This Crazy Cross Family

Going to the Alpaca Farm

2012-01-30T09:34:00.007-07:00

Our local Alpaca farm does free tours once a month, So we went with some of our good friends out to see the animals. It was such a fun day and we had so much fun. As for the tour part....well, lets just say our kids aren't ready for any real academic settings. Luckily the owners of the farm were great with kids and let them wonder around while he informed the other patient adults that were listening. Hope you enjoy the pictures. No one was bit or charged..thank goodness!

Some recent picture from our trip to Nebraska

2012-01-08T22:23:00.004-07:00

The Big Boys
The Petite big girls

The kids...and yes this was the best one out of fifty billion takes.

Micah and mom on a hike with the family.

Happy New Year 2012!

some fun pictures of 2011

2012-01-08T22:13:00.002-07:00

Natalie's one year photos, taken by an old high school friend, Nicole Miller Smith. She did such a great job!

Natalie diggin into her first birthday cake!

Introducing our little ones to the Air Force Academy..."this is where Daddy and Mommy said "I do."

Ruidoso Sprint Tri. The kids were happy to be up and going this early!

Whitesands, NM. Priceless father and son moment. This was after many rolls down the hills.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Thank 2011!

We are back in business

2012-01-08T21:32:00.002-07:00

Ok, so after a much to long hiatus, we are back and we are better...ok, so that is probably up for debate, but we are bigger. We are a "full up" family of four. We will start with a little update... We have moved and are back stateside. We bought a house, purchased two cars and went to work. Ryan started his new plane and is truly enjoying it. With this change, may opportunites have arisen and he is feeling blessed. He will compete in his first Ironman this spring. I have graced with the wonderful career of staying home with Micah and Natalie and teaching them as much as I can, while I cook , clean, run errons and keep a crazy busy social life...lol. I also am able to teach a few classes at our local YMCA during the week. Micah is in 3 and is in Preschool. He loves it and is really getting into the whole "friends" thing. He prays everynight for his friends and thanks God for them. Natalie is a daily suprise. She keeps us all on our toes and adds to our entertainment constantly. She is full of smiles and laughs and nonstop mischief. We don't know what we would do without her. Micah is lost if she is not around. We are super excited to see what the New Year of 2012 will have in store for us. We will do our best to post more and keep your more updated with the wonderful things God does in our lives. Cheers to all of you!

faces of Natalie

2010-12-26T04:18:00.003-07:00

Ok, So the first two photos are some of my favorite Natalie photos. She is my flower. As precious as can be. Snips and snail and puppy dog tails are what little boys are made of...I have lived that the past two years, but sugar and spice and everything nice, is even that much sweeter! Ryan and I are blessed beyond our wildest imaginations! Thank you God!

A recap of our adventure in Japan

2010-12-26T04:12:00.003-07:00

These were some fun times. They took our photos in Kimonos and even got both kids to smile at the same time. I tell you, as a photographer, this is a real challenge, especially when you are in a costume of sorts!

Wow, it seems crazy that our days of living in Japan are quickly coming to an end. This past year has been a whirlwind. With Ryan deployed during my final months of pregnancy, Micah kept me on my toes and definitely away from blogging. So here I go in a sad attempt to catch up. Miss you all and see you soon in the states, or if you are in Japan... Mata Ne

Baby Natalie is Here!

2010-07-20T18:33:00.002-07:00

Natalie Lillian Cross, born Monday, 19 July 1534: 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 3/4". We just got home from the hospital Wednesday morning and we're starting to get situated. Everything is going well, thank you for the thoughts and prayers.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-31T04:08:00.005-07:00

This Christmas was very different for us since we were not close to family. I really thought we would wake up Christmas morning and not know what to do with ourselves. Obviously that was not the case, God provided us with a wonderful day of watching Micah experience the magic of Christmas. Both of our families have given us wonderful traditions and we have mixed them together to make our own Cross family traditions. One that you will see below is baby Jesus's birthday cake. A friend of ours did a fantastic job making us a magnificent cake and on Christmas Eve we had friends over after church to sing and eat cake. The day after Christmas we went to a bed and breakfast a few hours up the road near a ski resort. We loved it. Micah enjoyed his time in the snow very much. We have now decided we have a beach and snow baby.....what to do, what to do?!? We love it. Well, as we head into 2010 our most exciting news is that we will be adding another one to our already crazy family. I am 15 weeks pregnant and we are thrilled. Micah is pushing on my belly button all the time, it's already starting to pop out. We tell him there is a baby inside, but he still does not seem to understand. He will be two when the new one arrives and hopefully by then he will be a little more prepared. We'll continue to work on it. Best wishes for this New Year and God Bless.

Some Micah Pictures

2010-01-31T00:04:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone, so it's been forever since the last blog update. We're better about keeping facebook updated with the personal stuff and we've been using Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cross-photo/) for the photography side of things, so the blog has taken the back seat lately. But since some people might still check up on us every once in a while here, I figured that I would try to keep this more up to date.

We've been pretty busy around the Cross household, but things are getting back on track since Sarah has returned to full-time mommyhood at the beginning of January. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the past month around the house.

Reece Family Photos

2009-08-30T18:11:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we took family photos for the Reece family at Hachinohe beach. Sachiko does Sarah's hair and keeps her looking beautiful, so we were excited to be able to do something cool in return.

It was fun for us to get outside away from the "safety" of the photo studio and take some pictures at a beautiful beach that we hadn't been to yet. We all had a great time and got some great photos...and ice cream afterwards!

To see the rest of the photos from the shoot, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cross-photo/sets/72157622060916549/show/

Hawaii!

2009-08-17T04:48:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone, we're back and going strong again in Misawa and wanted to share some pictures from our Hawaii trip. If you hadn't heard, we got to go to Hawaii for 3 weeks in July because of a work exercise for me. The trip basically boiled down to 8-12 hour days in the Hickam CAOC staring at computer screens and the "big board" (if you've seen Dr. Strangelove, or been in a CAOC, you know what I mean). So for the most part I didn't get to see much of the beautiful weather of Hawaii. I did manage to get some days off and we were able to explore and do some cool things.
So, after 3 weeks of Hawaii, 3 different places we stayed in, numerous bottles of sunscreen, Mai Tai's, and an impressive credit card bill later, here's a brief look at our trip (we took way more photos than right here...go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/cross-photo/sets/72157621853032255/ to see more)

Us overlooking Kanehoe Bay

Who let Micah jump on the bed?

