JONATHON'S BIRTHDAY...A WEEK LATER!

Yup, you're reading correctly, Jonathon turned 17 on April 20th...it's getting harder and harder to tell people I'm still 29!! That would have made me twelve when I had him. Anyway, we threw Jonathon a surprise birthday party and it was a great time had by all. You may be wondering how it's possible to surprise a 17 year old...I told him I was having a Home Interior Party...works every time. So here's to another great year, son, we love you!!!! Also happening around the same time was Jonathon's first prom. (I guess this is why we should update our blogs DAILY???). Enjoy the pictures of our handsome first born.

April 14th ALREADY?!?!

I guess keeping up with the blog is going to be WORK! I can't believe a week has gone by already! Thank you to all the bloggers who commented...and have been checking in like true fans...you guys will get a Christmas card from us this year :) Other happenings not mentioned before are: Sonia got a job at Bath and Body Works. I love it, I only work a couple of days a MONTH, and I get a fantastic discount. I've also been hitting the gym at the YMCA with Lucy, you know, the one who has to do a sit up for every comment posted on her blog?! It's been going great...12 pounds lost in almost 28 days! Yipeeee! I'll post a photo, say, around, NEVER! I guess this is it for now. Surely when another week has gone by tomorrow, I'll have something new to post, HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

We're Back

To our most dedicated fans who have visited our website in hopes of finding something current, we apologize deeply. A lot has happened in the last several months, and keeping up with the blog kind of fell to the wayside. We lost our dear friend Dabet Velez to breast cancer on February 16th, 2008. Although it was a trying time, and a lot of tears were shed, Dabet's courage, love, and service to others will forever be etched in our memories and hearts.
It's April already, and now we can start to smell the end of our military journey coming to an end. James will be retiring from the United States Navy on June 27th, 2008. Wow!! Where has the time gone?! James has accepted a job in Colorado Springs and that's where we will be moving come July 15th. After 20 years, we're finally settling down next to family and our REAL red and green chile; what more can we ask? The following two pictures are the last two big events that have happened in our family since we last posted. The first is of Aaron turning 13!! Aaron has grown at least two inches in the last several months. Incredible to think he's already 13. The second photo is of Jonathon driving now that he has a driver's permit, aghhhhh!!!! Except for careening around bends, he's doing quite well. So everyone, stay tuned for updates, more pictures, and more of a little bit of this and a little bit of that!

Snowball Fight!

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Disco Dancing! (Who needs Dancing with the Stars?)

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The Toxic Trio

It's highly unusual that I post more than twice in a day, but I couldn't resist after finding the picture in our collection. How did these three ever meet up? Funny how things work out, no? This was taken during an "aperiodic" bonfire at the Bassett's. As for these three ladies...I'm not sure I've ever met anyone like'em (especially the one in the middle!). -James

Halloween...TWICE?!

Yes, here in Hanover, PA, Halloween is celebrated twice. Certain townships trick-or-treat on the Tuesday the week before Halloween and others are like the rest of the modern world and actually do it on Halloween night. Hmmm... Anyway, Aaron, Adam, and Daniel are still eager to dress up. But, as for the older kids, Jonathon and Emily, I suppose they've "outgrown" this sort of thing. I've dedicated the twins' costumes to the Heath family (ahem, Lucy) and to the Colts attempt to fight for respect (and losing). Ouch.

The kids were able to rack up some serious candy bags. Naturally, we "removed" the chocolates and other expensive confections. I can't explain why this upsets the kids so much... -James

HE'S DONE IT!!!

We really are horrible at keeping up with this blog! Last week our family had the opportunity to go down to D.C. to support James in his very first marathon, the Marine Corp Marathon. It was really exciting! While James and a good friend, Ray (also running in the marathon), took off early in the morning to start their run, we stayed at our motel room, ate breakfast, showered, and waited until it was time to hit the road. Along with Ray's family, we met up with another good friend, Javier, at the Metro. For anyone who has never been to a marathon, there are several places where you can catch a glimpse of your runner. Of course, you have to have luck on your side and time it just right. We couldn't find our guys at the first checkpoint, so we headed back to the metro to get to the finish line. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to finally catch a glimpse of James entering the last mile. As soon as we spotted him, Javier and our Emily ran into the crowd of runners to finish the last mile with James. It was pretty neat, and we were a bit surprised to see Emily jump in and actually do really well. I'm finding out that our kids have hidden talents we didn't know about...but anyway, that's another blog entry. James ran the marathon in 4 hours and 26 minutes. He was pretty pleased because he was hoping to do it in 4 hours and 30 minutes. I can't begin to describe the feeling of happiness I had for James as he completed his goal. It was pretty awesome!!! If you're wondering if he'll do another, he's already been looking for the next one coming up at the beginning of next year!

It's Homecoming!

Well, the times are changing and we're all getting a bit older. Just to prove I'm right, Jonathon has helped us remember that by attending his first Homecoming dance. Sonia and I were really happy for him and his date. They were incredibly shy...and I hope it stayed that way all night. Anyway, congratulations to Jonathon! Here's a picture before the dance on Saturday night. Enjoy!

Our Energizer Bunny

Some of us can handle pain, but not enough to purposefully inflict it upon ourselves. Then there are those who seem to live for it. Since May of this year, James has been training to run his first marathon at the end of October. He did his first 18 mile run on Saturday, and has a 20 mile run this Saturday. We are happy to report he no longer gets so sore that he can't walk, and has yet to get hit by a car while running. Twice, that is. We are very happy for his hard work at reaching his goal of running a marathon and will post his picture after he reaches the finish line! The above picture is a 5K James ran back in July here in Hanover, Pennsylvania.