Rory's visit

Rob's cousin Rory came to visit us for a week from Alaska. He just happened to be here on his Birthday, so to celebrate we had a delicious dinner prepared by my love, and I attempted to make a Red Velvet cake (chosen by him as his favorite) it wasn't very pretty, but tasted pretty good! We had a great time visiting with him while he was here. We wish you good luck in Alaska, Rory and we miss you! Your visit was too short, but we enjoyed every minute of having you here!
His dinner of choice...Ribeye, loaded baked potato, and green beans
Singing Happy Birthday to him
Mariano helping him blow out his candles

serving the first piece

Mya really took to him and was sad that he had to leave while she was at school.
Come back soon Rory!

Getting ready...

Some updates...

and a few pictures. Mariano is getting better at writing his name, here is a recent picture
we can hardly ever get him to cooperate, but when he does it looks pretty good considering...
Mya jade is doing good. Here is a quick picture I took of her before school the other day
They recently had an awards ceremony and she received another academic award for the 2nd quarter.
She recently had Spirit week and one of the days was crazy hair day, so after her bath I sponge rolled her hair.and here is an after school picture, but I took it with my phone so it isn't of the greatest quality..

Valentino is such a funny little guy. Lately he's been making this funny face and I captured it!
What a ham! And here is an old one I scanned of Mya at his age, she used to make the same face!

Mariano

One of the blogs that I love to read is the Crankypants blog. I'm a big fan of Cranky's. I recently sent in a picture of Mariano in his Cranky pajamas and she put it on her blog. Here is a link:
http://crankypantsknits.blogspot.com/
I got some just like those for Valentino and a different set for Mya. They have become Mya's favorite as last night she was searching the washer then the dryer after not finding her Crankypants in her drawer. I'll have to get a picture of the other 2 on here in theirs.

A couple of pictures

This is Rob feeding Valentino some yogurt. He was making the cutest faces that I just had to grab the camera and take a few. The back of his hair is so curly it looks like he has a perm!
This was when we were leaving to go to Mya's school Christmas program.

Mariano a little under the weather, but we couldn't pass up a picture opportunity.

I just saw this one on Rob's command web page of their homecoming.
Can't believe that Christmas is only 2 days away. I don't know who is more excited- the kids to open their presents, or me to watch them open their presents. It's going to be so much fun. Rob has been on leave for a while now and we are loving having him home everyday. Mya and Mariano started their school vacations on Monday. Today was a nice low key day at home just the way I like it.
Obama is in town and has been working out at the gym here on base every morning. My friend got to shake his hand this morning. I was jealous, but I was sleeping in so that was just as much of a treat. The kids have been getting gifts, gift cards and money in the mail lately which excites them beyond belief. Thank you all for the thoughtfulness. Hopefully once Obama takes over office and the economy isn't as bad we can reciprocate, ha ha. Much love and we will be in touch. Merry Christmas!

My apologies

Just wanted to inform everyone that although I intended to, I did not send out Christmas cards this year. Life has been crazy busy and as all of the Christmas cards started coming in the mail (thank you all) it dawned on me that I never even got around to sending any out. To all of you out there that are on top of things and sent us a card, we appreciate it. We all love you and hope to be reunited soon. Have a very Merry Christmas, or as we say in Hawaii...Mele Kalikimaka.

Daddy's home!!

Rob got home the day before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately though, the arrival time kept changing. First he was supposed to get home at 4am, then it changed to 6:30am and it ended up being about 8:30am. The kids knew he'd be home soon, I just didn't give them an exact date because I wanted to surprise them. My best friend Angie knew of my hope to surprise them and volunteered to have Mya and Mariano spend the night over at her house. This was not only very helpful and appreciated by me, but it is a real treat for them also. Not only was it a school night, but they adore Angie's kids-they are like family to us. Angie and I concocted a story as to not arouse their suspicion because spending the night on a school night is usually out of the question. She told them that her son Kanyon, who is 3 and Mariano's best bud, finally pooped in the potty that night and that his reward was their company. It worked great and the plan went off without a hitch.
The next morning Valentino and I got up and I got us both ready. We got in the car and headed to his hangar. We got there right on time. His plane however, did not. Being in the Navy myself and having made my own deployments, I pretty much expected the delay. It wasn't too bad though since I knew I was going to have a great reward in the end. They had complimentary coffee and breakfast there for all of the families waiting for their loved ones to arrive which I thought was really nice. Lots of decorations and signs and leis. I casually sipped a cup of coffee while I followed the ever curious Valentino around all of the people and things in the hangar. Finally after much anticipation, the announcement we had all been waiting for! Daddy's plane was 5 minutes out. The loud cheers startled Valentino, so I swooped him up into my arms to distract him and held on tightly explaining that Daddy was almost here as if I were talking to a 5 year old. Amazingly enough he immediately calmed down.
Then I saw this. (the pictures are clickable for larger viewing)

