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.

Caleb's 4 year old pics

Click here to view these pictures larger

Our Trip Home: Part 2

I know it's been a while, but this post was half way finished so I decided to go ahead and do that and hit the highlights over the past two months (since I haven't written in that time). I've had plenty going on, which I can explain later, so this is the second part to our trip home.

Once we spent a few days in Florida, we drove to Georgia to visit with my family. Daniel stayed for the weekend and a few days and left to go back to spend time with his family in Florida. Over the weekend while he was in, we were able to surprise my brother and sister-in-law. My other family knew I was coming in, so we were only able to surprise a few people. I had to let my mom know so she could adjust her schedule accordingly and of course she told my dad. By the end, my brother and sister-in-law were the only ones that didn't know we were coming. None of our friends really knew, but family wise, everyone but my brother knew.

We had such a great time and Caleb really enjoyed being around Papa and Nanny. Caleb LOVED being outside and tried to bother the dog when she came out to be seen. Other than that, he pulled Papa around between the lawnmower, tractor, 4-wheeler, and motorcycle. He had a blast to say the least and loved every minute of being there.

The first weekend we were down, we visited with Daniel's Aunt Janice and his Granny which was staying there and luckily caught all of our cousins in the process. It was nice to see all of them because it had been a little over a year for us. We hung out one day at the pool at Jamie and Cassie's house and had lunch beforehand at Janice's house. Caleb got to enjoy his Granny for a little while and his cousins which he never sees. The kids (including the adults) had a blast and it was so nice to see everyone there.

Although the trip was great and we had tons to celebrate (two new nephews), my mom had surgery before we were suppose to go back to FL. I decided to stay with her so Daniel went back to FL I kept Caleb for a few more days to keep it fair between the grandparents, and that would also give Daniel a little bit of time to enjoy his family and friends without having to worry about Caleb and his normal routine. After a few days with Caleb I took him half way to Daniel (roughly 3 hours) and Caleb then went off with Daniel back to FL. This was my first "real" time without having Caleb for a few days and it was pretty hard. It's so strange because that's all my life and routine had consisted of for 3 1/2 years. Once I got back to GA my mom had surgery on her foot the next day. I hung out with my dad in the waiting area all day and had lunch with him which was really nice. My mom got to come home that night but we had to do some tedious work to keep her foot taken care of. Anyways, she is still having issues so I'm waiting to hear what steps will be taken next.

After the surgery I went back to FL and hung out with family. We took family pictures and enjoyed a birthday dinner with Daniel's sister Tara and her husband Bryan. We had a blast and definitely didn't want to take the LONG trip back home. We all had a great time though and can't wait to make another trip back home.

Here are some pictures from the trip in GA and a video of Caleb riding the lawnmower by himself.

My brother's baby - Kyler and Caleb

Daniel's Uncle Buddy and the rest are cousins

Daniel and Caleb swimming and playing

Our Trip Home

Yes - it's been a LONG time since I've posted so there's a lot of information in this blog. You're being warned now. I'm sure there have been longer ones in the past that I may have posted, but I'm trying to break this post down as much as possible for everyone to view a little easier.

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Hi everyone. Yes I realize it's been close to a month (if not a month or more) since I've posted. We've obviously had a lot going on and those close to us know what that is. Our visit!! Daniel and I thought it'd be fun to get away for a few days so I called the terminal to see what flights were coming up within the next three days, and there was a flight going straight into Jacksonville, FL. Maybe 15 minutes from either Daniel's brother or mom. We were like, okay we'll take it! After a little bit of work (getting the orders squared away, etc.) we were packed and on "stand-by." Being on stand-by has it's moments, but this trip was definitely one like I've never experienced. The flight ended up landing on Friday (we were told it'd be here Saturday morning), fueled, and left carrying no passengers to FL. We were crushed but decided to go anyways since we had already told very few people and we were already in the mindset to see family and friends. We made it onto a flight for CA but first had to do a 17 hour layover in HI. Yes, Hawaii isn't that bad, however when you have to stay in a terminal because there's no hotel within a good 10 minutes of the airport, it's not the greatest either. Caleb and I slept on the floor (I think Daniel slept in chairs - not sure) and after a few hours we were up and going to CA. That flight wasn't too bad, but Caleb wasn't feeling really well and had an upset stomach.

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We finally make it in to CA and we have a Savannah flight that's leaving the following morning. Needless to say, they can't take any passengers because the flight had issues the day before. Okay, fine. There will be two flights leaving for Charleston, SC that night (the same day as the GA flight) and we'll try to make it onto one of those. Both, we found out around 5 PM, were cancelled. Not sure why but they'll no longer be leaving. At this point Daniel had had enough. Believe it or not, I have a little more patience at stuff like this, but I also don't have "leave days" that I have to worry about (other than worrying with him). I was just as upset and aggravated and tired of dealing with all of the cancellations, so we bought tickets from San Francisco to Jacksonville, FL. We flew that night (all night actually) and made it in around 630 AM to Philly. From there we flew into FL arriving around 1030 AM.

