Grandma Ray

My Grandma Ray, my Mom's Mom, passed away last night. We knew this was coming and thankfully my Mom was able to make it to Missouri before she moved on to heaven. She wasn't in the best of health so I know she isn't suffering any more, plus she is finally with my Grandpa. But, she was still my Grandma and it makes me sad to know she is gone. I am just thankful I listen to myself and we made the trip Thanksgiving and I was able to see her then. I know Riley will never know her great Grandma but I can't wait to share stories. I can remember growing up going to her house on Sundays. I hated the drive down there, the car sickness was horrible. I am the second youngest of 26 grandchildren but she always there for the big events. It was never a dull moment at their house, that might be because there was always kids around but I miss those days. I will miss her but I know she is better off where she is at and she is with my Grandpa which makes the heart hurts just a little less.

9 months old!

Can you tell she is teething :)
I love this face, she is happy about something!

Can you believe Riley is 9 months old! She can now cruise (walking while holding on to things), stand on her own for a few seconds we are still working on it but she is getting better. She is a pro at peak-a-boo and is getting better at waving bye. Ron has taught her to put her hands up above her head. It is so funny to watch her copy him. She talks all the time, she can say Mama, Dada, Ba (bubba), and can't forget Da (dog) or at least that is what we think it is. Her first tooth is on the brink of breaking through, you can see it so it is just a matter of time! She had her checkup today, no shots thank goodness! She is 27 1/2 inches long and 14.85 pounds. She has lost weight since her last appointment, which was 3 weeks ago due to a sinus infection. We have to go once a month for a weight check and have to feed her a high calorie diet. If she isn't gaining weight by her one year appointment we will have to start looking at why. The doctor is hopefully it is just because she is a ball of energy and is burning more calories than she is taking in. If you could keep her in your prayers that nothing is wrong with her, we would appreciate it!

Piles of Laundry!

Well since I have lived at work the past month I have lots to catch up on around the house. One of them is laundry. Ron did a pretty good job keeping up but I still had some to catch up on. Riley thought she would help! She is such a good baby ;)

The Indianapolis 500!

"It's spirit touches all who enter" Tony George
Largest sporting event in the world!

Tradition

Helio Wins!!

Of course we were all at the Indianapolis 500! Ron took the kids and went with some friends. This year was a special year because it was Riley's first Indianapolis 500! From what I have heard she did awesome! Tony had a blast as well. Of course I worked 20 hours yesterday and have already put in several hours today. I haven't had much time to talk to Ron in the past couple of days so I am sure I will hear more stories tonight if I can stay awake! I got to spend just a little bit of time with them on Sunday but not much, it was just to busy. I will say I took some time to watch some of the pre-race ceremonies in an awesome location :) This was my first time doing this, I have now lived through 6 Indianapolis 500's as an employee so I had no clue what I had been missing. I will have to try and do this more often :) It is amazing to know what all goes into putting on the largest sporting event in the world and to know you are apart of it! I have been through this a lot and still don't know all the behind the scenes but I know what we go through to put this on and you would be amazed. I am not going to lie this year was rough but in the end I LOVE being apart of this. If you have never been to the Indianapolis 500 I suggest putting it on your must do list! Watch this video, we watched this in a all staff meeting and it still gives me goosebumps!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orN97ds0UjY

A new house :)

Ron went to his parents house on Saturday to work on the karts. Tony built a house out of some boxes and Riley and him had a blast. These were just to cute not to share!

Double header!

Ron and Tony raced both Saturday and Sunday. Ron raced the Tag, Pipe, and Shifter classes! I was shocked when he told me he was going to race all three karts for both days, talk about a work out. He did pretty well on Saturday he finished 2nd in the shifter, 8th in the Tag, and won the Pipe race! Sunday was a good day as well, he finished 3rd in the shifter, 2nd in the Pipe, and 4th in the Tag class. Needless to say when I came home from work Sunday night he had a pile of medals and was black and blue from racing :) Tony had a decent weekend, he is still learning about his new kart and having to adjust. He finished 4th and 13th on Saturday and 8th and 13th on Sunday. Not to bad of a weekend! You can thank David Lee photography for the pictures above, I don't even think Ron took the camera. They both have a couple of weekends off and then another double header the first of June! Don't tell Tony I am secretly glad I didn't miss his first win :) I can't wait to celebrate that! He got ice cream for dinner after his first race, what are we going to do when he wins? I guess I better start planning now. Knowing Tony he is going to be expect a huge party :) Knowing us, he will probably get it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes I know I am a few days late, but hey at least I got around to it. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I celebrated with my Mom on Saturday, nothing like a hot dog and some race cars :) With me working I didn't get to spend any time with Tony or Riley. I got a great phone call from Tony Sunday morning, they were racing (that post coming soon). He tried to win me a race but that didn't happen :( But, at least he tried! Yesterday I had the day off and Riley and I spent some good time together. We snuggled in the morning, little butt monkey woke up at 6:15 am. So much for catching up on sleep. I enjoyed my day with her! It was a great way to celebrate mothers day.

100 years and Hot Air Balloons!

We spent Saturday night at the track, kind of strange to know I am going to live there for the next three weeks and I go there when I am off! The track is celebrating their centennial era over the next three year. This weekend they held a hot air balloon race, which was the first race ever on the property! Saturday night they held a "glow" and had fireworks. It was a pretty cool sight! 33 hot air balloons, and we were standing right under some of them! As it was getting darker they would all light up at once and it was beautiful. We use to have a private firework show on 4th of July so I was really looking forward to the fireworks. The sound bounces off the grandstands and it sounds like there are cars on the track! It is pretty cool. Like normal Riley was a champ and did really well for everything that was going on. The fireworks didn't even phase her. We tried to send Tony away in a hot air balloon but, they wouldn't take him :) Ok not really, he said no way would he ever right in one!

I will try to keep updating the blog over the next couple of weeks. Ron and Tony have a double header this weekend! I have a very strong feeling Tony will be winning his first race at New Castle (don't worry I just knocked on wood) so hopefully on Monday I will have a good update!