Neat websites to check out for next year

Well I know Christmas is over but I just found a website that I thought those of you with kids might be interested in for next year. The site allows you to upload a picture of your Christmas tree and insert a picture of Santa putting presents under the tree. I think this is a great idea to show your kids that Santa is real and really put the presents under the tree. It also says they plan on launching a website for the tooth fairy and Easter bunny, so keep a watch out for those.

http://capturethemagic.com/

This is another site where you can order a personal phone call from Santa.

http://santaspeaking.com/

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas here in Hawaii. I must say it was a little hard being away from home this year but luckily my mother was here to celebrate with us and having PJ made it all worth it. I missed our annual trips to Colorado, Alabama and Missouri and all the cold weather that goes with visiting during December. However, it was a lot less stressful on us and Mike and I were able to exchange our gifts on Christmas morning rather than before we left for the mainland like all the previous years. We have certainly had a blessed 2008 and can't wait to see what 2009 has in store!! Oh, I forgot to mention my wonderful husband gave me an awesome new camera to take pictures of PJ with and a coach purse for Christmas. We hope all of you had a great Christmas and we wish you all the happiness in 2009!!

Christmas Party

We went to a Christmas party last night at our friends Donny and Angela's house, I have attached a picture of all the good looking guys dressed up.

Blackhawk spouse flights and Christmas Party

I had the opportunity to take my first ride in a Blackhawk helicopter last week. It is a really big deal because no other battalion in the Army still does spouse flights due to the cost to operate a helicopter and for liability reasons. I really enjoyed the flight and know why Mike loves his job so much. It was really scary to begin with because they leave the doors open during the flight and I happened to be in the outside seat. After the spouse flights we went to Mike's work Christmas party where PJ had his first picture made with santa in front of the blackhawk, he was a really good boy for santa.

Getting ready for Christmas

We are so excited about having a little one to celebrate Christmas with this year, we know that it will only get more exciting with every year. We put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving and helped PJ hang his first ornament on the tree, it is a honu aka a turtle to represent his birth in Hawaii. We also hung up our ornament together that marks our wedding date. Last weekend we spent the afternoon making pizzelles, pizzelles are an Italian cookie that is traditionally made for special occasions such as Christmas. This was our first time making pizzelles and I must say they tasted wonderful.

Pictures

Parker Jaymeson Parreco

We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season with the arrival of our little bundle of joy. We are adjusting to being a family of three and enjoying every minute of being together. Parker was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 19 inches long, he has my color hair and dark greenish gray eyes. I was induced at 11:00 am monday morning and he was born at 8:17 am tuesday morning, November 25th. We had a long and stressful labor and delivery but thankfully God was watching over us and we are all doing great now. We were able to make it home from the hospital just in time to enjoy Thanksgiving as a family, thankfully my mom was here to cook for us. Thank you to all of your thoughts and prayers and we can't wait for all of you to be a part of PJ's life. I have attached a few pictures and will certainly post more soon.

Mom

My mom flew in Monday was a week ago and we have really enjoyed having her around. Here are a few pictures of our adventures so far.

Halloween Party

Here are some pictures from Lynn's Halloween Party this year and some pictures from previous years.

Baby Shower

We had a busy day Sunday, our friends here had a couples baby shower for us that afternoon. Thank you again Danny and Jeannie, Dave and Melissa, Lily and Raul and Lynn and Rick, we love you guys.

Lynn had us a cake made with our picture on it
It was a Hawaiian Themed Shower
Lily made us this adorable diaper cake
The hostesses-Melissa, Jeannie, Lynn, Lily
The hosts-Raul, Danny, Dave and Mike

The guys played a game where they had to drink beer out of a bottle

Baby Shower

Mike's wonderful Auntie June had us a web-cam baby shower last Sunday. It is so cool what you can do with with technology. It was really nice to be able to see everyone over the computer and for them to be a part of such a special time in our lives.

Nursery

Here is a picture of the nursery so far, we have other stuff that we would like to add to the room but haven't gotten it together yet. I would really like to paint but it isn't worth it since we would have to paint it back before we moved. I will post some more pics when we get the room complete.

Shark Adventure and Hilton Hawaiian

Mike and I went on a shark adventure tour on the North Shore about a year ago and we finally got the pictures developed, they take you out, drop you in a shark cage and bait up the sharks. The first thing I thought yesterday when I saw the pictures was look at how skinny I was!! The sharks really didn't pay us any attention and just swam around the cage. The only issue we had were that the waves were crazy that day and Mike and I both got sea sick and bruises on our arms and legs from being knocked around in the cage.

Mike and I also had the pleasure back in April to attend a Marriage conference sponsored by the Army at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. Here a few pictures of the view from our room, you can see Waikiki beach and Diamond Head in the background. I am also posting a picture of some penguins to prove that we have them in Hawaii. If you are planning to visit Hawaii and want to stay downtown and be in the middle of everything this is certainly the place to be.