Sweet Glory = Nintendo DS

Life is all about big days. And when you're a kid Christmas is THE "big
day". You've waited what seems like eons, praying everyday that someone
somewhere will buy you the one gift you've wanted all year long. There is
nothing like seeing a child open that gift. Sweet sweet glory!

My mom the nurse

Mom I couldn't be prouder of you. You went back to school in your 50's and
through so many tribulations you prevailed. Today you are pinned. Monday
you started as a Nurse Graduate. Soon you will pass your boards and you
will officially be a Registered Nurse. You are the amazing. You inspire
me. I want to be more like you. Thank you for teaching me to trust in
myself and that through hard work and God's plan anything can be
accomplished.

I love you mom.

Rob

Ryan's first haircut

Finally the big day has arrived. I have finally against my entire families wishes convinced Jessi that Ryan needs a little boy haircut. Not that I don't think his wispy, blonde, baby curls aren't beautiful but when I caught him singing a broken baby version of Achy Breaky Heart I knew that his toddler mullet starter kit had to go.



Nana came down from St. Joseph to visit last night and we all decided to load up the Honda and head to Sportsclips. We had an awesome barber named Jenni who was also the assistant manager.



Jenni placed some Voodoo Hypnotic Mojo on Ryan and he sat in his chair spellbound and unable to move or blink.



After a few minutes the spell started to wear off but amazingly Ryan was still being good. Yes we are positive that we are the luckiest parents in the world.



Ryan could not have been better. He never even made a peep and after a few minutes his hair was cut. Like the phoenix Ryan's babyhood was buried amongst the ashes only to be reborn as a little "man". Strong, proud and free of any 90's trademarks.

Just because I can

I love posting cute baby pics. And yes, until he can argue otherwise
he is still my baby!

Firetruck!

Ryan got to drive his first firetruck!

Aguirre Christmas

Though they probably won't read this, I want to thank my second mom
and dad and all of the siblings and neices and nephews I inherited for
14 awesome Christmas's. You've always treated me as family and I just
want to thank you and wish you a truely merry Christmas. My how these
kids have grown!

1st Sunday at1pm dinner at aguirres.

Sent from my iPhone

Gamma

Watching my son with my mom is probably one of the coolest things I have
ever experienced. It is a tunnel back in time where the loving Gamma is a
young mother and the adorable little boy in her arms is me. I have to admit
I envy him just a little bit.

Spoiled

I know you guys think firemen have it a bit too good sometimes. I want
you to know our private chef only cooks us prime rib once a week. Hehe

We were blessed last day to have a friend of Eric's, Mike a chef for
the Herford House, over for a visit. He spent the day hanging out,
shooting the breeze, and dishing up the best meal we've ever seen
inside a firestation. Thanks Mike!

The King

The reigning "King of Cool" Ryan Kingsbury was spotted today at a
modeling shoot on the upper west side.

Super secret santa

Santa has arrived and my best bloggers will know that I received and
sneakily installed our new roman shades in the living room. So revel
in the holidays by keeping this hush hush until she gets home
tonight. ;)

Violet Cooper

Yesterday Ryan and I got the pleasure of visiting our good friends Dave and Adria Cooper at Liberty Hospital. Arriving 12 hours after they did was this beautiful little girl named Violet. You can see in the picture below that I'm already her favorite.



She is absolutely gorgeous. It brings back memories of Ryan when he was born. The bright pink skin and the fragrant smell of wispy, delicate hair (what little he had).

I have this crazy little human being now who runs all over, barks at the dogs, slides and climbs, splashes like a crazy man in the bathtub, loves elmo, dances and bops his head to music on the radio. It's hard to believe he was so small just a few months ago.



Ryan already loves babies and even at a year and a half he was begging me to let him hold Violet and give her a big hug. His bright eyes and mischevious smile as he said "Bay-Be" over and over with his hands out, fingers wiggling, told me that he will be a great big brother.

Thanks

Our good friends the Conklins are moving far far away from us. They are headed back to the UK to start a two-year tour of duty for BATS. They are simplifying their possessions and decided to give Ryan an early Christmas filled with lots of new toys!

Thanks so much from all of us (especially Ry-guy)

Merry Christmas Baby London

Hey James whatcha up to this weekend. Hehe

Blog Renovation

Oh if you haven't heard. We changed the name of the Blog from We3Kings to We4Kings ;)

Halloween Re-Re-Revisited

It's hard to believe that October 31st has passed. It seems like just yesterday... yeah thats the ticket! Ok ok I have no excuse for getting these pictures up some 26 days after the fact but hey they are cute and cuteness knows no time limits. Cuteness is forever.... So anyways sorry this took forever hehe.

Here is our little BATS boy picking up some treats from his favorite Uncle Joe. "You can have either plain M&M's or plain M&M's kid. The peanut ones are all mine!"

Baby Sariah made a bit hit on the BATS runway in her stunning "Fairy Princess" ensemble.

