Easter, space shuttle, and family

Sarah checking out the space shuttle launch

Sarah's Grandmother Ruth and Step Father Gary at the launch.

Riley can't believe how many eggs the bunny left.

Riley fixing his ride with his new tools.

Roxanna is a little bored.

Hello everyone,

There's no time to blog, I'm having too much fun with the babies. Sarah and I met her family at the beach right across from the base to watch the launch. It was pretty over the ocean. Their mission has been a success and the shuttle has docked with the space station. Roxanna is a very good baby with a few fussy times but no colic. Riley is way into dinosaurs, his dogs, and going places with his Daddy.Right now Grandma Ruth, Sarah, Roxanna, and Riley are napping. Benjamin is doing his duty as honor guard and has two services today. Lauren and Gary are hanging out watching TV. Last night I babysat and Benny, Sarah, and Lauren watched Hot Tub Time Machine. They said it was funny. I ventured out to Walmart this morning to buy a few things and spring break is happening down here. I haven't went on one walk with Riley but that changes tonight. The weather has been wonderful. Love to All. Rudi

Springbreak in Florida

Hello everyone,


Finally, I have met Roxanna Lillian Smith and she's a cutie! I arrived on Friday night and it's been wonderful spending time with the kids. Benjamin is back on Honor Guard detail and attended two grave side services on Saturday and one is scheduled for Monday. It looks like a busy week. Sarah looks and feels so much better now that baby Roxanna has arrived. Their house is so cute with Easter decorations and Riley has attended two Easter egg hunts this year. Today is Easter Sunday and Roxanna is a month old. Riley woke up to find his Easter pail next to his door and had to gather Easter eggs from throughout the house. The Easter Bunny also left fun filled baskets for him and Roxanna. Sarah's Grandmother Ruth, sister Lauren, and stepfather, Gary arrived today and we had Easter feast at Cracker Barrel. Tomorrow morning at 6 am we are all going to watch the space shuttle from the beach across from the base. All systems are good as of right now.
Katie will be arriving from Tampa tomorrow afternoon to visit for one day and leave on Tuesday for Cincinnati. Most of my time has been spent holding Roxanna or playing with Riley and life is good. Today I actually took both kids to the playground and thankfully Roxanna slept in her little seat for all the fun. Riley picked flowers and dug in the dirt. Happy Easter All. Love, Rudi

Riley is 2 years old!

Great sweater fron Nana.



Sidewalk chalk is cool.

Riley checking out Katie's wheels.

Riley and Grandpa getting their tootsies wet.

The Christmas presents are riveting.

Benny, Sarah, and Riley

Die hard Bengal fans.

Sarah takes good care of both her babies.

Taking a story break from putting in a new gate.

Daddy likes Riley's new big boy bed.

Yeah!!! 2 years old

Benny and Riley downtown Cincinnati in November.

Hello everyone,

I didn't get a chance to update my blog while in Florida. It was a busy time down in the Sunshine state. We left Portsmouth around 12:30 p.m. on December 24 after making a short stop at second street dairy bar for a footer. It was a real blur of a visit at Moms but it was nice to see Ernie, Linda, Larry, David, and Jason. I was sorry that we missed Jake bearing some Christmas goodies from the Halsteads. That drive was stretching out in front of us and we were trying to make it to Florida for Christmas.

We arrived at Patrick AFB around 2:30 a.m. Christmas morning so we made great time. It was great to see the kids and Riley still remembered us because they had just been up for a visit in November. He loved his Christmas presents and the candy cane tucked in his stocking. Sarah and Benny went all out on decorating for Christmas. The inside and outside was decorated so festive. They have three Christmas trees! We had a very nice dinner and a quiet evening to recover from our trip.

That evening Sarah mentioned her throat was scratchy but the next day was feeling pretty good, just a sore throat. I babysat for the sweetest boy in the world that evening while Ben, Katie, Benny and Sarah went to the movies, they saw Sherlock Holmes. They weren't too impressed with the flick. Sarah woke up the next morning with a straight up cold. It seemed to have settled in her chest. Since she is seven and half month pregnant, there's not a lot of medicine she could take.

