Catching Up

OK...so I have been super busy the last few weeks so I am going to try and catch up. This will be a random entry so I can catch up as quick as possible.

Rebecca has been swimming on a swim team this year and has really become a great swimmer. She peaked at just the right moment to qualify for the state swim meet in the 100 and 50 style races and the 50 back stroke. What is so awesome about Rebecca is that she has my competitive spirit (there is nothing fun about losing!) and Bob's nerves (super nervous about big things.) So Rebecca can't eat the mornings of her meets and we really have to get her to relax before she swims. As she became a better swimmer she started to swim her first race, get out of the pool, throw up and then swim her next race. Poor girl! We are so proud of her and hope that she will eventually keep the competitive spirit but out grow the nervous vomiting!

So our last post had our early Spring weather and now we are onto late Winter weather. Above, Rachel is being a sweetheart and helping me shovel the driveway and below old dog Rusty is enjoying his frolic in the snow which hopefully won't be his last!

Just a cute picture of the oldest and youngest. Neave is getting so big. We can't believe she is almost two. So is really starting to talk and loves to try and sing in church. She almost had the Priest cracking up a few weeks ago. With the talking comes her ability to express her likes and really express her dislikes. She is a gem and we all adore her.

Lastly, we are on the move again this June. We are headed to Washington, DC. We are sadden to be leaving family and the rural lifestyle we are accustomed to as we head to a much bigger city. But keeping a positive frame of mind...we will be close to Bob's sister Jeni and her family as well as my good friend Maria!

Stay tuned for an entry about our awesome trip to Durango, CO!

Two Day Spring

Living in the middle Midwest we thought we might actually get to see some snow this year. Everyone is equipped with boots, snow pants and good gloves. Unfortunately, all we have had is freezing temperatures, frost bite causing wind chills, and WIND, WIND, WIND! Fortunately we had temperatures in the 60s this weekend. These temperatures were very uncharacteristic for this time a year but we enjoyed every minute of it.

We were outside all day Saturday. Rusty was able to enjoy several walks around the block and I think the girls were at the park from 0930 until 1600. We live right across the street so Bob and I are able to monitor the kids from our drive way. Bob and I cleaned up the garage and even had some time to go through boxes of old stuff that needed to find new homes.

Sunday was almost just as nice so we headed outside again for a day of walking, running, parking, playing soccer, scootering, bike riding and a little more garage work. Our family just loves the outdoors and for some sick reason I love to clean the garage. It is a gene I think a received from my father. He too likes to clean the garage. One of the benefits of playing outside is that our kids get along better and sleep wonderfully after a day outside. I love placing four dirty, tired kids in the bath after a day of hard play. Neave was especially cute with the dirt around her mouth. I think I wiped her mouth 100 times but the dirt still managed to creep up to her mouth.

We thanked God on Sunday for the wonderful weather, our time together as a family, and the best weekend we have had in 2009!

Wow, we are already through January. I was going to add a new post to this blog every week and already I have failed. Very naughty. The Bryants had a great Christmas. We were very happy to be able to celebrate together again this year. I was lucky enough to escape the family life for a few days over the New Year. I spent an awesome five days with my good friend Maria and her family in DC while Bob played mister Mom back home.

Maria and I have been friends for 17 years now. We were friends before the boyfriends, husbands, careers and kids. We haven't been able to see each other much so it was nice to spend enough time with her to know she hasn't changed a bit. I enjoyed getting to know her kids Caleb, Cory, and Carter as well.








We had a good time reminiscing about the old and crazy days. We especially loved remembering our times with a other two good friends, Carrie and Colleen. Unfortunately Carrie and her son Lucas passed away last January 6th in a terrible auto accident. It was in Carrie's wonderful spirit that I decided to visit Maria. Carrie had a wonderful way of keeping in touch with friends and she had many. So it was with great joy and sorrow that I travel to DC to reconnect with an old friend.






