When Aaralyn's away we will play......

Here is a little glimpse into what happens when Aaralyn is gone at school :)

Andre's One Year B-Day Video

It has been a busy year with 2 trips to California, 2 trips to Oregon a trip to Idaho and 2 trips Puerto Rico, then our big Move to Puerto Rico. I cannot believe that my little one is already 1!

Some places that Andre has been:

-California, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, South Carolina

-Flown over 10,000 miles on airplane

-Disneyland

-Dodger's Stadium

-Virginia Beach and Puerto Rico's Beaches

Andre is a fun and happy spirited little guy! He loves to laugh and chase his sister around the house. He is the best little brother, he loves to pull his sister's hair, bite, pinch, and hit. He sure can throw a punch, ouch! His favorite thing to do is scream a high pitched scream all day long. He screams if he is hungry, full, thirsty, tired, bored, happy, mad, wants something, doesn't want something....you get the picture :)! His favorite song is the itsy bitsy spider and his favorite food is...well ALL food! This kid loves to eat!! Today at his 1 year checkup he weighed 22.6 pounds and is 30 inches tall. He is a big boy, did I mention he LOVES to eat. The one thing he doesn't like is MILK! It melts my heart when he cuddles up to me and gives me kisses. I am so blessed to have Andre for a son, he is a special part of our family.

Great Friends!

I wanted to dedicate a post to all the wonderful friends that we had in Virginia Beach and all the memories we had there! We had a wonderful two years there and saw so many places, met many wonderful people and did so many fun things! We love you all and will miss you. We have a spare bedroom, so save up your money and come to visit us any time you want! :) Of course I don't have pictures of all the many wonderful people we knew and loved but here are a few...

Aaralyn's best boy friends, Omaiyan and Osiah

At the beach with the Lineberry's and the Conner's
Kate, Robin, Me and baby Jacob
Of course the Elders, Sam was the Ward Mission Leader. They were frequently over to eat and visit and we love them, all of them. Aaralyn especially LOVES the missionaries ;)
Baby Tyce. I didn't have any pictures of The Bingham family. But they are the best and I love them all. Loni was the best piano student and primary singer ;)! And Debi is just well.....Awesome.
Lisa and Andre. We love her adorable little girl and two teenage boys!
Aaralyn, Lilly and Paisley! Cutie pies
Sam and his friend Greg. They were feeding the Llamas, and getting attacked lol!
Talisa and I went to chuck-E-Cheese with the kids and we were goofing off.
The cute Graff family. We love and miss them. They are in Utah now and just had their 3rd child, baby girl Zoe.
Kate Lineberry, my cute Visiting Teaching partner! I will miss our visits together!
Beth and Robin, the life(s) of the party ;)!
Niesha and Ester. I had the privilege of visit teaching Ester. I love her!!
The Dosamontes family, Christmas Eve! Love you guys
My cute Primary kids. I will really miss singing with them every Sunday!
Aaralyn and Amanda, she would frequently babysit for us. She is the best!
The Ferrel family! We love them and will miss the laughs we had with them! Such a cute photo. Thanks to Josh for figuring out the auto flash!
Aaralyn and Ellyse, our next door neighbor. They were so cute together!

Ellyse's mommy Lesley, our next door neighbor.
WE love you all! Thanks for all the fun memories!!!

Our honeymoon paid for by Procter and Gamble ;)

Starting off our trip! Our 3 hour flight from Atlanta to San Juan. Sam got upgraded to first class but neither of us wanted to sit by ourselves, so we gave it to the guy next to us so we could have the whole row. I think that made his day!

Poor Sam looks tired. He had just flown in from Cincinnati on Friday afternoon and then we left Saturday morning for Puerto Rico.

Our first night there we went to Morton's. It is a very nice steakhouse, similar to Ruth's Chris. This is our funny waiter! They bring out the menu like this...
I don't know if you can see it very well. But that Lobster is live!
Our yummy salad
And dessert. Warm upside down apple pie. And warm chocolate soufflé. I forgot to take a picture of our steaks because I think I was too excited to eat them ;0
This is an old fort built to protect San Juan. There are many of these around the island.
Sitting on the deck of a restaurant we ate at. The view...beautiful, the food....not so great ;)
Outside of the Hilton there was a private beach. The water was warmer than the pool. It was warm and it is December! People from Puerto Rico won't swim this time of year because they think it is too cold!
I was so proud of myself. I actually got in the water! There were some angel fish swimming around us. It freaked me out at first but then I got over it ;)
A pretty view out back of the hotel
Looking over the dock. The water was so clear! Lots of Fish...
The hotel from the back
A bar in the middle of the pool, so you can swim and order drinks at the same time.


Looking out from the back of the hotel

Downtown Old San Juan.
In the town center of Old San Juan at night
The cruise ships that come and dock at Old San Juan! I couldn't believe how BIG those ships are...crazy!
Parrots for tourists to hold and get pictures with
Horse and buggy ride for tourists
more ships

We had such an amazing, all expenses paid trip. Sam's boss called one night to see how everything was going and Sam said, "It is Awesome, the weather is beautiful the food is amazing etc. it is like the honeymoon we never had. And thank you Procter and Gamble because it is... kind of Awesome!" It was funny, I had a good laugh to hear him say that to his boss. We looked for housing and found Aaralyn the nicest little private catholic preschool to attend. Sunday we drove around for over 2 hours looking for the church and couldn't find it. However, Monday our hostess showed us where it is! They drove us All around we saw a lot of the city and more! We will head back Sunday morning with the kids this time to finalize everything for housing etc. I am excited to be there in the 80 degree weather and not here where it is snowing and cold ;).

Christmas time!

It is that time of year and I am so excited to be home for Christmas. We have our very first Christmas Tree up! I love having the lights on and the memories and feelings that it brings back from being a kid.

We have a very busy month ahead of us! Sam is gone this week in Cincinnati. He gets home Friday morning and my mom gets here Friday night. Then Sam and I leave on Saturday to fly out to Puerto Rico for our "Pre-decision trip". This is a trip for us to check out the area, meet Sam's new boss etc. They are hiring a consultant to take us around which will be nice! I am looking forward to laying out on the beach, so let's pray the weather is nice! I will be sure to take lots of pictures!