Team Garcia

Happy Birthday Dusty

2011-09-03T23:04:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time there was a baby girl who looked like this:

… who 7 years later now looks like this:

For Dusty’s birthday she wanted to BBQ.. and with such beautiful weather we have been having it was a great idea! With Manny gone, I was going to have to man the grill, and everything else- and well I am talented, but not that talented ( ok I probably could have done it).. Thanks to our friend Colin- I didn’t have to worry about the grill! So he cooked up quite a bit of food ( we had 25 people over.. 11 of them being kids and that is not including 3 babies) … it was a lot of people! We had plenty of food, friends, and fun… oh and noise!!

One of my dearest friends prepared the ice cream cone cupcakes, and a fun Oreo pudding and I took care of the rest – Dusty had a blast with all her friends, and then of course was so excited with all the gifts she received … which was so nice of everyone to give to her. She loved everything… I know I say this often, but I don’t think I can reiterate it enough, how blessed we have been by the friends we have made here, every occasion has been a success because of them! I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked but here are some of the ones I did get!

Dusty opening up her gifts with some of her friends around her

She was so excited about the cupcake activity from the Ramos’s

Heather and Colin holding baby Gabe

Dusty, Saylor and Paisley – two of her best friends!

Cute Liana couldn’t get enough of her ice cream cone cupcake!!

Lola passed out in Auntie Heather’s arms!

LOTSA people!!

Happy Birthday Noodle! We sure do love you! Thanks to everyone that helped make her birthday so great ♥

Dusty’s first day of school

2011-08-29T22:17:00.000+02:00

Dusty is now a 1st grader! And to mark her going into the 1st grade our dear friend Elena made her a schultüte… What is a schultüte you ask? It is a “school cone”.

It is a tradition that on the first day of school for children entering first grade, children in countries like Germany and Austria are given a schultüte from their parents or loved one (in our case, a friend). They are usually made with a big cardboard cone, decorated and filled with school supplies, candy and other little gifts.

First grade is a big deal in Germany, because it means that children have finally entered into school. While kindergarten marks the start of school in the United States, Germans attend kindergarten for 3 years from ages 3-6.

This is a tradition that we will for sure continue on with Lola and Blue!

Dusty and her schultüte ..pretty girl!

All the kids in the 1st grade received schultüte’s from the school and since Dusty already had one, Lola commandeered the plain white one!

Dusty had a great first day.. and was so excited to see all her friends from last year! This year, she has 3 other kids from our ward in her class! I am excited for what she will be learning in the next 3 months!!

here she is already in her seat… and ready for mom to get the dang camera outta her face!

Elena, Dusty and Lola in Dusty’s classroom!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T23:17:00.001+02:00

look what we have here…

Life with kids is never dull…

2011-08-16T22:55:00.000+02:00

…however one could always do without having to have one admitted into the hospital. Especially a 7 week old…

It was just a casual day in that we spent in the house, everyone was doing fine.. however, Blue just wasn’t herself. She was hardly eating, hot to the touch, becoming lethargic, and her right eye kept rolling in (which can be quite normal due to the eye muscles still developing). Normally one would just take the child's temperature themselves to determine if it was worth calling the doctor, or worth going straight to the hospital. Just my luck, I couldn’t locate a dang thermometer at all, and with her being so hot, I decided I would just take her into the local hospital.

On the way to the other side of town I decided to keep the windows down to help try and bring down her fever, and it did at least cool her to the touch. Once we arrived I was instructed to take her temperature and it was at 102.8. To high WAY to high for an infant. Immediately they went to draw blood, and well that was hard for me, because they drew it from the top of her poor head. I realize that it is usually the easiest way with babies, but I was by no means wanting to see my baby girl get poked at all, let alone on the side of her head. I was one sad momma. Over the course of 2 hours they were able to get a urine sample and determine that her white blood count was way to high- She had an infection of some sort… and she wasn’t going to going home… for at least 10 days. YES, 10 days.

So here it is, 0045 and we were getting admitted into the hospital. After running more tests, drawing more blood they were able to at least come up with her having a UTI, but with her levels being as high as they were she was fighting more then just a urinary tract infection. I think I finally ended up going to bed around 0550 for about an hour until she was checked on and given two different antibiotics… and a new iv. She still wasn’t eating, and her temperature was now 103.9- baby girl was not doing well at all. She looked worse then she did when we initially arrived.

After 2 full days her fever was finally gone! By day 4 she was starting to at least smile, still pale as can be, but she did smile!

The doctors decided she needed to be pumped with fluids to prevent dehydration, and weight loss. She was put on 2 antibiotics 3 times a day for the next 10 days. Over the course of the time spent there she was diagnosed with a severe kidney infection and urinary tract infection. She was stuck 10 times with attempts at placing an iv… she had 7 iv’s in a matter of 6 days… with the last one having to go on the top of her little head. that was awful. but it worked!!!!

After having 2 kidney ultrasounds it was discovered that she did in fact have some minor damage in both kidneys. The doctors are hoping that with the continued treatment of antibiotics it will only be temporary. When I say continued treatment.. it means for the next 6 weeks (9 in total) she will have prophylactic treatment to insure that she won’t have another infection. She has an been doing quite well since being released from the hospital 3 weeks ago, and hope that the antibiotics will continue to help.

The doctors here in Germany (like most Germans) are quite blunt, and think nothing of it- and I actually prefer people that way.. so when I am told by not 1, or 2 but rather 4 different doctors that had I not followed my instinct – baby girl could have easily not made it. It was a hard trial to go through, but I am so grateful for the many people that prayed for my daughter, for the help of several of my friends here for watching the two older girls, and for the knowledge that the Lord was watching over our family. I am quite blessed.

I appreciate those that have stuck with me during the last few months of having the baby and me being missing in action! I see a lot of fun things in our future!! ♥

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T23:07:00.000+02:00

… a 3 year old trend setter…

Its official, we are moving…

2011-08-10T12:52:00.001+02:00

to. California.

It was NOT what we were hoping for in the slightest.. actually we didn’t want anything on the west coast, even Hawaii was lower on the list.. but, alas we are leaving from our wonderful little nest in Germany for the great state of California no later then 11 December.. bitter sweet. ok. I am slightly disgruntled, but, HE has a plan… and that I am willing to see pan out!

On the plus side, at least the girls will have an opportunity to get to know their extended family.. for the next three years. Seeing the positive…

and before I get the “but you are from here, you should be grateful..” I am grateful for this opportunity, however I know that we like Change.. and not the Obama kind.

♥

Happy Birthday Lola

2011-07-08T02:10:00.000+02:00

(( Lola turned 3 on the 26 of June.. ))

For at least a month and a half Lola had been telling anyone and everyone that she was going to have a purple Tinker Bell birthday party. So, when it was time for her ACTUAL birthday I had to deliver a Tinker Bell birthday party… and hope that it had purple! Now, the selection on the base is just pathetic so I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get the Tinker Bell.. and after going many times to the toy store on base I was overly disappointed because they had NOTHING in the Tinker Bell department. However, the day before her birthday I found a party set, what a relief I tell you! Lola was very excited!

For her birthday we had a BBQ with lots of our favorite people over and had a great time!

For her birthday cake.. I made two cupcake –cakes topped with tinker bell candles on each!

After singing to the birthday girl she opened up her gifts and boy did she score: She received new clothes, shoes, a baby born, mariposa Barbie doll ,a tinker bell Barbie, and …

a BIKE!!! she LOVED IT!

Happy Birthday Lola we are so lucky to have been blessed to have you for our daughter! You sure have brought us a lot of joy in the last 3 years, and we look forward to many many more to come!

Thank you to our “family of friends” that came to her birthday.. she has celebrated all three of her birthdays here in Germany- next year we might be lucky to have some family there!

Happy Birthday Lola ♥

Here Lola is riding her bike for the very first time… and one of our favorite parts of this video is the “I STOPPED” && the “WAHOOOOO”!

This video was shot around 2200 at night.. and it still light outside! Gotta love Germany!! Thanks Boweena for capturing this on video!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-06T19:36:00.000+02:00

The Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-04T19:04:00.000+02:00

Happy Independence day America! This is our third and last 4th of July in Germany… this year is pretty bitter sweet :/ Oh well such is life in the Marine Corps!

Anyway, today we had a nice quiet day, I ended up BBQing for the family and our friend Kipp! I made steaks for the boys and hot dogs & hamburgers for the girls and I! I was feeling pretty adventurous today and decided to try and make an American flag out of Jell-O.. red, white, and blue and all:

It was delish! I also made banana pudding for the first time too!

The base did their 4th of July celebration on the 1st of July.. why? Your guess is as good as mine! We decided to not go to the festivities and just played around the house! So this year we saw no fireworks- live, that is because we sure saw tons of pictures from our friends that got to watch them!

Since we are such a patriotic family, it wouldn’t be the celebration of our nations independence without the girls being festive :

Hope everyone had a great ★4th of July ★

Blue’s Blessing

2011-07-01T23:45:00.000+02:00

On the 12th of June we had the babies name and blessing at church, it was a wonderful blessing given by Manny! We decided that it was the best day to do it because it was the only Sunday all the priesthood holders that we would want to be apart of the blessing would be present, other then Manny’s dad who lives in California.

We left after the sacrament and came home to prepare for the festivities in welcoming baby Blue to the world! We had a get together with some of our favorite people here, who have become just like family to us!

Dinner was great, a nice Mexican fiesta of course… beef enchiladas, Mexican rice, beans, guacamole.. it was scrumptious! It was a great day!

Thanks to all of our “family” our here who came to support us in welcoming the newest Garcia into the world! We have been truly blessed by the love of our ward family and friends here!♥

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-30T00:19:00.001+02:00

Dusty, Lola and Blue …

our beautiful girls!

And then there was 3

2011-06-28T00:09:00.000+02:00

As you many of you know I have been recovering from my 3 third c-section, which was quite a bit more in depth then the prior ones so that explains why I have been MIA. Recovering the last four weeks has been a bit rough at times, but the adjustment of going from a family of 4 to a family of 5 has been a lot easier then I thought it would!! But on to the important stuff.. oh, and it was a GIRL!!

Introducing our newest addition:

“Blue”

born: 26 May 2011

@: 10:18 am

7 lbs. 8 oz. 20.4 inches long

Wiesbaden, Germany

I have been adjusting well with being a mom to three for the most part! Luckily I have been quite blessed with some amazing friends here in Germany to count on should I need any help!