Micah's first lemon!

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Misawa Senior Photography - Amanda Meyer

2009-07-04T23:28:00.004-07:00

Last month, Sarah took senior photos for Amanda Meyer and with all the excitement going on, we hadn't posted these up on the blog. We wanted to get them out there real quick because we really liked them and wanted to show them off. There were so many great pictures to choose from, we had a tough time narrowing them down. This is what we came up with though, hope you enjoy them!

Ryan's Alaska Trip

2009-07-02T18:19:00.007-07:00

I had planned on posting these pictures earlier while I was still in Alaska but (the dog ate it, I was too busy, I didn't get the memo...you know how it goes...). I got back Monday night and found out on Tuesday night that I will be going to Hickam AFB, Hawaii for a three week exercise. Luckily, I'm able to bring Sarah and Micah along, so we will be able to vacation a little when I'm not working.

The Alaska trip was really cool and the pictures don't even begin to do it justice. We participated in Distant Frontier and Northern Edge exercises while we were there. Distant Frontier consisted of dropping bombs, shooting the gun, and firing some air-to-ground missiles and doing some larger scale air-to-air engagements with the F-16 agressors stationed at Eielson. After that was done, we did the Northern Edge exercise which was a huge exercise with F-22s, F-15Cs, F-15Es, F-18s, F-16s, B-52s, bombers, tankers, AWACS, and lots and lots more.

On the few days that we didn't have to work or mission plan, we tried to get out and see what kind of outdoors Alaska had to offer. I wish that I had some pictures that really showed how beautiful that place was, but I don't. We hiked two days in Denali National Park and went on a weekend King Salmon fishing trip. Denali was an awesome park that you could spend years exploring and not even scratch the surface. In just two days, we caught just a glimpse of what the park had to offer and wished we could have stayed several weeks. Denali is the park where the John Krakauer book "Into the Wild" took place. The fishing trip did not dissapoint either. An F-16 aggressor pilot gave us the contact info for an awesome fishing guide who knew exactly where all the fish were. All twelve of the guys from our squadron caught a King Salmon (one fish per year limit) during the trip, which is pretty much unheard of. We had a great day out on the boat and saw some amazing sights. Unfortunately I didn't get many of them on camera. Anyways, enough of me bragging about my trip, here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Korea

2009-06-23T04:12:00.005-07:00

It always seems that I remember taking more pictures then I come home with and with Micah on my back or hip these days, it's not easy to grab the camera and snap shots of everything that catches my eye as a photographer. For the most part I took pictures of what I could. We truly had an amazing time and my travel partner, Tracy Danaher, was the bomb digity! She helped out with Micah so much.

We were in Korea just two full days. Saturday we headed up to Osan and did some serious shopping. I was able to get some GREAT deals and we met up with a friend of ours who's husband just got stationed in Kunsan. We ate some great Thai food recommended to us by all the friends who have been there in the past and are still there. Then we returned to Seoul. We stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge in Yungson. It was an outstanding place to stay and had great service all the way around. We traveled mostly by taxi. Saturday night we ate at the most amazing French resturant called Le Cigele. I had Duck, Tracy had chicken, and Claire had Mussels....and Micah ate a little of everything.

Sunday we went to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ.)Which is an area of land encompassing a 4 kilometers-wide strip of land straddling the 151 mile long Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The 27 July 1953 Armistice Agreement established the DMZ along the approximate line of ground contact between the opposing forces at the time the truce ended the Korean War. It was very interesting and a little scary feeling at times. We walk into the third tunnel. The 3rd Tunnel was discovered on October 17, 1978. It is located 52km from Seoul. It was estimated that it took approximately an hour for 10,000 soldiers to move through the tunnel. When this tunnel was first discovered, North Koreans insisted it was made by South Koreans in a plot to invade North Korea. However, this theory proved eventually to be false. They also smeered coal on the walls and later said that the tunnel was an abanded mine, which goes against all geological findings.

We finished the day with a walk through one of the local palace grounds and sitting in the Civic Center park listening to a wind Ensemble. Micah even got to play on a splash pad with all the local Korean kids. I think they loved him more than he love the water.

All in all is was a truly amazing trip and really opened my eyes to how awesome our God is all over the world. As I was walking Micah around the civic center park talking to people, I ran across a local youth group. They told me they were Christians and I truly felt a fire light up inside me. They took some photos with Micah (they love chunky,bald, blue eyed babies). God is everywhere! Thank you for all who prayed for a safety and that everything would fall into place.

drifting

2009-06-23T04:05:00.002-07:00

I am now a drift racer! If you have never seen drifting before I highly recommend you go rent the movie Tokyo drift and then you know what I experienced......ok, so not exactly that, and I put a disclaimer on the movie. It is very teeny-bopper. However, Ryan, Micah and I had a blast memorial day weekend at the drift races and I even got to ride along with one of the drivers from Ryan's squadron. It was DANGEROUS! HA

2009-06-23T04:01:00.001-07:00

Before the guys took off to Alaska for the month we had a family day at the squadron. It was a great time and we were able to take pictures in front of the F-16. It was very windy and chilly as you will see peoples teeth chattering and hair blowing every which way. Needless to say the kids were all screaming and loving it!

Micah 10 months

2009-06-23T03:41:00.002-07:00

Ok, so we are a little late at getting these posted, but better late then never! Micah will actually be 1 year old this coming Sunday. We will be celebrating his birthday with one of his good friend Bailey, who is also turning 1. I promise to post pictures.

Morioka or Bust!

2009-05-08T23:39:00.002-07:00

So, a couple of weekends ago, we blasted down to Morioka with the Ruffins and Carvells (aka Deacons and Quatros). We stayed at the 5-star "Super Hotel", ate at only the finest dining establishments, had child care figured out, and had an expert tour guide to direct us to the Morioka Castle site. We also did some shopping and picked up a ball that Micah is enjoying quite a lot...how much did it cost again?

