The Two Wonderful's...

Nyoka and I had the privileged to take care of these two wonderful boys. This is Aron and Christain. They are our nephews. Nyoka's sister's boy's. They were here with us from 05 July 2004, til the end of November 2004. It was a wondeful experience. Something that I would do over and over and over and over... I would not have traded spending time with these boys for anything in the world. And I know Nyoka would agree with me. We are always thinking about them and how we miss them so much.

When they were here, Aron was two and Chris was one. We celebrated both their birthdays here. Aron's birthday was 10 July and Chris's birthday was 27 August.

We took them to Disneyland, and Legoland. Took them camping on the beach, which was quite fun. They played in the sand. They played in the ocean. It was cold but they still got into the water. We took them to the movie's. We watched Polar Express, and The Incredible's. Chris was sucha hoot at the theater. Nyoka is always telling friends and families about Chris and his popcorn. Oh yeah, and about drink in the theater as well. Everytime she tells that story, I end up laughing.

What was amazing was that both Aron and Chris arrived wearing diapers. By the time they left, they were both in pull-ups. We started potty training Aron around the end on July. So he went from wearing diapers to pull-ups. The beginning was hard. We took him to the potty about 3-4 times in an hour. Somehow he would never go. Instead, he would go in hos pull-up. Yes it was frustrated, but we had to have patients. I'm going to cut this story short. In the end it worked out fine. I think the hard part about potty training would have to be, number two. You know the smelling one. Anyways. After while, I thought to myself, since we're potty training Aron, we might as well potty Chris. Kill two birds with one stone. Chris was just like is brother, started out slow. but after awhile he go the hang of it. Oh yeah the code names for Number One and Number Two were, "YELLOW" and "EEWW"

During the porcess of potty training, Nyoka got a lot of tips from friends and co-wotkers about potty training. The two that we decided to use was giving them a treat, which was Peanut M&M and a Star. It was quite a treat hearing Aron and Chris asking for M&M.

There were so much more that we did with them. I would like to post them all, but it would be like a novel by the time I finished. Aron and Christain, we miss you and Love you both very much. Thank you Chenoa for lettting us take care of them.

Aron and Christain, September 2004

Aron and Christain, July 2005

More Baby Stuff...

Nyoka and I made a trip out to the base exchange on Monday, just to look around. Well, we were looking for more baby stuff and plus she was looking for a bopper. Its some horse shoe lloking pillow that helps keep the baby sitting up and it does something else. I really don't know if I can mention it, so I won't. Anyways, we were looking and I had stumble on somehting that we've been looking for. IT'S A CRIB!!! It's made of real hard wood. It's real sturdy and the finish is what were looking for. The crib well somewhat match the dresser. It's perfect and it's a 4 in 1.

My parents insist that they be the one to get the crib for. No arguments from me. They put thier foots down on this subject matter. Wouldn't want to get the parents upset. They are so thrilled about the baby. Everytime we see them, you can see the glow that radiates off them. I've hae the greatest parents on Earth.

The other baby stuff that we really need now would a stroller/car seat/baby carry. We actually found that matches the theme, Classic Winnie the Pooh. We found it at Target. We were going to buy the the one at Wal-mart, but its the new Winnie the Pooh. After we get the crib and the stroller thing, that would be it.

Oh yeah, we still need to get cloths, but that won't be till after the baby is born.

Check back later and I'll have the picture of the crib and stroller posted. Later!!!

Wasted Deep Sea Trip...

Well, another day gone bad. The deep sea trip was fun, but it was a lost. I was hoping that not to go south, but we did. The trip was not a total lost. John, Mark and I had fun. Mark caught about 2-3 sculpin. I think John caught about 2 sculpins. And I caught 1 sculpin. Towards the end of the trip, we started catching mackerel. I think we had more fun catching the mackerel than anything else. Out of the entire trip 4 people caught sand bass. The biggest one was probably about 1-2 pounds. I never want to go south again.

Heath, you didn't miss much. Can't wait for you to come home. We'll have to get some 3/4 days or even a full day or night fishing. We'll definetly go off-roading again.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah!!!

TGIF...Yeppie!!!

