Birth of a Son

We are announcing the Birth of our second Baby, Joseph Dwight Emmot. He was born on November 19th at 2:27am. He weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches in length. He is absolutely perfect - adorable... another perfect gift sent down straight from the hands of God.

Joseph (Joey) was given his Blessing by his amazing father, Joshua David Emmot, who was able to be home on mid-tour leave and emergency leave (combined)for the birth of his son. It was beautiful. I made his Christening Gown and it turned out gorgeous. Joshua teases that he had a hard time figuring out where the baby ended and the gown began... it was very long - definitely traditional...

Joey's sister, Dana, is still currently getting to know and accept her brother into the family. We still have some distinct jealousy issues but they will dissipate in time...

Joshua had to leave to go back to deployment. And as a result we are sad. However, we are joyful as we count down the final weeks til they come home again "for good." It is not long now... We can do this! "through Christ all things are possible."

During these last few weeks of deployment, I am striving extra hard and working together with my Bishop to attain a Temple Recommend. I have been slacking on the Word of Wisdom for the last several months blaming it on "stress," but now it is time to get to business. A long time ago - someone told me - "in heaven there is no room for Mr & Mrs Mediocre" and ever since then I remember that if something is worth doing - it is worth doing right...

Well, until next time, Happy belated Thanksgiving and have a Blessed Christmas Season...

Hello from Texas

Hi Family. I honestly did forget about our blog until I was checking a friend's blog just last night. Then Becky's email reminded me again. So, here I am. I don't really think I have any big news, but I will just update everyone on the Guinn clan.

Jeremy is still working in his job as a medical sales rep. He has been doing it for just over a year and seems to like it. His hours are better than they were when he worked in the lab and he has weekends off now. That is really great. We have never had every weekend together until now. One of us was working just about every weekend before, so we have had a lot more family time with his new job.

I am still staying home with the kiddos. I miss my job a little, but Sarah still works at the hospital I was at and she is good at reminding me what I am (not) missing. It's great being able to stay home and take care of things. It was really hard trying to juggle everything when I had to work outside the home.

Ashley is about to finish up her semester at school. She is in her second year of college. She is living at home and commuting now. It's nice having her home, and I think she enjoys being in the kids' lives everyday instead of just on weekends. She moved downstairs to the guest room to have a little more privacy. She likes it in her new room, but now the guests have to climb the stairs to sleep. (Sorry Mom and Dave). We haven't had any guest complaints so far, so I guess it's not a big deal.

Sarah is in 3rd grade and still loving school. She still loves to read- we can't give her enough books. She is really into reading non-viction (what she calls it) books. She has read a few biographies and she loves to tell me interesting facts about different historical characters. She is in dance and loves it. She told me the other day that she is going to dance till she can't walk anymore, then that she will probably just get a walker and dance some more. :)

Liam started going to Mother's Day Out this year. I am not sure if that is just a Texas thing, so I will explain. It is basically a pre-school that is a few hours a day, a few days a week. He goes from 9-2 on Mon, Wed, and Fri. Owen is in his class, and they think that is just great. They are both learning so much, it's like their brains are little sponges. This morning on the way to school they were telling me all the different family names they can spell and the different sounds each letter makes. They have a cute song they learned in school to practice the letter sounds. It goes "Who let the A out- aahh, aahh, aahh" - to the Who let the dogs out tune. We have to sing it all the way through the alphabet each time, so that is fun.

Austin is my little sweetie. He is full of energy and even more full of mischief! He is the cutest little thing with his white blonde hair and big blue eyes. He uses his cuteness to it's full advantage when he is misbehaving. It's hard to discipline such a cutie pie when he smiles up at you so sweetly. He has decided that he has had enough of diapers and is in the process of potty training himself (pretty much). We haven't really had to do much other than encourage him to go potty. Today is the first day that he got to go out in public in "big boy pants", so he was pretty excited.