If you didn't understand any of that, it is probably because you weren't there...maybe next time we'll get a bigger crowd to go with us. It was really a great time. We definitely had some interesting/challenging moments with all of the kiddos, but it was worth it. I couldn't decide which pictures to post, so I just grabbed a couple real quick to give you a quick look. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom there...about one week ahead of the blossoms here in Misawa.

How cool! We saw the end of a Traditional Japanese wedding...we couldn't resist getting a picture real quick.

Micah sees the fish!

2009-04-20T05:36:00.005-07:00

We visited the Aomori Prefecture's Asamushi Aquarium. Micah loved it. I'm not sure he truly understood what the fish were. He just stared at them in awe. It was funny to stand by and watch him take it all in. The jellyfish were really cool and fun to capture on camera.

The Big Budda that we don't worship

2009-04-20T05:28:00.004-07:00

Ok, so this is supposed to be the biggest budda in Japan. We truly don't care because we don't worship Budda, but it was funny to look at. I guess this is the little budda for kids. Their temples are pretty, but we have some pretty nice churches on the states that could compete.

Found it

2009-04-20T04:48:00.003-07:00

Here are the 12ft high walls I was talking about...I think they are acutally higher to be completely honest. It can kinda make a person in a car feel trapped! CRAZY!

Looking for a 12FT wall of snow....

2009-04-20T04:38:00.003-07:00

What a wonderful spring break! Some of you may not have heard, but I took a part-time school counseling position on base at Sollars Elementary. When Ryan returned from the desert I was bummed because I didn't get to sleep in with him in the mornings. As a treat to me (and Micah) he took off work so we could spend my Spring break as a family. We had a pretty action packed week. Monday we went looking for 12ft high walls of snow on each side of the road and while we were at it we took in all of our surroundings. So beautiful. Our God is soooo good!

Misawa Newborn Photography - Jacob Wolfard

2009-04-09T05:17:00.005-07:00

So, we're running a little bit behind around here...Sarah took these photos a couple of weeks ago and we wanted to get them online for all to see. The pictures are awesome and fun. After looking at these pictures so much, it is crazy to see tiny little Jacob. He looks grown up and Micah's age in some of the pictures (just way more hair than Micah). Enjoy the pics...and a big Booyah shout-out to Cuda and Krystal, your son rocks.

Surin Young - Misawa newborn photos

2009-04-06T16:07:00.004-07:00

We are really loving taking newborn pictures. Here is one of the announcements that we created. We have started to get referrals from friends to our photography business and it is so much fun to have people call because they saw other pictures we have taken. Surin was three weeks old when these pictures were taken. She is so precious.

Misawa Family Photos - Ulrich's

2009-03-21T01:11:00.004-07:00

We took photos of the Ulrich's on Tuesday. They wanted photos taken before Jim left for training followed by a 6-month deployment. We know Jim and Julie from our Sunday night Bible study and had a blast taking family photos for them. Hope you enjoy!

More Aoni...

2009-03-20T04:12:00.003-07:00

The Romantic Aoni Onsen....with Micah

2009-03-20T03:59:00.005-07:00

So while Ryan was on re-constitution for two weeks lots of people took small local trips. We decided to do something romantic...well, as romantic as you can with a eight month old. We went to an Onsen about three hours from here. It normally would only take and hour and 1/2 but due to winter road conditions many roads are closed. Aoni is nestled in the Hakkoda Mountains and as you drive up to it you can see Mt. Hirosaki, which is beautiful. We had lots of fun and Micah loved the outside baths. They weren't to hot due to the winter temps. so he was able to stay in a little longer. There was no electricity, so our room was lit by oil lamp and heated by a kerosene heater. We watched them fish our dinner out from right behind our room. Fish on a stick...YUM(seriously) I was brave and tried everything they offered, unlike Ryan, I didn't lick my plate clean. We had a tremendous time and we hope you enjoy the pictures we took. Sorry we didn't capture our meals, we kept forgetting to bring our cameras.

For you GPS capable folks that are interested in checking it out and think the directions from ITT are not so great, the onsen is at N40 34.286 E140 43.758 and the parking lot that they shuttle you from in winter is at N40 34.839 E140 41.245.

New Website!

2009-03-15T00:57:00.005-07:00

So after the same boring website for the past couple of years, we've finally ditched the old look and dropped a couple of dollars on a better looking and functioning site. I've tested the site with Safari, Internet Explorer, and Firefox. So far no problems (please let me know if anything doesn't work). If you have a slow internet connection, this website will take significantly longer to load, but we hope that everyone enjoys the new look! So check it out if you have a few minutes...and if you know anyone in the Misawa area that needs photography, tell them to look us up. The link is: Cross Photography. The music is from Daniel Ho, licensed through Triple Scoop Music. Enjoy!

Family Ski Trip - APPI

2009-03-15T00:44:00.003-07:00

It seems that everytime I post something, we've already done two or three things since, so...here it goes Fast and Furious (just like on the bus ride up to APPI). I'm going to get caught up now...so here goes.

I know what you're thinking...and yes, that is Micah strapped on for the ride...and it was COLD! It snowed pretty much the whole time and the wind blew perfectly sideways all day. The weather finally got nicer as we were leaving. We got lots of strange looks from the Japanese and American people on the slopes. Despite everything, Micah had a great time and we've determined that next ski season we'll have him on his own skis (hopefully).

Skiing Hakkoda Ropeway

2009-03-12T18:26:00.003-07:00

On the 4th, I got to finally experience the Japan ski scene. While Sarah was at work, I went out with the guys and hit up the Hakkoda Ropeway for some skiing. For more info, this site is pretty good: http://www.boardtheworld.com/Home/Resorts/Japan/Hakkoda?desID=124&cCode=JP

The skiing was pretty awesome. I had some borrowed skis that were designed for Giant Slalom type skiing...and this skiing was a mixture of 6-9 inches of fresh powder in places and solid ice in others. Not to mention that none of it is groomed, so it is a bit bumpy...and steep! This made the skiing very difficult...and it was the first time in 2 years or so that I had hit the slopes. The weather there was absolutely perfect, which apparently is a VERY rare thing. People say that you normally can't see more than 50 feet in front of you, so it gets a little sporty at times. The food at the bottom of the mountain was incredible. I had some pork cutlet curry that definitely hit the spot. I've since ordered new skis, boots, and bindings...so hopefully I will get those in soon and be able to enjoy some spring skiing.

