Where did a year go?

It has been nine months since the last time I updated my blog. How did that happen? I guess that is just how life is sometimes. I have been busy with so many things, that this took a back seat. I would like to get it back up and going.

So, a quick summery of the last year.

Highlight: Sweet little baby Aubrie Ann Desroches was born on 21 September 2010. She has been a joy! I never could have imagined how wonderful it would feel to have a grandchild. I am so proud of the mommy that Amanda has become. She is exceptional at what she does. Her and Gil are two of the most calm new parents I have ever seen. It is fun to watch them with Aubrie.

I got to be in Hawaii for Aubrie's birth along with her other grandma, Marisol. Mark even got to come for a visit. He surprised Amanda and Gil with a week trip to the island.

On Halloween, Gil left for Afghanistan for seven months :( A few days later, Amanda and I headed to New Hampshire with Aubrie and Kai. Novemeber in New England is a lot different from Hawaii in November. We had to go out and get Aubrie some winter clothes!

Amanda and Aubrie were able to stay with us for us for three months, so that means we got to celebrate the holidays with them! Thanksgiving was spent in Ohio at Mark's parents, Bob and Adeline along with Mark's brother Al, sister-in-law, Becky and nephew, Brandon. My mom also flew in to be with us. Mark, Amanda, Aubrie and I took a two day drive to get to Ohio and once we arrived we found out my brother, Ken, drove up from SC to surprise us! THEN I got to tell my Mom, that my sister Karen, was flying in to surprise her!!!! It was so fun to have us all together and so nice for so many of the family to get to meet Aubrie.

Christmas morning was very quiet at our house, opening gifts with just the four of us, but then the Desroches family showed up! We had Big Gil, Marisol, Anthony, Brian, Marisols sister, Veronica and their Mom and Dad, A FULL House! What fun we all had. We had a great meal together and then opened presents again! We all had a lot of fun, but really missed having Gil there with us.

For the New Year, Amanda and Aubrie flew to Miami with the Desroches clan and celebrated there with family. They had a great time and little Aubrie got to meet a lot more of her family.

January and February were spent enjoying record snow amounts. I think Amanda and Aubrie were ready to get back to Hawaii when they flew out on Valentine's Day!

January also brought a fun visit from Bob and Lee. We flew them in from Bellingham, WA for a week so they could meet Aubrie. It was nice having both of our children back in the home and Bob and Lee are always a lot of fun to be around. We are so happy that they were able to take the time off of work!

It was really hard to say good bye, but it was time for them to go home and get their own lives back. We did get to keep part of their family, Kai got to stay with us! She and Hattie became best friends.

Once Mark and I had our house back to ourselves, we got back to our lives. The house was VERY quiet, although we did have the dogs to keep us company. I was able to get back to my sewing and Etsy shop on more of a full time basis. I had really missed my sewing machine. Once I was able to start sewing more and get more items in my shop, my sales started to pick up. It has a been a lot of fun and getting that e-mail that says "Etsy transaction" is great to see.

Spring and Summer we just continued to walk the dogs two to three times a day. I kept up the sewing and Mark, since he works from home, spent that time sitting at the kitchen table working everyday. When he wasn't working, he was cooking me fabulous meals. He is the chef in the family and I do the clean up. It works great for both of us!

SEPTEMBER!! Amanda, Gil and Aubrie came home! They were in the middle of moving from Hawaii to their new duty station at Twenty-Nine Palms, California. It was a special visit because we celebrated Aubrie's Baptism and we had an early first birthday party. Mark's mom and dad got to be with us for both occasions. Amanda, Gil and Aubrie flew out on the 20th and they took Kai with them. So, now their little family is all back together again, as it should be.

That brings us to today. Wow, what a year and what a GREAT one!

Looking forward to our next adventure!

THE Phone Call!

It is February 23, 2010 and it is the night before Mark is to leave for his five month work trip to Stuttgart. Mark and I are sound asleep and the phone rings at 1:30 in the morning. Mark answers it and I can hear that it is Amanda. As soon as I hear her voice I know what she is going to say.

Amanda: "Gil and I wanted to call and tell you that we are 98% sure that I am pregnant."

Mark: "Why only 98% sure."

Amanda: "Because we have only done a home pregnancy test.

It was one of the most wonderful phone calls we have ever gotten.

Amanda and Gil knew that Mark was getting up early to leave for the airport at 4:30. Gil suggested that they call because that would be the only time that Mark and I would be together to get the news. He is a very thoughtful son-in-law!

So, we both talked with Amanda and Gil and then hung up the phone. Now what... we just laid there in the dark and didn't say a word, but you could FEEL the energy and excitement in the air. We both had tears in our eyes. Needless to say, we ended up talking for a long time about becoming Grandparents, about our little girl becoming a Mommy, about going to Hawaii when the baby is born, and on and on and on.

I had no idea that it would be so emotional. But, it was and it was great!

Finally I told Mark he has to get some sleep because he has to get up so early. We tried but it didn't work too well. Mark eventually got up and got ready to leave, and once we said our goodbyes, I was able to get a little more sleep.

