My nieces baptism

Isabella and Lyllianna, my lovely little nieces, were just baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic church in Lacey, Washington. All of our immediate family were there to show their support. Looking around me really reminded me how truly blessed I am. I have my health, a wonderful husband, two awesome daughters and a loving, tight-knit family. All the ingredients to a happy life!

Getting ready for a move...

Soooo, we're getting ready for our first family move: San Antonio... here we come! Oh, but wait. First we have to sell our house. Hmm, if you know anyone looking for a cute little home near Pierce College and with easy access to Ft. Lewis, have them contact us :)

As for how we're feeling, Liv doesn't quite get it yet. It'll probably hit her when we get there and she realizes Nana and Papa aren't just a 5 minute drive away. Kayla is really excited to see the sun on a regular basis, although she plans to stay in Washington til the end of the school year. Who wants to miss out on 6th grade camp?! Jehnsen is very mellow about the whole thing, except I keep getting lectures on how I'm a pack rat everytime we work on clearing out the garage and shed, lol!

And me? I'm 100% ready for a change of scenery. I love Washington and having all my friends and family near by, but there's something to be said for having a fresh start in a new city. I'm feeling really blessed to have the opportunity to stay home and just be a mom for a while. I'm also thinking about starting back to school. I think this move will be really awesome for our little family and while we're at it... we hope to add another addition to it! Keep us in your prayers :)

From top:

Jehnsen's Welcome Home ceremony, 5/20/08
Olivia giving Kayla a smooch, 4/08
Me, Jehnsen, Kayla and Olivia with my niece Lyllianna, 8/08

Hi all! This is my first foray into 'blogging' so we'll see how it goes. First, a little update about our family...

I'm Angela, of course, and my husband, Jehnsen, and I married November 17th of last year. He was deployed to Iraq from May of 07 to this past May and we love having him home! Aside from our wonderful honeymoon to Kauai, we've pretty much been hanging out at home and enjoying the summer and early fall here in Washington.

Kayla's eleven and is a 6th grader at the new Pioneer Middle School in Dupont, Washington. She's still taking piano from the very patient Mari Feller and is really involved in Heimana, her polynesian dance troupe. They performed several times over the summer, including her role as the Hawaiian princess on the Heimana 4th of July parade float in Steilacoom. She loves it and we have a blast whenever we hang out with all the other dancers and families!

Olivia is five and a brand new kindergartner at Cherrydale Primary School in Steilacoom, Washington. She's excited to start dancing with her big sister, but this means she'll have to take time away from her many artistic pursuits (drawing on our furniture, gluing things all over the house, etc...) and her beloved babydolls. She's learned so much just in the first few months of school... it's pretty amazing.

As for me, I'm still at Gene Juarez coloring away (10 years!!) and Jehnsen is in his eighth year in the military. He's been in air defense artillery for the last several years, but plans to go to school for respitory therapy next year. This may mean a move in the near future...

Once I get the hang of this, I plan to add pictures and update from time to time. It my take a while, since I'm completely computer illiterate, but I'll try!