Ryan's Desert Return

2009-03-10T16:40:00.005-07:00

On March 1st, I got back with a group of roughly 300 happy people after 5+ months in Balad, Iraq. We were chartered on Omni Air International, a DC-10 that took us on a worldwide tour on the way home. Rather than traveling East, which was about a 18-hour flight, our flight was routed West. We flew from Qatar to Cypress (Greece) to Shannon (Ireland) to Anchorage (Alaska) to Misawa. All told, the trip was 36 hours (about 26 of those were in the air). Once we were on the ground, though, nothing else really mattered. It was a great time seeing Sarah and Micah in person rather than in pictures. So much had changed in those 5 months...Sarah has lost her baby weight and is fitting into all of her old clothes again, and Micah sits up on his own, laughs, plays, and eats real food! Micah even seemed to recognize me...mustache and all. Micah had a DVD of me reading a couple of books that he watched almost every day. We think that was a huge factor and led to a much easier transition to having an extra body around the house. Some friends of ours snapped some great photos for the homecoming with our camera so you guys could see it too. If you would like to read the Public Affairs news release from the event, just click on the title of this post. Enjoy the pics!

The photo below was taken by the base photographer. The full size version is available at: http://www.misawa.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/090301-F-0168M-093.jpg

The Samurai return

2009-03-08T22:51:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone, it's Ryan and I've finally made it back. We have started to get some things around the house back in order but right now things are quite hectic. We're still unpacking boxes from Sarah's return from the states and I'm still sorting through stacks of paperwork that have been eagerly awaiting my return. Although there is PLENTY of work for us over the next week and a half before I return to work, we have made plenty of room for fun. Hopefully I can get our blog back up to speed over the course of this week.

Anyways, here are some of the photos from the Squadron's return. The return took place over several days and I think everyone is back now. The first batch of photos is from the 27th of February when the jets flew in. Enjoy!

Samurai Return Part Deux

2009-03-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

Mom's lap

2009-01-25T17:18:00.003-07:00

There is no better place to sit than on my mom's lap. It seems Halle and Hannah seem to think so too. I don't like to share.... but mom says I have too.

sitting like a big boy

2009-01-25T17:09:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I can't walk, I can't crawl, but I can sit like the big boys do. However, I do sometimes take some pretty nasty dives into the carpet, but they are beginning to be less often. Here are some pics of me "sittin pretty".

~Micah

swimming, swimming....in a swimming pool

2009-01-25T17:03:00.002-07:00

Micah got to sport his swim trunk for the first time when we stayed in Denver at the Holiday Inn. He didn't really like the big pool. He said it was a little cold. He did however like dipping in and out of the hot tub. Over all it was a fun experience, but next time he wants his daddy to take him swimming.

More Christmas

2008-12-30T10:40:00.003-07:00

Christmas

2008-12-30T10:16:00.003-07:00

This Christmas was a little different from any other Christmas we have had as a family before. We all missed Ryan and I can't begin to express that in this blog... I might just start crying. Ryan was so great and he called both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Talking to him on the phone never measures up to seeing him and hearing his voice in person, but I will take what I can get. He sent me some beautiful Roses that are still smelling and looking wonderful.

Nate and Heidi came from Lincoln with there kids. Ella (my niece) was as sick as she could be Christmas morning. I think she threw up every 20 minutes. No one else seemed to get the bug, thank goodness! We played a few games of Ligretto(of which Heidi kicked some pretty serious booty) and ate lots of Scotty's (local burger joint) and Rosita's (local Mexican favorite). I am probably a good 10lbs heavier now that the season is almost over.

Micah is growing fast, he is still bald, but rolling like a champ. We are enjoying our visit in the states, but are missing our Misawa friends lots. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great New Year. God Bless you all in 2009!

High School Friends

2008-12-30T10:12:00.002-07:00

Most of my friend have moved out of my home town, so Christmas was a great time to meet up and see each other. Here are just a few of my old friends. Stacy and Chris just had a baby as well. His name is colten and he is about three weeks younger than Micah. It was great seeing you all!

At the Beach...in December?

2008-12-10T12:07:00.003-07:00

Before we left Florida, we had to show Micah the beautiful Emerald Cost that his dad grew up by. He loved it. He did tell me later that it was a little cold and that he prefers to be there when hot chics are sun bathing on the beach. I told him he's a little young to be thinking that way, but that we would come back to the beach some day when it is a little warmer.

Mamaw

2008-12-01T22:25:00.002-07:00

This is Micah's great mamaw. She is Greta's mom. We went to visit her today and had lots of fun seeing her and the other ladies where she lives.

mom and me

2008-12-01T22:23:00.002-07:00

Just Micah

2008-12-01T21:57:00.002-07:00

Micah is growing up so fast, it's hard for me to believe he is the baby the pediatricians were so worried about gaining weight. He definitely isn't missing many meals these days. God has truly taught me to trust in him. Micah is a example that God is always in control!

It's a small Air Force

2008-12-01T21:50:00.002-07:00

One of the great things about being in the Air Force is that people you meet at one time, you will surely cross paths with again. Here are our favorite neighbors (we shared a drive way!)the Elgersmas. I cannot tell you how many times I ran over to their house to borrow something and when we moved they got all of our condiments. That is also one thing we air force people do well, we give away lots of condiments! Now we have kids just a few months apart, isn't it wonderful. We are looking forward to being in the same country with them soon(they just got stationed in Japan.) Thanks for a fun night and God bless you in your move overseas.

Meeting old friends

2008-12-01T21:45:00.003-07:00

Micah is loving meeting all of his parents friends. The first picture is of Grandma Greta, Micah, Janet and me. The second is Ryan's good friend Russ and his wife Janet who live in Florida. Russ, Ryan wanted me to tell you, he's not old enough for a Red Bull!

