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!

Will and Margaret's Baby Shower

Lehua Elementary School turns 100 years old!

Pictures from Darrick

These are two pictures that I got from Darrick this past week. They made it to their first port visit-Japan. They arrived on Monday and left again on Friday. The first is a picture of the Lake Erie going through some pretty big waves. The second is what Darrick and two other Chiefs did one night in Japan. They went to a Japanese Country Bar! He said there were three older Japanese gentlemen who sang country music.

Jacob's Aloha Day!

Having fun in the Backyard!

Hat Day

Hays in Hats, Jalen, Micah, Deja, Tayveon, Jenn and Mr. Rodriguez (5th grade teacher)

Pajama Day

Hays in Pajamas, Micah, Jalen and Deja, Jenn with 5th Graders

Puppy Love

Jacob and Lulu watching TV

Cute Shirt

This is Micah's best friend at school, Jaylen. I thought his shirt was so cute today. It says: "MY DADDY SURFS BETTER THAN YOUR DADDY!"

It's Crazy Hair Day!

Neighborhood friends, Crazy Hays Hair, Micah and Classmates

Left side Blue, Right Side Red

Lydia goes home!

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Praise God that Lydia is eating well on her own and Jim and Becky were able to take her home last night! Let the fun begin...

Spirit Week

Today was the first day of Spirit Week. And it was "Don't match day". Micah was very excited and mostly picked out his clothes himself. Quite a few of the kids were dressed up but hardly any teachers...but I was! I had on 2 different shoes, 2 different socks and red pants with a torquoise shirt with a gold butterfly clip in my hair. Sorry no picture of me! The kids seem to love that I was dressed up and I encouraged quite a few teachers to join in tomorrow: Wacky hair Day!

This past weekend I bought a pedometer. I was reading a book that said you should be trying to get 10,000 steps a day and I was curious how close to that I was. Well by the end of today I was over 30,000. I guess I don't sit around much between being a mom, teaching, recess duty and exercise I blew the goal out of the water. This afternoon I exercised with 2 friends, our 4 kids, and 2 dogs. Our goal was Blaisdell Park via the bike path. We had my pedometer track the time and distance. It took us 35 minutes to get there and 40 to get back and it was 3 miles each way. Jennifer and I ran a bunch of the way, but Margaret walked (she is 9 months pregnant). I think all of us will sleep really good tonight!

Dave and Elijah

My brother Dave has this picture posted on his blog from this past weekend. I thought it was so adorable. So it is my brother Dave with his son Elijah. They were flying a kite at the beach.

Today I spent some time at Pearl City High School cheering on the Lehua Elementary Track Team. It was so fun to see my students do something other than math since that is the only subject I see them for. Some of them really impressed me-they were fast. It brought back a lot of memories for me when we had school tracks meets. I usually ran in the short distances like 50 or 100 yard dash and even got some ribbons.

This is also the start of my third week of running. I don't run super far but I am noticing that I can run farther and better each week. I started because now that we have Lulu we have to go out everyday. So Micah rides his bike (by the way he crashed today trying to learn to ride with only one hand on the steering wheel. He scraped up his skin on his ribs and broke the front hand brake on the handle bar), I push Jacob in the exercise stroller and Lulu is tied to the stroller with her leash. It is working out well and I actually am enjoying. We jog around housing and down by the Seal Base which is by the water. It is really nice.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

First of all let me say Happy Mother's Day to all my mom blog readers out there. And a special Happy First Mother's Day to Becky! I wasn't sure how I was going to feel today with Darrick being gone and my mom far away but I had a really great day.

At church this morning all the moms were given a carnation and lots of hugs and mothr's day greetings. The service was amazing. Our worship team is incredible! I wish they would make a CD. The sermon was on lessons I learned from my mother. You can hear it at www.hcwo.com Then we saw a video in which 6 jr. high and high school boys talked about why they loved their moms. When it was done music started to play and those same boys got up in front of the church and did a sign language hula dance. There was barely a dry eye in the whole church. Then a a special gift the church had a photographer and she had a backdrop and you could get your picture taken with your family so the boys and I did that.

After church I treated myself to lunch at Cholo's. It was yummy and even better because I did not have to cook.

I hope you all had a great day too! And even though I talked to my mom on the phone today I just want to tell you again Mom how much I love you!