We are still living in the same house that a few of you have visited. We feel really crowded as far as yard space- we can see right through the neighbors house if they leave their blinds open! We keep toying with the idea of moving to a house with an acre or more. But then we spend time with our neighbors (who are all GREAT!) and think we can just stay here. It's a hard decision. We are replacing the carpet (crack house carpet as Heather would call it) with hardwood floors this year. We ordered the floors yesterday and are really excited to get them in. Hopefully they will be in the first week of December.

That is about all I have to say for now. I really miss everyone and wish we could spend Christmas together. Anyone want to come visit?? We will make room for all! We love everyone and hope to be able to see each one of you soon.

We had our 3d ultrasound today. Baby Nathan is 33 wks and 3 days old. He is such a wild man. He was moving all over the place while we had the ultrasound. It was very strange to feel him moving and see the corresponding movement on the screen! He is just adorable. He looks just like his daddy. We put a baby picture of Scott next to the ultrasound picture--looked like the same baby. He definitely has his daddy's ears and nose. He also has big fat lips like his daddy, not nonexistent ones like mine. Here are a few pictures for everyone including a money shot just in case anyone harbored some doubts that he is a boy! We love everyone...

I'm HUGE!!

Stephanie has been begging me for the last 4 months or so to take pictures of my ever expanding waistline. Somehow I just kept forgetting as I have had so much going on. Well I pulled out the camera the other day and had Scott take a few pictures. I AM ABSOLUTELY HUGE! Scott says, well the camera does put on a few pounds, besides you are pregnant! It's no wonder I have been avoiding the camera.

I am almost done with work. I have exactly two more weeks before I go off for maternity leave. I must say all the flying I have been doing is exhausting me. Little Nathan will have logged more flight time than a seasoned pilot before he is ever born!! My last shift we spent 3 hours on the side of a mountain rescuing a gal who lost control of her ATV and went tumbling down a 25 foot embankment. Lucky for me there were other people there and I didn't have to traverse the embankment and try and carry her up...like that would have ever been successful!

Everything else with the pregnancy is going well. I finally finished painting the stripes in Nathan's room. Scott is giggling at me because it strangely resembles a circus tent. I don't care, I love it. Out baby furniture has arrived--THANKS STEPHANIE!! Once we get new carpet it will be all done.

I hope all is well with everyone. We love you and miss you!

Words From Iraq

Well I am having trouble sleeping tonight for some reason. Tonight is Saturday(well Sunday morning now) for me. I was thinking of you all and decided to read a little in our family blog. I miss you all ever so dearly. Unfortunately for most of us this longing and missing comes at great distances. When we are far from our family we miss them dearly.

It has been almost three months since I left the states. I am surprised at the amount of time that has already past, but the daunting 9 months left are seeming insurmountable. I will survive in patience until the time comes, but inside I truly wish it were tomorrow so I could see my adoring wife and beautiful child!!!! We are looking forward to our next little one and hopefully I will be on R & R (Rest and Relaxation) when our new one comes. This will be a well deserved two week break with my family.

I have a little free time here to do college courses. I am enrolled at AMU (American Military University) and going for a degree in Emergency and Disaster Management. I hope to be finish up to two years worth of college by the time I come back. I have 29 credit hours right now with another 3 coming at the end of this week(next Sunday or so) when one of my current courses end. I hope to have 40 credits done by October. The military is paying for every cent of my education and I plan on taking full advantage of such!!!!!

One might ask why I have done what I have done. I do not seem like the military type. This is very true, I do not enjoy the idea of what a military does. However I have come to learn that the military is not only shooting, fighting and killing, but so much more. It is an organization of like minded people. We are working for a better cause and helping defend our nation and its ideals. I am proud to be amongst many wonderful people and see how they live their lives serving others. Proud enough that back in April I re-enlisted into the Army for additional time. I enjoy being part of this organization and amongst my co-workers and very professional individuals. I hope to further my career by becoming an officer in their ranks. As an officer you are a higher paid supervisor that does all the office work (paperwork, ect). You are expected to lead and guide in your units and hold the highest positions of responsibility. I believe I am ready for such and hope to achieve these goals sooner rather than later. I just have to get some college under my belt before I can become one.