Baldies

2008-12-01T21:41:00.002-07:00

Some people say I look just like my uncle Chris......What do you think? Perhaps it is the hair style. Here we are together showing off how good looking we are. Oh, and ladies......we are both single!

-Micah

My cousins

2008-12-01T21:35:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures of Micah with Drew, Ian and Zach (Chris and Heather's boys). They were so good with Micah. After we left Micah didn't know what to do with himself, it was so quiet and there was no one running around that he could follow with his eyes. His cousings provided him with constant entertainment. He can't wait till he is big enough to run around and play with them.

Call me a FATTY

2008-12-01T21:16:00.002-07:00

Ok, so Micah comes by this naturally, his father was a FATTY, therefore, he is a FATTY Junior. I know there are other FATTY's out there who are assisting us in producing a whole new generation of FATTINESS. Ok, ok let me explain. I now some of you are getting hot because Child obesity is at an all time high, but it's a little different from that. Being a FATTY is a nickname that comes with pride and honor. To get the whole story you will have to ask Ryan, but I figured some of you would like the heading and would get a kick out of the pictures to show it.

Micah has started eating some very basic foods (it comes from the Super Baby book) and he is loving every bite. He has made a few funny faces and we have tried to capture them with the camera. For the most part he likes avocados, rice cereal, and prunes (prunes help to keep him regular, haha.) Just watching him learn to eat food off a spoon is hillarious. Yum, Yum!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-01T20:55:00.002-07:00

It's a Florida Thanksgiving! Heather (Ryan's sister) opened up her house for us all to take over. Terry, Greta, Chris Weimer(Ryan's brother), Chris Peterson (A friend of Ryan's), Paige Mutual(Greta's sister),Micah, Me, and Chris Thomas's mother all joined in the fun. We honestly did take over the Thomas house and I'm sure they are still recovering from their kids sleeping arrangments being all messed up so that they could accomodate us all. We were minus one very imporant person..... RYAN! So to remind ourselves of all the laughs he adds to our holidays we shared lots of old Ryan stories. We truly missed him and I for one can say that no holiday is as wonderful without him. Both Micah and I can't wait to celebrate his return.

Some bad news we recieved right before Thanksgiving is that Ryan's deployment to Iraq is being extended. This changes things up a bit and we are truly sad that it will be a little more time before we will be seeing him. On the up side we are thankful that he is safe and that our lines of communication are open (telephone and email). We have been very blessed in that we are able to keep each other up to date with our busy lives. Each day that passes I know I am one day closer to seeing him.

We are headed back to Nebraska for "hopefully"a white Christmas. If we don't cross paths with you during our travels may God bless you during this CHRISTmas season!

Pops and Me

2008-11-20T20:48:00.003-07:00

I love my Pops, He's the BEST!

YUMMM....rice cereal

2008-11-20T20:45:00.002-07:00

I let the pictures speak for themselves.....

Grrr...I'm a monster

2008-11-20T20:39:00.002-07:00

I can't believe they made me wear this outfit. First of all I wasn't feeling the best, I had an ear infection and goopy eyes and secondly, I wasn't big enough to fit into it!! I tell you these people haven't seen the last of me!!!! At least I got to say Trick-or-Treat and get my mom a few sweets!

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

2008-11-20T20:08:00.002-07:00

So we have been in the states visiting for a while. My(Sarah) parent's computer doesn't work so well, so that is why we have been unable to post for a while.

We are currently in Florida seeing Ryan's mom and dad. Micah has loved meeting all of his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. He is missing his dad as am I, but each day brings us closer to seeing him.

Here are some photos to catch you up on Micah's growth.

3 months and growing

2008-10-08T16:57:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post....Here are Micah's 3 month pictures that we took before Ryan left. Enjoy!

Beef and Garlic...yummy

2008-09-27T18:05:00.001-07:00

So we went on a day trip to Takko yesterday for the beef and Garlic festival. It took about 1.5 hours to drive there, after a couple of wrong turns here and there. Despite it all, we got there and ate some great food and had some fun with our friends. Here are some of the pictures...we really got some fun ones yesterday.

Here's everyone getting started cooking on the provided grills.
Here's Micah's "girlfriend" Bailey...more pics to follow.
Micah, serious...like his daddy.
Ryan and Craig working out the arranged marriage terms...Bailey is copping a feel I think.

Beef and Garlic...yummy (continued)

2008-09-27T17:52:00.005-07:00

Micah playing hard to get.
Here's Micah sporting all the newest trends...dad's fleece as a boonie cap, a burp towel as a visor, and a blanket to try and keep him warm...he might not match, but he's still so cute.
I have no idea who these characters were, but we had to get a picture with them.
Here's a random set of painted stairs that we thought were awesome.
We drove up to some falls afterwards and endured some rain and Micah crankiness, but it was a pretty cool place to see.

2008-09-21T05:04:00.002-07:00

Touring Japan...No wild horses

2008-09-21T04:57:00.005-07:00

So we went in search of wild horses. There was plenty of evidence (if you know what I mean), but no horses to be found. We did however get to see the most northeastern point of Honshu, the main island of Japan. We also went to Yagen and experienced our first Onsen. Micah dipped his feet, but told us that is was no bath time with dad. It was such a fun family day. Something we truly needed before Ryan took off. We used our Garmin GPS and never got lost.... ok so maybe we got a little lost. I'll admit it was when I was reading the GPS. Enjoy the pictures. We did a little photo shoot on the beach.

My "Pimpin" Pad

2008-09-18T02:51:00.004-07:00

So in order to get the girls...I have to have a pimpin pad. Here is a picture of where I sleep and chill some afternoons. We (my interior decorators and I)wanted to paint, but Japanese peeps are into wallpaper for some reason, so we just went with the flow. My dad took some Awesome F-16 pictures so we have those framed and hanging on the wall. Hopefully no earthquakes will knock them off.

Who needs an Onsen?

