This was a very eventful year! We have been very blessed and are grateful for all that we have learned! Our biggest treasure is the joy Leonie brings to us. She is the cutest, smartest baby ever and is getting quite mischievous. She is also developing a great sense of humor and thinks her mom and dad ar very funny.
She took her first flight in January when she was six weeks old. We flew to Nevada where she was given a name and a blessing, and introduced to both families. On this trip she decided that she wanted to start putting herself to sleep. (That lasted until June when we moved)
Some other exciting events that happened to us include finding out that we would be moving to Hawaii, Erin finishing her master’s degree (despite uncooperative technology), Jason finishing classes for his doctorate and moving in with Erin’s sister Keri for a few weeks.
On June 15th we moved to Hawaii where we stayed in a hotel on the beach until July. Then Jason went to camp in Texas and Erin moved to a different (far scarier) motel. Fortune smiled on her and instead of staying there for 3 weeks as planned she was only there five days before the household goods arrived and she and Leonie were able to move into the house. During this time Leonie finally learned to roll and crawl.
That is when the fun started! With Jason in Texas, Erin and Leonie spent a lot of money buying new furniture, decorations, and other paraphernalia for the house. They were also able to unpack and organize everything the way Erin wanted. This was a challenge as their living space almost doubled and Erin was confused with the fact that there was a place for everything… All the while Jason was playing in the mud, sleeping with an m16, and learning how to use a compass and map (oh wait he already knew that); all important skills for a psychologist.
September 20th Jason came home! Despite the worries of her parents, it did not take long for Leonie to get used to Jason again! About three days later, for Erin’s birthday, Jason bought himself a motorcycle. Shortly after that he was in an accident while riding said motorcycle. No lasting injury was sustained, but he was on crutches for about 2 months.
In October, Leonie and Erin got to go to Las Vegas (and Alamo) for 2 months. Because of this, and the fact that our car has a manual transmission (which crippled people can’t drive) we bought another car! In November we had Leonie’s birthday party! She loved the wrapping paper and boxes…the gifts were okay too.
Jason has been working like a maniac and is basically done with his dissertation. We are looking forward to having weekends and holidays when we can actually relax. Maybe life will settle down soon