Happy Mother's Day

Congratulations!

My cousin Dan and his wife Dee were blessed with their third child yesterday morning. A healthy baby girl named Erika Renee. The word is that she has lots of red hair!

Military Spouse Appreciation Day from Darrick

I don't know if anyone knows this but the Friday before Mother's Day is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I was thinking about all that Jenn does for our family. Then I was thinking, "I wonder if anyone ever tells Jenn they appreciate what she does for our country?" Don't take this the wrong way but I don't hear people tell me that. I wonder if people really even think about what we go through. I don't need to hear it but I thought we should tell Jenn we appreciate the sacrifices she makes. You know Jenn would probably be the first to tell you that she never thought of being a Navy Wife, and she probably would not pick it if given a choice but that doesn't stop her from being amazing at it. Have you ever thought of how strong and awesome Jenn is? Although she never would have chose this God has given her all the tools a Navy Wife needs. She has to be Mother and Father, do all the house work, lawn work, take care of the boys, the car, the bills and on and on and she has a job and serves at Church in Sunday School. Jenn and I know some wives who have a hard time being away from there husbands for a couple of days or even one night. I was gone last year from May to September and even when I was not deployed I was gone for weeks or a month at a time and now I am gone again. That is what I think people may not realize. But I never hear her complain, although I know she doesn't like how hard it is, she just supports me and is proud of me. Her and the boys are the ones I hear tell me they appreciate the job I do and they are the ones this is hardest on. Don't forget there are a lot of military spouses out there who are doing this so we can have the freedoms we enjoy. I am trying to say that I am amazed by Jenn and I appreciate the sacrifices she makes so I can do my job. Thanks Jenn! I Love You! Thank you for Serving with me! I hope this all came out the way I intended it, I am a little tired. If we appreciate Jenn the Navy Wife, who has the toughest job in the Navy, we should let her know even though she would never would ask for it. Well it is 10pm here and I need to go on watch so I will end this now.
Darrick

The Peterson Family

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Lydia Peterson

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Isn't she beautiful? I got to talk to Becky for a few minutes today. Lydia is doing so much better and should be able to go home in a week or two. She just needs to get better at eating. Becky is home and feeling good she said. Praise God!

So if you see a Spiderman Helmet...

This afternoon we went for a walk with our friends. We had 3 moms, 2 single strollers, 1 double stroller, 2 kids on bikes and 2 dogs. We were quite a sight. We walked and ran on the peninsula to the east side were the Navy Seal part is. When we got to the end we all stopped to stretch and look in the water. After Lulu and Osa drank all of the water out of the rubbermaid container the wind picked it up and blew it into the ocean before any of us could catch it. I saw something else in the water too a little farther away but didn't think much of it, until it was time to leave. Everyone loaded up and Micah got on his bike only to discover his helmet was missing and we realized that was the other thing floating in the ocean! There was no way we could reach it so we all left. About 10 minutes later Jacob says "I sure hope Daddy can get Micah's helmet for him!" We all got a good laugh out of that!

Just one of the family

Every night when I tuck the boys into bed, Lulu goes to bed too. When we first got her she slept in their room on the floor. So we got her a little doggy bed. When I would check on her she would sneak onto one of the ends of Micah or Jacob's bed. So I got smart and put her dog bed at the foot of Jacob's bed. And last night this is how I found her. The boys LOVE having her sleep with them and it is obvious she loves being near to them!

Update

I woke up at 2 am this morning (8 am Michigan time) because that is when patients could receive calls.

Becky is still in the Labor and Delivery Unit, they never moved her. There are still some concerns with her and she is being treated with Magnesium to prevent seizures. There is still swelling around her brain so we pray that will go down soon.

Talking to her I was reminded of all the emotions I felt when Micah was born and they unexpectedly took him to the NICU and I couldn't see him. She was emotional, as we all are, after birth but doing really well.

In the photos they sent me it looks like since we talked she was able to go see Lydia.

Please continue to lift them up!

Congratulations! She is beautiful!

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Welcome Lydia Kay Peterson

Where are my fingers?, originally uploaded by weathertation.

Did you see?

