The Rykers

Christmas in Va

2008-12-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

Auntie Shannon and Cousin Sandy

The Sling: the lifesaver

my little drummer boy!

lifesaver #2: bouncy seat.

"Wessie" with Grandpop

Good things come in moose-y packages

ending a long day with a bath Va style: in a bucket!

Thanksgiving 2008 (Thankswessing, Moosegiving, Thankmoosing)

2008-11-30T18:54:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving, Ryker Style.

he's always examining things

Wes & Grandpop

"No more ice cream?!"

Wes Ryker... aka "Lil' Stinker"

words to a song I sing about him:
"I'm so cute, look at me, I'm so
cute, 1,2,3!" Yeah, I know, I've
written more insightful songs

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

Princess and the Pirate... too bad they are cousins...

a fresh tattoo....

Talbott 40th Wedding Anniversary...and more Wes pictures!

2008-10-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Happy Couple- 40 years and a few days in the making

Uncle Tom

Auntie Mimi

"Naked Time!" a crazy way to calm gas pains... I should write a book.

Auntie Shannon!!

Riley's First Birthday Party

2008-09-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Mills' residence was transformed into a Fall Wonderland for Riley's party

Riley with her betrothed, Jude

Ricky, Jude & Corinne Sawkopf

The usual September day: sweating in the afternoon, freezing in the evening.

Careful... you are about to witness incredible amounts of glitter.

Obviously, Wes was doing something cute... like always

Ricky to Tammy: "Get off Tammy! This ride is only for kids" "You first Ricky" "No way, I'm not missing this!!"

no caption necessary here.. we all know what REALLY happened

(photos by the Great Mark)

Wesley Charles Ryker, 4 weeks old

2008-09-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

a little bit about the nursery first...

now to the main event...

some of Wes's many faces...

He loved the photo shoot!

I love these two-- it's like he's conducting music

All photos by Mark Talbott

Wesley Charles Ryker

2008-08-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

Insert sanitized version of childbirth here. No one needs to know the truth.

Rick is cute. Wesley is even cuter. Discuss.

Proud granddads can't wait to teach Wes about fishing and radios.

TOP 10 LIST: THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BEING PREGNANT

2008-07-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

10. When in awkward situations at work where I need to answer quickly and actually think, I can just say “ooo- the baby is kicking!” and the problem is forgotten by all.

9. I don’t have to pick up a piece of paper that I drop. Someone else is required to get it, even though they are across the room.

8. I can have 2nds (and 3rds!), spill it all down the front of me, talk with my mouth full, AND no one thinks I’m being a hog

7. No more zippers, buttons, snaps. Sweat pants on a Wednesday is acceptable work attire.. and no one dares to say a word.

6. I don’t have to politely cross my legs like a lady.

5. Instead of men talking to my chest, they talk to my belly.

4. It’s ok to sit down… whenever, wherever I want.

3. Anything I need is brought to me.

2. Men no longer attempt to impress me, I tend to scare them

1. Baby loves ice cream. He is required to have some at least once a day.

Baby Shower!!

2008-07-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Even though I tried to get all of these photos in a logical order- my attempts are futile. So- we'll start in the middle of the shower- this was one of the best gifts- a hat with "YKI" on it. If you don't know, you don't know.

My hat of bows, fat arms, and a little cha-cha

Oh yeah-- Baby Ryker will be a lady-killer.

The outside of the "barn"

Mom & Dad. (oooo, that sounds strange)

Chelsea is my co-founder of the "Feed the Preggo's" initiative.

The VA girls- Chelsea, mom, and Ingrid

The planners of this awesome shower- Heather, Tammy & Shannon. They all did such a wonderful job!

Men put to good use.

Shanna with Caitlin

One of the essentials of a Sussex County event- dead animal on the wall

Baby Riley with family

Don't worry- his hands are clean. (he washed them after picking this hot dog up off the ground)

Andrea & her loot

"awww" "ooooo" "how precious!" .... yeah, I think I actually said ALL of those things REPEATEDLY. Oh well.

Heather explaining the game

I really enjoy being fat. What great photo op's.

Getting into the game!

Baby Broesder!

Tammy, Andrea, Heather, & Chelsea

I love NJ! This is the view right across the road from my shower. There are a lot of lakes up here, so I really forget what the name of this one is. "Swampy??"

One of the awesome favors for the Beach Theme baby shower!

I thought the awesome invitations that Shannon made would be very hard to beat. (I kept hearing about them as the "best invitations I've ever seen!") This baby shower lived up to the invites- everything was planned out perfectly and everything was SO well done. Good job to Heather, Tammy, & Shannon!!!

Rick preparing one of the most important parts of a good party (for some reason I can't figure out how to post pictures in order. I put them on in a certain order, than they come out all jumbled)

WHOA! Big belly!

