Eagy Family Blog

Woke up Wednesday June 25th expecting a normal day…nope! Ryan had been cooking up a huge surprise! But we had to play Blue’s Clue’s to figure out the surprise. So we each had a “Handy Dandy Notebook” and needed to find three clues…

We were going to McCall for five days! Ryan had already planned the lodging, food, activities…all I needed to do was pack my bags and pack the kids’ clothes. We were off that afternoon!

To our amazement, we stayed in the exact same condo Ryan’s grandparent’s owned in the 80’s and 90’s - Ryan has so many fun memories of spending his summers there! So here are some highlights of our fun:

Wednesday: drove to Cascade, ate in a little diner for dinner, and headed to McCall. Unpacked the necessary things and headed for the beach! The kids loved throwing rocks into the water. Once we were all sandy and wet, we decided it was bedtime for the little ones. Ryan and I finished unpacking and had a super-enjoyable evening looking out our windows at the lake.

Thursday: We had breakfast and then explored downtown McCall. Watched kids practicing hockey in the Manchester Ice Skating Center. Enjoyed Moxies. We spent the late morning/early afternoon at North Shore Beach playing in the sand and splashing around in the lake. That afternoon, Ryan’s Grammy and Papa Chan came for a visit to see their old condo. We loved having them with us and enjoyed dinner at Toll Station Pizza together. Then we walked over to Ice Cream Alley for dessert (which we ended up doing every night after dinner!)

Friday (Katie’s Birthday): Had breakfast at the Pancake House and later went to Ponderosa State Park for hiking and beach fun. More sand castles and water! Put the kids down for a nap at the condo. As we were relaxing, my parents showed up!!! Ryan had planned for them to stay with us the rest of the vacation! My husband knows me…I just love having people around - the more, the merrier! For dinner, we ate at Chapalas and then back to Ice Cream Alley. Afterward, we found this cool courtyard behind Hotel McCall with bocce balls and lots of little restaurants. The kids were playing with the balls and getting super dirty when…Ryan grabs my hand and we head into Hotel McCall. He leads me over to the front desk and says to the guy, “I need to check in, please.” What? So Ryan and I had a night away from the kids while my parent’s stayed with them at the condo! We enjoyed drinks and a yummy cheese plate that evening. And woke up the next day without children! Isn’t he the best?!

Saturday: Ryan and I had a relaxed morning without kids! We slept in and then went to Waffles & More, a quiet restaurant out of the downtown hubbub. Later that day we spent another afternoon at the North Shore Beach playing in the water (it was pretty hot that day!) and getting sand into every crevice again. After naptime, we ate dinner at the Brewing Company, had ice cream and ended another fun-packed day. We stayed up way too late that night with my parents!

Sunday: Had breakfast at The Pancake House (again!) and packed up to go home. The kids had one more lake outing (this time feeding fish!) and then we were off for Boise. Ryan, thank you for blessing us with all these fun memories!! OH, Ryan also had fun presents for the kids each day…sand toys, goggles, bug-catching stuff, cars for the drive home, etc. We had so. much. fun! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Hello, friends!

We have some exciting news to announce!  We are expecting a baby - due to arrive around January 23, 2009!  Gabe is very excited since the due date is right around his birthday (January 20th).

We had an appointment with a great doctor yesterday (Dr. Janowiak) and saw baby’s heartbeat.  The baby even wiggled around quite a bit, so that was fun!  I’m about 10 weeks along in the pregnancy…feeling very tired and often nauseous but all for a great cause.  We would love your prayers in this season for a strong, healthy baby and energy and endurance for a tired mama!

Now we’re off on a surprise vacation!  Ryan has been planning a vacation - lots of behind the scenes work done, I’m finding out!  So we’re heading off today, only Ryan knows  where, for five days of fun family time.  I can’t wait!  Ryan planted three clues around the house this morning so the kids and I could play “Blue’s Clue’s” to figure out what the surprise was.  Clues were: duffle bags and the kids’ backpacks, toothbrushes & toothpaste, and the Suburban.   Put the clues together and we guessed it right…we’re going somewhere, baby!  I’ll blog about it when we get home.

Have a great week/weekend, everyone!

So we’re all packed. I’m pretty sure I remembered everything. Even bought some Subway sandwiches for me and Ryan ahead of time to save us a couple minutes in the car. So we head off from home, grab McDonald’s for the kids’ dinner. Gabe takes one smell of his cheeseburger and pukes. Over. and over. and over. You get the picture, and it wasn’t pretty (and didn’t smell good).

So Ryan and I have to make a last minute decision: do we take the puking kid and hope it’s a fluke thing, all stay home and wait it out, just a couple of us go to Family Camp…We decided Mama and the girls would go, and Gabe and Papa would stay home. Gracious, selfless, positive Papa to save the day! Ryan assured us they would have a great weekend at home - watching movies, going on lots of “dates” and spending quality time together. So we went home, unpacked some of their crucial things, and the girls were off to Family Camp!

We had a great time but missed our guys way too much! Some of Hannah’s highlights were the zip line (oh, this girl has no fear!), hiking around, the nature walk with all the kids, roasting marsh mellows and making S’mores, staying up really late, playing with tons of kids, and all the treats Mama brought to eat. We had a great time, but we were so glad to be back home with our guys. Ryan, that was so incredible of you to stay with Gabe - and you did it joyfully! We realized it was a good choice for Gabe to be home - he continued puking Saturday.

Here’s a glimpse at the fun we had:

Mama and the girls

Hannah and Rylie Dayton

Abigail tasting some forest goodness:

Hannah doing the ropes course

Picking wild flowers

Thanks, Ryan, for sacrificing so we could have a fun time! Hopefully next year we’ll ALL go to Family Camp!!

To the best Papa ever:

Ryan, when I married you, I knew I’d love the husband you would be. You seek to meet my needs, protect me, teach me and show me sweet love. I am blessed to be with you all of my days!

Since I had never seen you in the role of a father, I didn’t know that part of you yet. I knew you loved kids, love your little sisters and wanted desperately to be a father one day. I must say, you have taken the role as a father way beyond what I could have imagined. Your heart toward them is indescribably amazing. I know you love them immensely and will do anything to make sure you have captured their hearts to know the truth of God. And it’s evident in how they so desire your company! I’ve never seen kids so eager to have their Papa with them every possible minute. You have surpassed all my expectations as a father to our kids, Ryan!

Your family adores you! Hope you had a great Father’s Day - you deserve to be celebrated! Love, Katie, Hannah, Gabe, and Abigail