Rory Turns 2

Rory turned 2 on November 28th and to celebrate we had a party - something we love to do around here. Lots of friends and family shared in the festivities and I couldn't have been prouder of how well Rory behaved. She gladly shared her toys with the other kids and not once let being the center of the universe (for a day) get to her head.

Here is my little organizer making sure that the balloons were properly sorted before the party.


Kids area - pre party

Kids area - during party

Rory getting ready to blow out her candles with a little help from her dad and Piper.

Lots of friends and family helping us celebrate the big day.

Rory excitedly opening gifts - here she is showing off her Sesame Street stickers. You can see how many of her friends helped her open the gifts.

Rory showing off her gifts from Grandpa Sid and Grandma Karen...she loves these little animals!

Trimming the Christmas Tree

Rory and I spent Friday night decorating the tree.

Our Little Eater

This is too funny not to share - Rory couldn't decided what to eat first, the beans or the yogurt, so she dug into both at once. Then, she proceeded to switch off between the two for the remainder of the meal. She is too funny!

Busy, busy, busy

I have been negligent in updating our blog and am trying to get back on track. It's been so long since I last updated this blog that most of the pictures show Fall in Fairbanks. In fact, it is anything but Fall right now. There is snow on the ground and we've already had our 30 below weather.

Getting Ready for Winter

Rory saw her dad raking leaves and wanted to contribute.




Grandma Linda's Birthday

The Frank/Anderson side of the family met up at the usual place, The Pump House, to celebrate Rory's Grandma Linda's birthday. Below Rory is showing off her shades while Grandma dotes on her.




Grandma Linda, Bruce and Rory. As you can see from the picture below, Rory just adores Bruce (and what's not to adore...look at that cute smile).

Haircut

Well, Rory has officially lived through her first disastrous haircut. I was giving her the usual haircut when Yuri made a smart-alec comment - so, I told him to take a shot at the haircut. He managed to get one snip in and it was a doozy...snipping her bangs both too high and crooked. Here they are during happier times :-).

And here is Rory after her dad's handy work - she looks happy doesn't she?

Visitors

Yuri's brother, Dylan, and his girlfriend, Amity, took a road trip from Skagway to visit the big city of Fairbanks. We were lucky to have them stay a week - which is a record for Dylan in any one place - and we had fun catching up. Below (L to R); Rory, Shannon, Nick, Bruce, Amity and Dylan.

Pre-Halloween

We were going to be out of town for Halloween so Rory dressed up in her costume a little early to show off to my folks. The pictures aren't great but she was dressed as "Rory McMorgan" (after the PGA's rising star, Rory Mcilroy).

Gymnastics

Rory signed up recently for gymnastics classes. There really isn't a lot of true "gymnastics" going on, but she enjoys running around, playing on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. Below is a picture of Rory bouncing on the super-sized trampoline.

Cross Country Travels

In early November, I attended a Utility Rate School in Clearwater, Florida, and Yuri and Rory decided to tag along. We spent the weekend before my class in Orlando enjoying the warm weather, pool and Disney World.

Yuri and Rory headed up to North Carolina to visit family for a few days while I was attending classes.

Here are some pictures of Rory's first experience with an outdoor pool...she was hesitant at first, but soon found splashing around in the water to be a lot of fun!

Here we are at the happiest place on earth...well, that might be an over statement but it was fun none-the-less.

Below, Rory showing her excitement at the end of the "It's a Small World" ride.

Rory's dad let her pick out her own hat (she needed one to shield her face/head from the 90 degree heat and sun. She just loves that Mickey Mouse hat.

Below is Rory visiting with Yuri's cousin, Rebecca in North Carolina. These two became fast friends and Rebecca was a wonderful hostess.

Next stop in North Carolina was to Happy Acres, the farm of Yuri's Aunt Lura and Uncle Curtis. Rory was timid around the animals but grew more comfortable with time and eventually fed pears to one of the horses (with Lura's help). Below is a picture of Rory with Aunt Lura.

Rory became very fond of Fancy Acres - here she is playing with her new buddy, Uncle Curtis.

Yuri's Aunt Pam made the trip over from Salisbury, N.C.to visit Yuri and meet Rory for the first time. You can't see Pam, Yuri and Rory very well in the picture below but it's a great shot of them up in the hay loft.

Before we left Florida, we met up for lunch with Yuri's cousin, Elizabeth and her husband, Chris, who live in Punta Gorda, FL. We had a great meal and it was great to meet Chris and catch up with Elizabeth. We look forward to meeting their little one, due to arrive in late May 2011!

Miscellaneous Rory

Look at that mischievous smile after Grandad Andy gives her rocky road ice cream.

Our super happy baby.

Rory and Yuri carving a pumpkin - Rory doesn't like to get her hands dirty so she wasn't much help.

Next up...Rory's 2nd Birthday Party (I hope to post this in the next week).

Clyde J. Rhyne

We are sorry to report that Yuri's Grandpa (Papa), Clyde Rhyne, passed away on October 25, 2010. He was 84. Yuri has many fond memories of this vibrant and intelligent man and will miss him dearly. Yuri was scheduled to fly to North Carolina to introduce Clyde to his Great Grandaughter, Rory, about a week after he passed away.

