Summer has come and gone...almost.

It has been many months since my last post. I'm not certain why exactly; it's not that there haven't been major events or milestones to chart...I just had lost the desire to write. I don't really feel the urge to write like I used to now either, but I'm taking a crack at writing again...just to see if the desire comes back.  Perhaps I'll blame it on the new job I got in February...

This is hard.

I guess maybe I could just do a quick rundown of everything that I can remember that happened since the last post in March.

- Tay got off the wait list and into the preschool we wanted her to go to and had her interview for preschool (Franciscan Foreign Kindergarten).
- We made a trip to Cebu as a family of four for the first time, which was EXHAUSTING, but very fun and enjoyed by all. No injuries or burns to speak of from that vacation.
- Had a very very busy Easter weekend, but still managed to get the girls Easter baskets and some funny photos. The thing I remember most about Easter this past year was that the first thing Tay said on Easter morning had something to do with how sad it was that Jesus died, but that He is now awake again! Can't remember the exact phrase she used, but it related quite well to the day. What cued her in? The rosary hanging on my rearview mirror.
- We went to a bunch of baby showers and BBQs.
- We hosted another English camp student while Jeff was gone to Pittsburg - she was wonderful and fun to have around for the week. We also got to hang with some friends from back in the Army days...:) Tay especially enjoyed getting to know some fur-friends.
- The girls had a beautiful photo shoot (albeit chaotic in my mind) with the lovely KWM.
- Took an extremely long trip back to the US. We went to Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire, back to Virginia, and then to Georgia.  Phew! Both girls did very well on the trip, but Ri did get an ear infection (second one) and had to go to the ER while we were in NH.
- While in GA, Tay learned how to hold her breath underwater and swing a few yards! It was amazing how quickly she picked up since we were in the water every day! She could swim as long as she could hold her breath...amazed.
- Ri did take her first solo "step" while we were in GA, but nothing more after that while on vacation. She's getting the hang of it now, somewhat, and has taken up to five steps alone, but I think she's still a little too cautious and prefers to crawl for any distance.
- I got to go FISHING in GA and caught enough for dinner that night with my FIL! SO much fun...hope to do it again soon.
- When we got back to Korea, we had some crazy weather and tons and tons of rain, but thankfully, our home and Beth's home was not affected so work continued through the downpours.
- We got to attend a couple birthday parties, too!
- August was a very very busy month because of work related matters, but the most important thing so far that has happened in August is that Shingil Taylor Ryals - my first born child, my baby girl - started preschool! On 9 August 2011, Jeff and I took our sweet girl to her very first day of school at Franciscan Foreign Kindergarten. The teacher told us that the parents could stay for a bit as the class got started on the first day, but Tay was shoo-ing us out the door after having kissed us a dozen times good-bye. Independent lady. I, on the other hand, was not so fine with all this, but kept it together enough to make it to the car and boohoo all the way home and back to work. :(  My baby girl is growing up.

So, now that we are somewhat caught up with major happenings, I think, perhaps I'll keep up a little better. Maybe short daily or weekly entries will work better for me than trying to remember exactly what happened every day.

Today was Tay's very first "school assembly" where the parents were invited. It wasn't clear on the newsletter if parents really were supposed to come or not, so I went on the off chance that most parents did go, so Tay wouldn't feel like we missed it! Anyhow, I'm very glad I did because when I walked into the hall, she was clearly looking for someone to walk through the door and was so very glad to see me. This was all good and all, but some of those young kids were quite upset at seeing their parents and started crying for their mommies...this, I think, upset Tay as well and she realized she wanted her mom, too...right when her class was to go up and do their little presentation. Well, she did get up there with her little eyes watery, but once their song got started, she went right along and did her part. Afterward, she came back and I gave her a big hug and sat on the floor with her for a bit before taking off to go back to work. Phew. Meltdown avoided. What a milestone!

Tonight is Jeff and my very first open house as parents! Excited and anxious at the same time...