Saturday, October 30, 2010

In a Cage


We put up a baby gate in the doorway going into our kitchen. It's a pretty treacherous area for a little peanut: there's stairs going to the basement and a step down into our little entryway...not to mention all sorts of perils in the kitchen. Needless to say a gate helped with our peace of mind.

Now that Ruby's on the move she frequently camps out next to the gate and gazes into the kitchen. I think she know how much fun she's missing.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

In the Curtains

Ruby's exersaucer is next to a window in our living room. Whenever the curtains are open she loves to play with the sheer and grabs it whenever she can. This was the first time, though, that she decided it would be fun to play in the curtain.


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Bummer

Well, Arizona has pretty much been knocked off the list of possibilities for a job right now. SRTA (the licensing board exam that Bobby's going to take) isn't accepted in Arizona...their website showed it listed, but oops it's not. So unless we get an absolutely, ridiculously fabulous offer from Arizona (which would then persuade Bobby to shell out more money to take the exam there), that won't be where we're headed.

So, now the job hunt continues with Arizona now in dead last (though we're still crossing our fingers that a great job could suddenly pop up there). And it's still a place we might be able to eventually end up...Bobby's checking to see if they'll accept dentists who have experience and then move into the state.

Our trip to Beeville is coming up in a couple weeks and there's also some potential in Austin, TX and some leads in Virginia right now. We'll keep you up to date as we know more.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Inchworm

Ruby's been inchworming across the house for about a week now. She's loved the liberation of going where ever she wants, however, like rolling she now can find herself in some sticky situations. Case in point: this morning I was playing the piano in her room and she was exploring. I wasn't paying attention to her until I looked down and saw her trying to wriggle her way out from under the piano bench. She was having quite a time of it too, what with my feet in the way, the bench's legs and my tote bag, she was getting a little frustrated. Luckily she was able to give me a big smile when I just had to take a picture.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Grandma Berry


Grandma, I just wanted to tell you that I love you so much and hope you feel better!

Love,
Ruby

Friday, October 15, 2010

Rural Rotation...The End

Woohoo! We're done! This week was Bobby's last week of rural rotation and today we're all at home enjoying being a family living in the same house again. This last 6 weeks has flown by, though, and we've had some fun experiences in Cowen, West Virginia and Bobby has loved being in a real practice. He's not so excited to have to return to school next week.

Ruby and I drove down for our last visit on Tuesday. We ate lunch at the Hilltop Diner one last time (Bobby had liver again...there was no way he was going to pass that up!) and we got a shake from Depot Dairy (the hot dog stand in town)and ate it at the Big Ditch Lake. How did it receive it's name? Because as the locals say, "I could walk across that lake!"

Needless to say, it's a beautiful spot and we enjoyed the cool autumn air and the beautiful trees.



Ruby took her last bath in the sink.


And here's a funny face she's been making lately...We call it her little-old-lady face:


We're so grateful to the Hamrick's for their hospitality in giving Bobby a place to stay and a spot roomy enough that Ruby and I were able to come see him during the week. We had a great time visiting with them and getting to know them. They are beautiful people.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Job Search

So Bobby graduates in May and apparently it's a good idea to have a job when one goes out into the world to try and make a living. Who'd have thought? Well, he's been furiously on the hunt for about a month now. We're working with some dental recruiters out west and we're hoping we can find a job in Utah or Arizona, but we'll take what we can get. Case in point: our only real opportunity at the moment is in Beeville, Texas. Hmmm...never heard of Beeville? Neither had we. It's a small town of 13,000 and is in between San Antonio and Corpus Christi.

When Bobby told me about this I was less than thrilled. The town has a Walmart, one grocery store with a couple mom-and-pops stores and that's about it. A few restaurants. And an LDS branch. Not quite what I was expecting out of our new home.

We've got a visit scheduled just before Thanksgiving to get a tour of the town and the dental practice and to see if this is something we could do. Let's just say that there's going to be a lot of prayer involved in this decision, because as of right now I'm not feeling it at all. But, that said, if it's what we feel is right and what our Heavenly Father wants us to do, we'll do it.

So, friends and family, please keep us in your prayers that we'll be able to find work that will be good for our family....and hopefully keep us closer to you.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Piggy Back

We had to do some yard work this weekend and Ruby had just woken up from her nap so we decided to take her along. She hasn't ridden in the Ergo on my back yet, so we gave it a try to see if she'd like it. Did she ever! Much better than riding on the front. She was quite content to look around and see what we were up to while taking it easy on my back.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

First Hair Cut

I've been debating what to do with Ruby's hair for a while now. She's got so much of it! I was trying to decide whether to let it just grow and to keep it back with clippies or to cut it and spare the poor girl of having hair in her eyes.

Well, finally cutting it won out and so that's what we did. Our little girl has just had her first hair cut!

Before:


After:


And yes, those are tears in her eyes. This little wiggle worm was not happy with Daddy holding her still all of the 30 seconds it took to snip her bangs.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Buckwheat Festival

Our neighboring county, Preston, has an annual buckwheat festival. We thought it would be some good country fun to attend and so we went with some friends from our ward, Josh and Allison. It was good times, typical country fair type stuff...you know...lots of fried food, carnival rides and games. And animals.


Yeah, we took a walk through the "Cow Palace"...it was a stinky mess.

But mostly we just enjoyed spending time wandering and talking. And enjoying our cutest little girl. Are you ready for one of the cutest pictures ever? Here you go:


Ruby had a good time. It was later in the afternoon and sneaking up on bedtime, but she was wonderful. She was perfectly content to sit in her stroller and look around at all the hub bub. It was her first festival...I think we'll have to go to another one.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Very Lucky Man

So, I have to say that I am just in awe of my amazing wife. Every time I turn around she is making something from scratch: 5 star quality food (for Ruby and I), super cute stroller blankets, and 2 minute paintings that would take me all day long. She is a beautiful, spiritual, loving woman and I feel so very lucky to have her in my life. Thanks Mom and Dad Somers for doing such a great job with her. She truly is the girl of my dreams.

Rural Rotation...Week 4

Bobby only has 2 weeks left of his rural rotation...are we excited? You betcha! It hasn't been as bad as we thought it would be, but it'll still be nice when we're a family living under the same roof again.

Ruby and I made our weekly visit to see Bobby and here's what we did:

We ate at the Hilltop Diner. It's the only sit down restaurant in Cowen and is actually really good. We went there last week and decided it was our new Theo's (you'll remember Theo's from when we were dating) and returned this week. Bobby had some of the best liver (yuck!) he's ever eaten and I had some really good country fried steak (my brother Rob would die...he loves country fried steak). And we bring Ruby a little tupperware of her lunch and she eats with us. It's a lot of fun.



Then we spent some time in the Hamrick's back yard. Sitting, swinging, talking...it's relaxing and so serene in the evenings.




Despite having to spend time apart this experience has been fun. We've met some wonderful people and seen some beautiful parts of West Virginia. That said...only 2 more weeks!