Clyde Rhyne was born June 12, 1926 in Lincolnton, North Carolina., and the fourth of seven children to Minnie Thornburg and Alonzo Luther Rhyne. He served in the United States Navy during WWII from 1943 through 1946, mostly aboard the USS Trinity in the Pacific Theater. After returning home, he enrolled in Gardner Webb College where he met his first wife, Eunice. They married in 1948 and moved to Raleigh where he earned a BS degree in textiles at North Carolina State University.

From 1950 through 1961, he worked for J.P. Stevens, Inc., in various communities in North Carolina, including Stanley, Mooresville, Randleman, and Tuxedo. Four daughters were born during this timeframe. In 1961, he moved to Sanford to work for Federal Spinning Corporation, where his fifth child, a son, was born. He remained at Federal Spinning until 1987 when he retired as President and Chairman of the Board.

Following the death of his first wife in 1985, Clyde married Betty Cole Rhyne in 1987 and was pleased to welcome a stepson to the family.

He was a wonderful and loving husband, father and grandfather. He enjoyed gatherings with his immediate family as well as with his numerous siblings, in-laws and nieces and nephews. He especially looked forward to his annual summer beach trip where he would cram as many family members as available into one beach cottage.

He was an extremely active member of his community. He loved people and was quick to volunteer for numerous church, civic and state activities.

He attended First Baptist Church of Sanford where he taught Sunday school for 48 years, 42 of which were dedicated to teaching a class for the deaf after learning sign language in a church-sponsored class. He was an active member of his church, serving as either a member or chair of the Board of Deacons, Finance Committee, Building Committee, and Long Range Planning Committee.

His civic activities included membership in the Lions Club where he held positions in every office, past president and past fund drive chairman of the Lee County United Fund, past president of the Lee County Cancer Society, and various offices for the Sanford/Lee County Chamber of Commerce, where he earned the Distinguished Service Award for 1979. He was a member of both the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion and enjoyed the camaraderie of the Seven Seas Club (and serving as past president).

Education was extremely important to Clyde, which was evidenced by his service on the Board of Trustees of Campbell University, where he served numerous terms as chairman, and the Presidential Board of Advisors, where he was honored as a life-long trustee. He received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Campbell in 1999. He was a past Board Member for Central Carolina Community College and the Council on Christian Higher Education of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

Clyde loved North Carolina and was deeply interested in the economic health and welfare of its citizens. He served as a member and past chairman of the NC Capital Building Authority, past board member of the NC Commission on Jobs and Economic Growth, past president of the NC Textile Manufacturing Association, past board member of the American Yarn Spinners Association, past board member of the NC Center on Crime and Punishment, past local board member of First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, past board member for Heins Telephone Company, past board member of the Lee County Commissioners from 1976–1980, past board member of the Lee County Hospital, past member of the Governor’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, past board member for the NC Citizens for Business and Industry, past chairman of the Lee County Industrial Committee, past chairman of the Lee Senior High Stadium Fund Drive, past board member of the Capital Associated Industries, past board member of the Lee County Emergency Management Committee, past president and organizer of the Lee County Community Foundation, past director of the NC Community Foundation, past director and past building finance chairman of the Boys and Girls Club of Sanford/Lee County.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Eunice Borders Rhyne. He is survived by his second wife, Betty Cole Rhyne, daughters Pam (Joe) Hall, Jan (Marshall Milton) Rhyne, Karen (Sid) Morgan, Lura (Curtis) Burns; son, John (Lei) Rhyne; and stepson, Steve (Jackie) Cole, and 13 grandchildren.

The End of Summer

The end of summer came quickly - we went from wearing tank tops to down vests in just a few weeks time. Yuri and I got away to the Seattle area for a little over a week. We stayed with Robyn and Mike Austin (Robyn and I have been best friends since High School) and enjoyed a lot of relaxation and a few road trips. Rory stayed with the Warwick's while we were gone and they had a hard time giving her back. We of course took no pictures in Seattle - I mean, why would we take pictures if Rory wasn't there (someone needs to invent a sarcasm font).

Rory's Great Grandma, Joyce, is in Arizona for the next two months dealing with some medical issues. She and Rory spend a lot of time together - at least two days a week - and both are missing each other right now. So, in an effort to keep Joyce updated on Rory's every move, I have posted much more than usual below.

All dressed up in warm gear to play outside - winter is coming!

Exercise Time with Dad

First move - blocks obstacle course

Next - Push ups

Now - resistance bands

And finish it off with - Sit-ups

Look at that pretty hair

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Below are snapshots from Yuri and her dad singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. For pride's sake, I cropped Yuri out of most of the shots.

Rory with Great-Grandpa Bud. G-Grandma Joyce, they miss you!!!!

We brought Rory some sunglasses from Seattle. She loves them! Here she is at lunch with her glasses on (upside down). Very cool - I know.

So, I showed up a week too soon for a swim birthday party this weekend. We showed up in the middle of a swim meet and Rory didn't want to leave so we ended up watching for nearly an hour. Here she is (notice the sunglasses on her head) hanging out at the swimming pool.