I am back and ready to post my daily thoughts, or rants, wordless Wednesday, recipes, and of course some reviews and giveaways! Thanks for all your support! ♥

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T07:40:00.001+01:00

…

Come home.. please. #

MISSING- man, ..err cat down

2011-02-14T15:38:00.001+01:00

I had every intention of having a nice upbeat Valentine’s Day post however, today was thwarted by the discovery that our 10 month old cat has.. gone missing. I am a huge cat lover, all of us are! But, today Team Garcia has been hit. Teancum (our ferocious boy cat) has been calling out all day for his little pest Havana…

and, I have just been a mess. For some people cats or pets rather are just something they take care of, but not for this family. They are an important part of our lives, and right now, we are at a loss right now. We have faith that someone will find her and call us…

Havana We love you!

If you are one of our friends that lives in our area.. please keep your eyes out for this furry feline!

Operation Puffer fish

2011-01-20T20:27:00.001+01:00

Dusty has been learning about different animals and the habitats in which animals live in, and to help the students fully understand the vast amount of animal life on this great planet of ours each child was to select an animal from a group the teacher had put together… that’s how operation puffer fish came about!

So, we started her “research” project on puffer fish on Tuesday, but like most 6 year olds, they don’t really have the attention span to sit and RESEARCH for to long. We did little by little, and eventually we had come up with 2 sentences that A. would summarize up what a puffer fish was, and B. where they lived! (we are thinking 5-6 year old here people). The teacher left the project aspect of the assignment up to “as complicated the parent wanted it to be”… so we chose to create a puffer fish vs. making a huge poster board full of info on the things.

and since there are over 120 species of puffer fish… so we chose to make a “black spotted puffer fish” (hence the black spots)

Dusty was so excited to cut, and glue, and well create- I love this kids imagination!!

I hope her teacher enjoys all of Dusty’s hard work! (she also got her hair cut!- she looks so cute)

For our little alien!

2011-01-20T10:02:00.001+01:00

My wonderful friend Sherrie made this for El Niño… isn’t it just adorable! Little Aliens!!

Thanks Sherrie! I Love it && I Love You! #

Wordless Wednesday …

2011-01-19T22:31:00.001+01:00

Lola’s first haircut

2011-01-17T23:04:00.001+01:00

Lola got her first hair cut, and quite a lot cut actually! She did great, I have a fantastic hair stylist over here who happens to adore Lola… and while my hair color was setting, she trimmed up lil Lola!

She looks so grown up- our little 2.5 year old!

Wordless Wednesday- what are those lines?

2011-01-12T20:06:00.001+01:00

El bebe is half way here..

2011-01-10T09:55:00.001+01:00

So, I am starting my 20th week! I am pretty sure I looked bigger last week & in person- but, maybe it’s the clothes I am wearing?! Regardless of how big or small I am, this boy is a kicker! He apparently really likes to clementine's, because he kicks kicks kicks!!

But, I am feeling well, and so far, so good! I am waiting on Tricare to get my cardiology appointment set up on the German economy.. because our clinic isn’t staffed with any cardiologists. Hopefully I will be seen before my next check up which is on the 18th!

And to answer the question that so many people have asked:

no, we have no name picked out.. and who knows when we are gonna agree on one?! For right now, he is “El Niño” or “Blue”. $

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T01:25:00.001+01:00

So I have been taking lots of pictures since Manny bought me the Canon Rebel T1i - SLR Camera and instead of doing a 365 project, I decided I was going to do a “Wordless Wednesday”! This is my first post! So, amongst other things, you can look forward to seeing random pictures every Wednesday! Enjoy!!

TA DA!

2011-01-03T16:56:00.001+01:00

In case you didn’t believe that I was pregnant… here is some proof!

and they said it couldn’t be done…

2011-01-01T23:28:00.001+01:00

Its January 1, 2011 and I am happy to report that I have gone

366

days without a LEMON BAR! Yes, you read that correctly. 366 days lemon bar free… and people said I couldn’t do it!

Well I DID… HA HA! … lets make it another 365 days! Dare me?

ps. this was the easiest divorce EVER… and it’s the only New Years Resolution I have ever kept! double WoOt!♥

Happy New Years

2010-12-31T23:59:00.000+01:00

This marks our 3rd New Years Eve in Germany… that means, its probably our last one! For 2 years we have called Germany our home, and while we don’t know where our next adventure will take us, we do know that we will never forget Germany!

And since we are 6 hours ahead of New York, and 9 hours ahead of California, … its 2011 here and NOW!

(NEW YEARS EVE Celebration- Berlin, Germany @ the Brandenburg Gate)

so with that said…

Glückliches Neues Jahr!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011 we are excited for

the fun you will no doubt

be bringing us!$

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T23:10:00.000+01:00

will be having our sweet surprise around the 23rd of May… he will be arriving a little earlier then his actual due date due to make sure that all is good to go!

So, … SURPRISE!!

Merry Christmas!!

an Unexpected visitor

2010-12-18T11:48:00.000+01:00

When we moved to Germany, we were told that it barely snowed in our part of the country. Ok we were a little bummed, but then days later we received some snow, not a lot, but enough that when it started snowing you might remember that Manny woke us up at 0525 and had Dusty and I come out and enjoy it!

That is Lola… enjoying it! bahah (2008)

Then came last year, and we got even more snow then we did our first winter here, enough that we were able to build a GINORMOUS snowman!

Our snowman-2009

And since, it really doesn’t snow in Wiesbaden, that would explain why had 2-hour delays going into work/school earlier this week, along with oh, SCHOOL CANCELLED the last day of school before winter break… I wonder if its because of this :

or how about this:

.. no that can’t be it, it might be :

Yah, that would be our CAR.. covered in ..SNOW.. oh that is because Germany, and all of Europe have been hit by this little thing called a BLIZZARD- more correctly, ‘Petra’ is her name.

Manny, and I spent over an hour clearing off the car, and the surrounding area so he could get to work the next day! We have gotten more then a foot of snow, and while that isn’t a “lot” in comparison to some places in the states, it sure is a LOT when you live in a place where, it b a r e l y SNOWS!

Now, we might never get snow again since it isn’t even winter yet and we have been given so much already (sarcasm) … but at least we can say we lived through a blizzard!

Kindergarten Program

2010-12-14T12:35:00.000+01:00

Dusty participated with all the classes in Kindergarten in a Christmas Program. They sang and danced to a variety of songs, in English and in German… it was supposed to be held outside but it had snowed a lot the night before, and it was freeeeezing out, so they crammed us all into the library to enjoy the presentation. It was a bit hard to see Dusty, but these are the best shots of the day:

(she is in the yellow shirt)

Lola had a GREAT time, she was singing and so proud of her sister!

Dusty and one her good friends from class!

Introducing…

2010-12-09T11:15:00.000+01:00

Raenbows and Mud Puddles! I have decided with at least a year left over in Germany that I need to do something that is for me! So, since getting a job here has proven to be pointless, and the fact that I love to write I would start another blog that I would focus on things outside of our family! Spice up life a bit- have a blog that I could write about being a mom, wife, do reviews of products that I either love or hate! Possibly throw in a few giveaways… it’s a work in progress just like everything in life but I am enjoying it, it has started off slowly, but come January 1 I have hopes of it just blossoming!

Whats with the name you say? Raenbows and Mud Puddles was a concoction I created for two reason, I have always loved rainbows and since RAE is one of my nicknames… ta da RAEnbows it was! Then the mud came from a gamer tag that Gabe used to use, everything was MUDD this MUDD that… so I decided with rain you get some rainbows and of course mud always accompanies a good rainfall hence mud puddles!

Anywho, I will be working on both blogs, updating much more on both I hope! 2011 looks like it is going to be bringing lots of adventures there is never a dull moment with this Marine family! Check out: Raenbows and Mud Puddles, Grab my button, tell your friends… my first blog giveaway will be right after Christmas! Thanks for always supporting us from so far away!!

Wiesbaden’s Wiehnachtsmarkt 2010

2010-11-28T12:07:00.000+01:00

Like every year in Germany many towns have Wiehnachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets), and since we live 5 minutes from downtown, Wiesbaden is always the easiest to go to… here are pictures from this year:

riding on the train

enjoying the merry-go-round

(she was happy to get out of the bathroom, because she couldn’t figure out how to open the door… because it was written in German)

235 years of the best organization in the world

2010-11-10T10:47:00.001+01:00

Today marks the 235th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps. As you all know, my husband has committed his life to this organization, only the finest in the world. Each November 10th, we celebrate the coming of a select group of individuals for having fought for the very freedoms that so many take for granite. From the historic battles at Belleau Wood to the current operations in Afghanistan, Marines always prevail. An elite group of men and women who have forged a bond so great, that no man can ever break, as the saying goes: Once a Marine, Always a Marine.

Today as we reflect on what the United States Marine Corps have done for America, and the world, our family will break for a moment of silence for the unwavering faith of the men and women who are currently serving both at home and abroad, for those men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for the greater good of man kind.

How proud I am to be a Marine wife.. of a man who with every bit of integrity and fiber of his being has no greater call to serve this country but along side those in the Marine Corps. Our family is a little safer each and every night, and we can thank the Marines who stand guard 24 hours a day to ensure our safety. Manny- is one of the finest (and best looking) Marines I have ever known, and to him, to his detachment, to my brother Uncle Poo Poo & sister-in-law Carissa, my cousin Michael, to all of our friends who are deployed, are serving/have served throughout the world, we honor you this day, Happy Birthday to you devil dogs! Semper Fidelis!

my favorite Marines:

“…For 235 years, at sea and ashore, Marines have succeeded in every clime and place . . . where hardship and adversity have often been the common thread. Today, in the rugged mountains and valleys of Afghanistan—and recently in earthquake-damaged Haiti . . . in flood-ravaged Pakistan . . . or off the coast of Africa—we continue to protect our Nation, just as we did 60 years ago in Korea.

To the Marines and Sailors deployed overseas, to those training and preparing for their next deployment and to the warriors who no longer wear our uniform . . . we honor your selfless service to the Nation. To our loved ones who endure the many difficulties that come with being part of the Marine Family, I want to extend my sincerest thanks for all you have done and all you continue to do.

