Trusty Koala takes a trip to Afghanistan

In an effort to keep Brenden engaged on Skype with Dave we decided to send one of his four coveted koalas off to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Here are some pics of the globe trotting bear - very cute!

Happy Birthday America - 2011

Of course it was hotter than one would like in Yuma so The Cute and I took off for the 4th of July to San Diego and had a great week at Nana and Papa's house. It was quite warm there too which made the swimming pool refreshing to get into. We miss Dada a lot but are trying to stay busy. The new purchase of that trip is a bounce house for Brenden's personal use. Stay tuned for pictures!

Beth's Summer Visit to Yuma!

Summer wouldn't be complete without a visit from Beth and Aidan! This year her friend Jessica came along with son Ian. So much fun! Too bad the visit was only 48 hours long. I wished they could stay another week. The three boys had so much fun in the sun and pool!

Happy Father's Day to Dada in Afghanistan

I love you Dada! I miss you so very much. You are so far away in 'Ghanistan'. Momma has dressed me up in my cowboy costume and I wanted to have her take a picture of me for you. Do you like my 'Cowboy Digimedal'? I am smiling big here because I know you are coming home to me and Momma.

Love

Brenden Bugaboo Slay (Sheriff Lowbrow)

Latin Music Festival as a Scentsy Vendor

Crazy busy weekend in San Diego! Me and my friend Jackie did the Sherman Heights Latin Music Festival as the Scentsy vendor. Twelve long but fun hours of listening to some really great music. I wish I could say it was a profitable day but it wasn't. A lot of fun though!

Nana and Papa have two new kitties that Brenden just adores. He could play with them all day. It was very hard needless to say to capture a toddler and two kittens on film so to speak but here is the best picture I managed to get:

Brenden's Three Year Well Baby Check-up

A few weeks late but we finally got to see the Doctor for Brenden's three year check-up. His is 3'-3" tall and weighs in at 36.2 lbs. He is in the 85% for both height and weight so he is doing very well. He does have a heart murmur that we will have an EKG on next week. The Doctor isn't concerned and I hope she is right. Makes me nervous especially with Dave gone but I am sure he will do fine. Keep your fingers crossed!

Memorial Day

The winds were 30+ mph but the day before Memorial Day we managed to find our flag in the garage. Brenden insisted on holding it out in the driveway and he had to use all his strength to hold onto it in the wind. Thankfully the next day saw no winds and we could put it up with pride. We miss Dada so much...it is going to be a long deployment.

VMA-513 in Kandahar, Afghanistan

The guys made it over to the base safely. Now starts to long await for them to come home - come on November hurry up!

And so it begins.....

.....the dreaded deployment. Dave hasn't had to deploy since 2006 and for that I feel very lucky. The time has come however with him being back in the fleet to go to Afghanistan for seven months. A sad day because now we have Brenden who just adores his father. We will stay strong and keep busy and very much look forward to November when the family reunites. Here are some pics of the very very quick goodbye at sunrise:

Brenden turns THREE - wee!

Our little guy is three..so hard to believe. Three years living in three different places. Crazy! Luckily Dave was able to be here for his birthday as he doesn't deploy for another few days. Thankfully! The celebration of his birthday and Mother's Day was a bit rushed as Dave was called into work all morning long. We managed to have a great afternoon though which was very nice.