Introducing...

The newest members of our family:

Ruby, nicknamed, "Little Red," is easy-going and very likeable. She will come over and say hello before running away to find bugs.


Curious Georgina, nicknamed, "Georgie." Named for the monkey that always gets into trouble out of his curiousity, Georgie is the first to come over and investigate what is going on.


Lottie, our beautiful Welsummer. She is the hen that looks like the ones you see on folk art. Lottie is an independent spirit, and a quiet leader. We really like her.


Betsy Ross, our skittish, wild-haired hen. She is probably my favorite only because I want to win her over so bad. She makes me laugh. And, so far, she's been the first to discover the only way out by running under the coop and out to the big yard. She franticly tried to find a way back to her friends and John was eventually able to catch her and ease her worries. :)


Penelope, nicknamed, "Penny," is the largest hen we have (we are praying she does not turn out to be a "he,"). She is our gentle giant. Whenever they are scratching for bugs, Penny will usually be the one to find them first but will let the other hens take first peck at it. She is Aubrey's favorite because she is "lellow."


Are we crazy? Probably. Are we having fun? Yes. It will be even more fun when they start laying beautiful brown eggs in a few short months.

So, there you have it. Our new girls. Aren't they cute?

Kentucky

Blake & Stephanie were extremely gracious by inviting the whole clan to see Blake when he came home for his 2 week R&R. We had a great time, as usual, with everyone, and it makes us really wish we all lived in closer proximity to each other.

I don't think moments get more special than this.


But this probably tops the last one.


Papa & Noah got some good bonding time in. We hadn't really heard Noah laugh hard in person since we'd gotten there (Stephanie & I), but the first morning Papa saw him, it only took looking at Papa to make this little guy break out into belly laughs. We know, Noah. He's pretty funny.


Jack loves loves loves the water. He could have spent the entire time in this pool I'm pretty sure.


Aubrey helped Papa do some weeding...


...and she did some pretending...


Noah expressed himself quite well for being the youngest one there. He talks more than Bryant does.


Jack & Noah look like twins in certain pictures. I think they must be related.


Bryant earned this while we were there. It took several days to clear up. Nice work, little man!


We all went to the zoo one day and Aubrey loved all the animals. When we got to the lions she said, "Mommy, I'm roaring so they will look at me." It didn't work this time.


Just plain cuteness.


Getting Bryant away from Daddy when he is anywhere near is pretty much like peeling a turtle. He is crazy about John and I love it.


Thank you, Blake & Stephanie, for letting us in on such a special time.


Drew & Annie, thank you for being our gracious hosts. You have the gift of hospitality for sure.

We love you all and can't wait for the next Petersen reunion!

Time With Friends

Our good friends, Aaron & Elisa, came to see us on their way to their next duty station: Japan!

We have been so blessed by you guys. We miss you already and hope to get to see you in the near future! (meaning sooner than 2 years this time!)

Aubrey & Ellen "played," together by doing relatively the same things in the same area. Sharing is so hard to learn how to do!

They figured it out in the playhouse as long as one was inside and the other was outside. :)

We also got to take a spontaneous (which NEVER happens for us!) trip to Tillamook with the Carlsons to see the cheese factory and eat some amazing ice cream. I highly recommend the coffee almond fudge. YUM.

The last time we saw Aaron & Elisa was when we left Florida almost 2 years ago. Aubrey was around 17 months old and Ellie was 7 months old. Since then we've added two babies, Bryant and Olivia, to our families.

God bless you, Carlsons, on your adventure to the other side of the world! We love you guys and we cherished the time we got to spend with you this weekend!

5 Years, Johnny...

5 years ago today we did this...


...not realizing all that would lie ahead for us. Life was going to be an adventure, we knew that! These 5 years have been ones of huge growth for both of us. We have learned a lot about each other but I think in a lot of ways we have learned more about ourselves. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic so I thought we could look back at some of our adventures thus far.

23 days after we were married, you did this. Remember? For about 2 months. I was so proud of you. As I still am.

We lived this life, 30 days in, 45 days out, for the next year. And then it was this adventure, remember? We drove out to our new home in Pensacola, Florida!

We camped out for most of the trip, stopping at some of the most beautiful spots in the world, I'm sure!

Shortly after we arrived in Florida you started this adventure...

...and somewhere in the midst of that adventure we added this one...

...and as we were learning how to live with our cute adventure named Aubrey, you embarked on this adventure...

We made it through flight school and headed back to Astoria...

...where you are pursuing the dream of flying one great big adventure...


...and shortly after starting that, we added this one...


Our road has not been an easy one, Johnny. The nature of our life together is a bit challenging and we have added some challenges in there on our own. We decided about 2 years in that we wanted God to write our story, and I strongly believe that He is. I am so thankful that I am standing here with you, 5 years later, on this journey.

I admire your courage to do what is right, even if it is hard. I admire the strength you have in living life. I admire how hard you work at the jobs that are before you. And I love you so much. Thank you for walking the road beside me. God has blessed my life by bringing you in it.



"Come grow old with me. The best is yet to be."

I love you, John. Happy anniversary.