Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas from Turks and Caicos

Just before the snow storm hit Dallas on Christmas Day, we took a flight to Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.  We were hoping to take a vacation in October but we were never able to get away so we decided to take the trip over the holidays. We checked the flights to see what was available for standby travel and decided to go to Turks and Caicos and booked our condo at the last minute.  The weather was in the mid 80's and perfect for going to the beach and swimming pool.  

We took an underwater submarine (of sorts) to view the coral and fish.  The kids enjoyed looking for sea turtles and fish.  Matthew kept thinking he would see Sponge Bob Square Pants down there.  We went to the park one day and then took a boat ride to Salt Cay for some snorkeling over a sunken pirate ship.  We also visited Iguana island and Matthew enjoyed that.  It was a great trip for the entire family.     

 

Ready for the beach

Lounging at the pool

Bedtime

yellowtail snapper (I think) swimming in the coral 

Sea turtle

Audrey loves to swing

Matthew looked like the first mate with his sailor hat

A crab that we stumbled upon at the park.  I touched it thinking it was fake.

Audrey said "no touch" and then it moved.  The kids were intrigued.

Audrey loves to eat Daddy's yogurt

Dinner Time

 On the beach at sunset

 Iguana island

 "The hole"

 "The hole"

 Boat ride to Salt Cay

 Iguana

Building sandcastles

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Papa Guido's Funeral

Last Saturday, during our birthday celebrations, my grandpa passed away at 92 years old.  His health started to decline around Thanksgiving where he had an infection in his legs and became bed-ridden, which resulted in pneumonia and ultimately moved out of his apartment and into a hospital.  His quality of life had become difficult so it was time to move on.  

Serafino Guido led an interesting life.  He was born in San Fili Cosenza, Italy.  When he was 2 year old, he took a boat to the US into Ellis Island.  He told me the story of how he didn't have any money and ate the scraps of food in order to get by.  His family settled into Port Chester, New York.  He had 3 brothers and 1 sister.  All of his family proceeded him except for his younger brother, Patsy.  I met his sister and younger brother in New York five years ago when I was in the New York area for a work project and it was neat to see the neighborhood and church where he grew up.  Papa joined the marines just before he turned 16 years old but lied about his age in order to get in.  

When he was stationed in San Francisco area, he met my grandmother, Bertie, on a trolley.  It is a bit ironic since Andy and I met at a bus stop.  They married and then my mother was born in Sacramento and shortly after they moved to Arkansas where Bertie's family was from.  They had another baby, my uncle Joe, and at a later point divorced and he moved back to New York.  In the 1980's, he moved back to Arkansas to be close to Joe and his kids, JP and Lauren.  

Papa was a master sergeant and served in WW2 and the Korean Conflict.  I remember the stories he used to tell me as a kid and I wonder how he survived since the marines are always on the front line.  I have a lot of respect for our military men/women and I try to make a point to tell them that anytime we see them in uniform at the airports.

Uncle Joe coordinated the funeral service in Arkansas on Wednesday.  Matthew and I went to the ceremony along with my family.  Matthew remembers Papa Guido and we mention him in our prayers often.  I thought it would be good for Matthew to see a funeral so he tagged along.  He was a good traveler.  The funeral was very nice with the military three-volley salute and flag presentation.  We think Papa would have liked it.

My siblings: Lori, Mike, Greg, and myself

Happy Birthday Audrey

Since we didn't do much for Audrey's 1st birthday, we decided to have a big party for her 2nd birthday.  We invited all her friends from school, neighbors, and friends with kids around the same age group.  We held the party on Saturday morning and the weather was unusually warm - which worked out nicely for a December birthday party.  

 The birthday girl!

 The spread included chicken nuggets, mashed potato bar, cereal, donuts, brownies, fruit, string cheese, and cupcakes

 We hired a balloon clown to twist balloons for the kids - it was a hit!

Davis

 Audrey and Hazel

 The kids played a flower game

 Jojo

 Hazel and Audrey

 Dora pinata

Pinata fun

Audrey's Dr Appt

On Friday, we went to the doctor for Audrey's 2 year check up.

Weight 25 lbs 12 oz, 39%
Height 32.7 inches, 20%
Head circumference 48.3 cm, 72%


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We woke up to snow on Monday morning- Audrey's Birthday! Andy made breakfast and we sang Happy Birthday to Audrey. She just smiled soaking it in. In the evening, we celebrated with ice cream cake. Audrey had cupcakes at school with her friends so it was a special day.

Over the weekend, we went to a Christmas party at the nursing home. I took Matthew to a puppet show, the nutcracker, and he enjoyed his mama time. Andy ran a relay in the white rock marathon race. It was a busy weekend.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

Oh, the weather outside is frightful....NOT!  We started the first day of December with 80 degree weather.  This is just insane!  But the kids enjoyed the outdoors in their summer clothes.  I'm glad that I didn't switch out their clothes.

We had a picnic in the park on Saturday morning.  I picked up some food from Jason's Deli "to go" but we made sure to enjoy the frozen yogurt in the store first. Audrey has been wearing pullups every day at school after the Thanksgiving break and she has been doing a great job in staying dry.  I bought some Dora panties and she was so excited to wear them Saturday morning for the first time. She immediately peed in them within the first 10 minutes in the kitchen (on the tile thank goodness) and quickly learned that she needed to go the potty or else we have to change the panties.  But she did very well for her first day and got the hang of it.  Mommy was exhausted with the frequent potty runs but overall it was a good day.  People think that she is early for potty training and that I may be pushing her too soon, but I tell you that she acts like she is ready and really we are the ones that are slowing her down just because we don't want to be inconvienced with running her to the toliet all day, especially if we are trying to run errands. 

Matthew learned about advent during his sunday school class on Sunday.  I am 1 of 3 teachers so I get to be a part of his learning process.  He can successfully recite the Lord's prayer without any hesitation.  He asks "what is temptation?"  I told him a good example - he has to make 2 decisions: 1) to give Audrey a toy when she wants to play with it or 2) run and hide with the toy so she cries.  This is temptation for a 4 year old and he frequently does #2.

our princess in her flip flops

The kids are ready to play "Super Ducky" with Daddy after bathtime

Look at Mr. Big Boy in his big boy carseat

Macie's 5th Birthday Party in Toy Story Theme

Adorable Macie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone