Nice to be home in Virginia!

Well since we have been back in Virginia we have been super busy. Hanging out with all the cousins and eating a ton of Mexican food has been so much fun. While Lexi was at her dance recital I was able to watch Brayden and Emma and we played really hard. Ok Ok They played hard and I just took pictures of them.
The above picture is of me (forgive the nasty hair but it was so hot and the humidity was killing me) holding and meeting my nephew Bentley for the first time. He is super adorable and such a happy baby. He came right to me and didn't cry. I was surprised.
Noah and I have had the privilege of taking my dad to and from work on Fort Lee so that we can have the van for the day to do whatever we want. One day we went to the skate park which was awesome and the batting cages on Post. Noah had a blast.

Of course spending time at the pool is an all time favorite of mine. Noah and I have been going to the pool almost every day since we have been here.
This was the kids table at El Caporel the 1st night we got in.

I love being home with my family and eating at my favorite Mexican restaurants, but Im missing home in Utah too. I have great friends there that I miss and I really like the no humidity thing. Oh well, better enjoy this time I have with my family cause the time is going by so fast.

Virginia.......Here We Come!

It's funny how when we are little we can't wait to grow up and move out and be on our own, then when we are all grown up and on our own we can't wait to go back and spend all our time with our parents.

Noah and I are super duper lucky to be able to go back to Virginia for 2 1/2 months this summer. We will be staying with my parents which I am super excited about. My mom has a craft room with nothing but scrapbooking stuff. I can't wait to spend time with her there just talking and creating together. Of course the beach and the pool are very important places that we will frequent often.

We are leaving in 8 days (7 days and a wake up). I made a paper chain to count down the days and have been packed for about a week now. Plane tickets are already bought and just waiting to be used. Noah is packing his skateboard so that he can skate all over my parents neighborhood.

I am so excited to see all of my family and meet two little ones who have come into the family who I haven't met yet. I am so excited to see my other nieces and nephew too. They are all so adorable. I am looking forward to great friends, lots of food, and great conversation. June 1st can't get here soon enough.
On a sad note, Chris isn't coming. He is taking Spring classes so that he can graduate on time and then will be doing some Army training as well. I know that as an Army wife I will need to get use to him not being around all the time, but this is going to be hard. Chris and I have been married for almost 4 years now. We will not be together for our 4 year anniversary. We won't be together for father's day. 2 1/2 months apart is definitely going to be a challenge for me so I am counting on my family and friends to keep me busy so that I don't think about it too much.

Virginia......................HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fun Run 2011

Noah's school had a fun run for students and their families. Noah and Chris got 53rd place out of 600+ kids. Noah was super happy that Chris was able to go and he said that Chris helped him along the way. It was a 2 1/2 mile run and they did it in about 25 minutes. Chris is such an amazing father and I am so happy that him and Noah have the close relationship that they have.

The picture above is before the race. Noah was so glad that Chris could run with him today!
This is of Noah and his friends before the race goofing off.
And the picture once they were done. They did such a great job. I was very proud of them both.

Spring Break 2011

Spring Break is awesome! Monday Noah and I went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. It was so much fun. They had a baby elephant too. And we were super lucky to have such great weather.


Then on Tuesday we went to Lehi to the indoor water park. We went with Sarah and her kids, Mason, Taryn, Kylie, and Reina. We had a blast. It was very loud but so much fun. The rest of the week turned out to be really nice too, but we didn't go anywhere. Noah just played outside all day long. Boy did he sleep good that week. Now school is back in and we have about 6 weeks left of school then Noah and I are off to Virginia for the summer.

Happy 10th Birthday Noah!

