SANTA CAME!! SANTA CAME!!!

Merry Christmas! We had a wounderful morning. Riley was very excited to see all the presents and her new dolly and swing. She enjoyed opening up everything and playing with all her new toys. Once again she received more then she needed. She is growing up so fast, its hard to belief that she is almost two and going to be a BIG sister.

Here we are playing this morning with our baby and swing. Riley received a computer and she played with it all morning. She also wanted her kitten to play to so she helped her kitten push the buttons. She did a nice job playing with all her toys.

Daddy helping Riley play with her new toys. This toy is one that Daddy picked out all by himself. This was Daddy's first Christmas with Riley and I had a great time watching them. Ben did a great job helping her open her presents.

Here is Ben playing with his new toy. He received his drill. Along with his drill he received a tool box. He opened everything up had to pack it up in his box. He his really turning into a handy man around the house and in the yard.

A NEW BABY AWAITS!!!!

Ben, Riley and I just found out that we are awaiting a new little person. If I calucated correctly we should have our new arrival in early August. That will make Riley and her sibling 2.5 years apart. Which will be nice. Riley on the other hand has 9 months to decide that a sibling will be nice. Right now she does not want mommy to have a baby. You ask her "Do you want mommy to have a baby?" Riley reply is "NO!" I am sure that will change in the next few months when she sees my belly grow and the movement that comes with that growing belly. That is the least of my worries at this point. I am worried about Ben's re-deployment that will fall at about the same time have the due date. Having a new baby and a toddler for a third tour does not sound like a whole a lot of fun but a good challenge. I am sure I will have lots of visitors during that time. We will keep you all posted with life in Tennessee.

HELLO!

She was waiting to meet Clifford the BIG red dog.

She was scared and cried very hard.

Just a little note to say Hello. We made it through Thanksgiving and now we are working towards Christmas. We (Riley and I) put the Christmas tree the day after turkey day. She had a great time. She likes to look at the new oridments. She does not like to hide (wrap) the toys to give them to other friends. She thinks everything is hers and does not want to share.

On the other hand I am almost finished with my teaching assignment. I will be looking for another teaching job. Things are looking good. The principal that I am working for now said that there are jobs aviable in January and if that does not work out for me. There is a job fair in April that the schools hire on the spot. I have also been asked to take a preschool at the day care that Riley attends. Things are looking good.

Sweet little girl. If you look close you will see that she was not happy. She does have a hair bow in again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Well I made my first thanksgiving dinner today. We had lots of signal soldiers here with us. We had a house hold. I guess my dinner turned out great. I wanted to buy a 2o lb. turkey and everyone told me that would be too much. I went out and bought a 13 lb. turkey. That was just a enough and almost not enough for the 10 people that I feed today. Everyone enjoyed themselves.

Riley and daddy have plans to sleep in and spend some time together while mommy goes shopping for a few Christmas present for the family. We found some great buys in the ads if I can get up early enough. I will be going shopping by myself for the first time in years. I will miss the help of my sissy who usually gets up early and battles the crowd with me. I will let you all know how I do and if I get what I want. We look forward to seeing you all at Christmas.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed your day. We are still enjoying our day with a good card game and a few adult drinks. We love and miss you all.

The Girls having a little fun.

PIGGY TAILS!!!!

We made it to a new mile stone. We can now wear piggy tails.

Not another picture mom.

Cheese!!!

St. MaartinMore iguanas at St. Maartin. They ran the streets here

just as squirrals do in the states.

Here is the beach that we swam at. Ben enjoyed himself here. The girls went sunbathing with no tops on and let everything hang free. There was two sides to St. Maartin, the Dutch and the French. This beach was on the Dutch side. We had a great time. The water was clear and the fish swam under us.

St. Thomas

This is St. Thomas' oldest building. It is now used at the court house and the jail.

Here are a couple of many iguana that we seen. The iguana on the left is in mid jump and the one on the right is watching us closely.

Do you see what I see?

There is a small baby iguana in the middle of the picture.

A Fun at Sea

(8 Oct. 2006)

Sitting at the Pool Deck Bar drinking a few

before we leave Miama.

Here we are ready to go to the Captain's Cocktail Party. Everyone was all dressed up and taking lots of pictures. It reminded me of the scene from the Titanic.

Our First Day on our Eastern Carribean Cruise

(7 Oct. 2006 - 13 Oct. 2006)

Here are a few pictures from our cruise to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin. We had a great time. This is just the beginning to a wonderful trip through the Carribean.