Know that each of you are in my thoughts and in my prayers. Truthfully I don't know what to pray for for each of you because we have been apart so long, but know that the thought is what counts. I hope all is well with you all in your studies, work, families, and even pregnancies. Just learned today when you were due in the blog Heather (Congratulations!! I like the name Nathan)

Missing my family, but I am serving the Lord in his vineyard. Though we are not allowed to teach (missionary-wise to the Muslim world in general really) in this country we are holding strong to the faith and introducing the gospel to other service men and women alike. Currently I am serving as Service Member's Group (Like a branch) Clerk and loving it. I am serving alongside many loving and inspiring men that strengthen me and my testimony just by their presence. I am humbled I have been chosen to serve with them.

I thank you all for your prayers for both me and my family in our time of separation. Our love grows stronger every day we are apart. We are bound eternally with love and devotion. Know that I love and cherish each one of you and can't wait to see you all again.

Love your brother,
Defender of the Faith
Nation's Protector

SPC Joshua David Emmot

Updates From Josh Emmot Family

So it has been awhile since I wrote on this blog. May 8th-9th, my sister Lena, Dana and I went up to Bellingham, WA, for a Girls' Night. It was rather fun. Next time Dana isn't invited. She doesn't know when the right time to go to bed is. :)

We did facials and such. Lena managed to do her own pedicure of sorts. I got out of the bath and she had soaked her feet and painted her toe nails. I came out of the tub and I was rejuvenated and tired at the same time.



Lena doing her face mask...




Me relaxing after the bath. My face gets super red and blotchy right after a deep cleaning. :) Lena massages my feet with I forget what the lotion was. It was amazing.

Earlier that week Dana and I had just returned home from visiting Family and Friends in Tri-Cities - my Home of Record. Had lots of fun. I was sad to have to come home again.



Dana with Grandma Jamie Hiatt..

Yesterday, Dana had fun getting into my lipstick. I found her all painted with it. LOL



and then later she was so tired she couldn't wait to get to bed to sleep. She fell asleep eating dinner in the highchair. It was too cute.



Recently I started working with the PhotoShop 7 program to play with my pictures. Here is one of my projects - didn't turn out perfect - but it is definitely a start:
Well, sorry - temporarily can't find it on my computer... Will post it when I find it...

Well gotta run and send my hubby his Care Package....

Not much is new...I am starting to feel like a punching bag though. I think there is a future kickboxer growing inside me. It is so much fun. It is the neatest feeling on earth to feel Nathan moving around and kicking. So much so that it makes me a little sad when I haven't felt him in a while. I am not enjoying the time he is spending with his foot in my bladder though. I think the pressure from above--from Nathan--must stimulate the same nerves that tell you that you have to pee... I constantly feel like I have to pee, then there is nothing in there!!

We had our 20 week ultrasound last month and everything looks great! Nathan is already big for his "gestational age" so hopefully he doesn't continue to grow at this rate. I have dreams of a six pound baby, but I imagine he will be a little closer to 10 pounds--OUCH!!!

Anyway, I am just finishing up my first semester of school. Looks like I will have straight A's! Good thing too, the nursing program is sooo competitive to get into. I have 8 more weeks of work, then I am off for the baby. So far so good in that department. I haven't noticed any problems with doing my job--lifting, sitting in the jump seat etc... Hopefully this continues. i am not sure what I am going to do with myself when I am off before Nathan is born. I have never had that much time off before. It will definetly be wierd.

We miss everyone and hope that everyone can come for a visit after Nathan is born!!!

Heather

Well, where do I start. Not too much has changed in the Embleton home in the months the blog has fallen by the wayside. Owen turned four in March and is as enthusiastic and energetic as ever. Eli has gone back to studying full-time while Sarah continues to work in the newborn nursery. Sarah just recently got a new calling to be the enrichment leader and is very excited to go back to regularly attending sunday school and relief society after 2 years. Lately we have enjoyed making our house more our own. We, meaning Sarah (I'm very non-committal with paint, it always looks so different on the chip!!!!!), finally decided on painting the house something other than white. We will post pictures of that soon!!! Really, we will:) In the meantime enjoy the following pictures of various events and holidays. Reader beware, six months worth of pictures found below.

