My friend Clair did this on her blog, and sense my cards will be mailed out probably on Monday (assuming there is room on a plane) I thought I'd go ahead a put this on here as well. My card does not have a letter in it as the PX is still eagerly awaiting a shipment of ink cartridges for my printer.

I hope this letter finds you all well. Our family is busy but doing well...I can't think of a better way to be!

Justin got promoted to Staff Sergent in October which was a wonderful day for our family. It was a great to actually be there to stand by him for once, and the kids even got to help pin him on. http://vanilladreamer07.blogspot.com/2008/10/and-nowpromotion-day.html He is still working on Futenma, he had to move to another shop but seems to be happy with his work situation. He still gets to gas people about once a month which is fun for him, but not for anyone else in the house as he sometimes forgets to mention that his clothes are "spicy" resulting in tears from anyone who comes into contact with them. Even poor Katara has gotten in on the gas chamber fun after helping load laundry in the washer and then putting her hands in her mouth and eyes.

Arleta is busy with school. As of right now she taking a 6 hours and next term will be taking 10 hours. She is working towards her BS in Psychology and then on to nursing school hopefully. She is one of the MOPPETS coordinators for MOPS and is teaching Cubbies in Awanas this year.

Korbin is also busy with school, for him kindergarten. He loves it and is starting to read already! He is still very patient and a wonderful big brother and helper. He loves when Daddy deploys because he gets to be the man of the house and was a little disappointed when he learned that Daddy isn't scheduled to leave anytime near soon. He still LOVES Dirty Jobs with Mike Row and is an excellent builder and problem solver as well as an excellent artist. http://vanilladreamer07.blogspot.com/2008/07/few-pictures.html

Kane is still a wild man, he just oozes dirt and boyness. He loves his fireman boots, toy pistols and rocks. He had a hard time adjusting to his big brother going to school but has finally settled into a routine that requires lots of crafts and time at the park. He has a huge heart and loves to support and comfort anybody who is upset...except Katara who he still likes to push around and step on. He can be found most days in his wolverine undies usually playing some kind of fireman/super hero game. He is very creative and likes to surprise everyone around with his amazing sound affects! http://vanilladreamer07.blogspot.com/search?q=snail

Katara is 18 months old now. She is a sneaky one who can be found most days either in the toy kitchen oven or if I leave the door open to the real kitchen inside the dryer. She loves to hide, she loves to make messes and she is sassy. She also has learned to pinch when she is mad. She loves her baby dolls almost as much as she loves the little toy soliders and hotwheels that litter the floors in the toy room and hallway. She loves to love on Korbin and pick on Kane, and she has her daddy wrapped around her pinky several times.

Our prayer for you and yours is that you have a safe and wonderful holiday season and new year.

Merry Christmas!

We had a chaotic Christmas Morning, the kids didn't get to bed until almost 11 on Christmas Eve, so they slept in until 9. But they had fun opening presents and we were lucky to have grandma & grandpa on skype to watch the process!! We saved some presents to open with Nena and PawPaw today on skype, but we woke up to a pukey house with both J and Korbin puking so we will open those later. Hopefully we will all be better by tomorrow because we prepaid for a tour of the tunnels they used during the war here. If we are able to go I will try to get some pictures posted. My new camera STILL isn't here and I hate J's, it is a pain to hook up and download.

Anywho Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...oh yeah the cards are on the way;)

J's work Christmas Pary

The Christmas party at this new unit was a pretty big disappointment after last years. His old unit was so great for families. The new one only had cookie decorating for the kids so after they did that they just ran around the dance floor and it turned into a huge disaster. But it was nice that they made the effort to do something for the families and I found out that I know his Chaplin's family so I had someone I knew to talk to.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two of my friends showed me this today, so Clair and Farrah...this is your fault! My homework isn't done, I have dishes in the sink and my kids are hungry but I have elfed my family! I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and bless who ever goes out shopping on Black Friday...may the force be with you!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy 233rd Marine Corps!

We had our ball on Friday night, it was fun we sat at a great table where we really enjoyed the conversations and people, after dinner I had fun chatting it up, but unfortunately J wouldn't dance with me, even when the salsa and maranga came on he turned me down:( The weather was beautiful warm but not too hot so we could enjoy being outside on the patio area and NO RAIN!!!! We had a great time and I can't think of any better way to say goodbye to our old unit. I hope the new one measures up to the last...

Halloween

Buzz and Woody united once again! I thought it was strange that as the boys trick or treated people would say Oh buzz light year, and a cowboy! A few times it was buzz light year and the cowboy from the movie!! Can you believe that? Then there was my dear sweet Katara, everybody thought she was a ballerina...not so much she was just dressed in a Halloween outfit. We had fun and walked around with some friends, the boys got a whole pumpkin head about 3/4full of candy a piece and Katara got a few pieces in her blocks bucket too...thanks GiGi for that toy last year poor Katara has no pumpkin head b/c we have no WalMart:( It was pretty hot, so my uber sweaty Kane-y Bug has his costume almost dripping wet by the time we hoofed it back home. Next year he will be in a cooler costume! Korbin dressed as a ninja turtle was at his school party, my friend who gets to volunteer at his class is always great to take pictures for me!