The Latest News

So far this year we have enjoyed quite a bit around here!! I started two new classes (Accounting and Marketing) and Caleb has been sick. Daniel was slated to go to Afghanistan, but was then told that he was no longer needed. We were then in limbo with orders. Where are we going?? When can we leave?? We knew none of this - until today.

Depending on how much leave we take, we'll definitely be going to Beaufort, SC and will have to check in around Oct. 13th. Hopefully, this will put us leaving here (Okinawa, Japan) around mid-September. I'm not sure of the process in which Caleb and I will take because he needs to be enrolled into school long before this date. He'll be starting pre-school this year so we'll have to find one close to where we'll be living and make all the necessary arrangements. Daniel and I are also within a handful of classes from receiving our Associates Degree - which are in two very different fields. This is great - considering in how we've both taken about a year or so off since we've been here in Japan.

Caleb's also been asked to be in my aunt's wedding, so as of the end of March, we'll be looking for a flight to FL, then driving up to GA. Daniel starts his Sgt's course in April lasting through June, so I'm not 100% sure on how long Caleb and I will be staying in the states. Definitely until the end of May, but not sure other than that.

We've also planned a little trip before leaving this side of the world. We have decided that in March, after my classes end and before Caleb and I leave for the United States, we'll take a trip to Tokyo Disney. This isn't final yet, but should be finalized this weekend. We haven't told Caleb yet either, so I'm excited to get his response.

As for Caleb, he's doing much better lately. For those of you who didn't know, he's been sick for quite some time now. It has mostly been a cough and stuffy nose but now we're doing much better. This has been on-going since mid-September. He's still on about 5-6 different medications, but we finally have an antibiotic added in with the others which seems to be helping him. He's been diagnosed with mild asthma - which is basically caused by 'something.' I have no idea what that something is and won't really know. It's possible that it's dust or mold since Daniel is allergic to both, so that's the best guess we have. He doesn't get to where he can't breathe out of the blue, but he does start coughing (all types of coughs) and gets to where he either throws up or he has trouble breathing. For that we have two types of inhalers - one every day the other as needed. His nose has also been blocked for the longest time now and for that he has two types of nose sprays. One is prescription and the other is a basic saline nose spray. The blockage is mostly gone now, but we have to continue on with the medicine just in case. Because all of this is possibly 'allergy related' he's on Zyrtec and Singulair. To top it all off, we've just been put on Amoxicillin. I asked the doctor yesterday if he could be taken off any of the others and he said as of now no, because he's likely to get worse, but hopefully he can come off them soon. He also said that we should hopefully see a difference when we leave - so I'm looking forward to that. I feel so bad for him because he has so much going on. He even has a little planter's wart on his foot which I hear is pretty painful so we also have medicine for that!! Hopefully with the move that is coming up along with our trips, this stuff will get better and he can get back to being on no medication!!! Please just keep him in your thoughts and say a little prayer for him. He'll say his prayers at night and pray for his cough, throw-up, and everybody else in the whole world!! He's the sweetest thing and has one of the biggest hearts.

So, to start the new year, I'm one year older, we're moving again, and Caleb's finally getting better. We've been busy with tons here, but hopefully everyone else is doing well. We love you and miss you all and can't wait to get back to see everyone!!

I'll send pictures out later on!!

Love,

Jess

Happy Holidays!!

Wow where to begin!? I haven't done this in so long, for many reasons, but mostly for lack of time. Once you're out of the routine with something it's really hard to catch back up. Anyways, here's a brief review of what our lives have held over the last few months. Yes this is extremely LONG, but it is brief seeing in how I'm recalling on some of our bigger moments in life.

Thanksgiving was awesome! We went to our friend's (Ginger and Alex) house and had a huge meal! I cooked so much to have my own, but we took everything over to share with our family here. We had a huge group there and we played games all day. We even took the kitchen table and chairs to the roof of the tower to play games and goof off. That also gave the kids room to run around and ride their bikes (btw - the roof is fenced in, lol). The tower is also like a hotel, so we took the elevator to the top! Later that evening we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner again and played more games and came home and passed out! Caleb had a great time playing with all of his friends and we enjoyed having a place to go that felt like home since we're so far away from our families. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera that day, or just didn't use it, so these are stolen from my friend Ginger's Facebook page.

So, I was on the floor playing with this adorable little boy (that looked a lot like Caleb when he was younger) and Tracy thought it would be a good photo opportunity to plop down on me. The cute blonde little girl had no idea what was going on or what to think.

This is a picture of Daniel and I on the roof playing Catch Phrase with everyone else. Good times! See, you can totally see the fence behind us in the photo btw...in case you were still unsure of this fence on the roof I spoke of.

Caleb's birthday. Wow! My little boy is 4 years old now!! Where does the time go?? He is so smart and each and every day he will surprise me with either something he says, or the kindness he shows. He's such a great person, and he's only 4. That's the best part in seeing him grow up. We have the pleasure to see how great of a person he will hopefully be one day. He already knows how to spell his name and write most of the letters, he knows his full name, birthday, where he was born, where he lives (continent included), where other family members live along with friends (since they're all different states), all of his continents, SO many of his states, and so much more. He can count to 50 or 60 without help and can count to 100 with help (if we tell him 70 he can count to 79, etc.) He is so tech savy too, so I'll have a lot of catching up to do (computer and game wise) as he continues to grow and get older.

