We had a wonderful visit with Granny and Grandpa! They came to see us for a week and they came at the right time (mom was needing a bit of a break):) They were nice enough to set up our bunk beds which Jonas has been dreaming of for quite a while now. Needless to say both of the kids were very happy about their new sleeping arrangements. They also babysat for me while I had my loong dental appointment and chauffered us around to places like an old Fort, the beach at Hilton Head, a wildlife center, and olive garden where we all- especially Jonas, sure did enjoy those breadsticks. Their visit meant a lot to us. Jonas asked them every night if they were going to be there the next day. He said their going away was going to be horrible, then he was reminded about the trunk or treat happening that same day and felt much better about life. Jonas dressed up as a knight and Savannah was a pretty princess. Later in the evening she found Jonas' helmet and added that to her costume. I didn't get a picture of it though.

Good Times

We've had a chance to hang out with some friends lately and even got to go camping for a night. Jonas informed me that he wanted to camp for 3 days and was very disappointed to learn that it was only overnight. We gals were proud of ourselves for putting up our tents, building a fire, and taking care of the kiddos without without our skilled husbands around to help us. Well okay I did need a little more help than the other women with my tent, I also had to go all the way back home when I discovered that my tent poles and stakes were not in the tent bag, and in the midst of trying to put it up when it kept falling back onto my head, I did decide that really camping is a lot more fun when James is with us, but we still had a good time. I have been grateful to have some good friends here to hang with during this deployment who are in the same situation we're in. We've also aquired a couple of new fish. This is our 3rd attempt at keeping fish as pets. We'll see how long these ones last. I have learned a few things to I think they'll be okay for a while.

















She LOVES her pj's cause unlike her regular clothes they have fun animals like monkeys and frogs on them. She gets very sad when it's time to take them off for her boring clothes.

Flowers

I am officially a SAHM again. I miss the kids that I worked with but things do feel more manageable now. Before I quit my job, a couple of weeks ago, I came home from work to a big flower box. Jonas didn't believe me that there were flowers inside. I think he was hoping for something else. James had sent me the most beautiful flowers which I loved seeing on my table.







Jonas making faces




Pretending to be an old man


Getting bigger



Current favorite toys-she calls them ducky and dude


A shot of Jonas at his gymnastics class

So Darn Cute

Just look at this face. Here is a girl who really enjoys her popcorn or kacorn as she calls it.















She is also trying to grow up too fast.







She was unable to reach her goal of putting both shoes on and walking around so she settled for wearing one and holding the other.



Here is Jonas with the biggest frog of the summer.He is also darn cute- Jonas that is, I guess you could say the frog is too as far as frogs go. He's got a pretty cute big belly.

St. Augustine Vacation

So having some time together as a family after more than seven months makes you really appreciate it. James and I both felt pretty emotional when we first got to see each other at the airport. Something that made it special was the people in the airport who were just standing there applauding all of the soldiers as they walked into their families arms. People were clapping and saying thank you to James as we walked out. Jonas was exited right away of course and Savannah was a little shy at first but decided that she loved James by the time that we got to the truck. She gave him a big hug as soon as I set her down. We celebrated James' birthday and had a couple of days at home to get ready for our trip. Then we drove the few hours to Florida. We stayed in St. Augustine which is the oldest city in the country. We had fun swimming, digging, and boogie boarding at the beach of course but Jonas actually liked the swimming pool better and claimed that it had more water than the beach. We also enjoyed a pirate ship ride in which the pirates terrified the children, a trolly ride, a museum of a really old house, a lighthouse, yummy gelato, and an amazing alligator farm which also had other birds and animals. We got to watch them feed rats to the alligators.whoa. We visited an old fort and watched them light a cannon. Another favorite activity was going to a restaurant that was out on the water. They had these little holes that you could open and feed bread to the birds and drop it down below to tons of eagerly awaiting catfish. We also had fun pillow fights and walkie talkie conversations in which we all had a nickname and sometimes Jonas gave us bathroom updates which was TMI. The time went by way way way way way too fast and we had to say goodbye at the airport a couple of weeks later. Even though it was hard to say goodbye, James and I both feel that it was so worth it for him to come home even if it was only for a short time. The kids did pretty well. Savannah now asks for papa and when I tell her that he had to leave she just says "no". Jonas was brave at the airport. He looked like he was going to burst into tears for a moment but then he was okay. We are so looking forward to when James can come home for good.

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Blessings

These were my children the very day before the long difficult flight we had to make back to GA. Savannah had been running a fever, and throwing up and possibly teething, Jonas was also running a fever and throwing up and extremely lathargic all day. I was very nervous about the return trip even without all of this illness going on. Throw in the sickness and I was downright terrified. But I was truly blessed that day. The day before our flights, my brother came over after work and he and my Dad gave preisthood blessings to the children. I tucked them in bed that night envisioning a long night with kids waking up feverish and puking. Instead, they slept through the night with no problems and woke up happy and feeling fine the next morning. Like I said, we were so blessed that day. I was so grateful to have them healthy and even though it did not stop the multiple toddler tantrums throughout the day and the delayed flight and frantic rush to make the last flight- we still made it home safe and sound with no pukes on mom- no pukes at all for that matter. :) This is Jonas using up all the silverware because he wants to pretend that they are battling each other. The fork turned from a good guy into a bad guy.

Utah trip

Some of my favorite pictures from our trip. I have a lot of favs. I'm sooo mad at myself for forgetting the camera when we went to Oregon. That was so much fun.