I closed my eyes, prayed for a safe landing, and was unable to hold back my tears of joy. My heart was pounding as if I had just run a marathon. The torture of being apart was almost over!
I wish I could encapsulate the feeling and share it with all of you to swallow. It was amazing. If my restrictive vocabulary allowed I would translate the overwhelming feeling I was experiencing. But unfortunately, you'll just have to take my uneducated word for it.
All I could think was what in the world is taking so long? It felt like eternity.
Yay!!! Our missing puzzle piece is only feet away from us now.
I swallow the lump in my throat and peer through the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of my husband coming down the ladder.
Eventually I see him and his expression validates that he too see's me. It feels like there are miles between us as he maneuvers through the crowd to get to me and Valentino. Then before I know it, there he is- my soul mate, right in front of my eyes. We're touching. We're kissing. We're crying. We're laughing. We're smiling from ear to ear. It's over. Thanks be to God for bringing him home safe.
Valentino takes right to his Daddy as if he never left. We race to the car, not even waiting for his baggage. We want to go home. We spent the day together and it takes all Rob has to control his urges to just go pick the kids up early from school so he can see Mya and Mariano. He keeps asking me if it is time yet. Eventually the time had come and we leave to pick up our children. First we go to Mya's school to pick her up. I walk ahead of Rob who is carrying Valentino, and Mya walks up to me and asks if she can go to the front of the school to spend her quarter on something. I honestly can't even remember what it was that she was asking exactly because I was so anxious for her to see her Dad. So, I'm trying to divert her attention off of the quarter burning a hole in her pocket and we eventually just end up standing there without speaking a word. She's looking past me and I'm studying her face waiting for her to notice him and make the connection. Suddenly her eyes light up and her mouth opens wide and off she goes. She has spotted him. I'm over joyed with emotion, as are they.
They are ecstatic to be reunited. We stand there and reconnect for a minute then we're off to surprise Mariano. We get to his school, open the door and Mariano runs right past Rob, Mya and Valentino and hugs my legs. I'm still not sure if he was confused or nervous, but Rob starts talking to Mariano and he is immediately receptive. They hug and kiss and Rob stares at Mariano, just taking him all in. Our family is now complete. Off we go.
We have a wonderful day together and Thanksgiving is better than ever. Rob didn't have to return to work until Tuesday, so we got to bond for a few days. Being together again was blissful to say the least. Everything fell right into place as if he had never left. The kids are having a great time getting reaquainted with their Daddy. He's quickly becoming the favorite parent much to my demise.
Valentino follows his Daddy around everywhere he goes. Here you can see him standing in the bathroom while Rob shaves and gets ready for work.
We've been keeping Mariano's hair pretty long as we were going for the "surfer" look. He is so handsome! While Rob was gone we were toying with the idea of cutting his hair. Rob wanted to atleast wait until he got back and I complied. So two days after Rob got back, we decided we would just do it, afterall- it's just hair! It will always grow back. So here is the new kid around our house.
What do you think? He's got the face that can pull off any hair do. Although it admittedly took me by surprise at first, I have to say that I love it on him. It took a little getting used to and I still continue to accidentally pour too much shampoo when washing his hair. He loves his new hair and says that its cut like his Daddy.

So that is pretty much it. I know that it has taken me a long time to finally post this, but you've got to understand that we had lots of lost time to make up for. God brought our family back together and I am forever grateful. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. We love you.