2008-09-18T02:51:00.001-07:00

So Mom has been begging me to go to the onsen with her. I told her that if Dad will give me baths, there is no chance that I'll be seeing an onsen anytime soon. Mom skimps on the bath water and dad fills it up high, with lots of bubbles. He keeps me covered with warm washclothes as I sit and bask in my pee filled tub. I love 20 minute baths.....does that make me a metrosexual? Just kidding, I'm as manly as they come and I've heard that the better you smell the better your chances with the ladies. I've got my eye on a couple of little chicklins here in Misawa.

Introducing

2008-09-01T16:36:00.003-07:00

Abigail Sullivan

Family Pics

2008-08-24T01:43:00.003-07:00

Here are the latest and greatest pictures of our family. We took these last weekend, but haven't had much time to get them all together. Here's a quick peek!

Micah - Back by popular demand

2008-08-17T05:09:00.003-07:00

We've pulled up some Micah pictures from the Cross archives and found a couple of pictures that were supposed to make it on here...but...well, the dog ate it. Anyways, we've got some more formal family type photos that we took today, but we've got to develop the film still :)

Thanks for stopping by to look!

Carvell Maternity Photo Shoot

2008-08-16T16:15:00.004-07:00

Yesterday morning Sarah, Micah, and I tore apart the dining room to create a photo studio...Micah providing verbal support as always. We needed a little more room than the back room provided...and there is no air conditioning in that back room...so the demolition derby began. Although the house looked like a wreck, it made for some great photos. We fought through all of the technical difficulties with our new equipment and realized that our best days in the back room with our old stuff doesn't even come close to what we can do with the new stuff.

We're super excited about these pictures and couldn't wait to show them off on here. We had about 20 pictures that we really liked and we narrowed them down as best we could. The first two are the same picture, just a different Photoshop technique...we can pretty much make that background any color, very cool! Jen is 33 weeks now and counting down the days. Thanks again guys, we had a great time...enjoy!

Lake Towada Fireworks

2008-07-27T01:29:00.003-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip up to Lake Towada (about 1 hour West of here) for a fireworks show. On the way, we stopped and walked around a little bit to see some of the waterfalls of Oriase Gorge. When we got there we experimented with some of the local cuisine and then watched the fireworks after the sun set. Little Micah did pretty well with the fireworks...but still startled a little bit at the real loud ones. Here in Japan they have a little boat that drops huge fireworks shells directly into the water and about 30 seconds later there is a HUGE explosion from the top of the water. Those were the ones that scared Micah, so we ended up leaving a little bit early.

We've also added to our photography setup...we now have two Alien Bees 800W strobe lights (http://www.alienbees.com/b800.html). We're still waiting on a couple more accessories and then we'll be full up. We can't wait to get everything so we can start playing around some more with our home studio. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures to prove that we're still alive...just very busy!

M.A.C.

2008-07-12T00:30:00.003-07:00

As several people have noticed and commented on, our little guy's initials spell out 'Mac'. No, it wasn't just coincidence...we really liked the idea of spelling something with his initials when we had both decided that we liked the name Micah. Although we thought of other names like Ulysses, Ichabod, and Olaf...we finally settled on Alexander. Anyways, we've had some fun comments about his middle name, so we'll share some of the references here:

Little Mac from Mike Tyson's punchout (my favorite...thanks bro):

And the always amusing Mac vs PC commercials:

And there's also MAC tools, Fleetwood Mac, and MAC cosmetics...I'm sure there are more, but just wanted to throw something on here to help you waste your time on our blog :).

P.S. Sorry mom, no photos on this post...we're busy...and I wanted to do this

Baths, Bili Light and Dad

2008-07-07T05:07:00.009-07:00

Well, we have officially been parents for nine days now. My due date was suppose to be this Wednesday. Wow, I can't imagine how big he would be!

Micah's first bath was an interesting experience. He liked the warm water....at first, but since it was a sponge bath, the cool air that hit him afterward made it a "not so nice" time. He handled it great!

We are back to battling Micah's Bili-rubin count. Today we went in to get his blood drawn(for what we thought would be the last time) and found out his count was still fairly high. We have to go back on Wednesday and have him retested. So once again we are sun tanning our little guy with a bili-blanket. In some of the pictures above you can see the light from the bili blanket. When we are at home we keep him wrapped up in it to help him get better. I can honestly say this tugs on my heart strings.

Ryan is such a rock, he has been my voice of reason, my biggest supporter and the world's best dad (aside from my own of course.) Ryan seems to have a better grasp on this parenting thing than I do. Check him out, he always gets little Mac to calm down and chill. Perhaps it's that he doesn't smell of breast milk, but whatever it is he has the magic touch.

At Home...sort of

2008-07-05T18:20:00.002-07:00

So, we were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday around noon and sent home to relax...well, sort of. Since our little Mac was looking yellow, they had us come back every day to get some blood work done to monitor his bilirubin count. On Friday, the count finally started to retreat just below the threshold level of what they are worried about.

On top of that, sleep hasn't exactly been something that we've had a lot of in our household lately. Don't get me wrong here, Micah kicks some serious butt in the chilled out baby category, but still the new sleep schedule takes some getting used to. Not only that, but we haven't exactly been too lazy around here, we've been going to cookouts, parties, 4th of July fireworks, cherry picking.

We've also done a very limited amount of camera work with the little man, but we'll try and get a photo shoot going soon. Here are a couple of our latest favorites...mostly fun little detail macro type shots, but they're all fun to us.

Last of the Hospital Pictures

2008-07-02T00:05:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone...here are a few more pictures of Micah that we snapped the last day we were in the hospital. You can see just a small range of expressions that he has. He learns a few more everyday, I think. Things have been a little crazy around the house as we try to adjust to this new way of living. We haven't taken any pictures of him around the house yet, but we will definitely get caught up on that. As far as the last post...that is Micah on top.

Who's Who

2008-07-01T00:52:00.002-07:00

So, 1.4 minutes after little Micah was born everyone started to say that Micah looked like his Daddy. I figured that I would pull a photo from the Cross archives and do a little bit of a comparison. I must say that there are some definite similarities...but I'm not going to tell you who is who...you'll just have to try and figure it out. We will have more pictures up sometime tomorrow...I just wanted to have some fun first.

