Our Fall Harvest

This year Ryan planted pumpkins and gourds in his parents' garden (we didn't have room in ours!) We have never done this before, so we weren't sure how many we'd have. Boy were we in for a surprise! On Monday we harvested our crop and have enjoyed using them to decorate our home for fall (okay, Jennifer has enjoyed this part more than Ryan!) Nonetheless, we are definitely in the fall spirit!

NC Weekend

We spent this weekend in North Carolina for a long overdue visit with Scott, Beth and the kids. We arrived late Friday night just in time for a quick hello before going to bed. Saturday morning started early by going to Grady's soccer game - Grady's team, the Crushers, won 7-0.We spent Saturday afternoon at the Burlington Carousel Festival - a festival/arts & crafts show. Later that day we hung out around the house. Jennifer and Beth decorated and rearranged parts of the house, meanwhile I worked hard playing with the kids. The evening was topped off with a Mint Oreo milkshake from Cookout - a must!Sunday kicked-off early as well as we headed off to church then capped off the weekend at Olive Garden before making the four-hour trek home. A great low-key weekend with family!

Paying Mom a Visit

Today Jennifer and I traveled to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in Richmond. We went with mixed emotions not really knowing what to expect and somewhat nervous of the situation with mom's immune system and not wanting to pass any germs or viruses along to her.

Even though I've seen mom in the hospital setting multiple times in the past - it's never something that's easy. However, as we washed our hands just outside of mom's room (just to be extra cautious - I think I scrubbed all the way up to my arm pits) we could hear her and see her as she talked with Len, her nurse - she seemed fine. Other than all of the cords, wires and monitors that she was hooked up to she seemed like her 'ol self.

We spent much of the morning and early afternoon with her talking, making laps around the halls, helping with computer "issues" and packing up mom's things in preperation for yet another move to a different room.

It was a great day - I think sort of a comfort and relief on all sides. From our view point by getting to see mom and know that she's in good hands and doing okay, and from mom's view point I think it boosted her morale by having her mind taken off of the situation for much of the day.

It was amazing how nice, helpful and caring ALL of the nurses and hospital staff on her floor were. They're all so genuine. We didn't want to leave mom by herself, but with folks like these it made it much easier.

All-in-all mom is doing really well (in my lay-man's opinion), hopefully the worst has come and gone - we keep praying that it has and that the donor's bone marrow is working its magic. Like mom says, "we'll just take it one day at a time!"

Trip to NYC

The Big Apple

Our big vacation this summer was to New York, New York - the "Big Apple." This is one huge "apple." Being my first trip I was easily amazed by everything from the subway to the summit of the Empire State Building. Everything is bigger, busier, louder and more crowded than any place I've visited before. Yet, it was beautiful.

We traveled with Jennifer's parents, Dennis and Mary Jane. This made Jennifer's second trip to NYC and as for Jennifer's parents, like me, they too were first-timers.

I'll never forget my first NYC taxi cab experience (actually my first time ever in a taxi) - let's just say I'm somewhat surprised to have survived. "Oh, Ryan you're being dramatic," you might say - well, 0-53 m.p.h. in 2.0 seconds down streets and through openings that I wouldn't try to fit my bike into...you might have to change your drawers too!

A big reason for making this trip was to visit one of Jennifer's best friend's, Leah, who had moved to Manhattan earlier in the summer. Leah was gracious enough to let us stay at her apartment and also served as our NYC tour guide for much of the time. Let me just say, "Thanks Leah!"

To make a long story short, we were able to squeeze all the major "touristy" things in to our schedule, plus with the help of Leah we were able to experience some things that most tourists don't get to do, such as have a picnic dinner in Central Park.

Quick summary of what we did: Chinatown, Little Italy, Mama Mia on Broadway, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, NBC Studio tour (went on Nightly News and Today Show sets), NY Yankees game (vs. LA Angels, Yanks won 14-9), Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Financial Distric (ground zero), and Empire State Building.

We had a great time! NYC - a great place to visit, but sure was glad to be home.