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For Caleb's birthday we had a party at the park so the kids could enjoy running around the playground and jumping on the bouncy. We celebrated his birthday on November 28th. We had tons of friends come and our theme was Little Einstein. He had an amazing cake, and enjoyed all of his presents. Thank you to all of those who sent Caleb a gift. For Caleb's birthday (November 30th) He woke up asking if it was his birthday yet. It was too cute! He came down to eat his grits, as usual, then opened his gift from Daniel and I. He then went to school, and at naptime Daniel and I took a cake to his class as their snack. Daniel and I sat with him for snack time then brought him home to play. We asked him what he wanted for supper and he said spaghetti, so that's what he got. We also enjoyed more leftover cake then got ready for bed.

Daniel's 25th birthday was a ton of fun. We went to our friend's house to have a BBQ and I brought all of the fixins and Alex grilled everything. I also had him a huge chocolate cake made, so that went quick! It was so delicious and pretty!! Anyways, as a surprise, we went out after the BBQ to a karaoke place. He had no idea where I was taking him and hated being in the dark, but once I pulled in he kind of knew and really liked the idea. He had never been but enjoys singing, so I had to take him. I had only been once with a group of friends so I kind of knew where I was going and what I was doing. We rented a room which is like a box, and each room has its own TV and machine and of course, our own privacy. We had about 9 of us, so it wasn't too bad, but a little cramped. Next time we'll opt for the bigger room, because the screaming, especially to Bon Jovi, was TOO loud for me. Anyways, after that we went home and called it a weekend. We didn't do anything special for our Anniversary, so that's that. We've been married 5 years now which is crazy to think about!! The time really flies!!

Emily (My GA friend), me, and Daniel

Daniel singing one of many, MANY songs that night.

Twan, Toni, Ron (with his hand up), Tracy beside him, then Alex (or at least his head.)

Christmas Eve was great here although it started to sink in that we were so far away from all of our family back home. Our friend's Alex and Ginger celebrate this day back home with their family with a huge party and corn beef as dinner, so we were invited to their house to enjoy a great dinner. We had so much to eat including all of the finger foods and desserts!! We all exchanged gifts, so the kids opened up presents first, then the adults. We played games then left and came home to finish up wrapping Caleb's bigger gifts. We got cookies ready for Santa, then put Caleb into bed. We read, "The Night Before Christmas" as always, then tucked him in.

All of the kids sitting so still and being somewhat patient while we handed gifts out.

Christmas Day was amazing. We got up around 8 or 9 and Daniel cooked breakfast. We came down and ate: eggs, pancakes, and bacon. It took Caleb a really long time to finish, but once he did he got to open up his stocking then his gifts. He got so much stuff, but seeing him be so into it this year was so nice. He was so happy to open up clothes, along with many toys, so it was great. He wasn't sure what some of it was until later, but knowing what it does now, makes it that much better. Of course the thing that makes noise, is his favorite :~). We then did the webcam with Nana and opened the gifts that she sent. We talked to her a bit about how the morning and night before had been, then got off the phone and started to clean up. That afternoon we played and goofed off (Caleb refused to take a nap this day) and afterwards we went to Ron and Tracy's house and had dinner. I cooked a ham and brought some sides with dessert and we all contributed to the complete dinner. We had a great time and ended up playing games and talking throughout the night. Caleb took his new scooter and rode it around the hallways and had a blast! He also got to play with other toys, so all in all, we had a great time that night. Although, this day was good overall, it was hard to think about everyone else back home. We love and miss you all so please remember that we do think of you!!

This is our lovely tree that Daniel got up at 4 AM to wait in line for. There is no "picking your own tree out" here, so you take what you can get. He got to be a little picky in choosing, but you have to get up early and wait to make sure you get a live tree when you live in a place that only gets one shipment!

Caleb posing after coming down and seeing all of his presents!

Our Christmas morning breakfast

Our stockings

This was Caleb's bear wearing a GA sweatshirt. He got it from beside his stocking and asked if it was his. After telling him it was, he instantly hugged it and cuddled with it for a good minute.

Caleb wearing his 'shoebox' as his hat of the day. Too cute!! At this point he was being SO silly!

This is Caleb with his favorite toy Christmas morning. We asked him and he said his Handy Manny tool box was his favorite toy! What a little mess. He has pushed the button on that box so much I'm not sure how the batteries are still working!! Nonetheless, I'm glad he got something he truly enjoys.

I'm sorry it's taken forever for me to post this all. I'm sure there would have been much more had I done this on time, but better late than never ;) Of course, you've already seen the pictures, via Shutterfly, but this post gives you a background to the pictures you have seen.

I hope this hasn't been too long for you and gives you a little insight to how our life's been over the last few months. We love you and miss you all and hope that everything is great your way.