One of Carrie's other friends thought it would be great if we could all send Carrie and Lucas a message in heaven via balloon at the time of their death on January 6th. So the girls and I joined Carrie and Lucas's many friends around the globe in releasing a balloon in their honor.

So to all my friends out there. Thank you for being a big part of my life. I hope and pray we will be able to be reunited at some point in our future. And always know that I love you and miss you!

We Say Merry Christmas

While driving around town last week I saw a bumper sticker on a car that stated, "We Say Merry Christmas." It was a reminder to other drivers how crazy society has become and how Christianity is attacked more and more each year, especially around Christmastime. But nothing reminds me of God's precious gift more than watching a bunch of preschoolers preform at their Christmas program. One of the many benefits of our children's private schooling is the opportunity for our kids to actually celebrate Christmas as a Christian Holiday without any outside interference. Below is a video clip or Erica's program. It was so encouraging to see these kids sing about Christ's birth with so much heart.

And here is Rachel at her program.

At Christmas every year it is fun for us to remember all of our past Christmases and where we were at the time and with whom we celebrated with. Because we have lived in a variety of places and have celebrated with a variety of different people we have added either new foods or new traditions to our celebration each year. Here is a quick run down of some of the things we do and why.

We eat cheesy corn because it is very good and it reminds us of our friends, The Yelles, from Enid, OK. We also eat a Smithfield ham because it too is delicious and reminds us of our friends, The O'Rourkes, who used to work for Smithfield in North Carolina. We make and eat almond bark and M&M covered pretzels shared with us many years ago by our friends the Prichards in Oklahoma. My friend Brooke gives her kids new PJs every Christmas eve so her kids have something new to wear on Christmas morning. We are doing the same thing with our girls this year. We will be adding three things to our celebration this year. In the UK they have Christmas crackers set on their tables for Christmas dinner. You are supposed to open them and then wear the hat that was inside the cracker at the dinner. We will all be opening crackers and wearing hats at dinner this year in remembrance of all our UK friends. We will also be sipping warm German wine and Irish coffee mainly because they are darn good.

I must now go as our Christmas festivities are underway. We would like to takes this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and we are very thankful to have you as a part of our lives.

How Do I Do This?

So I have broken down and decided it was time to start a blog. For some reason I actually have time today to start one. Please keep in mind that we didn't even have email in college until our senior year, therefore I will not be an expert at this new blogging thing.

Actually, the real reason I have decided to start one is that I am not very good at keeping up with communication. We have wonderful friends all over the world and I think this would be the best way for everyone to keep up with The Bryants.

So here is a quick update on the Bryants.

Bob is loving school, even some of the homework. He had time to coach Erica's soccer team this year. He is waiting to find out where we will be moving in June, that's if we don't stay here one more year.

Melissa is pretty much the same. I coached Rachel's soccer team this Fall. Rachel scored her first two goals and I must say it had to have been my expert soccer/coaching skills. I have been trying to run a lot. I spent a nice weekend back at USAFA in September visiting old friends and attending the Graduate Memorial Ceremony with my friend Carrie's family. It was nice to see them, especially her wonderful daughter Ashley, and it was nice to honor her memory as well. I don't really have much time for anything else, but I have been asked to help with the development of a local Pro-Life organization through our church.

Rebecca is still loving school. She is nine and in the fourth grade at Xavier Catholic School. She played soccer this Fall and is on a swim team. She has won several ribbons at meets.

Rachel is seven and in the second grade and loves school but dislikes homework. She played soccer as well and is swimming on the same team as Rebecca.

Erica played soccer for the first time this Fall and is excelling at swim lessons. She is a very bold girl who also loves school and can't wait to be with the big kids next year.

Neave is now 17 months and thinks she is a big kid. She is starting to talk like crazy and is into everything. I think picking up after her is currently one of my biggest jobs. She is adored by all of us and has become very assertive.