Pictures!

2008-06-29T22:55:00.002-07:00

Hello everyone! We have pictures to share. We've got some more that we'll get put up in the next couple of days. All three of us are doing great and planning to go home tomorrow morning (Tuesday here in Japan)...so we'll have our Vonage back so we can make more phone calls out. We've had lots of visitors the past couple of days which has been great. Anyways, I'm sure people want to see the pictures more than they want to hear me talk...so here they are.

Our Baby Micah

2008-06-28T22:57:00.003-07:00

Just wanted to leave a quick note before I (Ryan) ran back to the hospital. Micah Alexander Cross was born at 11:18pm, June 28...he was too excited to wait the extra week and a half for his due date. He was 20 7/8 " and weighed 7 lb 5 oz. Everyone is doing great and we have lots of pictures that we'll try to get up as soon as we can. Thank you for all of your prayers, they have truly been answered.

The Boys are Back in Town

2008-06-22T00:22:00.002-07:00

After a month of living the rough life in Vegas, the guys got back this past week. Sarah went out and snapped a few pictures. We'll figure a way to get the pictures out to everyone, but here are a few for you to enjoy.

Baby Annie

2008-06-16T17:25:00.002-07:00

Tony and Grace Marek had a beautiful baby girl May 19, 2008. I had the honor of taking her first professional photos. She was so precious. Here are a few of our favorites. Enjoy!

The Phelps Family

2008-05-26T05:42:00.002-07:00

We are enjoying getting to know all the wonderful people in our squadron. With that comes the great opportunity to photograph them. The Phelps family will be growing any day now with the new addition of a baby girl coming soon. We truly enjoyed this mother's day shoot.

More Hirosaki....

2008-05-21T22:01:00.004-07:00

Hiroksaki Cherry Blossom Festival

2008-05-21T21:57:00.003-07:00

Cherry blossom season is now over, but we made here just in time to see it in full bloom. Here are some pictures from our trip to Hirosaki castle. There are over 5,000 Cherry Blossom trees in this City. It is considered one of the more prestigous cities in Amori because of the local univeristy. We truly enjoyed seeing the way they celebrate this time of year.

29 weeks and one hot beach belly

2008-05-21T21:52:00.003-07:00

Here are some 29 week photos of the ever growing belly. I am now 33 weeks(almost 34) pregnant,but am behind in posting pictures. Ryan took these on the beach. We live about two miles from shore. Americans are not allowed to swim here because of the strong undercurrents, but if we drive a ways down the road there are beaches that are open later in the summer. Hope you enjoy!

More of Kaci and Taryn

2008-04-25T02:20:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple more

Taryn and Kaci

2008-04-25T02:16:00.002-07:00

We had the priviledge of taking the pictures of the McBrayer girls this past weekend. They are very active and kept us on our toes. What adorable little girls!

Sarah's growing belly at 24 weeks

2008-04-24T02:24:00.005-07:00

Although I am 29 weeks pregnant now, I am just getting around to posting these. My good friend, Carriefay, took these right before we left Arizona. Thanks Carrie.

The buffalo

2008-04-14T17:36:00.004-07:00

Ok, since we almost died in this picture it gets a post of it's own. Ryan wanted to get some pictures of the bison in Custer State Park. So on our way back from Mount Rushmore we stopped along the road. My dad, I guess, has not heard that bison are dangerous and very tempermental. So he drives right up to them (a couple feet away) and tells Ryan to get out and take some pictures. Ryan does, however as he is outside taking the pictures my dad starts honking the horn to get them to look at us. Not the brightest thing to do. I think we got some angry buffalo looks! Ryan got back in the car and we went down the road further where my dad attempted to later run over a buffalo while we all screamed stop, go forward, go forward. Needless to say we ended up with some amazing buffalo pictures and here is one of them! Thanks for being such a risk taker dad!

AFRC Tours

2008-04-14T17:17:00.003-07:00

Part of PSCing in, is to attend briefings. They try to inform you on inportant information you need to know about the local culture. One portion of this consisted of getting our drivers license. It's a pretty scary thing to start driving on the opposite side of the road. Both of us have driven on the wrong side of the road an not realized it til we were head on with another car. Our license plates have a Y on them to let the locals know we are Americans. I bet they get lots of good laughs. Another part of the program was two tours that took us through Misawa and another neighboring town called Hachinohe. We feel very blessed to be in such a wonderful country. The people have been so hospitable.

Arriving in Japan

2008-04-14T17:05:00.003-07:00

We left Denver on Tuesday, Flew out of LA on Wednesday, and arrived in Tokyo Thursday afternoon. We spent the night in down town Tokyo and woke up around 3 am, ready to go! Jet lag is a great thing, haha. Sarah REALLY wanted pancakes....did you know they don't eat pancakes! The Japanese traditionally eat rice for breakfast. They actually eat rice for every meal. Yum! So we were told to visit the fish market. Let's just say this is not on the top of a pregnant womens things to do. The smell alone should kill you, however it was one of the most amazing things we have ever seen. Tsukiji is the largest fish market in the world and is located in Tokyo. It was only a few subway stations away from our hotel. We didn't eat any sushi, but we enjoyed some other things that we will never know what they were. Later that afternoon we took a flight into Misawa where we were greeted by our squadron at the airport. What a welcome!

The faces and Easter

2008-04-14T17:00:00.004-07:00

While at home we did some local sight seeing. It was snowy, but beautiful. We also got the chance to experience one wild Easter egg hunt! Pops Rocks when it comes to creating Easter egg hunts!

Our trip to the Midwest!

2008-04-14T16:55:00.003-07:00

As we headed up to see family and friends before leaving the country we took stopped along the way to capture some of Gods majestic handy work.

2008-04-14T16:48:00.003-07:00

Our last week in Arizona was spent with our good friends the Larsen's. After all of our stuff was packed up and we were out of our house, we went to stay with them. Now that is TRUE friendship! We spent one nice warm evening at the park taking pictures. Thanks for being such great models guys! We miss you lots.