Happy 235th Birthday, Marines!

Semper Fidelis,

James F. Amos
General, U.S. Marine Corps (Commandant of the Marine Corps) “

Halloween 2010

2010-11-07T17:30:00.000+01:00

This year the girls were so excited about Halloween, but Manny and I really weren’t all that excited. Which is unusual for Manny because he LOVES this holiday. We have been so busy lately with so many little events that we needed to be at that, come 30October we were exhausted.

This year we held Halloween on the 30th because it was a Saturday and a lot of people in our community don’t do things on Sundays. The Garrison changed it to accommodate everyone in the community. it was nice of them, and in all honesty we were really hoping that it would mean that not so many Germans would show up on post to trick-or-treat.

… back to the celebrations.. we were not sure we would be having a Ward Halloween Party because it wasn’t announced earlier in the month but, alas, the Ward Activities committee (which we are NOT on this year) pulled one together and it went by nicely. It of course was the annual priesthood chili cook-off… Manny won an award. a g a I n. apparently his chili is dang good. and yes, when they say priesthood chili cook-off they really want the MEN to do the COOKING. Gabe found a great recipe last year and when it won, it officially became “Manny’s Famous Chili”… bahaha. He is so proud of it. His little competitive spirit comes out every now and then. One of our favorite families in the ward the Bushman’s have held the title of “Best Chili” for YEARS.. well until Team Garcia arrived..

after the chili and dessert was done the kids had a trunk-or-treat around the building and boy the girls SCORED with the candy! We had a little more then an hour before the base Halloween hours started so we figured it was the best time to finally carve our pumpkins. We ended up only having time to do one, which was fine. Dusty had a lot of fun with me cleaning out the pumpkin guts and we were all a little relieved to have Lola down for a nap! She was EXHAUSTED from the ward party.

Like Last year we took our girls trick-or-treating with our wonderful neighbors (who are unfortunately relocating soon..boo). But UNLIKE last year, there was a lot more houses we could hit, and not as many GERMANS! No, I am not being ignorant to the fact that we live in Germany, I am just annoyed that our base is unsecured and that last year we had probably close to 8 Germans to our 1 American child collecting candy. Candy ran out FAST last year. It didn’t matter that we had pooled together with our neighbors and had over a 100.00 worth of candy. it was out in like 55 minutes. if. THAT. This year the candy lasted a little longer, which made the 4 girls happy! And it was fun to see all the costumes this year.

Thankfully Halloween is OVER… which means THANKSGIVING is fast approaching! WOOT! oh, then I suppose Santa will be dropping by huh? Oh well, I can’t wait to stuff my face with some good eats in less then a month!

Here are some pictures of the girls in their costumes:

Say cheese…

Minnie Mouse

Mad Hatter

Lola and Dusty all gussied up!

I might be a blog slacker...

2010-11-04T14:13:00.002+01:00

...but when I come across something as HILARIOUS as this.. it is worth a share!

I have been a member of the Church for 9 1/2 years.. and this, is the FUNNIEST thing I have ever seen in regards to the Mormons

even if this photo-shopped or whatever.. its funny!

Lola turns 2....

2010-06-26T21:34:00.002+02:00

From this.. 7.0 lb baby girl to...


this 24.6 lbs 2 year old

Today is Lola's 2nd birthday. For her birthday we decided to have a small get together with the usual crowd. a nice BBQ, cupcakes, gifts and plenty of play time! Lola decided she would like a "Handy Manny" birthday for her decor... so that is what she got! Look how big she is! Today has been, interesting to say the least, first she was walking Belle our friends dog and she got herself wrapped up in the leash and fell backwards down 6 steps into the basement. Then if that wasn't enough, she thought it would be fun to run out into the street to chase after a ball... Leslie rescued her from a nice car that was headed straight for Lola. Happy Birthday Bean, lets try and not have any near death experiences any time soon!!

Class of 2010

2010-06-11T15:13:00.001+02:00

here comes the class of 2010...

While everyone knows how upset I had been that Dusty wasn't able to get into kindergarten here because of the new deadline and her missing it by a mere 2 days.. she was accepted into Sure Start. Which was basically Pre-K but I felt like it was more like a free daycare. Sad I know. At first I really enjoyed it, she had a wonderful teacher who ended up PCSing (moving) to Korea. Then for about a month and a half the class was just in limbo, the aid stayed the same but they had a sub and it was kinda hard for 4 & 5 year olds adjusting. Then when her new teacher came it was like starting school all over again. I felt like she was very uninterested in the kids, and was just basically there. not a good feeling for a mother. I really can't imagine what it would be like to teach a variety of 4-5 year olds. She did her best, but, alas, the school year is OVER! Thus, Dusty had her graduation from Sure Start! We are pretty proud of her! ... next stop KINDERGARTEN! wOoT!!

Our Sure Start Graduate!


Daddy and his baby girl

2010-05-19T15:17:00.000+02:00

there will be a plethora of new posts. and some that i have been holding out on from say.. our vacations last month. but . not yet. wait for it... wait for it...

Easter Morning . . .

2010-04-04T10:06:00.001+02:00

The girls already into there baskets...

hunting for some eggs

...and more eggs...

in search of eggs, she decided to stop and smell the tulips (they are pretty aren't they)

Bed head at its finest!

After the morning festivities we got prepared for dinner. Usually, we have a nice leg a lamb for dinner followed by all the wonderful trimmings, but alas, we opted for some turkey. I was not complaining!!! We had a bunch of food, 5 of the single Marines, Sherlock Holmes & Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, and lots of fun!

it was a busy day! but I had a lot of fun making everything (minus the artichoke dip, that was a little something from my friend Amanda!- we love it!)

My Cute Family

look what the Easter Bunny brought...

2010-04-04T09:49:00.002+02:00

Hilary

Hilary was able to come back out here this year but this time for much longer... and on EASTER!!! we ♥ Hilary, and are so happy she is here with us for the majority of April! If I get lucky... she will be here for my birthday!

2010-04-03T09:52:00.001+02:00

This is one way to fall asleep after a long morning of the Ward Easter Party

Update on Harry

2010-03-18T23:17:00.001+01:00

Went in a little before school was to be dismissed for the weekend to talk to the librarian. What an awesome lady! I began by asking if she had read this book before. and she had not. I then moved on to "Ok, well I am a little troubled because my 5 year old who is in Sure Start brought this book home.... and besides the crazy graphics I was a bit astonished about how in depth this book really was..." and so she read, the last two pages. YAH! NOT IMPRESSED. She was taken back, and was like, " um, what classification is this in? Oh, pictures, Picture Books. But, I am um.." "Yah this is apparently for 4 to 8 year olds. and I as a parent, really don't think that at least MY child is ready for this book, nor in my opinion most 8 year olds." ..Kitty (the librarian) just was speechless. She sat down at her seat, looking over the pages and was commenting on the pictures of the book no less (they were also graphic... "tapping" the female with its legs..) and began to ponder as to what classification this book should go under. My friend Malinda says "Sex Ed".. and I say how about the P-O-R-N section. (jokily of course) and.. I then hear, We might just need to take this off of our shelves. SUCCESS!

Talked to Dusty's teacher and the teachers aid, and they both had no idea what the book entailed. Its ok. How can they know what every book inside the school library is about. The book cover is completely deceiving.

I would venture to say that I was not being an over-protective parent but an informed one! Kudos to Manny & I and of course to the librarians! A mothers work is never done!!

Interview with Harry the Tarantula...

2010-03-18T10:35:00.006+01:00

Now from the outside of this book it looks like it would be a fun book to read especially to younger kids. I mean its a National Geographic book, so it has to be full of knowledge and to entice kids it is of course bound to be funny. right? ... well lets examine a bit of this book to see how funny it is.

This book is about Katy Did (a bug) the talk-show host interview Harry the Tarantula about his latest adventure. Questions ranging from his scary experience with a human child, to his favorite food all the way to his dangerous love life (yes you read that right, dangerous LOVE LIFE)....Now, this book was apart of the chosen selection that Dusty was to pick through on Tuesday during her classes weekly trip to the school library.

I hadn't thought anything of the book because Dusty was excited about it, just like every Tuesday night when we read the library book. So as we are all gathered in the girls room to read, sing, pray (our nightly routine) I started reading the book... I thought it was good. funny. well written. and informing of what makes the tarantula different from every other spider.. I had to step out of the room because the door bell rang- so I handed off the book for Manny to finish. As I was walking back into the girls rooms I hear:

"Q. Yes, I'm sure it was. So, Harry what will you do now?

A. Laura Webber let me go in her backyard and that turned out to be a good thing. I've found quite a lot of females there. It's always a bit scary meeting a female though. I have to be quick or she'll eat me. But its all worth it. It's the only way to have six hundred little Harrys and Harriets running around.

(ok.. that was interesting I thought, until...the next page)

Q. What do you do that you have to be quick about, if you don't mind me asking?

A. I have to transfer my websack of sperm to her. I must be very careful and tap her in all the right places. Tapping puts her in a romantic mood. Then I transfer my sack, and I'm of there in a flash. So far, so good. I can thank my lucky stars.."

UM.. REALLY!?! Was that necessary?! No, I happen to think it was not. I am all for informing and teaching children about the birds and the bees. But not at 5 years old. Mind you that the majority of Dusty's class- and Sure Start for that matter are still 4 years old. Maybe I am being a little old fashioned about this, but why was this book among the selected reading for 4-5 year olds? Looking this book up on the internet it's targeted age group is 4-8. Is my daughter ready for this? ..."Mommy, whats a websack of Sperm?" ... "why does being tapped put her in a romantic mood?"

Dusty is aware of things, like that babies grow in there mothers stomach, that baby's nurse to get healthy milk for them to grow, she knows that some babies get "cut" out of there mommy's tummies and that some babies are taken out differently by a doctor. I am not against teaching my child about things, but I think that you can teach them (at this age) by using vague wording so that is the still the truth.

Am I overreacting with this? I realize that some parents are quite forth right about telling there kids about "tapping", and they don't really see age as an issue. We aren't ready for that yet. Dusty is growing up fast, enough but that doesn't mean that she needs to be talking about "grown up" things in Pre-K.