Noah was born Tuesday April 10th 2001 at Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg, Virginia. He was born at 11:58am and weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 inches long.
As a baby Noah loved to be read to, take baths, and play with all his toys. Noah has always been a very happy kid. As a baby he always was smiling and laughing. He has brought so much joy into our lives and we just love him.
Some of Noah's favorite things to do now are ride bikes, ride his scooter, play legos, remote control cars, and video games. His favorite food is still the same........Pizza, mac n cheese, Spaghetti, and he loves ice cream. He always has his own personal ice cream container in the freezer.
Noah is almost done with the 4th grade. We will be spending the summer in Virginia with our families which we are really excited about. Noah has enjoyed riding his bike to and from school this year. He is in the chess club at school, cub scouts, he is taking piano lessons, and has played several sports again this year. Noah is a fun kid to be around and is really funny. We love him so much and are so thankful for his sweet spirit in our home. We love you Noah!!!!!!!!!

Friday was such a sad day............

I visit teach a lady from church who just had her 3rd child in January. On Friday I got a call a little after 2pm to inform me that her baby had died around noon. It was such a shock because the baby had not been sick. I had just seen Megumi and Sunao at church the Sunday before. Megumi is such a great mother and has always had a hard time getting pregnant so she was so happy to have another little miracle. Me and my visiting teaching companion and my friend Sarah went to see her once they got home from the hospital on Friday. How sad to see a mother grieving over the loss of one of her children. I am not sure there is any pain that is greater than that. We all sat together and cried. Her 9 year old daughter was also having a very hard time and seeing her so upset was devastating. They are such a great family and this is just so upsetting. Tomorrow is the funeral for Sunao. Megumi has asked that I give the opening prayer. Of course I said yes, but I am so nervous. It's hard enough giving a prayer at a funeral, but a funeral for a baby? I am trying to put some thoughts together and get so upset each time I think about it. I know I am not going to be able to do it without crying, but if that is what Megumi and Hito want I will do it.

This whole experience really is hard but I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for the opportunity we all have to be families forever. I feel so much comfort just knowing that there is life after death. I am grateful for my family and friends. I am not sure what I would do in this situation but what I do know is that I will try to be the best friend and visiting teacher to Megumi during this difficult time.

A new way to clean the Bathroom!

So I asked Noah to clean the bathroom and this is what I found. A new way to clean the bathroom. Whatever works! I don't care if he uses this method cause it is still clean when he is done. Maybe he will want to clean the bathroom more often if I let him use his water guns.

Family Bowling Night!

Friday night we went to the Wilkinson Building on campus and had a family bowling night. It was so much fun but Chris won both games. Next time just me and Noah are going so I can win. LOL I love spending time with my two favorite guys! I always have so much fun.

Spring is in the air..........

This past Saturday was 75 degrees. It was great. Noah and his friends wanted to have a picnic outside, so we made pizza and they had a picnic. They then had a water gun fight and were just running around all day. Noah went outside about 1030am and come in at around 6pm. Then I get a call from my friend Sarah who asked if we were really have a Teen Choice Award party at my house. Thanks to Noah for inviting the neighborhood over without telling me. I really didn't mind and they all seemed to have a good time. I am so grateful that Noah has such a good group of friends.

Pinewood Derby

Noah was so excited for the pinewood derby this year. Noah and I painted his car and put the wheels on the night before. It was so much fun!
On the way to the church we picked Chris up from work. He then had to drop us off and go to class so he had to miss the pinewood derby. On the way I asked him to fix one of the wheels that was bent a little. When he did that it broke a piece of wood off that made it so that wheel couldn't go back on.
Chris had to go to class so I was on my own to fix it. We went in to the church and our cub master hammered the wheels in the front on so that it would run, but it ended up dragging on the track and his car was super slow. Noah was kind of upset because he didn't want his car to lose.
Then one of the men in our ward Brother Scoles asked if he could help. He was able to fix the wheel and Noah's car ended up winning 3rd place. He was so excited. He even thanked Chris when we got home for breaking his wheel. LOL

Noah's Slideshow

I wanted to make a slideshow of pictures for Noah from birth til now. I think it turned out awesome. He is such a blessing to me. I love that little boy sooooooooooooo much.

