Playing at the park

Reading Time!

From reading Time

Ari loves her books and it is always fun to read with others.  We are going to miss Elle and Solomon.  

Colonial Williamsburg

Jellyfish!

From Jellyfish beach

I forgot to post about Ari's run-in with the jellyfish.  We went to Yorktown Beach after visiting Colonial Williamsburg.  We hadn't been at the beach very long when Ari and I ventured out into the water to meet Bryan and Elle.  Well, on our way out to the deep part Ari grabbed her foot and started to scream.  It was nothing I had ever heard her do before.  When we got out we were told there were jellyfish.  My little bug is so tough she only cried for  a short time.

Grandma Allred's Visit

While I was in Florida officiating, Grandma Allred came out to watch Ari. We all enjoyed Grandma's visit. 

Play Group at the Aquarium

From Play Group at Aquarium

Every Tuesday they have a story time at our local aquarium.  Since we bought a season pass and many of our friends did the same we meet for story time and then walk around and see all the exhibits.  We are going to miss our friends and the fun aquarium.

Fun at the Apartment Pool

We have been so spoiled to have a pool at our apartment.  Ari and I have taken full advantage of using it.  We have had BBQ's with our good friends and just relaxed.  Ari is our little water baby.  We have to be quick to get in the water once we walk through the gate.  We will miss this pool.

Bryan's class had a BBQ in June to celebrate passing the hardest  part of their school.  Everyone brought food and the class leader rented a water slide for everyone.  We had a lot of fun.  Ari didn't get to ride this slide, but Bryan and I had fun. 

Virginia Beach Botanical Garden

In June Ari and I went to the Botanical Garden with Mana (the wife of one of Bryan's classmates). Lots of flowers were in bloom and there was plenty of room for Ari to run around. Thanks Mana for a fun day.

Help the Sullenger Family

Warning: You may need tissues while reading the following blog link.

My heart aches for the entire Sullenger Family. My best friend's little niece was in a tragic accident on July 9th and has returned to her father in heaven. For more you can visit

http://www.patrickandashley.blogspot.com/

If you click on the icon above it will direct you to a website where you can help this amazing family.

Last night I couldn't let go of Ari. I prayed that I could protect her from life's misfortunes, but I know that is not what our Father in Heaven has sent us here to do. He wants us to have experiences so that we can return to him even stronger. Please keep the Sullengers in your prayers.

.....the Navy has spoken

Sorry for the lapse in posts.  June was a very busy month and July is proving to be even worse.  The Navy has spoken and we are off to Bahrain. You ask where is that???  Well it is located near Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.  This is Bryan's dream job.  We are very fortunate to get this assignment.  It counts as a sea tour and the family gets to go with him.  Bryan will have to share more about what he will be doing.

This is what I know so far.  Bahrain is an Arabic word meaning "Two Seas", and refers to two facts, one that the islands contain two sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water in the surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters of the gulf, separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran, respectively.

Bahrain has beautiful beaches.  The beaches are parts of the huge archipelago that is a part of Bahrain. Bahrain is basically composed of around thirty-three islands which are spread over the cool blue waters of the sea.Some of the famous Bahrain beaches include the Hawar Island which is situated at a distance of about 45 minutes from the Ad Dur jetty. 

The homes are like palaces.  We will be able to get a pretty big home and even a housekeeper.  It will be nice to have a place to fit all of our stuff.  No more going out to the storage room or trailer to get something.

Although the next month and a half it going to be crazy we look forward to our adventures in Bahrain. 

Phone Mishap

So you are probably wondering why is the phone in a bag of rice. Funny story. I knew where my phone was on Friday evening, but on Saturday I couldn't find it and didn't bother to look for it. Saturday I went into one of my cleaning fits and then we went to the beach after. It was just a busy day and I didn't want to be bothered to look for my phone. Bryan was home and he had his.

On Sunday I remembered I had started a load of wash and went to change it and guess what I found??? My phone was in with a bunch of towels and blankets. I about died. I knew it was dead there was no way it would survive the washer. I must have been in such a hurry cleaning that it got mixed in with the wash. At least that is what I thought until yesterday.

Yesterday I was so upset with myself for not being more organized and knowing where things were at that I cleaned every room, shelf, and closet in our apartment. While I was getting things to put in the washer I came back to my half loaded washer to find this.



I think I might have had some help with the phone, but maybe not. No one will ever know since washer is not in Ari's vocabulary. She just knows that if there is a door you can put things in and shut it. Ari likes to help me clean and it is probably my fault with the washer because I let her put clothes in there and she didn't have clothes this time so it was my phone or her toys.

I almost forgot my phone worked as of yesterday, but the Verizon sales guy said to leave it in a bag of rice for 2-3 days.  I guess we will see if it works tomorrow.

OMG...

Oh My Gosh.... you are not going to believe what we saw in the ocean on Saturday.  We were just sitting on the beach playing in the sand when Bryan pointed to something out in the ocean.  Sure enough we saw a pod of dolphins.  They were really far out so we couldn't get a  decent picture.  hmmm.... dad, this is why we need you to generously donate your camera to our cause.  :o) 

The weather has been so nice that we have been enjoying the beach.  Bryan finished with class early on Friday and he joined us at the beach.  Ari was brave enough this time to go out into the waves.  The water was really warm.  Warmer than the pool water at our apartment.  I even got out in the ocean. That is saying something.

Visit from the Cousins

Ari and I were once again spoiled to have Crystal, Elle, and Solomon come and visit.  Josh is in Australia for the summer doing an internship.  What a lucky guy!  We loved having the cousins visit.  Bryan worked late this past week so it was really  nice to have people to spend time with. We spent the first day at the beach and the following day at a friends pool.  We also went bowling with the kids. Crystal is pretty good with a toddler on her hip; she bowled two strikes in a row.  Thanks guys for making the drive to come and visit with us.  Ari sure loves having playmates.

From Beach Time

From Bowling

From Park Time

From Park Time

From Park Time

From Park Time

YMCA

Last month Ari and I went and got a membership to the Mt. Trashmore YMCA. It is about a 20 minute drive, but the results are worth the drive. I realized I didn't like who I was and it was do to my weight and lack of physical fitness. I had been looking for a gym since we moved to VA, but none of them had childcare or they charged and outrageous price.

Our YMCA has this great program called FitQuest it is a 12-week personalized fitness program, included in YMCA membership, is designed to meet my specific fitness needs. What I like is that it logs all of my workouts. It is like having my own personal trainer. I try to go 5 times a week, but I require myself to go at least 3 times.  It logs my cardio and my weights.  I go to a weight machine and log in or I manually log in my workout.

It has also been great for Ari. She goes to childcare for an 1 1/2 to 2 hours while I work out. It took her a while to warm up to the environment, but she does great now. It is important to me that she interacts with her peers.

Goals achieved for last month: I lost 9 pounds and Ari is socializing with the other children.