Thoughts? Should the Librarian been a little bit better about selecting books that for Sure-Start? Maybe she hasn't read this book before. Or maybe she thought it was ok... I don't know. I must say that while the reproductive part was a little much (in my opinion of course) the book is full of useful knowledge about tarantula, but we won't be reading this book again in our house.. for at least a couple of years, if ever. a g a i n.

An unexpected surprise.

2010-03-07T00:52:00.008+01:00

Tonight, I officially feel old. Yup. OLD! Why you say? Well my baby girl, ok the bigger of the little ones lost her first tooth. YAY.. um not. so. much. I was ok with Dusty turning 5, realizing that she was finally old enough for school, but to loose a tooth. MY WORLD IS CAVING IN! She is growing up. AH the Sign of the Times.. I know I know get over it you are probably saying, and I will. e v e n t u a l l y.

... and the story goes a little something like this:

We (adults) were playing Cranium, while the kids played (we were next door playing games) & it was time for dessert. Key Lime Pie. Dusty goes to take a bite, and the next thing I hear is " My TOOTH, I lost a tooth.." "No, you didn't Dusty" I begin to say when she blurts out "No REALLY here is my tooth." and there it was right in the middle of her right hand. It was official. Now, she hadn't been saying that her tooth was loose, or anything about her teeth for that matter, so this truly came as a shock to Manny and I. Especially since she was only eating a piece of pie. We rinsed her mouth out and placed her tooth in a ziploc bag, and continued playing our game, waiting to clean the tooth until we got home and now it is currently in her Tooth Bag waiting for the Tooth Fairy to bring her some moolah. Is the tooth fairy going to be generous or is she hurting with the economy and only handing out small change... we shall see. Until then here is the toothless wonder:

don't mind Dusty's crazy hair... its been a long day.

The Hurt Locker

2010-03-05T01:03:00.024+01:00

is a must see. It is one heck of a movie. I loved it. The Hurt Locker is about the Iraq war, and a group of the Army's elite EOD (explosive Ordnance Disposal) specialists that at a time of war you would think would come together but instead not only having to battle the insurgents have to deal with battling each other. It is one of the best movies I have seen based on the happenings in Iraq. The movie was actually based on first-hand observations of journalist Mark Boal who while in Iraq was assigned with a special bomb unit.

The movie is intense at times, but it brings to you a reality of what the Armed Forces are doing over there... how extreme life can be, and yet how humbling at the same time. If you haven't seen it. Rent it.

"The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug."- Chris Hedges

and while Keifer hasn't been replaced, he now has some competition- Jeremy Renner!

What to do, What to do

2010-02-22T00:55:00.001+01:00

What do you do when you have an onion that looks like this?

Do you plant it? Use it? Throw it away?

This started to grow within a day of being purchased from the Commissary. and is now going on week 3 with no end in site for the growth of the sprouts. It smells nice ( yes, I happen to enjoy the smell of onions), and is still crunchy. Can I plant it? Maybe this will be the start of my garden that I have been wanting to create??

Suggestions, Comments, Concerns!?!?!?

Bonne Saint Valentin

2010-02-21T01:02:00.004+01:00

Last Saturday outta the blue we decided to skip church on Sunday and spend Valentine's Day in PARIS!! Yes, Paris, France! From Wiesbaden it is supposed to take about 5 hours and 12 minutes. Well... it took a little longer due to some snowy conditions, rain, and a stop at McDonalds on the other side of the border, in Forbach, France. I have officially had

FRENCH fries, in FRANCE! (hahaha)

Once we got there (finally!) around 2 in the afternoon we decided to hit the Eiffel Tower! Oh My Heck. we. stood. in. line. for. nearly. 2 HOURS just to get into the Eiffel Tower. Who knew that it was such a tourist attraction??! (kidding here people) While we waited we got harassed by a whole slew of vendors trying to sell just about anything related to France, or the Eiffel Tower. One thing that we actually needed that they were selling was beanies for the girls. It was rapidly changing in temperature and it was hecka cold. like 25* cold. GROSS! No snow on the ground (that was a change from Germany), but breezy and COLD! Finally after waiting... and waiting.. and waiting some more we when on up to the 2nd Story of the Tower. HOLY HECK! I couldn't believe how awesome, it was to be able to look all around this historical city from a birds eye view. Check it out:

all of these are from the time we were waaaaaaaay up there! From about 4ish to 7ish we were hanging out enjoying the view and having fun. What a way to spend Valentine's Day. We never thought that this would have ever happened. But alas, it did. Next stop after the Eiffel Tower was to try and get to the Louvre. Well. It was closed. (insert sad face here) This is actually the only thing that had wanted to see (I know, I know it sounds so snotty, but really it's true.) and it was closed. UGH! But we got to see it, and I got a couple of good shots of it:

Thanks to Manny for getting them, while I drove in the "circle". I drove in the "taxi" only area. unknowingly. oops! The next time we head out this way to Paris, we WILL be going to the Louvre. first. Mona Lisa, I want to see you!!

Since the museum was closed we decided to drive around the city and find something to eat. We knew that there was a Hard Rock Cafe in the city. Finding it was a completely different story, and thus we traveled in circles around the Eiffel Tower (with the WORST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD, seriously.) through the Arc de Triomphe or in English the Arch of Triumph

or rather SAT in traffic.

We found it... after driving around for about 45 minutes, and there was a 2 hour wait. No, we didn't get to eat at one of our favorite establishments, but Manny got to collect a shot glass which has become a staple to each of the visits to HRC's. Since we didn't plan on waiting for 2 hours, off we went in search for something to eat. oh McDonalds it was. again. Ha! Now, really did we plan on eating at only MickeyD's while in Paris? NO. But it worked out that way. The girls were happy, and that was that! After eating dinner we trolled around some more with those AWFUL drivers and headed back home!
The day was great, such wonderful memories made, and an AWESOME Valentine's Day. McDonalds and all! We got back at 4:30 in the morning on Monday- we were exhausted. I drove the entire way there, through the city, and about half way home. Didn't sleep at all while Manny drove, and didn't end up falling asleep until close to 0545. But it was worth it!

Here are a couple more pictures of our adventure:

Dusty & Manny with a wonderful picture of the Eiffel Tower behind them

Lola chillaxin' getting pushed through Paris.

What a happy girl!

a NOT so happy Lola up on the 2nd story. (she was so cold, and pretty much over it)

The single most visited paid monument in the world (according to Wikipedia)

until next time (we will be taking the train instead of driving)...Au Revoir!!

they lasted three weeks

2010-02-11T00:48:00.003+01:00

Dusty's glasses bid farewell into the garbage can this afternoon at the Optometrist office. Apparently when you place your glasses on the floor on top of your jacket because they hurting behind your ears they get stepped on. Ooops. Needless to say, we set off to the Optometrist to see if they would be repairable. They in fact were not. TRASH CAN! Is there new happy home.

The blessing in all of this (yes you see I am being positive here people) is that she got to choose a new pair of glasses and we are getting them for FREE! Free is good. Free is great. Hopefully these ones will work out a little better then that of the last pair.

Christian (the optical store owner) says to Dusty in his thick German accent "Now, Dusty you don't break the new glasses. Ja! Your Muhza (Mother) don't want to buy again. Ok? Gut? Das is Gut? You be nice to your muhza (mother) and be nice to your glasses. I see you next Mittwoch, ja?" Dusty says: Ja I will listen, and not break them. I promise. May I have candy now, bitte? "Ach so, sie möchte candy! Here you go Dusty." "Danke, Tschüs!" she replies happy as can be! (it means Thanks,Bye, see you later)

Pictures next week!

Until next time Tschüs!

What do you think of when you think of Rome?!

2010-02-05T20:37:00.001+01:00

I think of the Colosseo (Colosseum), The Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica .. the Vatican. What I don't think of right off the top of my head is Maratona di Roma! Rome Marathon you say? Well this marathon that is taking place on the 21st of March, Manny will be running in it! His very first one! How awesome is that?! He started training 2 weeks ago, running 4 days a week, having cardio 2 days, and a rest day. We are so excited and proud of him. Us girls aren't going to be accompanying this time (not because we dont want to see the daddy cross the finish line), but because Manny is going to be running along side 3 other members of his unit! Which of course we support them all, but when we will be going to Rome, I would like the 4 of us to see the sites together. Heck, we still have 2 years left here.. plenty of time for traveling! (plus I would like to see the Temple site for the Rome, Italy temple)

Anyway back to the Marathon.. here is the route:

They are planning on all staying together at a hostel near by (have fun with that)!

Manny flies out the 19th and comes home the 22nd... now what to plan for us 3 Garcia's staying in Germany?!..

Swaddle me this

2010-02-03T09:45:00.009+01:00

front

back

This is what happens when I find never been used swaddle blankets.. I get a little creative. While this was just for fun, and isn't perfect, it fits Lola! ... a halter dress in Germany you may be thinking, well obviously I am not going to clothe Lola in this with the snowy residue that is lingering outside. BUT. When winter is over and we have sun (in like 5 months) she will look adorable playing in it.

Introducing...

2010-01-27T21:30:00.002+01:00

the updated Dusty! Yup! Those are for real.. she is an official spectacle wearing cutie pie!

Silent Auction for Haiti

2010-01-24T15:41:00.004+01:00

My Wonderful friend is having a Silent Auction for Haiti. She, like many I know are passionate about helping others, especially in time of need. This is just one way to help those devastated by the earthquake that rattled the small island nation!

Go Check out this auction that is taking place on Wednesday Jan. 27th over at
This Mama Rocks ... and while you are there sign up for some of the current giveaways that she has going on!

Enough Said

2010-01-22T16:21:00.001+01:00

and Arizona, Indiana, Utah, Virginia, too!

Dusty vs. Bugsy

2010-01-20T15:48:00.005+01:00

Today Dusty had her eyes examined. She has had this done before, but on a much lower scale. What was different from before is, she got her eyes dilated!

exhibit A.

need a closer look?

exhibit b.

... how about a little bigger?

exhibit c.

ok that isn't her.. but that was the first thing that Manny and I could think of to explain to her what she would look like!!

Do we see any resemblance?

She wasn't to excited about the eye pressure part, but really who is? and as a special treat since she was already missing lunch at school we opted to take her to McDonalds! She loved it! ... tune into next week for the next phase of Bugsy ..

... how bout them..