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We had planned not to tell anyone in our families about the trip, but we needed Tara (Daniel's sister) to pick us up since her and her husband Bryan are keeping our truck while we're in Japan. We finally told her, and also told Jason (Daniel's brother). Other than that, no one knew. We decided to meet over at Jason's house that night and Rhonda had already planned on coming out, so we'd surprise her then. It was too funny. Jenny (Jason's wife), myself (holding Trevor), Daniel, and Caleb were in Trevor's room (which was still under-construction) and Jason got Rhonda to walk back there. Of course she was holding Cale, so when she opened the door and saw Caleb and Daniel right up front, she freaked out. She dropped down and gave Caleb a hug and started crying. I knew it was coming and called it before we ever left Okinawa. Cale was fine, he just got scared, so Daniel scooped him up while Rhonda was hugging Caleb. She then made her way to Daniel and that was a little more emotional seeing in how he hadn't seen any of his family for a little over a year. I was just there, so I held the baby and laughed. It was so great seeing everyone and hanging out. The boys (the three mobile ones) were into everything. Caleb and Brody played very well together, although there were moments, but overall did great. Caleb actually came back to Okinawa saying he had brothers. It varies from day to day, but he'll say my brother Brody, or my brother Brody and Trevor, and once or twice he's told us, along with friends, that he had brothers. I asked him who, and he told me my brothers: Brody, Trevor, and Cale then laughed. He is so cute and really enjoyed himself and Brody this trip. We can't wait to come back home, but we have roughly a year left.

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While there we did a lot and I didn't have my camera for much of anything. We have some pictures that were taken on the beach by a friend of the family, Kari Vernnard, and also some snapshots from Tara and Bryan's birthday dinner, which happened to be before the beach pictures, so I'll post what I have.

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Caleb on the flight to Hawaii (91/2 hours from Okinawa)

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Daddy and Caleb

Caleb and Mama

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Outside of the terminal in Hawaii.

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Caleb outside of the terminal. We're waiting on a bus to get off base.

One of the military "PX" shops. We were right at Pearl Harbor. This place was huge.

Caleb was done! He literally fell asleep as the plane took off. This is the flight to Philly.

This is all of us at Tara and Bryan's birthday dinner. We were about to leave to take beach pictures. Caleb just had to hold Trevor, so we helped assist him.

Our family picture on the beach. Caleb was a bit distracted - go figure!!

Caleb, Cale (Tara's son), Brody, and Trevor (both are Jason's sons).

Jason, Tara, and Daniel

The newest Singley Edition

The link below will take you to a few pictures that were taken of the new baby - Trevor Mason. Jason (Daniel's brother and SIL Jenny) had him on August 3rd. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 ozs. and was 20.5 inches long.

Jenny had him FAST too! Once she was checked into her room, she had dialated 7 CM. Then her water broke. 12 minutes later - it was a BOY!!

Here's a few pictures. It wouldn't let me save them to my computer so had to post the link.

Shutterfly Shared Picture Detail

The newest Singley edition!!!

New Lessons and Updates!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that Caleb started a new set of swim lessons today. He's so excited and has a new teacher now. Her name is Ms. Minnow. She's nervous about having so many kids, but we're hoping it all turns out great. Daniel and I went swimming with Caleb a little bit before the lessons started and Caleb is doing so well. He's going under and opening his eyes and trying to dive downward. He's also swimming on his own (with help at first) to Daniel or myself. He is definitely a little water bug!! Just wanted to update you on what was new for us.

Also, Daniel will be starting Sergeant's course this coming Thursday. He will be on another base M-F (Friday night he comes home), then he'll be home for Saturday night also, and will most likely go back to the other base on Sunday night. He has a lot of training and school stuff to go through so he'll have time to study and all during the weeks that he's there for that. This will go on for about 6-7 weeks or so. So we'll only be seeing him on the weekends, and maybe a little during the week, but not much.

Finally, the last bit of news. My little brother and sister-in-law, finally had their baby boy. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 11 ozs. and was 20" long. She had a great delivery and wasn't in labor tooooo long, or so I hear. I hate that I'm not there for them or able to see the baby yet but we'll be fine. Plus, we also have another addition to the family coming soon. Of course we don't know the sex of the baby yet, but we're praying for another healthy neice or nephew. Daniel's brother and sister-in-law are also due soon and hopefully will have the baby within a week or so. I know she's shooting for this weekend but we'll have to wait and see. Here's a picture of my brother's baby.

This is Kyler Matthew Johnson. He was born at 3:56 PM on Sunday, August 2, 2009. He weighed 6 lbs. 11 ozs. and was 20" long (as I stated above). I'm hoping for more pictures sooner than later so when I get them I'll post them!!

