WOW!!!

WOW!!!

Soooooo much has changed since the last time I blogged! Where do I begin?!?!?

Tom came home on May 1 and on May 11 was given the chance to take leave for 30 days. We opted to start leave late since Bella was still in school. She graduated from Kindergarten with an adorable ceremony on May 26. As soon as the ceremony was over we loaded the rest of the car and headed out to Denver. While in Denver we were able to see several family members, friends and take the kids to the Denver Zoo. We enjoyed the break from the Texas heat and humidity!!!! While in Denver we were also able to take Slade to see Dr. Andrews-one of the docs I worked for at Denver Allergy and Asthma....Slade had been having a lot of congestion since he was about 2-3 mos old and we tried several things to get rid of it with no success. We even tried changing his formula thinking all the congestion was being caused from an allergy to milk...no success! Dr A did a few skin tests on him and turns out all his nasal and chest congestion was being caused from a severe allergy to dogs!!!! We debated whether we could make the dogs become outdoor dogs and try to control the symptoms with medications but a couple of visits to houses with dogs there sent him into wheezing and we realized that the best thing for Slade was to re home the pups!!!! Now I know that they drove me INSANE while Tom was gone and they are naughty BUT I love those dogs and it was a very hard thing for me to do. Lulu went to Sheila Miles home and Zeppelin went to Tasia and Chris Boyntons home. They both are at great homes where they will be loved and they are both at places where I will still be able to see them for now!!!! We love them and miss them so much!

Gabriella celebrated her 6th birthday on June 20 with a swim party with pizza and a pinata! There were quite a few people here and we all had a lot of fun. She had a great school year and still loves Animal Planet-in fact that was the bday party theme! She wants to be an animal cop when she is older!

Elena is 3 1/2 yrs old now and quite the Lil singer! She loves Julianne Hough, Taylor Swift and Journey! While in Denver my mom gave us a karaoke machine and she loves it and uses it as often as possible! She also shares in her sisters love of animals!

Slade is almost 7 mos old. He is such an amazing baby! He smiles sooooo much and is almost always happy! He is sitting on his own and just today he attempted to get on his knees! It wont be long before he is crawling. He has no teeth and loves baby food! He started saying Da Da this week...it is soooo dang cute! His breathing and congestion is so much better since the dogs went to their new homes! We are really hoping someday he outgrows this allergy!

We celebrated 4th of July by having Tiffany, Kayden and Tiffany's friend Julie come for a visit. We had a BBQ at our house with several friends then Tom and Tiff lit fireworks! It was a very fun weekend!

We have had a busy couple months since Tom has come home and I don't think its going to stop anytime soon although we are hoping he will be home 1-2 yrs before another deployment!!!! Carlos will be coming home in about 6 weeks from his deployment and Celia is now working at Wells Fargo part time! Clint and Leste are expecting a baby Jan 25...I'm betting a boy! Mia is almost 7, Kylie just turned 3 and Marcus will be 1 next week!!! Time is flying! WOW!!!!