Well, another gone and were getting closer to the baby's arrival. We are down to 6 weeks left in the pregnancy. I must say, it has gone by real quick. Tonight, Nyoka was washing the last of the baby's clothes, sheets and blanket. When they were done wasing, I went to the gararge to put them in the dryer and boy do the smell good. The baby's detergent smells a lot better than the normal detergent. And the clothes look so cute. I really can't wait for the baby to come into this world.

Well it is the weekend again and it is time for more fun. I had planned a deep sea fishing trip for a couple of my co-workers and myself this Saturday. We're fishing out of Oceanside. Hopefully we'll go up the coast, instead of down the coast. You remember what happened last time we went up the coast. Right now, I dont even want to talk about it. I just want to relax and think about tomorrow's wonderful trip up the coast.

I plan on doing some house work after I get from fishing. Also work on my quad and getting it ready for a trip out to Octillo Wells on the 8th of October. Hopefully by then, the weather is cooled down a little. Last Time Heath and I went, it was blazing hot.

That's all the news I have for now. Laters.

Nyoka's Baby Shower #2...

My sister's Linh and Trang, had planned on throwing Nyoka a baby shower before she was even pregnant. Well when the time came, they threw her one like they had promised. It was this past Saturday weekend of, 10 Sep 2005, in Palmdale, Ca. All my cousins were there, well the first generation cousins. Some of the second generation cousins were there as well, so I call them. Two of my childhood/high school buddies were there. Long time friends of the family, which I consider family were there. Of course there were games and everyone had fun, including some of the guys (Brad). Of yeah, my sister threw a coed baby shower. Some of the guys participated in the games and some just watched. There were other guys who decided to play monopoly, The Dot Com Edition.

There were a lot food provided for the guest and then some. Foods like roast chicken, fried rice, dinner rolls, vegetable platter, lasagna, and other items that I can't remember. The dessert was a chocolate cover cake with something. All I know was that the cake was rich and good.

The gift's that we received was more than what had asked for. Gifts like the Pack and Play that my sister's got for us. A basket of hand knitted and crochetted bootee's, sweater, cap, and more bootee's. A diaper genie that will come in hady for the smelly diaper's. A high chair that will definitely be used later when the baby can sit upright and eat solid food. Baby blankets, cloths, onesie's, baby bouncer, and a lot of other items. Too many to list. Like I said all wonderful gifts. We were blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who love us and support us.

Here are a few of the snap shots from the baby shower. There will be more to come. Enjoy.

Playing baby bingo.

Thinking of what to do next.

I call this meeting to order. Let the baby shower commence.

Baby'>http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tokage2778/album?.dir=1159&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tokage2778/my_photos">Baby Shower, Palmdale

Upcoming Events...

This past week I received some news about upcoming deployments to the Sand Box. Yes, I am going to the Sand Box. For those who don't know what the Sand Box is, it is Iraq. I won't be going till February 2006. I really excited. I found out the news this past Wednesday. Don't really know how long I'll be going for, I just know that I am going. There's already training set up for me in October, MAP training. Medical Augmentation Program Training. I'll be out in the field doing night ops, land navigation, medical stuff and a lot of other things.

The last few months of this year is going to be pretty busy with Nyoka having the baby, setting up day care for the baby, me trying to spend all hours of the day with the family, training and getting my afffairs in line. I told my parent's and sister's last night. My dad took it very well because he was once in the army. He knows the life of a service member. My mom didn't take it very well. She immediately open your arms and held me for several minutes. I told her it was going to be ok. My sister's took it better than my mom but not my dad. I told them all that it was going to be ok and that I'll be fine.

Anyways...

Today, Linh and Jan (my sister's) they're hosting a baby shower for Nyoka. They sent out invitation to the cousins and to our close friends. It is going to be an exciting day for us. They have made this a coed baby shower, which is cool. Were sad that our friend from Texas could not make it. That's right Dominique, I'm talking about you. Anyways, I'll go into more details in the next post and I'll have pictures. Later.

7 Months in...

Nyoka and I had a fun Monday. Slept in because it was Labor Day. But when we woke we had things to get accomplish before the photo shot in the afternoon.

