First Grade and One Less Tooth to Brush

All dressed up and ready to go!

School starts at 8:00 here......our mornings start at 6:30, so we can get walkin' by 7:30 and get there on time.
Graham needed his back pack, too. He was not a happy camper when he didn't get to stay at school with Lucy.

Lucy is not a fan of school thus far. "It's too long!" She wakes up saying, "I don't want to go to school." Once we're on our way and she's walking with friends, she's all smiles until we walk through the gates of school. She'll get used to it......I hope. She likes eating lunch there (although we she's not interested in school lunch) and she enjoys recess, but when we asked what she doesn't like about school, she said, "The learning part." Awesome.

Friday afternoon she lost one of her front teeth. I think she looks so different. It had been hanging on for far too long and it was time for it to come out. It looked very snaggle-tooth-esque. Dad was too much of a wimp to yank it out, so I had to take care of business.

Graham wanted in on the camera action, too.

What We've Been Up To.....

Hangin' at the beach


Partyin' at the Santa Monica Pier

Look close at Graham's face in this picture....hilarious.

And just enjoying being together again. The kids can't get enough of Jason and always want to play. There are so many things that I hope to never take for granted again. We're so glad he's home safe and sound.

Side note: I forgot to document Graham's initial reaction to seeing Dad for the first time. He said, "DADDY! This is my Mom!" and then pointed to me.

Welcome Home, Dad!

One of the best days ever!We got to the base airport over an hour early, so the kids got a little bored. Here they are enjoying a juice box from the snack bar provided there.
Dad's plane finally landed! It was huge!

The soldiers coming off the plane. Where's Dad?

Searching the crowd for our special guy

There he is! Check out that smile! I spotted it when he was just steps off the plane.

Together again!





Couldn't be happier or more proud.

I Can't Believe It!!

My sweetheart comes home tomorrow! I feel like I've been in a sort of denial-mode for the last couple days, like it's not really going to happen. But, tonight I saw some pictures that my friend took today (her husband returned from deployment this afternoon) and I think it has finally hit me. He's really coming home!

Kalleen Comes to Town!

My fabulous friend, Kalleen, came to help me get settled this past week. It was so nice having her here. I was so sad to see her go! Not only did she help these last days without Jason go more quickly, she also helped me with different projects and things around our new house. This is Kalleen and Lucy making signs for Jason's homecoming. This was one particular project I was just not going to do, but then I remembered that she was coming and I knew she wouldn't mind helping me out. She did it all and I am so grateful! Now Jason will feel the love as he pulls into our driveway and sees the banners welcoming him home.

Graham wanted in on some of the painting action.

The last night she was there, we went to a little Mexican restaurant that sits right next to the marina. We ate on the patio and enjoyed the view. We'll definitely be heading back there with Jason when he makes it home.

Outside of the restaurant there was a walkway and a fountain that the kids ran around. It was a little chilly, but still fun. Here's Kalleen and Claire with the kids.

Okay, I have to say that Kalleen is so very talented. She was only here for 2 days and she managed to help me hang some things up, paint Jason's banner, and she completed these paintings for Graham and Lucy's room. I absolutely LOVE them! Aren't they adorable? I've decided that Kalleen is like another Martha Stewart only way cuter and has way more personality. I've always admired her creativity and artistic abilities.

Thank you so much for coming, Kalleen! You are such a great friend and I enjoyed every minute you were here.

Lucy's Birthday!

Our little Lucy Jane turned 6 yesterday! I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to make the day special for her because we just moved here and we don't have many friends yet. Well, all the worrying was unnecessary....we had a great day and she had a birthday to remember. I loaded the pictures from the day backwards, so we'll start from evening and go from there. This is Lucy in her new nightgown standing with her new scooter. She decided about a week ago that she wanted a scooter for her b-day. Luckily, I hadn't done any shopping yet, so I was able to deliver.

For dinner we invited our new neighbors to come to McDonald's and eat Happy Meals and play at the play land. A family that lived next door to us in Lemoore now lives a few houses down from us here, so they came along, too. After dinner, we came back for cupcakes. Here's Lucy blowing out the candles.

Here's all the kids at McD's. Graham, Giselle, Lucy, Abby, John and Julianna.

