Christmas 2009

This year we had our first Christmas as a family and it was awesome. We started some of our own traditions and had a wonderful time. Dave did not have to work very much and Lys was off of school so the last 2 weeks of the year were very relaxing and fun for all of us. Here are some pics from Christmas and the last 2 weeks of the year.

Dave got me speakers for my car.

This girl is spoiled, look at all her loot.

Lys and her stocking

Santa lined our stairs with bubble wrap because Lys loves popping it so much.

What kid would not love to come down and see this on Christmas morning?

Our stockings

Another family pic

Christmas Eve dinner

We made the world's worst gingerbread house, but it was fun doing it.

Lys was off for 2 weeks so one of the days we had a picnic in our back yard.

Some of the goodies Alyssa and I made for our friends.

Alyssa and Chauncey in their santa hats.

Family pic, minus Chauncey. 32 Weeks pregnant here.

Dave and his birthday cake I made for him

Fall of 09

It has been a long while since I have updated the blog so here is a very quick overview of the last few months. We are in our new house which has been such a blessing! Alyssa loves her school and I am there often helping out. We feel very at home here. This Thanksgiving we were blessed to have my sister and her family come spend a week with us. It was so nice, we loved having them here. It was the highlight of my year for sure. Alyssa started girl scouts last month so that has been fun for her, she goes once a week and some other activities. Last week we went to the North Carolina Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker and then out to dinner, it was fun. Lately we have just been getting ready for Christmas. This will be our first Christmas away from home so we are going to embrace it. It will also be our first Christmas together as a family. Also, we do not have much longer until we have our newest member of our family Nathan Stefan White. Can't wait to meet him!!! We will keep everybody posted on all new updates. We love you all and hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Our beautiful Alyssa

Nutcracker cast

Alyssa at the Ballet

Alyssa and I before the ballet. I am 30 weeks pregnant here.

These are cakes they made at Dave's work that look like the berets they wear.

Highlight of the year, us with the Millers on Thanksgiving.

We spent one Sunday in Raleigh at the kids museum and the IMAX theatre.

Alyssa on Halloween

Alyssa in our back yard.

Lys and I at the Pumpkin Patch (Dave didn't go because his leg was broken at the time)

We Are Moving!!

So, we are moving....not far, just across post. We are moving into a 3 bedroom house so we can plan for the arrival of our newest addition due Feb 2010. We are all really excited because this house is quite a bit bigger and nicer than the house we are in now. Here is a picture of it.

Trip home to CA

So, Alyssa and I were lucky enough to plan a trip home to CA after only being gone for 3 months. We had a wonderful time with the family. After being away I realize how much I miss and love my family. I really only cared about being with them. We were there for a little over 2 weeks and then the family all went to Gin and Jason's for the weekend before we left. It was so fun to all be together. I am very grateful and lucky to have the family that I do. I wish Dave could have come with us but he had to work. I am looking forward to when we will all be able to visit.

Alyssa and Ollie, 2 very cute cousins. Ollie is wearing Jason's Do-rag

Me and Gin, 2 very cute sisters

What a wonderful family I have (minus my hubby)

I hate this pic of me but I love my siblings so I had to put it up. This is at Santa Cruz.

Alyssa went for a ride on the dirtbike with her brother.

Some friends and me at a BBQ

Alyssa, Jack, Me and Mom at Six Flags.

Alyssa and her cousin Angelic watching the fireworks at the park. Lincoln fireworks were really great this year.

Alyssa and Ollie in their 4th of July getup.

Alyssa in the pool with Ollie and Gin.

Trip to Pennsylvania

This past weekend was the Army's birthday so Dave had a 4 day weekend and we were lucky enough to make a quick trip to Pennsylvania to visit the family. We were not there very long. We left NC around 7 pm on Thursday night and arrived at grandma's on Friday morning at 3:10am. I was so eager to get there I drove the whole way. We also brought our puppy with us on the trip. It was such a fun weekend and I am so glad everybody got a chance to meet Dave. I am looking forward to going back soon, I think being there cured my little homesick problem I get every once in a while. Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

Lys and Joey playing in the water

The kids at the chicken coop

Dave and I

Chauncey licking Jackson's toes

Me and Aunt Claude

Me and Leah

Grandma reading to the kids (Lys, Joey and Josh)

Casey, Nate and Dave playing basketball

Me and Chauncey

Merideth, Aunt Tonya and me

Me, Lys and Dave with Grandma

Lys and Joey

Some of the ladies on grandma's porch

Lys and the bullfrog she found

Joey, Ava, Joshua and Lys in uncle Dougs pool

Ft. Bragg/Memorial Day Weekend

So we have been pretty busy lately, just living life and enjoying our new place. We got a new dog and he is the sweetest thing ever. We love him so much and he will definitely be spoiled rotten. There are lots of BBQ's here and now the pools and lakes are open so we are excited about that. Here are just some random pics from the last few weeks.

This is Alyssa and her friend Kaydenz in her mustang.

This is Alyssa's friend Jatavis, he is so cute. Alyssa likes to play mommy to him because she is so much older.... :)

Here are some of the girls I hang out with everyday.

We had a fried food festival and fried so much stuff we ended up throwing lots of it away. We did snickers, oreos, twix, and twinkies. Talk about clogged arteries.

This is Chauncy, how could you not love him?

Alyssa in front of her soon to be school in August. She is enrolled and ready to go.

She also lost her first tooth. The tooth fairy brought her $3 and she couldn't wait to spend it. She bought an icee, some gum and a big pack of sunflower seeds.

This is me and Dave out at dinner one night.

This is the lake on post. We spent the day there with all the neighbors, it was fun.

A New Life

Hello, it has been a while since I have done a blog post so I thought I better catch up. As most of you know Dave and I got married and he is in the Army. His first duty station is Fort Bragg NC, so that is where we live. It was really hard for me and Alyssa to say goodbye to everyone at home but as soon as we got here things were good. I am really surprised at how well I adjusted, I knew Alyssa would make plenty of friends and be fine, I was just worried about myself. We are all doing really well and are enjoying our new life. Just last week my dad came to visit, he stayed for about 4 days and it was really fun. It didn't take Lys long to realize that since papa was here it basically gave her reign to do whatever she wanted. They spent about 24/7 together (even sleeping). We really enjoyed having him and are looking forward to June when both my parents will be here. Here are some pics from last week.

Alyssa sitting on a cannon in Bentonville, notice the robin's eggs and nest inside of it. She was begging to take an egg home.

This will be Alyssa's school in August.

Alyssa at the park behind out house.



Me and Alyssa in front of our house.

Dad and Alyssa at the park behind our house.

Me
Us with some of our neighbors at dinner, we went to Logans Steakhouse.

Alyssa at the kids museum. Notice how we put the sun on our side and the storm on the West coast.

Alyssa and I in downtown Fayetteville.

This is us in our living room, we are not fully unpacked yet.

This is Alyssa outside with the neighbor kids. We now have a bigger pool that is more her size.

Me with Alyssa and her friend Taye, he is so cute.

Us in front of our house.

Alyssa (the postmaster) ringing me up at the grocery store in the kids museum.