2010-01-18T03:29:00.003+01:00

Dallas Cowboys?! For those of you that know us well, you know that the Cowboys is the favored team by pretty much every single Garcia... but me! In fact, next to the Patriots & Raiders I pretty much can't stand the Cowboys. I can't stand when they win, when they are on our TV, or even when I read about lame Tony Romo on the news..they stink! Today's game against the Minnesota Vikings proves my point.. how about a nice score of 3-34 HAHAHAH I am dying.

.. and while I am from San Diego, claim it as my hometown I have never been particularly fond of the Chargers. With that said, I have always supported them, unless they were playing the KC Chiefs (which didn't have a good season either) however can someone please remind me WHY I stayed up until 2am to watch this foolish waste of time game against the NY Jets?? Kaeding you SUCK! How can you come to a playoff game and make a dang fool outta yourself by missing not 1, not 2 but 3 flipping field goals?! SERIOUSLY. Along with stupid penalties the Chargers lost 17-14.. but they LOST. and while they lost... they didn't loose by 31 points (like the Cowboys).. HAHAHA...

Next stop: Saints vs. Vikings & Colts vs. Jets ... hoping for a Vikings/Colts Superbowl ... we shall see!!

Betcha didn't know I liked football .. now you know!

Mr. and Mrs...

2010-01-16T23:35:00.010+01:00

Thomas and Carissa Middleton... my little brother is officially married!! holy heck! The cute couple tied the knot this afternoon at Hollis Gardens in Lakeland, Florida along side the historic Lake Mirror. While we couldn't be in attendance (because plane tickets are REDONKULOUSLY priced) there was quite a bit of family there,.. my brothers best friend even came down from Georgia to be his best man! How exciting.. here are the newly weds:

Carissa and Tommy

Mom, Carissa & Tommy

The Groomsmen (Tommy, Billy, Dad .. and who knows?)

What a beautiful cake

and it wouldn't be a wedding reception without the messiness of the cake

My little brother is growing up... Congratulations to you two love birds!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA >& Miss you

=Newb alert=

2010-01-15T22:30:00.020+01:00

So I officially got the itch to learn how to do some more "fun" things on my blog... such as make it a little more unique and not so trendy! And I am doing it by learning HTML! It's fun, yet a bit of a challenge, but i am loving the results.

Plus I think its kinda fun that I can switch my font

in the middle of the post! WooT!

More fun to come >

Pinky and her twin

2010-01-14T09:34:00.001+01:00

In Luck

2010-01-13T09:12:00.001+01:00

Dusty has met some very great kids since we moved to Germany, especially from her class. Her best friend Emma lives down from us (like as in underneath us), and her other best friend Clarence (a.k.a Cj) lives on the next street over.

...well little C.J. is quite the character! If Dusty isn't talking about what fun she did with Emma, or wanting to go to Emma's house... she is talking about C.J. (she has even written the kid 3 different Valentine's ...and its only mid January!) and Mr. C.J. talks about his "girl-friend" Dusty to his parents.. all the time! Thus we have labeled Dusty & Clarence as "Boyfriend/Girlfriend" as innocent as can be.... so we thought!

Clarence asked Dusty "Why do you have pink hair?" "Because I asked my mom and she put some in my hair" was Dusty's response. and then came ... dun dun dun.. "Well I think I am in luck with you" said Clarence.

Now.

you may be wondering what "being in luck" with you means, because naturally I was like and "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN Dusty?" and this is what our sweet 5 year old says:

"You know mommy, like you and daddy are in luck with eachother!" really??

... so being in luck = being in love. all because of some pink hair. HA! The things that come out of kids mouths... just beware you might have a little one that is in "luck" with one of their playmates!

CJ & Dusty in "luck"

Shanah tovah. Gelukkig nieuwjaar. !Feliz año nuevo!

2010-01-01T01:45:00.006+01:00

Gutes Neues Jahr, ....However you say it HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The girls and I went out to one of our friends house out in Rüdesheim while Gabe opted to stay in town and hang out with some of his guy friends and play "guy" games (i.e. Axis and Allies) and ring in the New Year! (psh.. if he ain't deployed it isn't happening again, nope!)

We had a lot of fun playing games, and eating yummy snacks and ended the night by ringing in the New Year letting off fireworks and watching the festivities over the Rhine River. It was beautiful. Next year, it would be fun to set off fireworks along the river! Kayden enjoyed the sparklers, Kodi didn't seem fazed by the loud noises, however she was pretty tired by the end of the night. My first kiss. was. Kodi! She fell asleep around 12:30 snuggled in a blanket in my arms! I wouldn't have had it any other way...

after a looooooong night of festivities

she got a little more comfy

love that our girls can sleep anywhere!!!

Thank you Larson Family for having all of us out to your pad to celebrate! ♥

Its the start of a new decade. Here's to a FANTABULOUS year!

Its been fun...

2009-12-31T17:45:00.002+01:00

So, 2009 is coming to a close.. and I can honestly say: Thank Goodness! Its been a fun year to some degree, however, really. I say BRING ON the New Year!!

But lets not forget some of the great, fun, exciting things that happened this year:

At the end of January we finally got our household goods (which is 95% unpacked- a thank you),

February we were delighted upon the arrival of our car,

March brought our families first trip to a Medieval Castle in Braubach (remember, the one with the chastity belt on display),

in April I turned a Quarter of a Century- Manny grew a mustache (we should try and forget that) along with leaving back to the States to attend Sergeants Course in Quantico.

May we encountered Lola's first biting experience (which happens with kids, and has been the only one!)

June: Manny came home! we had our first guest: Hilary!! We drove all over Germany seeing Neuschwanstein Castle, Buchenwald Concentration Camp, the Dom in Köln, and our baby was officially 1 years old!

July- I dyed my hair PINK!!

In August I went on my first solo trip with some of my girl friends to the Netherlands, well Amsterdam to be exact!

September- Dusty turned 5, got her first hair cut, and she started Sure Start! Kelly ran his first 1/2 marathon in Germany, and he was chosen out of thousands for SSgt Select (we are still awaiting the arrival of the official title SSgt Garcia... but its bound to happen, soon!)

October- we celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary!

November- Dusty won out of the entire school for the most Boxtops collected!

and December ... der Heilige Nikolaus came for a visit, and we built a GINORMOUS snowman!

As our first year in Germany comes to a close the general consensus is: its been a fun ride, with lots of wonderful experiences not mentioned but I look forward to what the new year will bring for our family!

See You Later 2009!!

♥

Team Garcia

`Snowmen & a Reindeer `

2009-12-23T11:09:00.001+01:00

After many days of watching the snow fall.. and driving in it for the very first time ( a little slip and sliding were going on, but not a spec of damage, thankfully) we decided it was time to go play out in the utter freezing weather! We had thought about going on the following day because Gabe had the day off, but to our surprise of snowballs getting thrown at our window by our friend Holly & Keith that it was time to go down and play! It was snowing quite nicely as we were out and the boys got this desire to make a ENORMOUS snowman. They started rolling two nicely packed balls about 600 yards give or take until it was each of them were to heavy to roll by themselves:

As we got both of the balls in front of the house and got the bottom two put together (the midsection took 4 guys to lift, it was a heavy one) I decided to make the top ball which was so big that it needed to be put on by standing on a ladder. All the while Kayden found a box right next to our recycling area that was filled will all kinds of goodies that we could use for dressing up the beast! Scarf, boots, gloves, sofa props, etc., she is quite the trash digger.. which isn't that something that you hope for your children to do?? UMMM NO! but it worked in this case!

Instead of using a hat for the snowman ...it was to have a mohawk made from the bottom of a broom!! You see it is huge! It was a lot of fun, and by the time we decided to come in our faces were red from the cold and our beanies were soaking wet!

Gabe & Keith feeling quite accomplished!

.... no I didn't pee my pants, I swear!!

Kodi and Kayden's "reindeer" ... she had fun!!

The snowman was strategically put in front of the street for people to drive by and stare at... and in all of housing I would venture to say that ours is the tallest, and by far the AWESOMEST, ever!!

One Flaw

2009-12-16T00:38:00.001+01:00

I received this poem by one of my closest friends here in Germany, and quite frankly it sums up just about all that we as Daughters of our Heavenly Father do.. & don't:

Women have strengths that amaze men....

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,

but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy

and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in...

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer

when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend..

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel

and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about

a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,

yet they are strong when they

think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss

can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you

to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what

makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their

family and friends.

Women have vital things to say

and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

A woman’s richest rewards will come as she rises to fulfill her destiny as a devoted daughter of God. To all faithful Saints He has promised thrones, kingdoms, principalities, glory, immortality, and eternal lives. (See Rom. 2:7; D&C 75:5; D&C 128:12, 23; D&C 132:19.) That is the potential for women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is exalting, everlasting, ennobling, edifying, and divine. - Elder Russell M. Nelson

Our little blessings

2009-12-14T22:10:00.001+01:00

Thank you Nana & Papa Garcia for the girls matching Christmas dresses...

cute Kay Kay

KoKo our little ham

365 days

2009-12-12T01:25:00.035+01:00

We landed a YEAR ago yesterday into the icy cold of Germany... Our first year has brought buckets and buckets of rainy days, 14 days of summer (or semi-decent warm weather), trips to lots of castles, Amsterdam, France, Luxembourg, Buchenwald Concentration Camp, OsterMarkts, WeinnachtMarkts, Kayden starting school, snow and lots of fun at home! We have at least another 2 years left here in Deutschland and lots of more places to visit over here in Germany! Its been a fun ride (most days) so far!!

To mark our year here, here is Kodi after she enjoyed 2 bowls of ravioli:

Infinite Power of Hope

2009-12-07T12:14:00.004+01:00

We watched this video as part of the lesson yesterday in Relief Society. It was powerful, the Spirit was strong, the sisters and there unwavering faith, it was one of the best lessons I have sat in on! (Thanks Team Edward)

I love the Gospel!

der Nikolaustag

2009-12-06T23:28:00.007+01:00

On the night of Dec. 5 in small communities throughout Europe, a man dressed as der Heilige Nikolaus (St. Nicholas, who resembles a bishop and carries a staff) goes from house to house to bring small gifts to the children. Children leave their shoes outside there bedroom or front door on the night of Dec. 5. waking up the next morning (today!!) to find small toys & candies stuffed into the shoes, left by St. Nicholas...
... which is quiet similar to the stuffed stockings left out for Santa to fill when he comes to deliver the gifts under your tree!! Since we arrived into Germany on the 11th of December last year we didn't have the opportunity to celebrate this with the girls (and really Kodi wouldn't remember it anyway) but this year the girls put there shoes outside the front door (in our lovely stairwell) and were anxious to see if der Heilige Nikolaus came and put goodies in there shoes or left them empty!!

well he came! ... and the first thing out of Kayden's mouth after she saw her shoes was "Did Heilige Nikolaus shop at the commissary??" "No we just told him where he could find all the fun things you asked for." was my reply. Dang, this girl of ours!!

