Update

I just wanted to give you all an update on the Pancake Feed. We raised over $7,000 which is amazing given the state of the economy. I just wanted to thank my beautiful sister for staying the night and taking care of Ry. Thank you Mom and Dad for all of your praise, love and encouragement and all of the random tasks you helped out with at the Pancake Feed. Thank you Grandpa Ralph for coming down before your big show. Also I would like to thank GG and Papa it was great to see you both. Dewey and Judy for driving all that way. And to Cindy and Lee Gonzales, it means a lot to us that you were there. So to all of you thank you. I was selling tickets and I looked over to see my family taking up several benches. It was a very proud moment for me. Rex has put in countless hours and has done an amazing job organizing it. Most of all I am proud of him. He is an amazing man, husband and Father. I am Blessed!!!!!

Pancake Feed

Rexer is back at work, I am so thankful that he got off a little early yesterday. We have our big Pancake fundraiser that Rex and I put together (with lots of help) for the Fire Department this Saturday. Rex has done such an amazing job this year. It is really exciting to be so involved with our community. So far the money we raise will help about 440 children. We are expecting to have about 500 this year. We have a new partnership with Sumner Police and they will be providing about half the gifts this year. This will free up some money so we can help with other things for families like gas, motels rooms, blankets and prescription drugs. This project is a huge undertaking, but totally worth it. We have done a lot of advertising in the local papers and we have a huge banner across main street in Sumner. It is always amazing to me how generous people are. Times are hard for everyone, but people are still giving and wanting to help in any ways they can. There is this great corner store in Sumner that every year gives $200. They are so faithful. Last year we made about $8,000. I just wanted to thank everyone for all of your support and encouragement. Rex and I get to shop for the kids and see the families response when they receive the gifts. It is an amazing thing to see the look on the parents faces when they realize that they will have gifts to give their children this year.

My Family

Now it is my turn to write in this wonderful blog/journal that we (Cin) has created. I absolutely love to do this. It is an opportunity to share with everyone that doesn't get to be in our everyday life. So, that said here is my blog.
I finally went back to shift work on Nov. 30 2008. It felt like HOME SWEET HOME. I never realized how much I had missed being on shift work. To be back and a part of the brotherhood was very nice. I had people calling me from other stations telling me that it was nice to have me back on shift. That felt really good. But I MISSED MY FAMILY MORE THAN ANYTHING because I ended up doing a 72 hour shift. My normal shift was Sunday and Tuesday but there was an opportunity to pick up a 24 hour shift on Monday down in Sumner. The 72 hour shift wasn't bad but being away from my family was hard. I really missed them a lot. I missed playing with my son and just sitting and talking to Cin. My love for my family has grown even greater than I could have even imagined. ( And yes I have tears in my eyes right now). God has blessed me in may ways and I can not even imagine what is to come. I thank God every day for the many blessings he has given to my family.
During my 72 hour shift Cin had come by the station a couple of times and I got to see my beautiful wife and my little man. I enjoy them coming by the station. It makes me feel proud and honored to have my family come to my other home and for them to get to know my other family. The guys at the fire house are great and our department is very family oriented. Sometimes family members will come and have dinner with us or just stop by to say hi. It is really nice that we can work at such a great place that allows things like that. In fact on my last 24 hour shift Cin came by and dropped off a freshly baked pumpkin loaf. That did not last very long. The guys from the other stations were there and we all devoured it. So finally the end of my 72 hour shift came to an end I was off to wild land training. I was only there until noon but I could not wait to get home. In the 72 hours I was at work Ryan had picked up speed and awareness. I could not believe how much he had changed in the 3 days I was gone. It is crazy how fast they grow. I cherish every moment I can with my family because if there is one thing I have learned so far in life is that it can all end in a blink of an eye. We take a lot for granted and that is normal. But I try everyday to take a step back and watch and enjoy the small things because who knows when it will be your last. Try to enjoy life to the fullest and do things that you want and enjoy. Life is precious and is a gift from God.