The next evening, she was having trouble breathing and had to go to the ER. She was suffering from throat spasms due to the constant coughing. The Doctor was able to give her some cough medicine and she is better but still sounds congested. Riley came down with the same cold as soon as we left and Sarah said he is a snot machine but is feeling better. I'm glad we missed that.

Riley turned 2 on January 5 but we celebrated this big moment on January 1, 2010. Good thing, because he was so sick on his birthday. It was a great visit and we'll probably be going back in March after our little girl is born. Love to all my family, Rudi

Back in Ohio

Our last walk

So many books



Hanging out at the pier



Waiting for the shuttle








Hello everyone,

Finally, I am updating and closing this blog. I returned home last week but it has been a busy time. We finally have a new AC unit for the house. Ch-ching!!!! Ben's shoulder is getting better. He is now back at work and wishing he had about two more weeks off. Katie will have surgery on her ankle tomorrow for a torn tendon. I really miss my family in Florida. It was such a joy to get to know Riley. He is so much like Benny that I was constantly being transported back to those days of watching my children grown up and it happens so fast. The space shuttle finally lifted off the day after I left Florida but it was fun going to the beach and hanging out with all the other sky gazers. Sarah is still suffering from nausea. They went to the doctor for a sonogram and the baby has a very strong heartbeat. The Doc gave her a due date of March 7 and thinks she is about 7 1\2 weeks along.
Well, this is it for the Grandma blog. Thanks for visiting my site and enjoy the rest of summer.
Love, Rudi

Last day

Hello everyone,
Today is the last day of my vacation. It's time to go home. It has been such a treat to spend so much time with Benny, Sarah, and Riley. One of the highlights of my trip was hearing Riley say "Grandma" for the first time. He's actually bilingual because he then called me Grand mama. Unfortunately, the space shuttle launch was cancelled Saturday and then Sunday. Fortunately, there is a window for the launch this evening at 6:15 so we will see. I'll post photographs and write more once I get home. It's sad to leave but I'm anxious to get back home. Love, Rudi
P.S. Computer is garbage so I'm at the wonderful base library.

Crash and Burn

Hello everyone,
Benjamin and Sarah's computer crashed yesterday. There was an electrical power outage and after the electric came back on the computer would not turn on. Yes it was on a surge protector. Sarah and I are at the base library using their computers. I will be returning home on Tuesday and will update and close out the Grandma blog. Love to all, Rudi

Bucket Head Boy

A really cool rock found at Cocoa Beach Park

Ahh-h-h

Hello everyone,

There are so many senior citizens here so it must be a great place to live. When I was driving around Cocoa Beach (yes, Riley and I went down I dream of Jeannie Lane) I saw many gated subdivisions and lots of golf carts parked on the curb. We had a rough night last night or I should say Riley had a rough night and only wanted Mommy and Daddy. He woke up at 1, 2, and 5 a.m. and I got him at 7 a.m but after a small glass of milk he zonked out until 9:30. My shift was easy. We left the base about 11:00 and ventured down to Cocoa Beach and then further down to Cape Canaveral. When I realized I was so close to Benny's work I called him and he met us at Wendys for lunch. It was time to go back to the base to pick up Sarah. We dropped Riley off at this play group and went to the BX. I have very pretty pink nails thanks to my manicure. Sarah was craving Taco Bell (Heidi did this also) so she ate a quick bite during my pampering. While we were in the store another whopper of a storm blew in and left the streets a bit flooded. The amount of water that falls from the sky is amazing. Good thing they have an ocean to catch the overflow. Sarah and I had a good time even though it's still touch and go with stomach right now, We went to the base gas station and they had run out of gas. I'm told this happens all the time. We went to the pharmacy to get her vitamins but had to go to the other pharmacy at the clinic to get them. All of our errands seemed to be such hard work today but we finally did what we needed to do and picked up Riley from his play group. After supper, Benny, Riley and I walked up to the pier and we saw manatees again! We called Sarah and she drove up to see them. They have seen dolphins (I haven't seen one since I've been here) but this was the first time Sarah had seen the giant sea cows at the pier. Tomorrow Riley and I are going to explore outside the base again. This time we will turn left instead of right when we leave the base.