Monk Seal

We were out for a bike ride one afternoon when one of the neighbors told us there was a monk seal hanging out on the beach down the street. So we headed there to look for it and there it was! The kids thought it was pretty neat. Ike thought it was dead. Finally it moved and we felt better. ha Always a new, exciting thing going on around here.

Walking home we saw a rainbow. No surprise I guess, Hawaii is called "The land of rainbows." You really do see them all the time but it never gets old. This one had an interesting shape. It changed directions. Pictures never do it justice. Just another day in paradise...

Baby Ryan's Baptism

WE FINALLY GOT OUR HANDS ON THIS LITTLE PEANUT!!!!!!

Julianna and I could not wait to see little Ryan. She and I actually got in a little fight over who would get to hold him first. Our compromise was that I would carry him to her and she could sit and hold him for a while. :)

Here we are with the proud parents and Sara's mother, visiting all the way from Norway.

Julianna invited Ryan into her pink princess tent and he LOVED it in there.

Lots of happy smiles!

Uncle Chad supervised Julianna.

We all went out to dinner the night before the baptism. Here we have the family with Ryan's Godmother, Sarah and Godfather, Matt.

Uncle Chad paid Julianna to babysit Ryan (who was peacefully sleeping in his carseat). She did a good job babysitting. Not a great job keeping food off of her shirt. :)

These two got some night night snuggles before heading to bed.

Morning of the baptism, getting ready for church.

Here we are with Mr. Clif. He was Chad's piano teacher growing up and he played the piano while I sang at the service.

Ryan was a good boy in church.

Family picture.

At brunch after the service I got to visit with my two little flower girls. They were only 2 then, my how they have grown!!

My girl. Our eyes match in this one.

Chad and Sara with The Messick Family.

Chad and Sara with Mr. Clif

Ryan in the gown that was made for Sara by her grandmother.

Opening gifts afterwards. Chad and Sara had to drive back to Norfolk because poor Sara had to go back to work the next day!! BOOOO! Luckily her Mom was staying in town for a few weeks to help with the transition.

I got special news this weekend as well. See this little sweetie. I was asked to be her God mother! This is my cousin Jessica's little girl, Temperance. Thank you Jessica and Ethan for asking me. I am thrilled. :)

NeeNee and PopPop

After a long day of traveling we finally saw these two faces waiting for us in DC at the airport. Aside from a brief nap on the plane we had now been up well over 24 hours but Julianna got a 2nd (or should I say 4th probably) wind. She was ready to go.

We got some food and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the National Harbor Gaylord Hotel and it was beautiful. We watched the water show before heading up to our room. Julianna LOVED that.

I got some of these before bed. This might not seem like a big deal to most of you but they do not have these in Hawaii and I seriously crave them.

The next morning we were up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to look around.

Just a few pics in the hotel before we left.

What a cutie!!

I knew it was going to be a great week!! :)

Cousins in Atlanta

Last week Julianna and I took a little trip to the mainland. We were headed to Maryland to meet my new nephew, Ryan. However, on our way we decided to surprise Julianna with a VERY quick visit with Cousin during our layover. They drove over from Alabama to Atlanta so they girls could spend a little time together. We had about 6 hours to visit then headed back to the airport to finish our trip into Washington DC. The girls had a ball and after being awake for about 31 straight hours Julianna and I finally CRASHED hard.

Surprise at the airport!

Breakfast at chick-fil-a. Why do they not have one in Hawaii?

Hanging out with little bitty. She was my fill in while I was missing Mason. :)

The girls went swimming at the hotel pool and were so excited to all have matching bathing suits!

Cuties!

Lunch with Nana.

One last treat before hopping back on the plane. ICE CREAM! Thanks for a fun visit!

Mu'umu'u party! (moo moo)

Dawn, our COW (which stands for the Commanding Officer's Wife), is about to move to Washington DC. So in honor of her we decided to have a "Moo Moo" party to say goodbye. Since this is the one time in any woman's life that she is excited to be called a COW we wanted to make her farewell a fun one. I think it was a success. Here we are in our gorgeous mu'umu'us. Aren't they flattering?

After a nice brunch we went down to the Honolulu harbor and boarded a catamaran for a sunset cruise and whale watching. All while wearing our fabulous mu'umu'us. We didn't draw any attention...

Diamond Head as we were sailing.

It was beautiful weather for a boat ride.

We're sexy and we know it. ha

Honolulu skyline from the water. We did see ONE whale on our way back in. We saw lots of other fish and on our way back in to dock we saw this...

See the rainbow above the buildings? It was much more vivid in person but this was the best my little camera could do. Other than half of us feeling seasick (glad we aren't in the Navy) we had a wonderful day celebrating Dawn and saying a sad goodbye. Until we meet again.