...and there were NO tears

This morning as my alarm went off I looked over to my left side and there stood Kayden who promptly before 0720 had gotten up, made her bed, and put on her brand new clothes because today was the day.. what day you ask?! her first day of SCHOOL! As we dropped off our 5 year old to her first day of "Sure Start" which is basically a Pre-K (because as we all know Kayden missed the deadline by 2 days to start kindergarten)... I walked her down to her classroom at Hainerberg Elementary and she saw her teacher Ms. Jessica but her backpack in her cubby and just tried to walk away.. like HELLO are you seriously going to be like, "Bye Mommy?" I think not! I called her back and said béseme (which means kiss me in spanish..) pshh the kid was so anxious to get in the classroom she didn't even want to give her mother a kiss... needless to say she LOVED IT!! here are a few pictures of our little miss Kayden .. enjoy!!Kayden- all ready for School

like really?!are we done taking pictures yet?!

We are old.. our daughter just started school.. dang and i am only 25.. psh. oh yes and there were PLENTY of moms BALLING there eyes out. Not this Marine Wife. nope. not a one!! (does that make me a bad mom! Ha Ha?)

Time Flies...

Birthday Cakes from WiddlyTinks.com

5 years ago Gabriel and I were blessed with a miracle.. who most certainly is the sweetest, most stubborn (she must have gotten that from her dad.. he he he), sensitive, loving, over-protective, smartest, helpful, sarcastic, faithful little girl we know! Kayden Alyse - Thank you for choosing us! We Love You Kayden, thank you for making each day an eventful one! We certainly have been blessed by your spirit, laughter, sweet kisses, hugs, and enjoy each day we have with you!

Here are some of our favorite pictures ( a lot of the first born pictures are on our PC which still after being here for ohh what close to 9 months still isn't hooked up):

5 months old- San Antonio

6 months old- San Antonio12 months old- San Diego13 months old- La Jolla, San Diego Temple 15 months old- Christmas, Red Chucks & Led Zeppelin (courtesy of Uncle Poo Poo) - Rancho Penasquitos
18 months old- Easter in Corona20 months- Rancho Bernardo
2 Years Old- Escondido 2 1/2 years old- Mission Beach

3 years old- Gigi's Daycare ♥4 years old - 4th of July Rancho Bernardo4 1/2 years old - Mainz, Germany
4 1/2- Wiesbaden (Kodi's birthday)
5 years old- Wiesbaden, Germany

this is the birthday cake for her 5th birthday (I had free handed Ariel on it.. but well it wasn't perfect, so I erased it and started all over again! It sure did taste yummy)

Thank you everyone who show such unconditional love to our little family! We love you and are so grateful for each of you (yes even you Kipp- he he)

And yes.. she sure has changed a whole lot.. can't wait to see what the next 5 years bring ( well.. not the fact that I will be turning 30 part but ehh it could be worse, right???)

All but failures

(Raechele,19 & Gabe, 22- San Antonio)

"As you create a home, don't get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don't dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey."
-Marjorie Pay Hinkley

Kayden, 3 1/2 & Kodi, 2 weeks old- San Diego

it only took..

not quite 5 years ( 2 weeks but whose counting?) to give my baby girl her first hair cut. While she has gone to the salon once to get her bangs trimmed, and to salon a la Raechele for a half an inch of the bottom, oh lets not forget when she wanted to give herself some new bangs. no bangs rather.. she hasn't gotten it cut. until now. Introducing our little Kayden:thats my kid! we chopped off about 6 1/2 inches of hair Peace out hair

isn't she beautiful?!