This will be a fun holiday for the girls as they grow up, its exciting for us to start new traditions in our family! We are so grateful for this opportunity to be here in Germany and experience all the unique festivities this place has to offer! ... ahh we have been here for nearly a year, already!!

2009-11-26T00:49:00.029+01:00

Ever since Kayden started Sure Start we have been collecting boxtops for education, which is a campaign to help earn money for schools throughout the country (or APO/FPO locations). Since September with the help of our friends & family Kayden has collected 183 boxtops!! Kayden, along with two other students in her class turned in enough to win out of the whole school the November collections! Kayden being the #1 contributor!! She received 2 books, along with 2 goodie bags full of candy, and bags of candy for each one of the kids in her class!!
She is excited about collecting them, and everytime we go to the Commissary she looks to see what products we can buy that have the logo on them things from Betty Crocker to Hefty garbage bags, even Kotex has it!~ It has become a fun thing for the whole family! Thank you to all of you that sent us some every one counts!

WAY TO GO KAYDEN!!

alive...

2009-11-14T03:04:00.003+01:00

...and OH so busy.. much to catch up on but that will have to be after Sunday evening when my house goes back to my normal crazy mexi-babies because my favorite Alaskans go back to there parental units, the Marine Corps Ball is over, my lesson for Relief Society has been done and all my laundry is put away.. until then ponder this image. Whats wrong with it?!?!

This was taken on Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

...we will just say that he is just standing there because they had just announced his presence.. riiiiiiight

another year has gone by...

2009-10-22T01:02:00.002+02:00

And we're still holding hands when we're walking

Acting like we've only just met

But how can that be - when there's so much history

I guess that's how true lovers can get

Once Upon a Time...

...all because I said you had pretty eyes..

Happy 6th Anniversary I LOVE YOU!! ♥

1/2 Marathon

2009-09-26T22:53:00.007+02:00

With perfect weather today, Gabe ran a 1/2 marathon along with a couple other marines, and friends from the ward...

start of the race...
look at that hottie # 9631, with the super white legs!!

Getting ready to cross the finish line.. totally spent

the Marines rocked (naturally) ... way to go Gabe!!! ♥

SSgt Select..

2009-09-19T08:46:00.003+02:00

Gabriel was selected out of only 30 slots available for his MOS for Staff Sergeant , which means that in the upcoming months when his number is picked he will become one of 3300 Marines to be pinned a Staff Sergeant for this fiscal year!! Woot! We are so proud of Gabe and his accomplishments thus far ( 7 years as of 02Dec09) in the Marine Corps!

...and there were NO tears

2009-09-14T14:59:00.004+02:00

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...

2009-09-04T02:37:00.007+02:00

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

2009-09-02T00:19:00.004+02:00

(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..

2009-08-18T00:08:00.005+02:00

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

2009-08-17T23:00:00.005+02:00

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..

2009-08-15T00:14:00.002+02:00

.. 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!!

she's a climber.. for sure

2009-07-29T15:55:00.002+02:00

so we know that Kodi likes to hang out in the cabinets.. well apparently she likes to climb in the refrigerator- see for yourself:

Really, it would be pretty cool..

2009-07-26T20:18:00.003+02:00

Dear President Obama,

I am a wife to a US Marine who is currently stationed overseas in Germany. Each year as you may know the Marine Corps celebrates its birthday in November. This year on 14 November the small group of Marines currently stationed in Wiesbaden are going to be celebrating 234 years for there service to the greatest country in history, and the greatest branch in the world. We would be honored if you could come to be our Special Guest Speaker. While we know that you are an extremely busy man, it would be a great honor to have you as our guest for a group of 15 marines, there spouses along with other Retired and Active Duty Airmen, Soliders and Civilians.
If you are unable to make it for our celebration, we do understand, however would it be possible to have our Commander and Chief write a little note for us to read at the Marine Corp Ball along with a signed picture and quiet possibly an American Flag flown from the White House to our local Marine Detachment ? It would surely mean a great deal to the men and women of our unit!

We respect you and pray for you and your family! Thank you for your time.

Respectfully Yours,

Denise R. Garcia
Proud Wife of Sgt. Gabriel Garcia, USMC Germany

Now really, do I think that the President will be able to take time out of his schedule to attend the Ball. No. but it will be interesting to see if I get a response. Yes I really did write this to him via the White House website. Basically you can write him too! :P .. i mean if you wanted!!

Pink Pink!!

2009-07-11T01:01:00.004+02:00

Yup I did it .. I got me some pink hair.. finally! i am almost feeling like me again! love that Gabe likes my crazy side

Neuschwanstein Castle

2009-07-07T20:37:00.007+02:00

Since we had our first visitor and Gabe took leave for the first time since being here we thought it was in order for us to actually have a vacation rather then a staycation... so Neuschwanstein Castle was one of our first stops!! ... and well needless to say its not like its right around the corner from Wiesbaden. Its actually in a completely different state of Germany in a little place known as Bavaria.. about 30 minutes or so from the Austrian border. and over a 4 hour drive. one way. But it was worth the drive.
and now I have one of the travels I wanted to do checked off my list!! only 305782566 more to go :P .. anyway back to Neuschwanstein Castle... so its a castle. but not just any castle you see maybe you would recognize this better then the actual title of the castle:
Ok so no Mickey Mouse wasn't there or anyone else remotely related to Disney but this was the castle that inspired the "Disney Castle" at both Disneyland and Disneyworld!! Neuschwantstein (pronounced: NEWsh Von Stein) actually means New Swan Stone and it was home to King Ludwig II of Bavaria until his death and wasn't actually completed when he died. it still isn't. King Ludwig's favorite animal happened to be the Schwan (Swan for all those English speaking folks) and in one of the rooms of the palace there were over 100 Swans either carved, painted, or statues. I would like to share some of the beauty from within we weren't allowed to take pictures of anything from inside the castle. However were able to take pictures of the landscape around the castle. It was an amazing site to see none the less, and I am sure we will make many a trips down south to see this beautiful piece of architechture. Here are some pictures of the Castle, the lakes surrounding the Schloss along with the 2nd Castle that is right down the hill from Neuschwanstein; Hohenschwangau.
Side of the castle as we are walking up 548648265455 steps
Statue on part of the Castle .. not sure but it could be a statue of King Ludwig II

Hilary, Gabe, Kayden hiding, and Kodi waving hello
Kayden- excited and hoping to see Sleeping Beauty (notice her Princess shirt)Hilary and I overlooking the beautiful scenery
Schloss Hohenschwangau

Ps.. we never saw Sleeping Beauty, I'm just saying...

Happy Birthday Bean

2009-07-05T22:59:00.010+02:00

Kodi is officially a year old!! Hilary was scheduled to fly out on the 26th (kodi's birthday for those that might have forgotten) but after 9 hours of delay after delay her flight was cancelled. And finally after getting ahold of us we went over to the hotel that the airlines put her up in. We celebrated Kodi's birthday eating take out and cake in a hotel room. with Hilary :P Not the exact way we had planned it but hey. She isn't going to remember it anyhow! Hilary at least got to enjoy some authentic Thai Take out German Style!!! Here is a little video of Kodi's first birthday blowing out the candle (with a little help from Daddy)

On top of enjoying a little video here are some of my favorite pictures of Kodi over the course of her first year of life: Kodi a few hours after being born

Kodi and Kayden 07.04.08 (8 days old)

Kodi's first bath- 1 month old

Kodi's First Christmas 12.25.08 (6 months old)
Kodi sporting her SD Padres beanie 01.09 (7 months old)

Enjoying a nice day at the OsterMarkt in Ronneburg, Germany 03.09 ( 9 months old)
Her Burger King glasses Spring 2009
Standing... all by herself (she is actually standing ontop of our old microwave that was on the floor 05.2009 11 months old)
Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle June 2009. .. almost a year old

Enjoyed her Red Vines courtesy of Hilary, & Gabe June 2009
Happy 1st Birthday Kodi Ashlyn.. walking around the hotel room 06.26.09
Not a baby anymore...

She also got her shots on her birthday.. she cried a little.. but she was more tired from then anything!!
Happy Birthday little girl We ♥ you
♥
Mommy, Daddy, & Kayden

After these messages...

2009-06-29T21:26:00.001+02:00

we went on a little vacation... I will have the updates in the next few days .. lots of pictures.. a birthday.. lots to share!! stayed tuned!

On a Hiatus..

2009-06-29T20:57:00.004+02:00

So I am back- its been a bit of a hectic month I should say.. since June has come and is nearly gone!

Well. first. Gabe returned home on the 10th of June!! Graduated the day before from Sergeants Course out in VA. He had a lot of fun catching up with one of his friends from San Antonio!! Bobby and Lauren took Gabe in for a couple of weekends and they got to play! It was nice to hear how excited Gabe was about being out there and having this opportunity. While Gabe was in the states he also go to go to a Jordin Sparks concert ( umm i was a bit jealous. i got over it.) with a group of Marines for some awards dinner for a group called "The House". Well he met her. of course. and then he had to RUB it in my face... he has done this before, with Carrie Underwood when she came out and did a couple of concerts in Kuwait... anyway. We picked Gabe up from the Fraport and both of the girls were just overjoyed! Ok So I was excited too- While Gabe was gone, Kodi started to walk (like the day after he left) so he was excited to finally see bean in action around the house!! After landing we had to go down to Darmstadt where Gabe works and take care of some travel business and well needless to say we didn't get home until after 230 in the afternoon (we picked him up in the morning). We came home and slept. We were pooped!
Welcome home Daddy- now I am off to the gym (and that is exactly what I did)!!

cake mix, canned pineapple .. and kodi!

