Me, My Man, and the Mississippi

I spent last weekend with my favorite person in the world. We had such a fabulous 3 days! I couldn't have asked for a better vacation.

I arrived in Gulfport, Mississippi on Friday afternoon. After Jason picked me up from the airport, we had dinner at The Shed. If any of you have seen Sweet Home Alabama, you might remember the bar that they hung out at. This restaurant reminded us of that. We felt we were really experiencing the south.

After dinner, we made our way to New Orleans (about 90 miles away).

Our hotel was so nice! We stayed on the 19th floor of the luxurious Westin. We were right next to the Mississippi River and the famous French Quarter. We spent all day Saturday just shopping and checking out the sites. We were able to walk everywhere. The weather was fabulous and I was so happy just to be with him.


That night we went to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Jason got these enormous nachos and I enjoyed some coconut shrimp. YUM!

On Sunday we made our way back to Gulfport and stayed on the base there that night. We took a couple walks around the base and talked about the months ahead.

My flight left at 6:00 am on Monday morning and I was so sad to leave. It was a weird feeling because I wanted to be there with Jason, but I missed my kids, too. I just wanted him to get on that plane with me.

Jason will be here for the first week in February. Then the kids and I will fly to California to spend 4 or 5 days with him there before he deploys. We still have a few more goodbyes to get through. Wish us luck!

What We've Been Up To....

Like I mentioned before, we're living at Mom and Dad's house now and we're slowly finding our routine and looking for ways to fill the days. I celebrated my 29th birthday on the 10th. I requested frosted sugar cookies over the traditional cake. They were fabulous! Thanks, Mom! That weekend we enjoyed some Chinese takeout, went shopping, and saw Bride Wars (I really like it). My family tried hard to fill the void I have with Jason being gone.

Here's Graham and I enjoying some of the birthday goodness.

We found a great sledding hill right behind the house! Just a short little walk away. We've made our way over there a few times this month already. Graham goes down with me and the whole way he says, "WAHOO! That's bun!" Lucy goes slides on down like a champ and really enjoys being outside.
I sent the two of them down together a couple times, but both times they biffed it pretty hard. After they cried for just a second, I was surprised how quickly they jumped up and were ready to go again.
Graham wanted to keep his mittens on for a while after our return. Here he is with his hot chocolate.
Grandma and Grandpa got a Wii for Christmas, so there's been a lot of Mario Cart and Wii Sports going on here at the house. We just have to give Graham a controller and he thinks he's driving or bowling right along with everybody. Lucy has made friends quickly and I'm so glad! Here she is with some of her buddies. She has loved being so close to her cousins, Abby and Oliver, but it's nice that she has branched out and started spending time with other kids, too.

The month seems to be crawling by, but we're doing fine. I worry about the kids and how they are doing all the time, but they seem to be okay. We have more tantrums and breakdowns than usual, but I expected that much. My heart just breaks when they ask for Dad and wonder where he is. Only 9 more days and we'll get him here for a whole week!!!

Big Changes....

Well, the new year has begun and some big changes have taken place with the Ray family. The kids and I are living with my parents while Jason is deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan (we still don't know which one). Right now Jason is in Mississippi taking a class he needed to finish before leaving with his battalion. He won't officially deploy until the end of February.

Although we'll get to see him a few more times here and there before he leaves for the Middle East, the kids and I sure do miss him. I am so grateful for all the help my Mom and Dad are giving me already, but once the kids are down for the night, I miss him terribly. We've known his deployment was coming for a while, but how do you prepare emotionally for your husband and Daddy to leave?

Our routine is starting to settle in and we're transitioning into every day life. I get to see Jason this weekend! I'm flying to Gulfport, Mississippi for the weekend!!

We love you, Dad!

One tooth down.....

Lucy lost her first tooth a couple days after Christmas. That tooth was loose for almost 3 weeks, but Lucy wouldn't let anyone touch it. She woke up that morning and if came right out when she wiggled it.

The tooth fairy delivered with the cash. Lucy was excited to have some money to put in her new wallet she got for Christmas.

Deck the Halls

Abby and Lucy in their Christmas dresses from Grandma

Our Christmas adventure began when we showed up at Grandma and Grandpa's house with a van full of our necessities for the next 8 months. We were all a little nervous about what the new living arrangements would be like, but we were excited to be sharing the holidays with our family.