This was the sweetest thing. We met some people at the park down the street a few days ago. They invited us to have pizza with them on Friday. I mentioned that it was Lucy's birthday and one of the mom's showed up with some cupcakes and candles and had everyone sing to Lucy. I was very touched and so grateful. Lucy was very surprised. In the picture she is tearing up because she's so happy.

This is what Lucy woke up to in the morning. Notice the cute banner in the background. My wonderful friend, Kalleen, flew in for a couple days this week and she made it for me to hang up. I actually hid the presents and we played the "hot and cold" game for her to find them (a family tradition).

By the end of the day I was happy that Lucy had truly enjoyed her day. She felt special and that's what I wanted for her. She had numerous phone calls from family and friends and she felt loved. She woke up this morning and was sad because she wanted it to be her birthday again. Now we get to look forward to celebrating again when Daddy gets home!

I can't believe Lucy will be starting 1st grade in a little over a week. She is growing up too fast and if I think about it too much I get really, really sad about it. I love that little girl so much and I'm so very proud of her.

Checkin' Out the Hood

We're getting down to the wire, but the time is passing oh so slowly. Here's some of the stuff we've been up to the last few days. We wanted to find a place where the kids could ride their bikes and see the ocean, so we went exploring. We found this little sidewalk near the marina and the kids had a great time riding up and down it as they watched the sail boats dock for the evening.

They found a hill at the end of the walk way. They kept going up and down it over and over again. Graham was seriously ticked off when we left the hill. He caused quite a scene.

Here's Graham on his new favorite toy....the tricycle. It was in storage all this time and as soon as he got on it, he pedaled around like a mad man.

Another evening when I was trying to kill time, I decided to take the kids and go get some ice cream. We found a Dairy Queen on the way out to the beach. Here's Graham enjoying his cone.

They don't sell Dilly Bars at this particular store, so Lucy jumped at the chance to get a chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard. She was good to share with her wonderful mother, though.

The highlight of the move....

Okay, so when I showed up at the house by myself last week, I shed more than just a tear over the size. It's not tiny, but the living room/kitchen space is a little snug. Mostly, I was just sad about leaving UT and uptight about the move.

Anyways, I was surprised to see that we have wood flooring (it's really vinyl, but it looks like wood). I was a little nervous about what to do. Well, Mom and I went shopping and found this:


I absolutely love it! And it's a good thing, too, because I spent WAY too much money on it.

Pregnant Belly Shot

A lovely shot of Yours Truly at 26 weeks.I thought it would be nice if Jason could recognize me when he comes home. So....here it is. It's good for the record books, too, right? Pregnancy wise, I'm doing well. The baby is moving A LOT. For some expectant mothers, this is exciting and fun. I have to be honest, for me it's a little creepy. I'm getting more and more excited to meet this little one, though. I'm nervous about the upcoming changes, although we are currently in the middle of one of those changes and somehow we're making it through.

Californians Are We!

Well, we made it! After a long week of traveling, unpacking and organizing, we are attempting to settle here in Port Hueneme. I got here a couple days before everyone and checked in and had our storage delivered to our new house. My Mom and Dad brought the kids a couple days later and the work began.

I have to say that I have the best parents on earth. I am so grateful that they came and helped me get everything set up and put together here. If they wouldn't have been here, I'm pretty sure I would have spent the last week lying in the fetal position in a corner somewhere wanting to die. We spent 3 long days juggling the boxes, the kids, and the base regulations.for allowing cars on base. (Sooo irritating! I understand the need for security, but seriously?)
The last night they were here, we went to the beach to see the sunset. We are officially beach bums! We are within 5-10 minutes of 2 or 3 different beaches, so come see us!

The beautiful sunset

Lucy had a bit of a run in with the tide. She was only supposed to get her feet wet (yeah, right). The water came in higher and faster than she expected. She was trying to run to safety and her flip-flops fell off. She went to save them and fell face first into the water. It was hilarious to watch, but she wasn't nearly as amused.

So, we're on day 2 without Mom and Dad and I have to say that I am very lonely. All I have to do is think about them and Utah and I start crying. I am so beyond grateful that I moved home during this deployment. We'll remember these past 6 months and smile instead of cry because we were able to spend it with family. Jason will be home in 2 weeks and we couldn't be more excited, but believe it or not, 2 weeks sounds like sooooo long to me right now. Is that crazy?

I love you, Mom and Dad! Thanks again for working so hard and reassuring me through it all that I could do hard things and I would survive the deployment and the move.