We started our day by going to Temecula's Mall. First we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, Soup Plantation. Next, I had to get my truck tires rotated at Sears. When we got to Sears, there were a couple of people ahead of me. I could see that they were busy and it being a holiday day. We were standing there for about ten minutes and I noticed that the lady that was ahead of me was waiting to be helped. Two or three guys were helping to locate her car. Apparently they had misplaced it or something. At this time I was scared to leave my truck there. Finally a salesman guy asked me, "What can I do for you?" With a hesitant and scared look I said, "I don't know!? Are you going to lose my truck too?" We left faster than we came in. Anyways, moving on.

We got back around 3 or 4 pm. Started setting up for the photo shot. Background was black the area was the living room. Attire was khaki capri pants and white blouse for Nyoka. Khaki pants and no shirt for me. The atmosphere was calm and loving. The photo was about 1 1/2 hour long and we took up to 60 shots. Of course you won't be seeing them all. I'll just post the ones that I thought were good ones. As soon as I learn how to post picture albums I'll post more. Until then enjoy the ones that I've posted.


Here are the pictures from the photo shot...

Total concentration of what the sex might be.

Cradle and holding the baby..

Look at what we created, I think something is moving inside?

We can both cradle, hold, and love the baby.

Fun Saturday...

Another week has gone by and another great Saturday. Heath had planed one last deep sea fishing before his departure on Sunday. Of course a star cast was to attend the trip. First on the list would be Heath. Next is the cool and upbeat brother's from Corona, Jake and Josh. Then a guest appearance from Michigan, Rhianon's brother Chase. Finally the one and only, me.

We meet at Oceanside harbor at 0600 morning. Got on the boat at 0630 and did not depart until about 0650. This time the El Capitan decided to change things up and headed south along the coast instead of the usuall north up the coast. Maybe he was feeling alittle crazy or something. We went all the way down to Encinitas, thats about 25-30 mintue boat ride. Needless to say, no one caught anything worth mentioning. The jackpot winner was someguy and his 1.5 to 2 lb fish. We all thought josh was going to be the winner with his 1 lb fish.
Anyways.

After coming back from the fishing trip, we all went home and got ready to go to the beach. We meet up at the beach in front of Ryan and Holly's place. Heath, Rhianon, her brother chase and sister Rachael, Lisa, Brooke, Nyoka and Myself were there for Fun in the Sun. Ben and Carrie showed up alittle later. We spent about 3-4 hours playing in the water and sun taning. It was great. Heath was teaching Chase how to surf, what a great guy, Heath is. He is always teaching people how to surf. I tried boogie boarding. I paddle myself beyond the surf where Heath and Chase were waiting for waves. Boy it was hard paddling out past the surf without fins. I need to get me some fins. He was also teaching Rachael how to surf.

Nyoka and I walked along the beach staring at the sand and its dwellers. There were sand crabs, things that look like clams, rocks and a lot of other things. We walked to the Oceanside pier and back. It was a long walk but it was fun. We saw a lot of little kinds playing in the sand and trying to make sanad castles. One kid was getting somewhat buried into the sand by his parents and younger sibling. It was just fun and exciting.

Of course very fun day has an end. It was about 6 o' clock and everyone had to part there own ways. We said our good byes and gave hugs and warm fuzzies. It was Heath last fun Saturday before departing. We will miss him and he will be in our thoughts and prayer for a safe and speedy return.

Suprise Heath...

This day is a continuation of 27 August 2005. After riding in the hot blistering sun, we went home and rested. Well just me and Heath rested, while Rhianon and the rest of the gang prepared for the surprise party that Rhianon had planned for about a week or two. Of course I was in on it. I can keep a secret you know. Anyways, Heath was very surprised and had a great time. The party consisted of holidays that he was going to miss while deployed. Holidays like, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, and of course his birthday.

We all dressed up in Halloween costumes. There was a big Thanksgiving feast. Christmas cookies, Halloween cookies, Valentine cookies and lots more.

It was a very well planned out day. Thanks to Rhianon, family and friends. This was a memorable for everybody, including Heath.

We wish him a safe journey. Hurry home.

Does he look surprise or what?

They were 60's or 70's swim wear model's.

Group Picture!!!

Even the Mystery Gang made. Vilma, Shaggy, Daphne, and Fred.