Pull ups

So after Ryan's bath tonight I could hear both Rex and Ry laughing hysterically in the bathroom. I was drawn to the laughter and went to inspect. I found Rex holding Ryan and he was doing mini pull-ups on the bar that holds that shower curtain. I am not sure where Rexer comes up with all of these crazy ideas. I never new he was so creative. I guess as a parent you will do anything to get a smile or to hear your child laugh. This is not the first time that they have turned our bathroom into a mini gym. If you all did not know the towel rack also can double as a chin up bar. I think it is so amazing that they both are entertained by the simplest things. So of course we took about 10 pictures and had to video tape it. Someday Ryan is going to be so embarrassed by us and all the pictures that we take. But until then we will continue to snap shots like this one!!! Hope you all enjoy.

Call the Fire department

So last night before I went to bed I started the dishwasher. I was on the phone with Rex and I had noticed that the dishwasher was really loud. We continued to talk and I did not think anything about it. Once I hung up the phone I noticed that it was quite, good I thought whatever was wrong with the dishwasher had fixed itself. I laid in bed trying to get to sleep. I could not stop thinking about the dishwasher. So finally after about 5 minutes of me trying to convince myself that nothing was wrong I went downstairs to check out the dishwasher. I am so glad I did. When I opened the dishwasher door smoke came pouring out. I make a majority of Ryan's baby food. I put it in little containers to store it. One of the plastic containers had fallen and melted. It smelled sooooo bad. I was unsure what to do so I called Rex. He proceeded to ask me several questions and than asked if I wanted station 12 to come and check it out. Everything was fine, but I thought it was just humours. I could just imagine the ganter that would go around the department.

Today is an interesting day. Rex is on the last day of his 72 hour shift and he just called to let me know he has a wildland class tomorrow. That means that he will not be home until about 5pm and than back at work for another 24 0n Thursday. I am so thankful for the overtime, but it is so quite around this house without him. I love being a Fireman's wife, but sometimes it is so lonely. I have to be independent and do a lot of things that he normally does. Like taking out the trash and feeding the dog It is a weird feeling to know that I have to be able to survive without him. I had lunch with the Gonzales family and Grandpa Ralph, but it is not as much fun with out Rex. We got our Christmas tree on Saturday and decorated a little around the house. I have finished all the decorating, the weirdest thing is that Rex has not seen any of it. Today we went and saw him at work and he started to cry when he saw us. He loves his job, but he loves his family more. I am thankful that Ryan has been sleeping through the night and taking good naps. That makes it easier on me. I never realized how much Rex misses out on until we had Ry. Prospective I guess. Ryan discovers or does something new everyday and 72 hours is a lifetime to a child. I also miss him like crazy. So I pray that he gets home early tomorrow and that the next 28 hours fly by.

Pancake Feed

Just a reminder the East Pierce Fire and Rescue Pancake Feed is on December 6th at Station 13 in Sumner. It is from 7am to 12pm. Hope to see you all there!!!

Go little guy go!!!

As a parent you are always excited when your child reaches the next milestone. It is exciting to see your child figure out the world around him or her. Well needless to say Ry started to crawl. He has been moving around pretty good for a while, but on Thanksgiving he really started to take off. It is insane how fast he goes. While setting up the Christmas tree on Saturday I sat him down so I could run upstairs to grab a diaper. By the time I got back he was pulling on the tree. I am so thankful that he has reached this big milestone, but boy we are in trouble.

Christmas Tree

We went and got our first Christmas tree for our new house. It was a lot of fun. Julie had found a place close to there home in Gig Harbor. We were all excited to support the local tree farm, but when we got there it was not what we had expected. I am not kidding we drove up and about 95% of the trees were the same size as Elisha. It was so funny. The girls thought it was a blast because all of the trees were little. Some how we all found our trees, but we had to hunt for them up hills and through mounds the dog poop. The Gonzales family found their tree first at the top of the hill. And I am not kidding we found our tree at the bottom of the hill in the corner and Mom and Dad's was somewhere in between. Julie and Rex must had steeped in dog poop like 3 times each. So on the way home in the truck it smelt like dog poop and tree sap. It was one of those days that everything was so funny that almost everyone almost peed their pants. Once home, we put up our tree and and of course a fire hat was the first thing to go on our tree.