The next few days, that was all we could think about.

So, now we have a little baby to look forward to meeting come September/October. I can't wait. This is going to be so much fun!!!!

It is going to be a great year for the Terry and Desroches households!

Here is the little peanut at about 11 weeks old.

When is Mommy coming home?

Everyday around 12:15 to 12:30 Hattie starts getting anxious and excited waiting for her Mommy (me) to come home from work. This happens almost everyday. So, Mark took a photo of her the other day. He let her outside and she just sat there waiting for me. She is such a sweet heart. I love her.

Christmas 2009 in Hawaii

This years Christmas was a special one because all of our family was together. Mark and I traveled to Hawaii on 23 December and were met at the airport by Amanda and Gil. We drove to their house where Bob and Lee were waiting for us. They has arrived the day before. We then took off to check in to our rental, get cleaned up and get back to Amanda and Gil's for dinner.

The next week was spent eating, laughing and having fun with everyone. Marisol, Big Gil, Brian and Anthony were also there for Christmas. Christmas morning was a lot of fun with so many people and so many gifts. It was a lot of fun watching everyone open their gifts and seeing Kai's reaction to all the action. She was so well behaved and was not phased at all by all the noise and laughter.

Amanda and Gil made a great Christmas dinner for all of us. We helped with some side dishes, but they did the turkey and ham, and it was delicious. They did such a great job having to cook for so many people.

We had a busy week in Hawaii and everyday was filled with things to do. We went bowling, got to see the surfers on the giant waves on the North Shore, went to the Polynesian Culture Center, Jimmy Buffet's for lunch, Pearl Harbor, had a BBQ Ribs cook off, played cards and Wii games, and just enjoyed each company.

Overall, it was a great vacation because we got to spend it with family. It was exhausting though. We got upgraded on our trip home and I slept on almost every flight. Our first night home I slept 15 hours!!! It felt so good!!

GIL IS HOME!!

Gil is home from Afghanistan. He has been home for a month now and it is such a wonderful feeling to know that he is safe and at home with Amanda and Kai.

For the last six months I have prayed more than I ever have before. Before Gil left, I was walking in the woods with Hattie one day and I got this feeling all of a sudden that Gil was going to come home safely. I am not the most religious person and I don't know if it was God speaking to me, or maybe just mother nature out there in the woods, but it really was a comfort to me and of course I told Amanda about it. As a mom, you just want to keep your children happy and safe. I knew Amanda was going to be going through a lot of emotions while Gil was gone and I thought this may give her some comfort. I don't know if it helped, but she held it together while he was gone and I am so proud of her. She will make a great military wife.

Of course I am also so proud of Gil. I can never imagine what he has had to endure, but he has done it well and he should be very proud of himself. I love my children so much and it is so nice to now have Gil to love also. He is such a great guy and he is wonderful for and to Amanda.

I love Bob and Amanda so much and it is so nice to now share that love with Gil and Lee. I love our family!

Family Visitors

October was a busy month for the Terry household. Mark's parents, Bob and Adeline came to visit for about a week. We did a little sight seeing and had a great lunch at Burdick's in Walpole, NH. Bob and Adeline then left for Canada and Mark, Hattie and I followed a few days later. We drove up to Perth-Andover for Aunt Margaret's birthday and took a tour of the area. Mark and I only stayed for two nights as we had to get back for work. Here we all are celebrating Aunt Margaret's birthday. 

In the photo are Mark, Aunt Margaret, Bob, Eugene, Ralph and Adeline.

Once we got home we got ready for the Terry's to come back and for my mom Ginny to arrive. Since we had our parents with us, we decided to have Thanksgiving together. It was great. We had most of our usually fixings and we all ate a lot of food. But, there were

 

not many left overs, so Mark and I have decided to do it all again on Thanksgiving! 

Here we are ready to eat! Ginny, Kathy, Bob, Adeline, Mark and Hattie.

The Terry's left the following day and for the next two weeks Mom and I traveled about, NH, VT and MA. We did some shopping to try and find mom some new clothes, since she has been having such a hard time lately finding something that fits and she likes. And boy, did we shop and find some great deals. We also went to the Yankee Candle factory, drove through Deerfield, MA, went to the Bridge of Flowers in Shelbourne, MA as well as Keene and Walpole, NH. 

On our shopping trip to Manchester, VT we went in the first store and found some really good deals, but nothing we tried on fit right. I was helping mom put her clothes away and she then looked for her comb to comb her hair after trying on some sweaters. Well, she left it at the house and I don't carry one. The next hour just became a joke trying to find a comb for her. We never did and it was really funny how worried she was about her hair. She did survive, and I thought her hair looked nice the entire time. 

On Halloween we took Mom to Boston for the day and did a Duck Tour. It was a great tour and our tour guide was a lot of fun. We had absolutely beautiful weather so we were really lucky. Here are Mark and Mom on the duck tour.  Everyone is now gone and our house is very quite!