For playgroup we went to Little Chef Academy where Owen learned to make cinnamon sugar tortilla chips and fruit salsa!

Owen loves Spiderman!! He was Spiderman for

Halloween, this was my first attempt

at doing costume make-up. Not too bad......

Another first was my first was Thanksgiving

when I cooked my first turkey dinner!!!

Not too bad either;)

The Texans poor attempt at snow at the winter festival.

Owen didn't know any different.

We made a gingerbread house this year,

a first for Owen. He talked about it for months!!!!

Our crazy miniature daschund, Fritz.

He was six weeks here at 2.5lbs,

now 6 months and 8.5lbs

We went to Chico in December, Sarah was glad

to be able to meet up with some old friends.

Sarah and Rachel were blessed to be

able to go to a Celine Dion concert in January.

This was Sarah's 2007 Christmas present.

Thanks Eli!!!

Seriously, this was a dream come true!!!

We were so close we could've touched her!

In fact the girl two down from us did.

Sadly we were offered that seat but we let her have it.

Oh well, it was an awesome show,

the shot below was not zoomed in at all!!!

Owen loves Bob the Builder. We brought Owen to see him

when he came to town. Owen loved it, but had we known

what we were getting into.......

it was a musical......

about recyling in sunflower valley......

well, we had fun anyway.

Heather came to visit last month, we had a blast!

She is even more adorable pregnant:)

This was our attempt at homemade pizza dough, at least we had fun;D
Owen loves fingerpainting!
Thanks for reading!!!!!

It's official...A BOY

We had our 20 week ultrasound (actually at 19 weeks and 2 days) yesterday. It is official we are having a boy. We definitely got a money shot so there is pretty much no doubt. I think he is going to be very tall. Already the doctor said he is in the 60th percentile for his size and he isn't even born yet. :) His arms and legs look so long on all the ultrasounds. I guess we are going to have a basketball player. I didn't have very strong feelings about a boys name, so I am going along with the name Scott wants. Nathan. I don't like any of his choices for a middle name and he doesn't like any of mine, so that discussion continues. I think Nathan Scott is inching out the competition. Scott just doesn't like it because he doesn't want his son named after him at all.

The pregnancy is going well. I am still working. If I can make it for another 12 weeks, finances will work out a lot better. When you get to be 32 and have been working as long as I have--and working my entire married life so far--you begin to really depend on your income. I only get twelve weeks of disability so if I can make it to 32 weeks, I will still be able to have 6 weeks after the baby is born.

I am getting so excited. My lack of patience is rearing it's head though. 40 weeks is so long. I want to meet Nathan now!!! I just can't wait. I am hoping to see some family members visit with the birth and after. Mom and Stephanie have already promised to make every effort to be here for the birth. That certainly makes things less scary. If you can't remember, I don't do pain so well. I am not looking forward to the whole childbirth part. If there was just some way to get the baby out while skipping the discomfort....

We miss everyone and love you!! For anyone who missed it my due date is August 29.

Heather

The Guinn's

Hello all! I miss hearing from everyone. It feels like we are all out of touch now that mom moved away from Susanville. I haven't seen most of you in years- sad. I don't really have much to say today, I just wanted to tell you all that I am missing each and every one of you and that I think about you all a lot. Can we plan some kind of reunion for next year? Please????

A little update on my fam-

Ash is still living in the dorms at Texas State. She loves living away from home- I don't think she ever intends to move back home. She is almost done with her first year of college. She just got a job at the Outlet Mall at a shop called Gymboree. They sell cute kid's clothes. She seems to love working there so far. She likes being around kids but not having to change diapers like she did at the daycare she worked at in high school. I think I still have her beat with the diaper changing though!:)

Sarah still loves school. Her teacher is great and she adores Sarah. So far, she seems to be a "teacher's pet" to every teacher she has had. I am not sure how she will feel the first time she isn't. Sarah loves, loves, loves to read. She can't get enough to read. We are reading The Chronicles of Narnia together. We are reading Prince Caspian right now. She loves the series so far.

