting to our hotel just before 11:00 Thursday night.  We were exhausted since we were up at 3:00 to get to the airport for a 5:45 flight.

Cape May, NJ is beautiful.  We got up the next morning and got ready for Graduation.  It was such a exciting, emotional event!  We were so proud to watch the man the USCG has produced, I'm sure I have never been more proud of my son.  He has grown up so much.   He gained 10 pounds and looked amazing (after he shed the government issued glasses )!  Ryan came to the hotel and changed, then we met his father and his family and had a nice dinner.  Then we had coffee and went back to the hotel, we were beat!  We watched TV and Ryan talked on the phone to catch up with all of his friends :)

Saturday we headed back to New York to catch our flight.  Again, why do people choose to live there?  We arrived home with no problems and he had a crew of girls there waiting for him-there was 1 guy :)

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday since he and my niece were home, there were close to 30 people in my house.  Yikes!  Monday he had dinner with his Father and today (Tuesday) we brought him back to the airport so he could catch a flight to San Diego where he will be stationed for the next 12-18 months.  It is so hard to see him leave but he is happy with his choice and anxious to start his new job.  I am happy for his but I'm feeling selfish and like it when he is home.  I was so happy to wake those mornings and know all of my kids were sleeping in their beds.

Here are some pictures from Arlington Cemetery-they put flags on the graves for Veterans Day.

Our agency

For those of you looking for a great adoption agency I would highly recommend WACAP, they were fast, responded to my questions quickly, and were always a step ahead of the paperwork.  I think they were average with cost but were worth every penny.  They also offer waiting child grants up to 4,000.

I received a email recently saying they had a short list of parents waiting because they were all recently matched with their child.  Check them out!  We truly loved them.  If I could ever convince my husband again...  ;)

Pumpkin carving!

Pumpkin carving went so smooth this year.  I hate to admit this, but it has been stressful in the past.

Maybe it's cuz the kids are older.  More mature?

 

Or maybe it's cuz I'm older.  And more relaxed?  Maybe it's because we had a weekend that only had a few projects to do and the house wasn't a total mess?

Maybe it's because Xander wasn't terrified of the gooey stuff within?

It was a good, fun and happy experience.

Xander wasn't afraid until the candles went in.  Then he stared far away from those goofy things!

My girls all have a creative edge to them, with many great ideas!

Here are a few Birthday shots!

Hopefully you have a very scarey Halloween!!!

"Is this Sandra Rice?"

That is how the call from my son came today, the day we celebrated Alexanders 3rd birthday.  I said yes.  "This is SR Ryan Etelamaki calling to tell you I will be stationed on the USCG Cutter Boutwell out of California."  Then there was a silence.  I could tell he was being listened too.  I knew the call would be like this but it was much harder than I anticipated.  I knew I wasn't supposed to aske questions, just listen.  I couldn't help it!  I asked, "how are you?"  Then he said, " I have to go Ma'am."  I told him I loved him and the phone went dead.  I have spent another day with a lump in my throat and tears streaming down my face....

Wow, San Diego.  It's a long way from home.  The weather is in the 70's year round I'm told.  Sounds nice.  The ship he is going to be on frequents Mexico, Dutch Harbor in Kodiak Alaska, Australia and Japan.  There were others too but I can't remember.  It sounds like he is out to sea for 3 months at a time.  They do several missions including law enforcement, search and rescue and national security.  It's an exciting place for a 18 year old to be-but I am feeling sorry for myself, again :(

On a brighter note, Xander had his party today and enjoyed every minute of it.  He got a remote control car, train, clothes, boxing gloves, a fire truck and other things.  He loved opening gifts and yelled, "WOW!" after every gift.  He was so cute!  He is tired and crabby and I am tired and sad!  We had our last football game last night and the bus didn't get to town until 1:00 this morning.  It's only 8:15 but I think it's my bed time.

I'll post birthday pictures soon :)

Halloween at 2??????

Xander is NOT SURE about costumes ;(

He loves his Spiderman undies so we thought he should have a costume to play in.  We had to force him into it...

He is NOT impressed.  At all.

I did get him to sit for a few minutes to take pictures.

Then he peeled it off.  I'm not sure if I should make him dress up for Halloween or not???

Or, if I should find him something without a mask? 

 Whatever he wears, he will be adorable.  Plus, when he starts collecting candy Halloween will be his favorite holiday!

He's on his way.

Wow-this was tough.  We had breakfast together, then snapped a few pictures together before he left.  There were many tears.  It is so hard to let your child go.

His beautiful friend Brialle stopped by to see him off this morning too.

It was such a emotional morning.

I really lost it when the girls, one by one came to say goodbye.

Madeline started to cry Friday, she has taken this hard.  She sat on his bed and sobbed after he left.  She has his pj pants and kept a few of his sweats out to wear.  She loves her big brother.

Here are my 3 favorite boys, together.

Sophia had to be coaxed out of the house because she was really upset.  She didn't want to tell him goodbye.

The girls put together a paper chain so they can count down the days until basic training is over and he can come home for a few days.

Tell me when...

I will stop crying?  It's a different kind of a crying....It feels like my heart is breaking.  I am completely happy for him because I think it's a fabulous opportunity, but I am going to miss him so much.  A part of me is leaving.  I'm worried about his basic training, how will he survive without me taking care of things?  I need to let go but it's so hard. 
The crying is the same as when my Father passed away.  It feels like I can't catch my breath.  Please pray for my boy that everything is okay...

I love him so much.