We made a trip to see the lights at Temple Square. The whole family went to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama before (there were 17 people and our plans were last minute....very few restaurants could accommodate). It was fun getting the kids all bundled up and seeing their excitement.

Our biggest adventure of the season came on Christmas Eve around 5:00 when Graham took a spill down the stairs and landed on the tile.

Jason and I spent 3 hours at the emergency room with the little guy. Jason and I spent 3 hours at the emergency room with the little guy.

After 3 attempts at getting an IV, 2 shots to the leg, and 4 stitches, we got to go home to do our annual Christmas nativity program. The sedation drug that they gave Graham was so strange. He didn't completely fall asleep. His eyes were open throughout the stitching and as he was coming out of it, he acted like he was drunk. Jason had to wrestle a very loopy 2 year old for about an hour. I hated seeing him like that!

Lucy and Oliver were Mary and Joseph. They are riding Jason Herman who played the donkey.

Lucy sang "Picture a Christmas" very beautifully and with such confidence.

Graham was still very loopy for a while after we got home. He could barely stand up without falling over. He sang "Jingle Bells" and then every time someone else got up to sing, he threw a tantrum and claimed it was "my turn".

Lucy, Abby, Oliver and Graham putting on a show.

Graham in his Christmas PJ's. Notice he's being helped to stand with assistance from Uncle Blaine.

Abby and Lucy in their High School Musical pajamas.

On Christmas morning Lucy was delighted to see that she got her American Girl doll. You can see the shy excitement in her face as she realized what was in there.

Strangely, I didn't take many more pictures of Christmas day. I wish I would have gotten one of the whole fam, but oh well. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and are transitioning back to real life with ease.

Our Final Days in Lemoore

Our final couple weeks in Lemoore are a bit of a blur because of all that we were trying to accomplish. Jason was gone for over 2 weeks for work and so I was on my own until my sister, Beth, came in on the train to help me.

We had the Navy move us this time around, so a company came in to pack us up, but there was a lot of prep work that had to be done. I had to decide what I wanted to take with me to have during my 9 month stay in Utah. There were also my two little ones that needed to be tended to during all the chaos.

Through all the craziness, we managed to make some fun-filled memories. Here are some pictures of our good times in no particular order (I couldn't get them uploaded in the order I wanted).

Here's Lucy at her last day of class before Christmas break. They all made reindeer ears and got to be Rudolph.

There was an adorable kindergarten program prior to their party. Lucy was singing the songs all month as they prepared for the big day. My favorite song was "Kwanzaa". So cute!

As I mentioned before, Beth came to assist me in the move. We made a couple trips to our favorite ice cream spot, Fosters Freeze.

Lucy spent a lot of time with Caleigh and Audrey while the movers were packing our house up. We're sure going to miss these guys!

The Lemoore Ward has an annual Christmas breakfast. Lucy got to see Santa and tell him one more time that she really wants an American Girl Doll.

She also got to be an angel in the chorus for the Nativity program that the primary put on.

I'm going to miss these guys so much! My great friend and neighbor, Tara, put on a farewell party for me. Lots of my friends from the ward came to visit and do some karaoke.

I sang, "Somewhere Beyond the Sea". As you can see from Beth's face, it wasn't too impressive.

Lucy also finished up her soccer season. She was pretty excited about her star trophy.

I've been sitting here thinking about what to say about our time in Lemoore and I have to say that I get teary just thinking about it. We were so blessed to have such amazing friends and neighbors during our time there. It seems that you look forward to moving on to the next thing, but when you finally do, your heart hurts for all the people you won't see anymore.

I hope all our friends there know how much we appreciate and love them. We will always look back on our time in Lemoore with a big smile and happy heart. (Right now it's a sad heart because I miss it so much). I know that we have made some life long friends. Please stay in touch!!!

We're Alive!

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought I would check in and just say that we are alive and well here in Utah. We survived Jason's absence and got our house packed up. We had a fabulous Christmas and New Years (pictures to come later) and now we're preparing for Jason's next month long absence.

We're trying to get settled, but it seems like life won't slow down until school starts on Monday. I'm hoping that a routine will start and our days will become more predictable.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I'll give a recap on ours soon.