Liam is going to start pre-school in the fall. He is so excited. We talk about it a lot and he keeps asking me if today is the day he gets to start school. I hope he is still excited when the time actually comes. He loves to "take care" of his baby brother. He still calls Austin his baby brother, even though Austin is getting close to Liam's size. He likes to carry Austin around and the other day he told Austin to jump to him off of my bed! Needless to say, Austin happily jumped and they both went down.

Austin is really growing up to be a sweet little boy. He likes to say "I luuhh yooo mommy" and he gives lots of hugs and kisses. He is talking a lot and repeating everything we say. He learned a new word a week or two ago. His new word is "truck", only he can't make the "tr" sound. He says it "f". So "truck" comes out "fu**"! It's hard not to laugh at hearing this sweet little voice joyfully pointing out the window and saying "fu**". We are trying to teach him to say "tuck" instead. We'll see how that goes.

Jeremy is loving his new job. He has done really well and is meeting his quotas every time. His bosses are really pleased with how well he has adjusted to a whole new field of work. I am really proud of him.

I am still staying home taking care of the kiddos. So far, I love it. I don't know when I will go back to work. I am just enjoying being here and being able to watch my kids grow up.

We miss you all and hope to hear back from some of you. Please let's try to schedule a reunion. I miss you all soo much. Lots of love from Texas to all of you!

we're coping pretty okay

so it has been almost a week since my husband left. life is still just chugging along. feeling pretty lonely a good most of the time especially at night when I find myself all alone with my mind wandering. Dana is doing well.

it looks like we may be expecting more than one baby. the doc wasn't 100% sure considering the ultrasound was done at 4weeks 6days. but he did say that he was pretty positive we were having twins. i will definitely keep you posted on the developements with that.

if we are having a boy - Joshua and I have agreed on the name - Joseph Dwight Emmot. we are still kinda bouncing girls' names around. we are pretty sure the name Rose will definitely be either a first or middle name though.

Dana taught herself how to eat oatmeal with a spoon today. it was the cutest thing. she wound up needing a bath right afterwards though. Joshua sends his love to all of you.

Love, Teresa

This blog is dying

Hey, I miss all of you. How is everything? Life with me is pretty uneventful, but I'm updating this blog so you'll know I'm thinking of you. Not much has changed with me. I have just a little over a month left of school, and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm really behind, so I decided to give up my #1 addition: Facebook. Yikes! I just deleted my account last night, and I'm having major withdrawals. But alas, it's what I had to do in order to focus on school. I'll let myself log back on once I ace all my finals next month. :)

This weekend I'll be leaving the comfort of my 80+ degree Texas weather to go to Utah for a mission reunion. It's just my luck that they've been getting pounded with snow the past week or so. I got my license after moving to Texas, so I don't have a clue how to drive in snow. I'm renting a car and have been freaking out, to say the least. Wish me luck with that! I'm excited to go up there, though, because I'll have the chance to see many of my old mission buddies, as well as our mission president & his wife. Plus, I'm meeting up with a couple of friends that served their missions in San Antonio. I can't wait to see them, as it's been years (I haven't seen them since before my mission). Also, I will have the opportunity to watch General Conference live. I've never been before, and I can't wait. And if that wasn't enough, I'll get to see our beautiful sister, Rachel. She's going up for conference too, so it'll be like a mini-reunion.

Overall life is good. I'm just enjoying life while trying to keep my head above water in school. I miss all of you, though, and hope to hear from you soon. Rich? Jason? Jared? Where are you? It's been AGES since you've posted. I imagine you've forgotten about this blog...but come back to us, please!

I love you all. Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Becky

Expecting # 2....

