Cincinnati Cyclones - Easton's First Hockey Game

On Saturday night, Riley took Easton to a hockey game. He had a good time and was so excited to go. All day he would ask, "When are we leaving for the hockey game?"

Easton ready to go with his hockey sweater on and tickets in hand!

The Cyclones are a minor league hockey team based here in Cincinnati. They are actually pretty good. Two years ago they won the Kelley Cup and last year they were in the finals.

Of course, Easton was very interested in watching the zamboni. He is into any type of tractor, truck, or large machine with wheels.

Easton took this picture of Riley and Reuben (Riley's good friend). He is getting pretty good with a camera!

This was taken as Riley and Easton were leaving. Riley bought Easton a hockey puck and he is showing it off. I am not too thrilled to have a hockey puck in the house, though. Both boys have already figured out that their plastic golf clubs can double as hockey sticks. They have also found out that a hockey puck can slide pretty fast across wood floors!

26 weeks and baking cookies

I am almost in the third trimester, and I am happy about that! It feels like I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding forever! I have never complained about being pregnant, but it has now been over 4 years since I have had my body to myself. I would say that I have earned a minute of complaining after 4 years, but I am the one who keeps letting Riley get me knocked up. I also still remember the blessing that it is to have children, after our fertility issues. So, this is the last the blog readers will have to hear about it. Riley will probably hear about it again, though. Sorry!

Jessica Gets Creative

I spent a week and a half with my mom while Riley was in Africa. Since, I had her for a babysitter and sewing coach, I decided to try something new. I made Riley a T-Shirt Quilt. I have heard about these kind of quilts and always thought that it would be nice to make one with Riley's high school sports shirts. I am really happy with how it turned out. As you can see, it is also getting used! I have been reminding myself daily, 'I made it for him to use, not to be packed safely in a box and never seen again.'

The Beginning

I used T-shirts from 1995 when Riley's baseball team won the state championship. Being a McCutcheon graduate, it did seem strange to be looking at blue and orange for hours and hours.

Finished!!!

This was a great project to keep me occupied while Riley was gone. It ended up taking way longer than I expected but totally worth it! I also had great help along the way. First was my mom. She was my coach and mentor through the whole thing. She let me use all of her equipment, filled countless bobbin threads, and even had to buy a new ironing board! (I still say that her board was broken before I got it out, though.) I did a lot of the work while the boys were asleep, but she did do quite a bit of babysitting for me so I could work on it. It was so much fun to do a project with her! Riley's mom was a big help as well. She helped me at the beginning with giving me size dimensions and suggestions on what kind of batting to use. She also did embroidery on two of the squares. She put 'Harrison High School' on one, and 'Riley Gibb 1992 - 1996' on another. She also spent hundreds of hours supporting Riley at his sporting events, and without that there wouldn't have been a quilt to make. Pam, a good family friend, was my professional consultant. She owns a sewing shop and makes these for clients quite often. She had great advice, that made it look better than I ever expected it too. She basically taught me how to put it together right. There were so many steps to this that I didn't even think about before I talked to her. She even let me borrow some equipment and cut the strips needed for the binding. What a great resource!

Boys Pulling Faces

Easton and Brady's 1st Snowman

Grandpa helped the boys make a snowman while we were visiting him a few weeks ago. I think it turned out pretty good, considering we started the project in the last 10 minutes of daylight.

22 weeks and a Happy Valentine's Day

The boys treated me good on Valentine's Day. I am still not sure how I feel about not being the only princess in the house anymore. Everyone says that once I have a little girl I won't mind sharing the 'princess perks' with her. I hope they are right!

Easton with his Valentine's Day surprises.

Brady is checking out one of his cards, I don't think he really understood the holiday.

Father and Son Go to Africa

During the last few weeks of February this year, Riley was able to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams. His dad and him took a hunting trip to Africa. Some of the things they did in Africa were: going to a beach, going to a national park, seeing lots of wild animals, and hunting lots of wild animals. Most importantly they were both able to relax, let go of their worries, have fun, and laugh a lot. Riley said that he has never heard his dad laugh as hard or as much in his whole life. Riley came back ready to take on life, and a baby girl!

Cheers!

Tim Contemplating Life

Riley Contemplating Life

Official Trophy Photos

Riley and his Blesbok

Riley and his Fallow Deer

Riley and his Impala

Riley and his Kudu

Riley and his Springbok

Rabbit and Springhare

Tim and his Blue Wildebeest

Tim and his Fallow Deer

Tim and his Gemsbok

Hunting in Africa

Riley and His Hunting Posse

(from left to right)

Little Black Brother: That is the English translation of his name. He is the nephew of the Tracker. Both of his parents are alcoholics so his uncle has kind of taken him in and lets him come out on the hunts with him. His main job was to hop out of the truck and open and close gates, but he would often help with carrying an animal that was too heavy for just one or two men. Riley gave him his baseball cap when he left. He doesn't get paid for any of the work he does so he was super excited to get this gift.

Long Man: He was a new worker and since no one knew his name (and he was tall) everyone began calling him this nickname. They were told that he was "a willing worker but not very clever." Riley can fill you in on some of the not so clever stories, if you are interested. Long Man's job was basically to help carry the animals and really do anything that he was asked to do.

Mondoy: He was the Tracker. His job is basically what the title implies. He helped find the animals that they were hunting for. He could see things with just his naked eye that Riley could not even see with binoculars. He was also responsible for gutting, cleaning, and carrying the animals.

Werner: Werner is a PH or Professional Hunter. He spent the whole week with Riley and his dad. He made sure that they got a shot at all of the animals that they wanted to get. He helped them track, hunt, and set up a good shot of each animal. He also set the animals up for Riley's 'official' trophy photo. That sometimes even meant that Long Man had to carry the animal a hundred yards or so to get the best background for the shot.

Riley: The hunter.

(I loved all of the pictures that had the whole group in them. While Werner is usually asked to be in several pictures, it was pretty clear to Riley that the other guys weren't often asked to be in pictures. Riley said that they were always excited to get in the picture, and by the end of the week they started tucking in their shirts and getting ready for their pictures before they were asked to join them!)

Riley and Werner checking out one of his animals.

Getting Ready to Shoot

The Tracker carrying the animal back to the truck. Riley said that it was hard watching someone else do the work that should have been his, but was often reminded by Werner that this is their job. They would even be offended if he tried to do it for them.

Riley's Dad Getting Ready to Shoot

Random Shots from around the Hunting Camp

This is the lodge where Riley and his dad stayed for the week while hunting. All of the meals and laundry were done for them each day. The truck out front is Werner's, which is what they drove around in while heading out for all of their hunts. You can also see the seat that is mounted on top of the bed of the truck. That is where the Tracker and the other workers rode so they could more easily see out and look for animals.

Riley's Tracker would often climb to the tops of trees to get a better view while looking for animals.

They saw this little boy standing by the road, while they were driving down the street.

Riley also saw these women one day, while driving down the street. Apparently the workers in the back of the truck were trying to get their attention (basically, hitting on them). Which may explain the irritated looks on their faces.

Watermelons

This is a college in the city near where they stayed.

A Graveyard

Riley was told that most of these are new graves (from the past year). The cause of most of these deaths is Aids.

Really Big Earthworm

(Riley picked out all of the pictures that he wanted to put on the blog. I never would have put this one up, it grosses me out!)

Giraffe

If you look at the top of the hill, you will be able to see the neck and head of a giraffe. They saw this while driving into the hunting camp.

Mongoose