Caleb's Swimming Lessons

These pictures are over Caleb's last two days of swimming with the class of PS1 (Pre-school swim level 1) which was this past Thursday and Friday, July 30th and 31st. He's growing so fast on us and has done so well in his classes. He'll be moving up to PS2 starting Monday, August 3rd. He's now able to swim on his own for a few seconds at a time, and he's still trying to balance it all out, but overall he's doing so well. He can hold his breath for about 7 seconds and he can go under without holding his nose and freaking out. He's also went under and opened his eyes (but didn't care for it too much). We're so proud of him for all that he's accomplished in such a short amount of time!! He loved his teacher this time, Ms. Angel. All of the instructors are from Northern Iowa in a college program. The program allows them to come out for free for the summer and teach the kids. Once the swim lessons are over, they go back to school. Anyways, Caleb's still working on a few things, but overall is doing wonderful!! He's not the best in a life jacket, but he's great with his arm floats and without them. Enjoy the pictures and there will be two videos at the bottom to let you see how things went. On the last day, Friday, it was an hour session and the parents got to swim with the kids for the first 30 minutes then we all got out and had snacks that all the parents brought. We had a blast and it's so much fun watching Caleb grow and learn. Love you all!!

All the kids were listening to the two instructors talk about safety and what they needed to do if someone was in trouble. They learned what a lifeguard is and what a lifeguard does. They also learned what the number is you call when there is an emergency.

About to jump in with the life jackets and swim around for a few minutes.

Yes, that's my kid spitting water over the side of the pool.

Watching the other kids about to jump in the water.

Caleb being silly.

Me and Caleb during the family swim.

Him giving me the best hug!!!

This video is Caleb swimming by himself to the wall. He finally bumped into it later on so now he reaches a little better with his hands, but here's a little peak at what he can do now.

This video is of Caleb swimming with his life jacket on. He was so funny because he couldn't really stay on his belly. He would get on his back and try and roll over to get on his belly, then it'd flip him over again, lol. He was really funny and the instructors loved it (they thought he was doing it on purpose - but he was just trying to get balanced).

Silly Hair Day

Here's a few pictures of Caleb and his hair on daycare's "silly hair day". The kids were suppose to come in with either bed hair or something different. This is the day that Caleb went to the dentist so we went back home to do the hair then I took him to daycare. He was so proud of his hair he was showing it off to his teachers. He would touch it and smile which was the cutest thing. He was also worried about lying down for naptime due to messing his hair up. It didn't budge though. We apparently have some amazing gel and his hair stayed in place ALL day long!! He would also ask over the following days to have spikey hair again. His teachers were proud because he was one of the only ones participating so they got to take pictures to hang up where they needed.

Caleb Sliding

Here's a video of Caleb coming down the slide. He's so funny at the pool and LOVES the water! He has a blast everytime we go. Most days the slide is closed but this day we lucked out. He wouldn't let us take the arm floats off so he could swim to the edge and get out and do it again, all by himself. He's such a great little boy and we have been so blessed to have one as independent, smart, and funny like he is. He also has a smart mouth, he's sassy, and has lots of attitude right now, but we're working on that. He likes to talk back a little too much too, so we're having to address that as well. Overall, he does great and has so many great days. The best thing about all of that, is the attitude seems to only come out around us...thank goodness!! Daycare still thinks he's such an angel (which he is), but he likes to bring home what he learns there to test us. :)

Caleb and his friend Dax

Waiting patiently in line

FLYING down the slide!!! He goes so fast!!

Our Dog - Diego

I have been the one, for many reasons, that has not wanted a dog. I finally found one on a yardsale sight here similar to Ebay or Craigslist. It's called Okinawa Yardsales. Anyways, I found an 8 year old Golden Retriever that I thought would be perfect for us. He's old, so there's no barking (hopefully), not much energy to care who plays with him all the time, and he's not only house broken but probably wouldn't chew on things. Perfect for me right?? Well, I thought so. Daniel went to look at the picture the next day and the ad had been deleted, so we told her no because we could no longer see the pictures or whatever. She posted the ad again, which he finally saw, and fell in love. HAD to have this dog. I called her and explained what was going on, and she said she had found another home for him. Well, lucky for me Caleb and Daniel were on a walk one night around the neighborhood and one of the places that Caleb wanted to stop had a golden retriever in the front yard. Of course, Daniel mentions wanting one, and the guy mentions that he was about to post the dog that night on Okinawa Yardsales, so if we're interested we can take him with us. Of course we ended up with the dog, Diego, and after a few weeks of realizing that it was a LOT harder than it seems (that would obviously be Daniel, because I knew better) we decided to let another family adopt him. Daniel felt like he couldn't give him the attention he needed and we decided to give him to another family. The family we chose has two boys and just moved here. They had also owned two Golden Retrievers back home so the dad knew he wanted one here as well. The oldest boy was about 10 or 11 so he could walk Diego and play with him a little better than Caleb could. We're excited that Diego's found such a great family and although we tried the dog thing, it's still not for us right now. Maybe when we get back and we have an actual yard. We miss him, believe it or not, but we're so glad that he has a family that gives him more attention than we could. Caleb also did very well with him being here then finding a new home. He never cried, and he only mentions Diego on occassions. Just thought we'd let you all know.