Miami as we are leaving.

(7 Oct. 2006)

This is our first day on the ship. We had to go through a safety course where we practice how to put on our life jackets. Everyone looked silly.

Our cruise to the Eastern Carribean

Here are a few pictures from our cruise to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin. The weather was wonderful. The first day was cloudy but day two Ben and I receive our first sun burn. We were red for the rest of our cruise. We made it to San Juan late at night. Ben and I went horse back riding in the rainforest in the dark. While we were riding we got rained on. I guess that is what happens when you ride in the RAIN forest. Here are a few of those pictures:

This is a view from the ship as we are intering the port.

Nice and rainy weather.

Notice the red faces. This was the day of the nice sunburn.
Ben and I all wet on our break from horseback riding. Our horses names were Roxy and Indiana.These were our guides.

They kept our horses on the trail and lead us through the rainforest.

Daddy's Little Slugger!!!!!

Riley and dad went shopping and found matching

red hats. Riley likes to wear her hat backwards

because she can not see when it's on the right way.

Two of a kind.

Daddy's Home!!!

Daddy made it home two weeks ago. He arrived Sunday September 3, 2006 at 0945. Riley was not sure of him and did not want mommy to give him any hugs or kisses. But now two weeks later daddy can not get away from Riley without her crying and wanting daddy to play. She gives him lots of love and enjoys playing with her daddy.

Hugs and Kisses!!!

Peek-a-boo, mommy. Daddy and Riley having a race

to the playroom and Riley won! SMILE!!!

Daughters !

by:

Dustin Cummins

(Riley's Godfather)

August 26, 2006

A daughter is beauty at its finest.

Heart of an angel, soul so pure, and sweet.

Daughters are one of God's most precious gifts that he has bestowed upon the world.

Angels in Heaven do not compare to thine beauty, and grace my ever so beautiful, and lovely daughter.

Having you come into my life has brought more joy to me than all the money in the world could ever do.

You are morning, bright, and shining, you are noon, you reside at the highest point in my heart, you are the dew kissed night.

You are my daughter, heart, and soul.

Our First Week!

Week one of 18 is complete. Well we made it through our first week of school and day care. Riley is working on potty training and learning to use a cup. She has made lots of new friends and we are still working on morning "Good-byes". Riley is enrolled at Just For Kids which is the same day care that she was at when we were down here before. The ladies are wonderful and work well with her.

I am working full time at Liberty Elementary with a fourth grade class. I started on their first day of school and I will be there until Decemeber. This is the first semester of school. I have a lot to learn about the school system and what takes place in the fourth grade. The team of teachers that I work with are wonderful. They are very helpful and understanding to my needs. In facted I learned that one of the teachers husbands will be return around the same time that Ben is from Iraq. I am enjoying my experience with older chilren. I do miss my young pre schoolers but look forward to working with them again after December.

Learning to Cook!!

(plop, plop)

Plop, Plop is our words for cooking.

Riley sits at her table and plop plops for her

mommy and her babies. She mixes in seasonings

and usuing her wooden spoons to taste the food that she has made.

BASEBALL ANYONE!!!! I

I look forward to playing catch with mommy and daddy.

I already have an arm on me like Jennie Finch.

Getting Ready.

Here is my game Face!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN!!!!!

Happy birthday from all of us at home. We only have 26 more days until you are home and we can share a birthday cake/brownies with you.

WE LOVE TO BRUSH OUR TEETH!!

Riley does all the brushing by herself and she

does a great job. Twice a day we are brushing.

She is going to have the whitest teeth, just like her dada.

Just Hanging out!!!!

Just Me and My Mommy!!!

Hi everyone, I am doing fine. This is my little room I get to stay in. Only about 2 months left till I am home. Yes mom I would clean it up but limited space I know. This pic is just of me when I get up in the morning. The other pic is the pipeline on fire in our AO. When we first got this AO there was a fire like everyday there. The insurgents were tring to blow it up and having sucess doing it until we got there and stopped it and I havent' seen one in like a couple of months.

Riley loves to talk to her dada and get her things ready to go bye-bye. She makes sure her toys are put away and her purse is ready to go with her keys and phone. She will grab her purse and stand at the door waving and saying, "Bye-Bye." When she does this we usually will go for a walk around the neighborhood or go and play outside.