2009-05-23T00:18:00.002+02:00

I come into the kitchen and this is what i find...

thats right. she opened the cupboard, climbed on the bottom shelve that turns and .. well you can see..

Yes She fits.. on the rotating cupboard. I could close it with her in it. She really looks like a chunker.. and is like a marshmallow. just a puff of fluff.. and isn't she just adorable?
this is sucha kayden face.. i love it..

Kayden and the broom

2009-05-22T01:18:00.002+02:00

So a couple of weeks ago while I was cleaning the cat box, and the girls bathroom I hear "THE BROOM IS STANDING ALL BY ITSELF" .. and I said "OK, I'm sure it is.." most certainly not believing the words that are coming out of Kayden's mouth.. until I saw it..
.. the baby was sleeping and I was still cleaning up the place so about 4 1/2 hours later I walk out into the dining room and there it was.. still standing. Kayden was impressed. I was impressed with Kayden.. and don't pay to much attention to the mess in the living room. I try to keep a tidy house. .. really i do.

she got bit..

2009-05-14T01:03:00.006+02:00

Poor kodi got bit today.. by a friend of mines daughter.. right on her face. She wasn't happy.. and really? Who was?! But I know that kids are kids, and it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? this was right after it happened.. Notice the purple teeth marks ... it looked horrible, but after a few hours it turned into this:So while its bad.. and really the picture doesn't do its justice .. you can see the 8 teeth marks.

Quarter of a Century...

2009-04-22T23:16:00.003+02:00

now what? Today I turned the big 2-5!! WOOT! It was a relaxing day..kinda.
Went to the park with some friends and there kids and had a picnic. That was cool until it got windy. not so great (this is the part where the 100* weather in CA would come in handy.. no seriously) then we went back up to the house and enjoyed my birthday cake. i made it all by myself. and because its a first for me making my own cake it had to be EXACTLY my favorite. Marble with Cherry filling. Now the only thing that lacked was that I really didn't feel like decorating it. It wasn't the prettiest, but it was moist, the cherries were fantabulous.. it ROCKED!!
... so there it is... i loved it! But instead of doing the usual thing for me to do which is eat it over a period of days.. I gave more then half of it away!! And the other half was nearly devoured by my friends, there kids, and myself!! Hey its allowed!!

..ps.. can i just throw it out there that I miss gabe. a lot today.

Countdown begins..

2009-04-19T23:30:00.003+02:00

So Gabe left this evening to go back to the states for a course in Virginia.. we'll miss him, but its only for 6 weeks. Now we can ask him to bring back lots of things from.. TARGET!! It could be worse, a whole lot worse!!
♥

MySpace Countdown Clocks

The Stache,,

2009-04-15T01:51:00.005+02:00

Some of you might have noticed a little patch of carpet on Gabe's face.. well I am happy to report it is GONE!! :) He had actually been growing it out with the other 5 Marines here as a Mustache March.. and apparently down where Gabe works in Darmstadt the Army does a Mustache May.. so he thought he might as well just keep it for April instead of growing it out again... well we found out that he is getting to take a little business trip back to the great UNITED STATES (soo jealous right now) and it really wasn't all that necessary to have the 'stache through May since he is gonna be gone for 6 weeks.. YUP, so its gone. I also think the contstant looks like this:

gave him the clue that I wasn't diggin it.. only after a month and a half. Well ok, some days I thought it was kinda hot.. but I got over it :)

Confused, of course

2009-04-13T21:25:00.003+02:00

I stumbled on over to one of my favorite blogs to discover that I was to get an award (in the blogosphere of course).. and then I saw the award. Confusion filled my little head. But none the less I accept it with pride, that at least my children will always want to give this one to me:

Admit one thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are No Longer allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!

When we were living in San Antonio, Kayden was about 9 months old at the time.. here goes..

We were just leaving one of our normal visits to Super Walmart at about 9 o'clock at night when disaster struck... There we were, putting the groceries in the truck, then baby in the truck, Gabe started the truck, I put my purse in and shut my door to go put the cart back with it running and I shut my door, then Gabe shut his door to help me with I don't even remember what and well next thing you know we were locked out. WE LOCKED our 9 month old daughter in the truck, with it running, and the heater on.. I panicked.. I was confused on how the truck got locked, why we both shut our doors, how were going to get the baby out, etc. etc... luckily I had my cell on my personage and was no longer a member of AAA. I had to call the Police department (boy I feel bad for the dispatcher.. I was a WRECK) and they sent out a squad car and a locksmith to get our poor daughter out. I was more concerned that she was going to over heat, but we found her sound asleep without a care in the world. Boy were we lucky. The police officer laughed at us, like it was funny. What a punk.

ok that feels better.. kinda. I still remind Gabe of that horrid event every once in a while when we are putting the girls in the car. Luckily if that was to ever happen again, Kayden can unlock the doors!!

Remind yourself you are a good mom, list seven things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. These are the things to remind yourself everyday that you Rock!

I love letting Kayden put make up on me, she ends up usually putting my bronzer all over my face and I end up looking like a Bronze statue.. never gets old.

I love the way Kayden always makes me feel better if I am sad, "don't worry mommy its going to be ok because I love you" has made many a day better.

I LOVE listening to the girls laugh at eachother. the giggles are sweet melodies in my ears!

I love when little hands help wash dishes with me, even if the floor ends up soaked!

I loved it when I hear " Kayden has missed you all day long" when I would pick her up from daycare..

I love the smiles that are exchanged between the girls. I was afraid that the age difference was going to be a problem.. and it might as they get older but for the time being Kayden and Kodi love each other.. and like being around eachother... well except when Kodi is crying.. then Kayden isnt so happy!

I love going on walks with our family. It shows Kayden that family time is important, more important the playing barbies, video games, going on runs, etc..

I love my family.. and couldn't ask for better daughters, or a better husband!

•Send this to six other Mom's of the year that deserve credit for being great moms and remind them that they are the best moms they can be!! Remember to send them a note to let them know you've selected them, and add a link to the person who nominated you.

Emily Snow
The Shumway Family
Lokodi Family
Keeping up with the Randalls
The house that Muir built
1StrongFam

and a special thanks to Pikes Pickles for the sweet award!!

Fasanerie Zoo

2009-04-12T22:01:00.005+02:00

Last Thursday the four of us headed out to meet some other friends for a trip to a local Botanical Garden & Animal Park..as it is called here a Fasanerie Zoo. It is like no other zoo I had every been too, mostly because it was FREE! (Who doesn't like the sound of that??)
The Fasanerie Zoo and Botanical Gardens are in the north-west part of the city of Wiesbaden (our new home).. It has nearly 50 different types of animals, with the variety varying from Pigs, Peacocks, wolves and even Bears!! Now we didn't get to see the bears- which interesting side note, different days of the week they actually let the park guests watch as the feed the bears and while it might not sound interesting to you, Kayden most certainly wants to watch that feast! .. We will be making a few more trips to say the least!
The scenery is just beautiful, lots of hills, very steep ones too.. we hiked half way up one with the stroller and decided that we best not go any further. We really need to get a eurotraveler that we can put Kodi in for these types of excursions! In the middle of the park, there are swings, sand and lots of green areas for playing. All the kids did so great- we brought sack lunches and enjoyed a picnic. Gabe was only able to stay for about an hour because he had to get to work but he had a blast too!
Here are some pictures of our day at the zoo... the free one :)
Pretty white horse as you walk into the park.. the fence around this beauty is an electric one. I found out by the bzzzz I got when I touched it with my hand!Not amuse apparently. I wasn't able to get a better picture because he was so dang close to the fence.Kayden running down one of the hills.. I love her jeans :) The sun finally poked through at about 1:45.. better late then never!Ok.. so not the greatest.. but ehh the one that I had really liked Gabe is making the goofiest face. per usual! .. Yes, that is carpet above his lip.. don't ask!!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T22:00:00.004+02:00

Happy Easter from the Garcia's

We spent our first Easter in Germany with a bunch of friends, but of course before dinner we awoke to an estactic 4 year old who happen to "see the Easter Bunnie's shadow" as he scampered off to the next house. Kayden was soo excited! She came in saying " MOMMY DADDY.. the Easter bunny came! He even brought Kodi some of her favorite puffs" .. we got up!
And to our surprise there was 3 baskets for Daddy, Kayden & Kodi. Momma was forgotten so didn't get anything.. there is always next year! Gabe got an awesome knife from the Easter bunny (thanks Nana & Papa Garcia), Kayden got lots of candy, some headbands, Kodi got gas drops (I know, lame but totally necessary!!) and some Gerber Puffs (she loves these things, and secretly I do too.. ok not so secret now!)
We went to Church after the mornings festivities and then went over to the Laytons house for a dang good dinner; Four families, and a new stray soldier who just arrived in country a few weeks ago.. it made for a fun Sunday! We had a nice turkey dinner with all the fixins! The three oldest kids enjoyed an egg hunt, the adults enjoyed watching the kids play around.. we even got into it a bit. Mostly because all of Kayden's eggs were hidden quite high in the sky ( ok not in the sky but you get the point) .. here are some pictures from coloring eggs on Saturday, the aftermath of the easter bunnies arrival, dinner & the egg hunt!
We hope that everyone had a blessed Easter.. I sure missed my traditional lamb dinner.. well maybe next year?!?
Abigail, Katie, and Kayden.. isn't she a cutie?!Kayden's basket and goodies,Gabe had the coolest basket .. its the digi cammy design, and Kodi's little peep and her sweet puffs! Kodi found 2 eggs from the Easter Bunnies trail from there room to there baskets. Yes one is in her mouth, don't worry I got it out before she decided to go NOM NOM NOM!!
Kayden happy finding her eggs!
Kodi going NOM NOM NOM to a Hawaiian Sweet Roll .. she loves them!!
These are little bird nests I made, they also could have been little easter baskets but I had more fun making them nests, i.e. the Peep. They are incredibly easy to make and taste delish!! I found the recipe while I was in the butter isle at the commissary! Its a Land-O-Lake recipe!