Noah's 10th Birthday Party!

For Noah's birthday, he wanted to have his party at The Quarry. The Quarry is an indoor rock climbing place. It is amazing. Noah had 7 friends come and celebrate with him and enjoy an afternoon of climbing rocks. They were such a great group of boys. Josh and Jadey were able to come and help out. At the end of the party Josh and Chris got to climb too. They had a blast.
Noah picked out his cake from the grocery store. It was lemon filled with whipped topping. When he decided what kind of cake he wanted I thought it would be awful, but to my surprise, it was great. The party was a HUGE success and everyone had a good time.
Noah got so many awesome gifts. His friends hooked him up. On his actual birthday is when he is going to open all his gifts from family. I can't wait for him to see what Chris and I got him.
What kind of party would it be without Pizza!!!!!!!!!!


We got everyone except Carter in this one! What a great group of boys. I am so glad Noah has such a great group of friends.

My wedding video!

I just made this tonight. I have been wanting to make one to put on a DVD so bad for a long time and finally figured it out. YAY!!!!!

Army Wife!

I am so excited to be an Army wife. I know that my mother really enjoyed it and loved traveling to new areas. Although I claim to already be an Army wife, Chris is only in the ROTC program so I don't have all the duties and hardships of and Army wife just yet. Chris will commission next April. We are thinking about joining a program which will add 3 years to his already 4 year commitment so that we can pick which location we want. We are looking at two places very closely and are really excited about either of them. Of course with that being said you know me, I am always on the computer looking up beaches, crime, and school systems for Noah. Those are the 3 things that really are important when looking for a new location. Noah needs a good school system. Luckily with the two places we are looking at they both have DOD schools which are on the Army base. So that is a plus. Crime in both areas varies. Like most places you need to be smart about walking at night and what areas you go to, but the crime is no worse in these places then a lot of places in the US. Beaches are a must for me and Noah. Chris will like the warm temperatures but the beach is not really his thing. He doesn't tan either so he will need a large umbrella to cover his whiteness. We are looking at either Hawaii or Puerto Rico. Either place sounds amazing and I can't wait to finally pick and lock it it. Either place will give us great opportunities and a lot of experiences that I am so looking forward too. Hawaii just renovated their on post housing so they are really really nice. I haven't been able to locate any from Puerto Rico but who cares when you are living on the Caribbean. How much time am I really going to spend in that house with the beach mins from my house. LOL We will all be thin cause I won't be cooking anything other than my skin. LOL

We won't find out any information for awhile now. Chris is going to LDAC(officers training) this summer and will be putting in for what branch of the Army he wants to work. Then in October we find out what he gets. Then in about Jan or Feb we will get our orders. Then we will know for sure where we will be going. I can't wait. That is going to be so exciting. I could totally get use to this Army stuff. Moving every 3 to 4 years and having new adventures sounds like so much fun. I loved moving out here to Utah but am really excited to move somewhere new. I know not all of our places will be tropical but I am good with any state too. Anywhere we go we will be starting something new together as a family and that is always exciting.

The Military Ball

The Military ball was amazing. It was so much fun to get all dressed up and get my hair done and get to a fancy dinner with the love of my life. It was at the Provo Marriott Ballroom. Dinner was amazing. The guest speaker was the BYU football coach. It was one of the best speeches ever. He is a great speaker and had some great advice for all of the cadets there. The ball was for all BYU and UVU Army cadets. There was probably 400+ people there. They had dancing and mingling time too. It was such a great night.

Noah spent the night with Josh and Jadey. It was so nice that we had someone to keep Noah so we could go. Noah was in great hands. It got to hang out with his Uncle Josh and Aunt Jadey, have pizza for dinner, and play videos games and watched a movie. They even had waffles for breakfast. I totally love have great my brothers are with my little man. Noah really does have to best Aunts and Uncles ever.