I am not sure how many of you watch American Idol but I have been a loyal fan since Season 1. For those of you who do not watch, they started a program called "Idol Gives Back". They did a huge fundraising show to raise money for charities in America and Africa.

Watching the footage that they showed from Africa just confirmed to me that we are doing the right thing to adopt from Ethiopia. Seeing all those kids orphaned and the heartache they suffer with no parents was almost more then I could bear and to think our daughter has felt and experienced what those children have-I'm speechless.

I am so thankful that when we get to adopt our daughter that Darrick and I get to travel to Africa to experience first hand her culture and surroundings.

God commands us in His Word to take care of the orphans. Now I know everyone is not called to adopt but each person can give something to show Christ's love to the world. Consider going to www.americanidol.com and giving or find another organization to support or volunteer and make a difference!

PRAYER REQUEST

Many of you know one of my best friends, Becky (LeMahieu) Peterson. Her and her husband Jim were expecting their first child in June.

Well last night, very quickly, Becky got Eclampsyia. She got very sick and her liver doubled in size. They did an emergency C-section. This morning Lydia Kay Peterson was born -6 weeks early. Thankfully she weighs 5 lbs. 10 oz. She will be in the NICU for a few weeks because she was born early but she is doing good.

Please pray for Becky because she is still in the Intensive Care and is still not out of the woods yet.

I have not been able to talk to Becky yet but I did talk to Jim, so please lift their family up in your prayers.

Do you watch Fox News?

Darrick emailed me tonight and told me that Fox News is out with them on their ship. He said they will be broadcasting from the USS Lake Erie tomorrow. So if you can, check it out and you can see what he is up to!

Sunday

Going back a few days...

Wednesday: we had our Home Study at our home. The social worker came at 2:00 and stayed almost 2 hours. She first talked to the boys and asked them if they want a sister and they both said yes. Then she talked to Darrick and I about our relationship, our parenting ideas, our morals and beliefs. Then she talked to Darrick and I separatly about our own concerns we have and what we think of each other as parents. Then she inspected our whole house. We both felt that it went really well. Darrick and I are both having our medical exams this week and then we will get the rough draft of our home study report-she said it will be 6-7 pages long.

Saturday: Darrick was up bright and early washing the van while I slept in. When he was done we loaded up Lulu to take her to the beach for the first time. We headed to our favorite place-North Shore. It was great weather but as we got closer to the beach we noticed that the waved were pretty big and rough. Lulu loved the water and ran all over. We found a nice spot to sit for awhile until a big wave came up far on the shore and washed us out. Micah got dragged on the rocks with cuts on his legs, our slippers got washed away as well as our suntan lotion bottle.

After we cleaned up and rested we went to church.

Sunday: We just hung out this morning and then drove up to North Shore for lunch. We ate at Cholo's and then got shave ice from the General Store. When we got home Micah played at Jalen's house and the rest of us took naps. When we got up it was time to get ready to bring Darrick to the ship. They have to report tonight because they are getting underway tomorrow for the whole week. They come back on Friday and then he will be home for one more week and then he deploys for 4 months. I can hardly believe it is time for that again. Hopefully it will go quickly.

Easter

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful day. We had such great weather today. We got up early to go to church this morning at 7:30am. It was a good service and my favorite part was at the end when there was a hula and sign language dance.

Around 12:00 today we were joined by some friends for an amazing Easter lunch. There was so much good food we couldn't fit it all on our plates. We had ham, potato salad, strawberry-spinach salad, dressing, vegetable tray, pasta salad, rolls and yum yum cake and chocolate swirl cheesecake!

Then the Daddy's all went to the park to hide eggs for the kids. They all had so much fun running around but we had to go back home right after they were done because the kids all got rosy red cheeks and they were all sweaty.

After everyone left the four of us went for a bike ride around. Spring has arrived and all the plumeria trees are in bloom-it smells so good around here. We stopped to look at things in the water, which the boys always love.

Tonight we had movie night and watched "Open Season". We were pretty disappointed and did not like it at all. It just wasn't funny and the boys actually got bored.

Last night Darrick and I went on a date. We had dinner at the new Ruby Tuesday's that opened and then went to see "Blades of Glory"-we LOVED it! We laughed so hard.

All the men in the house are asleep after our busy day and I am enjoying the peace and quiet but I am ready for bed now too! Goodnight!