Hi, this is Teresa now.... I am on here really quick to announce we are expecting Baby Emmot #2. He/She is due on November 27th, 2009. We are really excited however we will be more excited when we see the little one on the ultrasound in the right spot and healthy.... Joshua is leaving really really soon now. I can't believe in 2 weeks at this time I will be alone with Dana for a pretty long time. I will keep busy and if I bug you all with telephone calls too often be sure to let me know. LOL. I plan on taking a few trips so I hope to be seeing you all at some point. talk to you later. Oh and Dana lost my old phone. So my new phone number is:

253-389-1336
hisloverforever@gmail.com

Love you all very much,

Teresa

Wow........Finally an update from that other guy.....

Sorry it has been so long since I myself have spoken or written to any of you. I spend most of my days working hard and when I get home I just try to relax and not think of work. For those of you that don't know I have some news concerning such. I will be deploying next month. I will be on a one year tour. As much as it sucks to leave my family and my little girl I am kind of excited. I do something that I enjoy for the Army and I have some awesome co-workers. I mainly wrote to let you all know, but while I am here I should let you know about everything else.

Dana is now 1 year and 3 months old. She is getting into everything. One of her favorite things to do is push buttons and it is always at the most inopportune times. When you are doing homework and you have forgotten to save it and are almost finished, you can be assured that Dana will be there to push the power button to your computer. When you really got into a movie and the climax of the movie is about to happen and everything has led up to this, Dana is off behind the couch playing with the remote and changes the channel or she turns the TV off or something. Luckily she hasn't found out how to turn on our gas stove. She has one of the most adorable voices that you can tell she is trying to form words, but she hasn't quite got it. She can say "MAMA!!!!!!" though and uses it quite frequently when she doesn't get her way. Other than that she is an all around adorable child. And by round I mean "ROUND", but she is finally thinning out now that she is walking.

Teresa is doing great as some of you already know. We have reached our three year anniversary today. It is hard to believe that we have been married for that long. It is still kind of odd to me to think that I am a husband and father, even though I spend most of my day working to provide for them.

Lastly, but not least I am kind of coming up on my final date of my enlistment. I will come up on the date the year I come back from deployment. This leaves me contemplating what I want to do with my life. I have taken some college courses, but have taken a break these last couple of months to spend more time with Dana and Teresa. I have 18 credit hours finished on-line while working full-time since last year, April. It has been difficult, but rewarding. I am forced, however to contemplate further what it is I want to do because there is little time after I come back. I feel a certain pull towards staying in the Army, but transferring to another job called Chaplain's assistant. A Chaplain is an army religious minister and his assistant is obviously that an assistant. He will help with the paperwork and planning, making sure everything is going the way it should. This is a hard decision because I not only have to think of myself, but also my family and their needs. The Army can provide many essential things for the strengthening and bettering of a family. The downside is what a soldier must do when called upon to do so, go to war.

This is me and what is happening in my life. I love you all very very much and think of you often even though it doesn't seem that way. God bless you in all your efforts as he does me in mine.

Your Brother and Son,
SPC Emmot, Joshua David
United States Army

We're PREGNANT!!!

Or as Scott says...You are pregnant, not me:)  We are expecting our first baby on August 29, 2009.  We just had our first appointment with the doctor.  He says everything looks great and because we are at 10 weeks and the sonogram showed a great heartbeat, we have less than a 1% chance of miscarrying at this point.  Good news!!  Here is the first picture.

Cool ABCs

Steph has a much better video of Liam doing this, but this one is still cute. I posted it on YouTube since it was too big for blogger. He is soooo cute!

My favorite moments

Sweet Sarah G. found my lost camera, so here are a couple of my absolute favorite pictures from Christmas. I also have a recent video clip of Liam doing his "Cool ABCs," but it's not uploading for some reason. It's a cute video, so remind me and I'll try again another day. You will LOVE it. :)

Never turn your back on a 1-1/2 year old!