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Made it back to Germany after a way fun trip to Amsterdam with 3 of my good friends here in Germany. It was a blast. It was a break. It was WAY overdue! ( but of course, I sure did miss my little Garcia brood).
We loaded onto the USO tour bus at 0330 on Saturday morning, then made our way over to the Airfield to pick up the remaining group and onward we went. Now normally from Wiesbaden (according to GoogleMaps) to Amsterdam its a little over 4 hours away. but no. we left the airfield at about 0350 and got to Amsterdam at like 0930. We had an hour stop for breakfast about 2 hours away from our final destination.
We dropped off in the museumplein which happened to be right in front of the Hard Rock Cafe! Woot! After trecking on over to the Van Gogh museum to get our tickets we decided that we should hit up the Anne Frank House before it got too busy. so our trek began!! On the way we decided that we would try some Dutch Pancakes. AHH Heavenly. Seriously the best pancakes EVER! I love German Pancakes, but nope the Germans have NOTHING on the Dutch when it comes to this breakfast food! We had a little butter and some powdered sugar on that bad boy .. and even a little of the Dutch Syrup. NOM NOM NOM. is what I say to that feast.

Next shop was a Coffee Shop. In Amsterdam pretty much everything is legal. Prostitution, Marijuana, Acid, Shrooms.. you name it they sell it. however its Governmentally regulated so its not like you see the drug dealers on the streets trying to get you to buy some crack.. but they sure do sell Marijuana in all the "Coffee Shops" and really all I wanted was some hot chocolate. no. not there. and we sure didn't get any of the other products sold there. but it was an expierence thats for sure. Don't think I have ever even in my wildiest years seen that much marijuana other then on the show COPS! .. and finally we found our way to the Anne Frank House. there was a little bit of walk since the Museumplein is on the southern side of the city vs the AFH that is located in the mid NW part. While we couldn't take any pictures inside the Secret Annex it was a surreal feeling being there. Having read her book, and finally seeing where her secret life was, it was intense. very somber. the house itself was actually on top of her father, Otto's business. They weren't allowed to walk around, flush the toilet, none of that during the work day to avoid being detected. The families that lived there had no interaction to the outside world. Once the Franks were found the house was stripped of the possessions until Otto (who was the only surving Frank to make it out of Auschwitz- Anne & her sister Margo died a month before the camp was liberated) helped turn it into a museum in the 1960's. With the possessions gone, there was still the toilet that they used, there tiny kitchen, the bookshelf that was the gateway to there hiding spot and pictures that Anne had glued to the walls of her room. Her story is just one of millions of Jews that died in the horror of Hitler, it was a testament of faith, hope, and dreams of a young girl. The clock tower that Anne refers to looking at through the window in the Attic.

After that we decided that we would go on over to the Dam Palace and enjoy the sites of the city. The architecture of the city is amazing. I have to say despite the hatred I have for the weather in Europe I love love love the history, and the buildings. After seeing canal after canal, the Dam Palace, the history museum (we didn't go inside) and the random shops along the way we got aboard the tram and rode it back over towards Hard Rock Cafe to enjoy some food. (this marks 2 HRC in Europe.. only a billion to go, and yes Gabe was jealous that I went without him. HA!)
While enjoying lunch we also got to enjoy some Capoeira which is a Brazilian martial arts/dance by some Brazilians in the middle of the lunch square! Along with a giant chess game that happens to occupy a large chunk of the square.
We headed back on over to the Van Gogh Museum only to find that it was closing in 5 minutes. psh maybe next time! Enjoyed some Dutch waffles with cherries that were divine. had about another 40 minutes of chillaxin before we had to be back at the meeting place to start our journey back home. So we hit up some souvenir shops- bought Kayden a pair of real clogs from Holland! And a "Tulip from Holland" which is an awesome thing because the Tulips are a BIG deal during the spring up there. 9 hours of being on my feet. it was sooo worth it. I can't wait to go back again with my family!! Here are some pictures of my first solo trip, to the Netherlands:

A busy intersection ..check out the architecture!!
one of the many canals throughout the city
A Giant ClogMore then 30 hours of being awake.. totally ready for bed.. ahh only another 6 hours before we get home!

off i go on my first solo trip..

.. without the fam-a-lama. Amsterdam with 3 of my friends! WOOT! .. leaving at 0330 tomorrow.. coming back at 0130 Sunday. Will post the pictorials ASAP!

PS.. Happy 5TH Birthday MADDOX ♥
and NANA Happy Birthday! We love you guys!!