All about Analyn

The more Analyn grows up the more her fun personality comes out. She is such a goofball! She loves to color and play dress up. 

 She loves anything that makes her look like a grown up like Mommy and Daddu whether it's pretending to cook or to fix things. 

 She loves to help clean up

She would much rather fall asleep on the floor than in her bed. Why? I have no idea

 She just loves being goofy all the time. She loves making us laugh and telling funny stories.

She is an amazing child! I love her curiousity and her passion of learning. She loves singing and music. She is too smart for her own good. She has an amazing memory and is quick to remind you things that you promised before bedtime, the next morning. Her ability to play pretend baffles me! She's always "cooking" dinner or pretending that she is Princess Anna and I am Queen Elsa! Jack and Flash's new names are "Sven and Olaf" and Danny is sometimes "Kristoff" or just Danny. She has also learned that our names aren't just "Mommy" and "Daddu" and she enjoys calling us our real names if we're not quick to respond right away. 

I really can't believe how fast she's growing up!

Memorial 5K

A1C Zachary Cuddeback was an outstanding individual who was tragically taken from us on March 2nd, 2011 at Frankfurt International Airport, Germany by a misguided individual targeting the United States military. A1C Cuddeback was one of two Airmen who lost their life during the shooting, while two additional Airmen were critically injured and had to undergo numerous surgeries to recover from the incident. A1C Cuddeback served as a vehicle operator/dispatcher for the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron (VRS) for over a year and was an integral part of the VRS family. He is survived by his mother, father, and brother in America

On March 1, 2014 Danny and I joined over 500 other people in a 5K in Zachary Cuddeback's honor. It was a really amazing experience. Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures so you'll just have to take my word for it. I was slightly nervous because I am severely out of shape. But Danny held my hand and pushed me to do my best the whole way. I actually ran more than I thought I would. Ana, of course, loved it and also pushed me because she loved it when we ran so Danny would push her stroller fast. I did really great until the last 1/4 mile. That last quater mile beat me. I still managed to push through with the help of Danny holding me on and Ana cheering me on. We came in at 43 minutes. Now I am aware that is not the best time however, I am proud for coming in under an hour. And now I have a great baseline to measure my progress this upcoming year! I have another 5K in a couple weeks I am trying to psych myself up for, but today it is not working. I am too sore today to even entertain the idea, maybe on Tuesday I'll feel differently haha!

Disneyland Paris!!

For the last few months we really wanted to take Analyn to Disneyland. We found a really great deal and were planning on going towards the end of March. And then Danny found out he had some mandatory training and he wouldn't be able to take time off. So we bumped up our time table and went in the middle of February. It was a perfect time to go with the weather being such a warm winter. It did rain most of the second day but it was more misty than acutal rain so it was perfect. We had so much fun seeing the world through Analyn's eyes. 

Walking into the park

Ana's favorite ride was the Tea Cups!

We met Princess Aurora! She was so sweet and patient with Analyn because she was really shy. But by the end Analyn opened right up 

I think my favorite part was the food! I loved the food at Disneyland. This is Analyn's Mickey Pizza

Analyn walked right up to Minnie Mouse without any hesitation

Pluto was definitely her favorite character the whole weekend

Analyn really loved Mickey Mous

Probably my favorite picture that whole weekend

We all had a blast! I would love to go back again

Poland!

Last month I took a trip to Poland with some ladies from Church! It was so much fun to go on a girls trip with no kids! We had a lot of fun and a lot of giggles! 

First stop was a little town in Seiffen Germany that sold Christmas Stuff year round! It was  lot of fun to see how nutcrackers were made. It wasn't until after we left I realized that I forgot to take any pictures. 

On our way to Poland we stopped at a gas station to use the restrooms. Maybe because it was late and we were tired and hungry, but we found this bathroom key hilarious. 

Poland had a lot of fun pottery and it was so much fun shopping and buying new dishes. I loved this Giant Teapot. I had to take the opportunity to take my picture with it. I was also in love with the fact the weather was amazing! It was sunny the whole weekend and wasn't the cold despite it being the end of January

 All the different kinds of dishes we had to choose from

 And the food was amazing! I absolutely loved the pierogies. But this polish sausage wasn't that bad either!

I had so much fun with the girls and I would love to go back to Poland and go shopping some more. But as much fun as I had, I was so glad to come home to my family! I sure did miss them.

Happy New Year

I know I say this every year, but my New Years Resolution is to be better at updating our blog. However this year, I am super determined to continue to update!! So here it goes, ready? Today I'm going to cheat since it's been over a year since I've updated. So here is our Christmas letter that went out in our Christmas cards. So if you've already read them, I apologize. You can come back in a few days when I have a new update

We have had a busy 2013! It all started in February, when Danny was deployed to Qatar for 6 months. It was hard having him gone but it was definitely a learning experience for all of us. Lucky for us he was able to come home safe and sound on August 1. Which just so happened to be Analyn’s second birthday, probably the best gift she received all day.

Analyn loves her “brothers” Jack and Flash and they love her, especially when she sneaks them food underneath her highchair. They are very patient with her and her constant need to love them and squeeze them. Analyn has been growing like a weed. She’s learning her shapes and colors, and is quick to remind us what each animal says. She has decided to assert her independence a tad bit earlier than Danny or I would like. For instance, the other day Danny informed her it was nap time. And she quickly replied to him it was not nap time. When we asked why, she answered with a sassy, “Said so!” I guess we need to find a different response to her many questions, other than, “Because I said so.”

Danny has had a busy year on top of being deployed. While he was deployed he was called to be the Executive Secretary and Clerk of his Branch in Qatar. He also recently tested for Staff Sargent and passed with flying colors. He will most likely be promoted June 2014. He is currently in a new section at work and enjoying the opportunity to learn new things about his job.

As for me, while Danny was gone I was busy planning Girls Camp which took place 5 days after Danny came home. It was hard to leave him so closely after him coming home but it was fun to go to Camp and bond with the girls. And an added bonus Ana and Danny had some fun “Daddu and daughter bonding”. I also distracted myself with planning our celebration of Danny’s homecoming. We booked a 12 day cruise through the Mediterranean Sea hitting 6 countries and 2 continents. It was a lot of fun and a wonderful way to mark the end of the deployment chapter.

That was our year. We had a lot of fun and a lot of learning experiences! Definitely excited for  this upcoming year. We are anticipating a lot of changes. We find out in just a matter of a couple months we find out where the Air Force will send us next. It's a tad nerve wracking. We have come to love Germany but we're anxious for the opportunity to live closer to home. But the unknown scares me haha, I just want to have all the answers today.