Sweetest letter to Santa I've ever seen
(click on picture to enlarge)

My life is...to put it simply, BUSY! But I wanted to send ya all a quickie---it's been a while since we all talked. So just to let ya all know what's been up in my life as of late.

I'm a little behind in school, so while this SHOULD be my last semester...it's definitely NOT. I'm about 2 semesters behind. :( Thank you Disney! It's okay, I"m not ready to leave yet so I'm okay with it. This semester I'm only taking 4 classes-3 major ones and a dance class. PLUS a class for a program I'm involved with. OH i'm SOOO excited for it! I made it into the Chicago program I talked about a couple posts ago. But just to remind you all...the school organized a group of girls to go to Chicago and host a day camp for two weeks for inner city girls. Girls that live in the ghettos of Chicago and have seen some...interesting things it their lives. Anyway, we go and have a camp for them for two weeks, to kinda get them away from their lives and get them out to have a little bit of fun, when we're done for the day we get to tour Chicago! AH! And we get to go on a segway tour, and a boat tour, and see a broadway play, a baseball game, and LOTS more. I"m SOOO SO SO excited. It's gonna be amazing.

I'm also the current "Managing Director" for another program on campus that helps students from "disadvantaged backgrounds". I know I've talked about it a lot. It's been a HUGE part of my life the past three or four semesters. It's also pretty amazing. Being the Managing Director basically means I'm in charge. I am the "guardian" of the program. I LOVE IT! It's ALL completely student led so I'm over other students who are involved. It's complicated to explain and would be lengthy. Basically it's time consuming and worth it.

I still work on campus at the 'lovely' testing center. Not much fun but it's a job.

Um um...I don't know what else to say. I keep pretty busy and I'm usually gone from 7:45 am till at the very least 6:30 or 7. Then I hang out with my AWESOME roommates.

Here's a couple pics of them. We have fun---even though it's FREEZING here!!!
This was at FHE on Monday...as in yesterday. The first pic with us all in it. From the left: Emma, Sarah, Irina, Lela, ME, Hillary. I LOVE THEM! It's been amazing so far, especially after last semester...things weren't exactly the best situation, and it's such a relief to have roomies I don't have to worry about offending or not liking me. It feels good. We went sledding with some people from church. It was FREEEZING!!! Like REALLY cold. If you couldn't tell by the faces. This was at the beginning of the trip and we are already red like tomatoes! SO much fun though.

I LOVE you dearly and hope you got through all that. Sorry it wasn't very entertaining. Just wanted to update ya'll. LOVE YOU!! MISS YOU TONS AND TONS!!!

Oh, how I miss you!

Hi family! I've missed all of you. How is everyone? Does anyone look at this blog anymore? Things are fantastic in my part of the world. I am officially an unemployed, full-time college student now. It feels strange but is absolutely fabulous. School starts on Tuesday. I'm taking 17 credits, and I'm a bit nervous about that. I won't be working this semester, but one of my classes requires 50+ hours of volunteer work, so I'll keep pretty busy. I hope to be able to head to San Antonio most weekends to see Steph & Sarah (and their families), as well as sneak in some tutoring hours. The family I tutor for doesn't want to give me up just yet, so I'll at least be making a little bit of money here and there. I'm really excited for school to start. I'm mostly taking generals, so I'm not too thrilled about those classes. I do have one Social Work class, though, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm also pretty excited for my tennis class. I've always wanted to learn how to play. I hope I like it. LOL. This was my first Sunday "away" at school. There is a small student branch here. It's much smaller than I had anticipated (there were probably about 20 people there today), but everyone was very friendly. I felt right at home. Plus, my companion from the Madrid MTC just moved here for grad school. It was quite a surprise to see her come into the chapel. I'm excited to catch up with her; we haven't seen each other since the day we left the Madrid MTC over 5 years ago. Small world!

I hope you are all doing well. I'd sure love some updates, including pictures. It's been too long! :)

I love you all!

Becky

PS: Here's my new address (for the next six months at least):

109 Craddock Ave., #603
San Marcos, TX 78666