IT'S A BOY!!!

2008-04-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Here's our boy! Sorry- I'm not going to post pictures of the... ummm "proof" that it's a boy. This is a side profile- and you can see his hand flailing around because of all the orange juice I drank before going in.

A bottom view of a foot. (also was flailing around)

Top view of the head and hands- maybe a knee cap.

And... my absolute favorite picture!

Baby Ryker!

2008-02-12T05:16:00.000-08:00

Well here are the first pictures of our baby where it looks
like more than a lima bean. See- two feet!

Little fingers!!
Due date is August 28, 2008. 08/28/08. Wouldn't that be cool?
We have a few names picked out- very difficult to do, by the way. I find out in April if it's a boy or a girl-- can't wait!!

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-28T09:34:00.001-08:00

Shannon + Mark + Andrea = Thanksgiving fun!

Introducing: Riley Addison Mills!

2007-11-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

Tammy- about 2+ weeks away from the arrival!

Just 2 hours old!

Uncle Ricky

A Wonderful Wedding

2007-08-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Rick and I had the opportunity to attend my boss's wedding. It was awesome!

the lovebirds....

this is one of the flower arrangements that was balanced on top of a thin glass vase which was above eye-level at our tables. Crystals hug off of it. Even without the stand- it still takes up most of my dining room table!

The bride's cake.

the groom's cake!

This is the "lounge" tent - set up like a night club with big screen TV's, a black and white dance floor, desserts around the whole perimeter of the huge tent, fog, huge- low setting louge ottomans, and of course great dance music

this is the main tent- you can see the chandeliers, and the flower arrnagements here. When the bride and groom came out to the floor, small fireworks were shot out from the tops of the flowers!

Vacation 2007

2007-07-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

New Jersey's Best Kept Secret: Ocean City, NJ. Much different from OC, Maryland- it is a quiet, dry island- where in this picture of Rick on the balcony, you heard nothing but crashing waves from the ocean behind us, and summer bugs from this field in front of us.

Got a little Captain in ya?

First night there- enjoying the balcony

Chief Chippewa's start to a painful, yet colorfully rewarding week

Rick's dad came down for a few day visit- and we just had to get a picture of the trucks. (Believe it or not- The Ford is parked crooked! -- Rick's Dad!)

The first "YOU KNOW IT" of the week.

After hours on the balcony, we decided to take a midnight swim. Here's Heather washing off the salty water. OOPS- she left her clothes on! hahaha

Midnight lifeguards

Chuck & Larry... haha, no Rick and Joe B.F.F.

According to Chris, Mike "doesn't just turn heads, he breaks necks!"

Joe and Heather, getting ready to parasail.

Rick and Andrea- on the parasail boat

Heather, Dick, and Andrea

Labels out! Rick, Dickie, and Joe- from the Northern Chippewa Tribe of Sussex

Mike on the ski

Rick and Andrea parasailing

gettin' dipped!

Joe and Heather--- priceless expressions

Memorial Day Weekend, 2007

2007-06-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here is another adventure for the YKI RIVER CREW!

"Labels Out!"

Nothin' beats a good slap on the sunburn

Ok- Captain Speedo is this old man who "patrols" the island on his jet ski. Joe decides to have a littel chat with him

Dakota made friends quickly

Danny and Shanna

Rick and Andrea

Dakota Weiss

Joe & Heather Weiss

YOU KNOW IT. Three words that sum up the philosophy of the YKI River Crew. YKI is a group of friends who know how to have a good time.... on the water. You Know It!

Step One.

Step Two

Joe and a very sunburnt Andrea

Danny and Rick

Christmas 2006

2006-12-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

Once again, Dylan gets a gift where everyone has more fun with it than he does. Here we have Tammy, Rick and their dad.

Andrea takes a spin on the jet-ski video game... poor Dylan

Rick shows us how it's done

Trick Or Treat!

2006-12-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

Dylan and his Batman costume!

We went trick-or-treating around our development of townhouses. The key is to have me hold the mounds of candy in a backpack, while he walks up to the house with little-to-nothing in the bag, with a sad face.... works every time...

I think this was a Christmas picture- but either way, Avitar is the coolest.

Putting together Dylan's present-- and look who is actually putting it together!

This is our fireplace that rick converted from a closet. The door to the left goes downstairs, and it was a brown, boring door.

Around the House fall pics!

2006-11-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

living room and dining room... cozy..

In the background is my "library cabinet." My favorite part is the middle left shelf- a tribute to grandparents.

My garden! You see the townhouse next to ours though- my flower bed ends at the end of the wall block

cozy little living room

YKI River crew- at the Island

2006-07-31T06:25:00.000-07:00