Total Eclipse (not of the Heart)

2008-02-22T08:23:00.003-07:00

So we've been super busy around here getting ready for the big move. Unfortunately, Sarah has been really sick the past two weeks. We think it started as the flu and then turned into sinusitis(sp?). Despite all of that, we're still slowly getting everything done and I think we'll be good to go when the movers get here next Wednesday.

On the 20th there was the total lunar eclipse that I thought would be a fun thing to try and photograph. That is a very difficult thing to do. I think I did a pretty bad job, but I could probably get one decent 4x6 out of the 100 pictures that I took. It didn't help that clouds kept rolling in. At first, the clouds were just a nuisance, but it turned into the most exciting thing I have photographed in a while. There was a HUGE cloud to cloud lightning storm with about 10 minutes of rain. Before the rain came I was able to snap some photos while I was talking on the phone...how is that for multitasking? That's our house in the middle of the second picture for those who haven't seen it. Anyways, I thought that the pictures turned out really amazing, so I figured that I would share!

It's a XY!!!!!

2008-02-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

It's official...despite the Chinese birth calendar, pilot's wives' folklore, family "curses", and multiple incorrect guesses by family and friends alike, we're having a XY! But that was just a portion of our eventful day yesterday.

Yesterday was quite the day. Sarah got into a fight at school and had to be rushed to the Emergency Room. She had a large cut to her left thumb and the X-rays revealed that it was broken. They stitched her up, put a large dressing to cover the wound, and gave her some pain meds and antibiotics. Unfortunately, the paper cutter didn't make it. Witnesses said that shortly after the fight ended, the paper cutter was "cold, unresponsive, and didn't have a pulse". When asked later that afternoon, one teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "I saw the paper cutter only minutes before and everything seemed normal". "He'd always been such a hard worker, never complained about anything, and everyone really liked him" she continued, "...and to see him like that...it just breaks your heart".

So after the E.R. visit, we trekked on over to the baby doctor to find out the sex and to make sure the baby was doing well. We're very happy to have a little XY running around our Japanese house in a few months...maybe more like sleeping, drooling, pooping, and eating...but you get the point. We've got the new baby pictures to share, so here they are!!

P.S. XY = boy...it's a chromosome thing...

Flying pictures

2008-01-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks has been a little crazy. It is always a little difficult to get back in the swing of things after a long break. I finished my night systems training course on Monday (14th) and will be starting my next phase of academics on Tuesday to prepare me for the mission I will be flying in Japan. Sarah took the day off school on Wednesday for outprocessing meetings that need to be completed for us to get our orders to leave. After that I had a couple of days to hang out back in the old B-course squadron. I "sandbagged" two flights (ride in the back seat of a two-seat model), an Air Combat Maneuvering mission on Thursday, and a Transition flight on Friday. I was able to take my camera along with me to take some photos. Taking photos in flight proved to be much more of a challenge than I had originally expected, but it was still a lot of fun. I've also created a script that adds our photography logo and a border to the pictures. I think it makes them look more professional and adds a visual element that is stunning. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We're back home and we're going to kick off the New Year in a few hours. Our Christmas vacation was a wonderful time for family, relaxation, and of course...food. We flew in on Saturday the 22nd meeting up with everyone to surprise Sarah's mom. She thought that we wouldn't be able to make it until after Christmas. It was a great idea that the girls schemed up months ago.

Despite the ever fearful trend caused by global warming, we enjoyed a beautiful white Christmas. We saw about 12 inches of snow for the whole week. This allowed us to display our prowess in such gentlemanly sports as sledding, tubing, snowball war, king of the snow hill, and the ever favorite...slam the other guy's face into fresh powder.

Of course, we brought the cameras to capture the moments. Here are some of the highlights. For the entire collection, visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cross-photo/sets/72157603596211095/show/

Oh BABY!!!

2007-12-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

That's right, our first pictures...kind of. Sarah is due July 9th, we are both very excited. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving - Jacksonville

2007-11-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Jacksonville on Saturday night. We had tons of fun. Greta cooked us up a storm. Heather and Chris were so great to host us all in their house.We loved seeing the boys, man... have they grown. Here are some pictures.

B-Course Graduation

2007-11-19T09:43:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from Ryan's graduation. We were glad to have both of our parents in town for the big weekend. We had a non-stop, fun packed weekend as we showed off our "new" home and surroundings. Sarah got to taxi in the back seat of the F-16 on Friday. It was a great opportunity to snap a couple of photos. We also went to Marley Park that weekend to get some family photos taken. Enjoy!

Carpenters

2007-10-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

Just a sneak peak at what we are creating in the wood shop....What will it be??

Anthony's wedding

2007-10-28T17:02:00.001-07:00

We recently flew out to Anthony Felix's wedding in Austin, TX. What a fun time! It was a reunion of all sorts. The top picture is "Team Ryan" back together again. The next picture is the Cross's enjoying the Texas humidity, and the last one is the old OCF gang with Lt. Colonel Falconer. Thanks again Anthony and Joy for inviting us. It was absolutley beautiful. God bless you two in your life together.

Halloween Party

2007-10-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

So last night Ryan's squadran had a Halloween party. Costumes mandatory!! We dressed up as bikers....obviously bikers who had a mis-communication. The plan was to be SNL Cheerleader, but we couldn't find the costumes. Perhaps next year!

Ryan Finishes The B-Course

2007-10-21T21:47:00.001-07:00

On Friday, Ryan had his last B-Course Flight with the Tops Dogs. We will celebrate his graduation on November 2.

Lady Crud Tournament

2007-10-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Friday night was the big night for the Lady Top Dogs. We had our annual Ladies Crud Tournament at the Officers Club. No, we didn't win, but we had a lot of fun and came in second place. This picture was taken with my good friend Emily Larson. Check out those sassy dog collars.

Gilbert Engagement!

2007-09-30T20:21:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we took engagement pictures for Corey and Susana. The weather was perfect, the sunset was awesome, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures for them. We tried to make it as painless as possible...standing barefoot on rocks is nothing, right guys?

We are super excited about their pictures and have included several of them in this post. If you want to see all of them you can go to: http://www.gilbert.photoherald.com/