Since our last post...

A lot has happened since our last post. After 5 years of service, Jim quit volunteering at the heliport as a flight medic. In addition, he also resigned from the Santa Barbara Co. S.W.A.T Team. Both extracurricular activities were taking him away from home more than we anticipated and although he misses the friends he's made, he enjoys spending his newfound free time with his family and friends. The Santa Barbara County Fire Dept's annual charity basketball tournament against the San Francisco 49'ers was a great success. This was Jim's 3rd year playing for the team and the first time in twelve years the fire dept won!
In November, the Ventura Co. Fire dept moved into it's new dispatch building. It is an enormous building complete with individual dorms, underground parking, a gym and sauna (the hot tub was denied after the field learned that we were getting one and pitched a fit). Not to mention we now have state of the art technology that will help aid us in Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD). We have AVL (automatic vehicle locaters) in all of our equipment and an interactive map of the county that will help us to determine the closest resource to a call. It's pretty cool. We can see how fast a unit is driving around town if we wanted to. Something I'm sure the field isn't to happy about, but we think is kind of fun to see how fast they're driving to a medical call.
Stacie has also been very busy with an ebay business, Jack and Jill Designs, that she started wtih her sisters. What started out as making pacifier clips and burp cloths wtih her sister Stephanie has turned into making little girl outfits. Their sister Heidi has also joined the business making outfits and quilts. Stacie is really enjoying making clothes and looks forward to getting better at her new hobby. She has even enrolled in a basic sewing technique class at the community college this spring. Here is a picture of a Valentine outfit that she has sewn. In November, Stacie had cataract surgury in her right eye and is amazed at the difference after having just one eye corrected and she is looking forward to February, when she will have surgury on her left eye.
Riley is growing and changing everyday. He took his first steps just a few days before his first birthday and is now walking like a pro. He had a joint birthday party with his cousin Ashley and then spent his birthday at Disneyland with mom, dad, Grandma & Grandpa Simpson. Even though he was to young to understand what Disneyland is, he definately knew that it was someplace special. He had a blast and we enjoyed watching him enjoy his birthday at the magic kingdom.
Although both Jim and Stacie had to work on Christmas, it didn't stop them from celebrating the holiday with their familes on the 24th and 26th. As hard as we tried, we couldn't get Riley very interested in his presents until after they were opened. Were amazed we were able to get some pictures that look like he's actually opening a gift, when in reality he's just trying to get to a pacifier that Jim strategically placed.
In other news, Stacie's sister Heidi is expecting a baby boy this May. and their brother Justin and his wife, Brittny are expecting another baby girl, Emma, on Januray 10th.

Till next time,
Jim, Stacie & Riley