Cheeky Monkeys love their Nana's

The Sweet Sweet Irony of a Dragon on a Fire Truck

Sick baby

So Ryan Is sick this morning. He vomited last night and twice today.
He barely ate half a cracker and only a litle water. Just when I'm
really starting to feel sorry for him I notice him hiding in the other
room.....

The very best

Sometimes spouses remind you how amazing they are. Jessi found me this
super comfy chair on craiglist. Thank you honey!

Nice and Eze

The next morning at 6am we were going to be leaving for our long 25 hour expedition back to the United States. Today was our last day of cruising and enjoying the temperate climate in the Mediterranean. The French Riveria! Home to the beautiful towns of Nice and Eze both completely different. Both so amazing in their own ways.

Our first stop was Nice. I remember my french teacher telling me about the town and how amazing it was. She said that the beaches here are very popular during the tourist season and that they have the second biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the world here.

It was early and we were still a bit tired but they told us we would have some time to shop and wander around an amazing farmer's market while we were here.

Now this was no standard Missouri farmer's market with a few tents scattered around a parking lot and a cotton candy booth for the kiddies. This was a full fledged supermarket under tarp. The smell of spices and fresh fish and flowers permeated the air. It was alive with people everywhere gently haggling prices in french. Laughter and friendliness were alive here. The people were doing their normal morning shopping and taking the time to smell the flowers and to chat with friends as they walked from booth to booth.

As always I was amazed at the selection of fresh fish. Everything caught that morning and brought straight to the table. There is no fooling the people in this coastal town. There wasn't a creature on the table that didn't look ready to hop back in the sea for a swim.

I didn't know this but the french have developed some sort of performance enhancing drug for their mushrooms. A Fungoid Steroid if you will. Look at these things!

One thing we just had to have while we were here were strawberries. There is something about the strawberries in France. They are made to be eaten that day. Maybe even that minute. If left over night they will be a soft fuzzy mess by morning. They are so bright, so red, and so bursting with flavor you will devour boxes of these sweet, tart, berries before you know it.

It was a bit chilly here and Jessi stumbled on a very nice coat/poncho/sweater thing that she absolutely loved. She looks so happy in the picture I decided it needed to be included in the blog.

We scurried to the bus and hopped on for our trip to Eze. On the way we stopped and snapped some pictures.

It's in the low 60's but a gropu of crazy people are swimming down there.

Eze is amazing. They basically built this town as it's own fortification. It is built into a rock hill overlooking the coast. The town is a twisted maze of super skinny streets.

If you marched an army in here, the townspeople would know about it for days before you figured out how to get to the houses. That and the entire army would have to take a breather at the top. This town is STEEP. And of course we had to carry the stroller all the way up. No elevators, ramps, or easy ways up in Eze ;).

There are little shops and gardens winding all the way through the town. It is the model of a medieval city and the autumn season here is an explosion of color.

One last happy picture before we end this life changing journey and head back to parts more familiar.

Helpy helperson

It's funny how much Ryan likes to help out. He always wants to sweep,
mop, mow the grass, rake leaves, fold laundry, put trash in the can,
or any other chore he sees us doing. I really hope he stays like this
when he grows up!

Autumn entertainment

Nana has her little man hard at work

Pisa and Lucca

Ahhhh what sights our eyes have embraced in Italy. What could possibly be left in this wonderful country that would amaze us now? We've seen active volcanos, bodies buried under ash for almost 2 millenia, the ancient city of Rome, the colliseum, the Vatican, we've drank cappucino's and eaten tiramisu. What else?

The tower of Pisa of course!

We started off the tour by heading into the beautiful area of Italy fondly known as Tuscany. We headed to a small town called Lucca. Lucca is a very friendly town with a homey feel to it.

Unlike Pisa it really isn't a huge tourist trap and has several nice shops, deli's, bakeries, and restaurants. Lucca is the kind of town I'd want to live in if I moved to Italy. The architecture was beautiful and the buildings were very interesting.

We had an hour and a half to wander the city so we took in the sights and even had time for some Pizza and Cappuchinos. Yum!

I couldn't help but take a picture of cute little curly haired darling being ridden around on a bike by her daddy.

Next we headed to the town of Pisa.

I'm sure we only saw the highlights of Pisa. There has to actually be a town somewhere but the area we went to had the leaning tower, a church, and a fountain. Other than that there were booths with souvenirs for sale as far as the eye can see.

We did a little shopping and had a nice time getting ripped off by the locals and the not so locals. we saw a few gypsies and snacked a bit. We even got rained on ... again....

The church next to the tower is really beautiful and I was actually able to get a few pictures to come out.

If you ever wanted to get a job as a cool door maker, Italy is the place to go. Cool doors are everywhere. There is quite a market for them here.



And that pretty much sums it up. Fairwell Italy. We will be shoving off tonight for the south of France. In the heart of the French Riveria we will visit the fortified city of Eze and the amazing markets of Nice!