Florida

We finally left on our east coast trip...which ultimately means.....Matt is almost finished!!! Some really good family friends have made their home in beautiful Gulf Breeze, FL (right outside of Pensacola). So my mom and I began our trip in Florida. Here is a little glimpse of how we have been enjoying the week:

Old Friends! Leigh, Morgan, Cheryl, Sharon, Ryan, Lois, Me, Rian.

We wanted to spend a day at the beach (before this hurricane hits us). Rian met her first hermit crab.

I love this little girl! Look at her little feet in the second picture. So proper :)

Rian and Morgan! What cutie pies!

How stylin' is Rian in her little get-up? Cheryl lives right on the canal that takes us straight to the bay. We took the canoe and kayaks out for the afternoon. Both Rian and I had tons of fun!!! The second picture is of Rian playing in the dog kennel. I know it seems really gross, but the dog is really clean and it was keeping Rian entertained for a good half hour!

Rian blowing her first bubbles! Most of the time the soap just ends up in her mouth, but today she finally conquered the art of bubble blowing!

Rian playing hide and seek at Cheryl's house.

3 generation pic...My Mom, Me, and Rian. Last night, Roy, Cheryl's husband, showed us how the people in the south like to do it....we had a shrimp boil! If you have never had the pleasure of experiencing one, you are missing out! They take a big pot, or in this case a turkey fryer, and add tons of spices and yummy food. It all cooks together and then they dump it on the newspaper covered table. Then you get to pick out what you to eat! We had so much food! I took this picture after 16 of us enjoyed way to much of it! And we still had this much leftover :)

Rosann, Cheryl, My Mom, Sharon.....just like old times!!!

We've also been feeding the turtles who live in the beautiful pond behind Sharon's house everyday! It is truly a highlight, I swear! And I hope to get some pictures of it this afternoon!

Thankfully Gustav is heading more west and we shouldn't be too affected by this hurricane. I really did not want to add surviving a hurricane to our list of things we did on our vacay! We will be here a few more days and then heading to Virginia Beach, Newport, RI (for Matt's graduation), and then to New Jersey to visit more family!

Who Doesn't Love a Man in Uniform!?!

Yep, that's right.....I went to visit my hubby over the weekend! The trip was planned late Thursday night and I flew out on Friday! Nothing like last minute :) Matt's class was granted off base overnight liberty meaning that he was able to spend the entire weekend where ever he wanted to and the night with me at my hotel!!!! And he got to sleep in...he loved not getting up at 0430!

We had an amazing time together! I miss him more than words can express and it was such a blessing that everything worked out and we had this time to spend together! We actually planned another trip for me the weekend of the 22nd; guess he couldn't get enough of me! Or vice versa! HaHa! Unfortunately, Matt will have to wait until graduation (Sept 12th) to see Rian. But I took some video of her on my camera and we enjoyed watching it together over the weekend! He misses her so much :( Thanks to my in-laws who took Rian the entire time :)

Our Baby is 2!!!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY RIAN!!!

My sister wanted to have a little 'mini' birthday for Rian since they will not be here for her actual party. They sang Happy Birthday to her and we all enjoyed cake and ice cream! Rian loves the Happy Birthday song and has been singing it ever since!

I am so grateful to have Rian in my life. With Matt being away, every once and a while I start to think about throwing myself a "pity party", but she is always there to brighten my day. She makes me laugh and smile all day long! She has the absolute best personality! I love that she HAS an opinion. I love her independence. I love that she HAS to pick out her shoes for the day....she is completely obsessed with shoes :) I love that she is such a good sleeper and the easiest baby to put down. I love that she can just go with the flow. I love that she is my little jet setter (she has been on about 19 round trip flights). I love her smile....it's contagious! I love her kisses and hugs. I love to watch her sing and dance. I love how she loves to talk to Daddy on the phone. I love how she tells him "I miss you" and "I love you". The list can go on and on. I just love everything about this darling little girl!!! And I know Matt does too!!!

Small Towns Are Different....

