Bakersfield

The boys and I are now in Bakersfield! It is about 3 hours away from my parents. We are staying with Darrick's brother Charlie, his wife Maud and are adorable niece, Amelie. Here is what we have been up to.

Wednesday: Charlie drove down from Bakersfield and him and I went to the funeral for Darrick and Charlie's cousin. His name was Cody and he was 20 years old. He committed suicide and the service was really sad. There were so many people there. I wonder if he knew how many people cared about him. After the service we went a lunch at Cody's brothers house. It was nice to visit with relatives and catch up. After the lunch Charlie and I picked Micah and Jacob up at my parents and drove to Bakersfield. We picked up some Little Ceasers Pizza and hung out until bedtime.

Thursday: We had a relaxing morning and then Micah picked to go to lunch at Carl's Jr. We all enjoyed some chicken stars and the boys and Amelie had so much fun playing on the play structure. After the kids had naps we went played out in the backyard. They took us out to dinner at El Adobe-a yummy Mexican place and then we wnt for dessert at Rosemary's ice cream. It was so delicious. Jacob and I shared a hot fudge brownie sundae and Micah had a bowl of chocolate ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie.

Friday: so far this morning we are just hanging out and we plan on meeting Sarah Kendrick, Darrick's moms best friend, for dinner.

Acapulco's Again!

Yesterday I went out to lunch with one of my best friends, Nicole. I picked Nicole up from work on her lunch break. Of course we had to go to our favorite lunch hangout, Acapulco's, and eat from their awesome lunch buffet. It was so good but the company was even better. We caught up with each other and talked about memories. It was awesome!

We're goin' back to Cali...

Well actually we have almost been here a week now. We were trying to get on a MAC flight but there were so many people trying to get on, it seemed hopeless. Within a few days of each other last week we had two deaths in the family. The first was my Grandpa Gutierrez's wife, Carmen, and the second was Darrick's cousin. So I wanted to get to Cali as soon as possible.

We ended up finding cheap one way tickets and so I grabbed them. We will worry about how we are gettting home later. We had a great flight from Honolulu straight to Ontario. My parents were there to meet us and bring us home.

The next morning we had to get up early for Carmen's funeral. It was a nice service but all in Spanish. It was nice to see my relatives and of course Dave, Laura and Elijah. The day of the funeral was also my mom's birthday so we went to Wienersnytzel's for dinner and to Rite-Aid for ice cream!

Friday we just hung out and tried to catch up on sleep.

Saturday was my parent's 34th anniversary. We celebrated by going out to dinner at my favorite restaraunt Acapulco's. It was so good! That night my mom and I watched "DreamGirls" after I got the boys in bed. I really liked it.

Sunday we went to church with my parents and I got to see my friends John and Sue Roeda. I use to babysit a lot for their kids when I was in high school. Their youngest in now a sophmore in college and I watched him when he was a baby.

Yesterday the boys and I went to Chickfila for lunch and then went shopping at Kohl's and Target!!!

Micah has learned to climb a tree in my parents yard. I was trying to show him how and grabbed a rotten branch and fell out of the tree. I got a scratch on my back and some big bruises on my arm.

Jacob has quickly bonded with Pepsi and enjoys cuddling with him. Jacob also enjoys all the snacks Nana and Papa have and he has enjoyed eating peanuts, popsicles and cookies with my dad!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day all you Dads and especially to you, Darrick!

I think you never really know all sides of your husband until he becomes a Dad. The second Darrick held both of the boys he was transformed and has never been the same.

Darrick you are such a great Dad to our boys and they just love and adore you so much! We really miss you today and we wish that we could celebrate with you.

It was also a special Father's Day at the St. Andre house today because this afternoon Lillian Grace was born! Mom and Baby are doing great. I took care of Loretta all day and then the boys and I took Loretta up to Tripler Hospital to meet her new baby sister. Congratulations Will, Margaret and Loretta!

Welcome Lillian Grace St. Andre!

Memories

Goodbye Dear Friends

A little while ago we drove Tonya, Deja, Jalen and Tayveon to the airport. It is time for them to move. We have lived by each other for 3 years. Micah was 3 and Jacob was 1 when we met each other.

The past 2 days they moved in with us. We had a pizza party, breakfast together with the whole neighborhood and the kids even slept in the same bed one night.

This is the one part of the Navy that is so hard-making friends that become as close as family and then just saying goodbye. They are getting stationed in Virginia.

We will miss them so much! We love you guys!

Summer here we come!

Today was the last day of school...yippee! There was lots of celebrating at school today. Our day started off with an all school assembly. I got to go up on stage with the other teachers who will be leaving the school. My position was just a one year position. One thing I really like about Hawaii is the tradition of giving leis to honor someone. I received one from a 5th grade student and one from the school. It is so nice to see all the teachers and kids covered with beautiful leis. After the assembly I helped Mr. Rodriguez with the 5th grade party. He also made a video slideshow of the whole year which was really cool. From there I went to Micah's class to help him celebrate.

We are planning on transferring Micah to another school next year. We feel like God is leading us to move to another part of the island. It is in Ewa (pronounced e-va) and is called Iroquois Point Island Club-you can check it out at www.iroquoispointislandclub.com It is about 25 minutes west of where we are now. We plan on moving October 1.

I really enjoyed my job but I am so glad to be a stay at home mom again! The boys and I plan on trying to come to CA for 4 or 5 weeks this summer and just hanging out and relaxing.

Last Day of School!