Princess and the Bean

2009-04-08T23:35:00.006+02:00

K2's room. Princess on one side- Circles on the other (Kodi saying hello)

.. finally found the hardware to the babies crib. I remembered seeing it in a box and then saying "Oh I am going to move this to a place so I don't loose it." .. well I found the hardware bag in my jewelry box... 2 months later! Good thing that Kodi is short! She has been fine in the mini pack-n-play, but it was really time, way overdue for her to enjoy the nice cozy crib! Plus, it made all the bit of difference in the girls room! I just love love love the nursery set we chose for Kodi! .. it has just enough pink that it matches (i guess) with Kayden's obsession. Disney Princesses. Does anyone know when girls grow out of the princess stage? Sheesh?
Kayden and more of her princesses... even the main/guest bathroom is decked out in Princesses. Pink Pink and more Pink! YIKES
Kodi hanging out in her crib- which she loves.. and sleeps ALL night long in! and the Circles.
Hello there!Kayden all grown up...Love this face!

On a mission.. with my Nikes!

2009-04-08T02:34:00.004+02:00

Having running shoes can do wonders! Ever since my nikes FINALLY arrived after 6 brutal weeks of waiting... I have running! Except for Saturday when we went to Ronneburg, and Sunday of course because well I don't run on Sundays! SO far.. after 5 runs I have traveled nearly 11 miles ( the joy of having a tracker in my shoe.. that "talks" to the ipod as I run) so EXCITED! I have made a goal of 45 miles in 4 weeks!

What a mighty large number many might ponder. Not I! I am on a mission- and well I think for my first 5 runs I am doing pretty dang good! Even got in 2 runs today!! Yes 2 of them! I set the alarm for 0605- got up and stretched ready for the run hoping for 2.5 miles.. left for my run at 0630 and was back by 0704! psh 2.5 miles.. I got 3.5 miles in 34.5 minutes! STOKED!! Now.. if I could just get my own ipod.. Gabe and I could go running together! Like we used to, .. before baby number 2!

Keep you posted!.. and no, I am not training for a marathon, yet!!!

Ps.. note to self: don't just say yes to "free" shipping because they can't send the actual shoes you want to APO addresses. however, with that said- love love love my shoes! I was a little apprehensive about the "springs" as I call them ( the nike shocks as they are technically called) but they rock!!

Ronneburg & the Oster Markt

2009-04-07T18:51:00.009+02:00

Ronneburg

This past weekend we decided that we would go to another castle. Another one you say? .. trust that there will be many a more yet to discover!

this one was special for a couple reasons 1. its been dated back to 1258 - I mean all the castles we are going to go to are old, but..yah 2. because we were going to the HISTORISCHEN OSTERMARKT which in English translates to: Easter Market or historic Easter market if you will.

Wait- back up! Seriously. America is a great country and all .. but we would NEVER experience half the things we are doing here in Germany if we were back home. Ok now back to your regular scheduled show:

We had General Conference this weekend (which is a weekend long church conference that you can watch in the comfort of your own home, i.e. jammies, etc. , and since we are now 8 hours ahead of SLC we decided that we would just watch conference via the internet.. on Sunday instead of both days. So we packed up the Malibu and along with 2 other families took a nice drive out to Ronneburg. Where is Ronneburg you say? its about 81.6 km away roughly 56 minutes or so from Wiesbaden to the east. Pretty drive, well except when we drove closure to the Fraport (the airport).. it smelled like, NORCO.. any of you from So Cal know what I am talking about. Non-the-less we went on a scenic drive through a couple small little towns.. I mean SMALL.. oh and the streets matched the size of the villiage. If we had our truck we would be nearly taking up both lanes, to give you a better picture.

Got up to the castle, and there we were.. a huge renaissance fair, inside the Castle walls, and all over the grounds! TOTALLY fun. Everyone was dressed up, and a lot were missing teeth. I guess it made it all the more real! Kayden and I both took a turn shooting with bows & arrows.. Kayden made several (5) bulls-eyes! She was happy! We were impressed! I gotta couple too, but it is so much more fun when the 4 year old rocks at it! Gabe took a stab (literally, hahaha) throwing Axes.. Boy they were heavy. Our friend Tim also participated in that!

We enjoyed listening to the live bands play the music of the time, and the outfits made it that much more fun. If the men (that were dressed up) weren't wearing Knights gear, they were wearing skirts! We didn't buy much other then food- and what we had was dang good, bratwurst (that would be Gabe, because well I think that they are GROSS), crepes, etc.. yum! Gabe & Kipp took turns with Leslie & I watching the kids so we could go tour the castle, and hike a trillionbillionmillon stairs to the top! So worth it, beautiful views in all directions. Watched a sword fight, needless to say there was so much going on and it was just awesome being there!

Of course now that we went to a real renaissance fair we will always compare them to anyothers that we go to back in the states. Now with that said, next year we just might be dressing up! HA!
Here are some pictures of the festivities of the day! Enjoy!
a small little town on the way How festive!
Our little archer .. mid air! This was her first "bulls-eye"
Sword fight
Gabe. Fierce.
We hiked to the top of that tower... with the gazillion stairs..
Gabe being Gabe.. he is "wearing" the eggs that Kayden & I colored
Kay, Eric & Abigail on the one ride there
HAHA GOTCHA
Eric & Kayden

The Bean walks

2009-04-03T18:52:00.003+02:00

She took her first steps today.. I am not sure if I am excited, or scared. Either way. AH she is only 9 months old!... maybe it was a fluke, we'll see!

Come on, an Ipod??

2009-04-01T23:44:00.012+02:00

Seriously? After the first attempt to be generous to our greatest ally Great Britain with handing over DVD's that are not formatted for England our President gives the Queen-as in the Queen of England an Ipod? Honestly I am not sure what to make of this other then, HELLO. AMERICAN'S aren't all this dumb. I think it was a nice gesture to make sure that the ipod had photographs of her 2007 visit to the states, but Mr. President, the world already thinks so little of Americans- can we try and be a little more, I don't know CLASSY the next go around? Or maybe you can start sending us all Ipods to go along with that 3.5 Trillion dollar "change" you had in mind. .. Oh I should mention however, that President Obama did get her an awesome signed copy of a music album- one of her favorites. Now that, that was a great gift!!
Can someone please just tell me this was an April Fool's Joke?! .. no seriously it is isn't?

No. It isn't. Oh well, Pres. Obama has done some good things since taking office, .. we will just add this to the "Make American's look DUMBER then G.W. Bush did" Category.

I'm just saying is all.. lets move forward.. and leave these small gifts of lameness behind us.. how about that G20? I am wondering if he would be making a pit stop into Germany??

Still not an April Fools Joke?? Oh Come on.. but really, I want an ipod for my birthday... it would go along nicely with my new nike+ shoes ... hint hint Gabriel.. I don't want to keep using yours forever... I would like the green Ipod Nano .. 8 GB will be sufficient it looks a little like this: . While you are at it, you will see a pretty nice looking laptop, its called a MacBook Pro.. doesn't that look pretty? I think it would look pretty cool on my lap, in my home!!! What do you think?

all this time..

2009-03-31T17:29:00.003+02:00

Got this email today.. thought it was hilarious. And if you are like most women (if you are woman, of course) then you might have felt like this at some point in your life..

The correct way to weigh yourself:

.. like many we have probably been doing the wrong way all a long! Hope you are having a good day!

Team Garcia

Happy Birthday Dusty

Dusty’s first day of school

Wordless Wednesday

Life with kids is never dull…

Wordless Wednesday

Its official, we are moving…

Happy Birthday Lola

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Fourth of July

Blue’s Blessing

Wordless Wednesday

And then there was 3

Wordless Wednesday

MISSING- man, ..err cat down

Operation Puffer fish

For our little alien!

Wordless Wednesday …

Lola’s first haircut

Wordless Wednesday- what are those lines?

El bebe is half way here..

Wordless Wednesday

TA DA!

and they said it couldn’t be done…

Happy New Years

Merry Christmas

an Unexpected visitor

Kindergarten Program

Introducing…

Wiesbaden’s Wiehnachtsmarkt 2010

235 years of the best organization in the world

Halloween 2010

I might be a blog slacker...

Lola turns 2....

Class of 2010

Easter Morning . . .

My Cute Family

look what the Easter Bunny brought...

Hilary

**Update on Harry**

Interview with Harry the Tarantula...

"Q. Yes, I'm sure it was. So, Harry what will you do now?

Q. What do you do that you have to be quick about, if you don't mind me asking?

A. I have to transfer my websack of sperm to her. I must be very careful and tap her in all the right places. Tapping puts her in a romantic mood. Then I transfer my sack, and I'm of there in a flash. So far, so good. I can thank my lucky stars.."

An unexpected surprise.

The Hurt Locker

What to do, What to do

Do you plant it? Use it? Throw it away?

Suggestions, Comments, Concerns!?!?!?

Bonne Saint Valentin

Here are a couple more pictures of our adventure:

until next time (we will be taking the train instead of driving)...Au Revoir!!

they lasted three weeks

What do you think of when you think of Rome?!

They are planning on all staying together at a hostel near by (have fun with that)!

Manny flies out the 19th and comes home the 22nd... now what to plan for us 3 Garcia's staying in Germany?!..

Swaddle me this

front

back

Introducing...

the updated Dusty! Yup! Those are for real.. she is an official spectacle wearing cutie pie!

Silent Auction for Haiti

Enough Said

and Arizona, Indiana, Utah, Virginia, too!

Dusty vs. Bugsy

Today Dusty had her eyes examined. She has had this done before, but on a much lower scale. What was different from before is, she got her eyes dilated!

exhibit A.

exhibit b.

exhibit c.

ok that isn't her.. but that was the first thing that Manny and I could think of to explain to her what she would look like!!

Do we see any resemblance?

She wasn't to excited about the eye pressure part, but really who is? and as a special treat since she was already missing lunch at school we opted to take her to McDonalds! She loved it! ... tune into next week for the next phase of Bugsy ..

... how bout them..

Mr. and Mrs...

My little brother is growing up... Congratulations to you two love birds!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA >& Miss you

=Newb alert=

So I officially got the itch to learn how to do some more "fun" things on my blog... such as make it a little more unique and not so trendy! And I am doing it by learning HTML! It's fun, yet a bit of a challenge, but i am loving the results. Plus I think its kinda fun that I can switch my font

More fun to come >

Pinky and her twin

Update on Harry

So I officially got the itch to learn how to do some more "fun" things on my blog... such as make it a little more unique and not so trendy! And I am doing it by learning HTML! It's fun, yet a bit of a challenge, but i am loving the results.

Plus I think its kinda fun that I can switch my font