So remember how my camera was 'stolen' over 4th of July weekend? My mom decided to put a lost and found add in the little newspaper here. On the 17th, we received a phone call from a little old lady from the senior citizens center. She had found our camera!!!! Two weeks later and it shows up! I know I was being watched over!!! But the point of this post is to say how different small towns are. If that happened in San Diego, it would have definitely been long gone. But not in Cascade. I guess it wasn't 'stolen' in the first place, just 'misplaced'!

We arrived back home late last night. I have so many pics to post and a great story about our 3 day, 17 hour drive back home. But for now I have unpacking and laundry to do!

OCS Website

Check out this website.

http://www.projo.com/extra/2008/ocs/

This link was sent to me from another girl whose husband is also at OCS. They say that this is only a glimpse of OCS and it doesn't even come close to representing what they are really put through. It was so hard for me to watch. The whole time I was watching it I was asking myself "why are you still watching this?", but I couldn't stop. It also explains the RLP inspection in a little more detail so you can understand why it is so stressful.

Enjoy! And let me know what you think!!!

Update #2: OC Pine

Taken Sunday, July 13, 2008 while finally being able to attend OUR Church off base!!! All thanks to the amazing technology of cell phones!!

We can all breath a little easier now because....MATT PASSED RLP!!! Their first RLP inspection was on Thursday, those who did not pass on Thursday had another chance to pass on Saturday, if they didn't pass either one, they were rolled back two weeks. Thank goodness Matt passed on his first try and didn't have to stress about it anymore. This inspection was pretty crazy. Only 20 guys passed the inspection. 10 from his original class, which started out with 34, and the other 10 were already rolled back once from another class.
Matt and his class have been now given the privileges to use a fork when eating (they were only allowed to use a spoon, and NO hands for the first 4 weeks) and can now have the fruit and salad bar with meals. He said that they should be getting a lot more privileges now that RLP is over!
Thank you so much for all your prayers.....even though we have had only 1 comment :) I know our Heavenly Father is blessing Matt at this time! How grateful I am for these wonderful blessings!

Rian Playing Wii

I brought our Wii up here because I knew it would be a big hit...and it is! We play it almost every night. TJ, my 4 yr old nephew, is so amazingly good. Seriously, I should take a video, he is so funny to watch and does so good! Brea and Rian love to 'pretend play' also. Although they do not know its really us playing! We strap the controller around their little wrists and off they go. Here is Rian bowling, then watching herself (or so she thinks) get a strike!

"Pops" and Ice Cream

One afternoon, my mom and I decided to take the kids on a drive up to McCall, Idaho (kind of a ritzy, touristy town). We found this yummy ice cream shop. This is Rian's first experience with ice cream, I guess you can say, she likes it!

We decided to give the kids some popsicles (or pops as they call it) after dinner and BEFORE bath! We will not be doing that again! It was a mess, but the kids loved it :)

Update: OC Pine

I wanted to give a little update on Matt (Officer Candidate Pine). We have been able to talk to him on Sundays, so that is to nice to hear his voice and especially have him and Rian get some phone time together. He is doing pretty good considering the MIND GAMES they're playing with him, the COMPLETE lack of sleep, and the NON-STOP physical activity. The first week was a bit of a shock, I think. He is starting classes this week (meaning educational type classes with tests) and has a HUGE RLP (room, locker, personal) inspection coming up on the 17th. They are so meticulous and this inspection can make or break his graduation date.....SO PLEASE REMEMBER HIM IN YOUR PRAYERS. I'll give another update soon!

Weekend With Family

I was able to steal some pictures from my mom's camera. I uploaded them backwards, but oh well. We had such a fun weekend with our family and spent almost the entire time on our two boats! Lucky us!


Rian waiting for the fireworks. Funny faces.

Family and Friends. Rian and Mommy watching the fireworks...Rian didn't like how loud they were.

Yeah, that's me wakeboarding! Rian playing with her bucket-o-water. Grandma and Rian playing on the beach.

Andrea, Jenny, Rian, and me having fun on the boat. Rian enjoying a nap. Andrea, me, and Jenny getting ready for our CRAZY ride!

My brother, Mike, turned 24 on the 3rd. We sang 'Happy Birthday' and his nieces and nephew helped blow out the candle!