Carly's New Wheels

Since we were not living in Boston anymore and everything was not just a T ride away, Matt and I decided that I needed to get a car. Not only so I wouldn't be trapped at the house, but also because there was NO way I was putting a baby seat in the back of the mustang! Just not an option. Here is my new 2005 Toyota Camry. She's great, but still without a name. Any suggestions?

Carly keeps growing and growing....

We FINALLY got back to Florida, just in time for Carly to take one last trip out to Colorado and the FOCUS national office. She is sad to be leaving, but glad that baby is on the way!

Here is a picture of me at 26 weeks! I think I looked particularly pointy in this picture!
I think Matt and I finally got better at taking pictures of ourselves!

Ohio and Grandma Dobro's 90th birthday

Matt and I trekked back up to Ohio, this time to Dayton and Wright-Patt AFB. He had a training that would last about three weeks, and of course, I wanted to go with. I think that might have been a hasty decision, as we were in a little hotel room, with only a microwave and a mini fridge. I guess we were spoiled at Patrick! I decided to go to Chicago and stay with Mom and Dad....it ended up being a little longer than first planned, but I really didn't want to go back to being stuck in that room! We celebrated Grandma Dobro's 90th birthday while I was at home. Matt was sad to miss it, but needed to stay on base and get work done. It was a Luau, and I loved it, considering I was missing Hawaii!

Me and my little Grandma!
Grandma, Mom and Aunt Laura. What a happy family....wait, where's Daisy?
Aunt Laura and Lou....notice he never took off the pink lei that Steph put on him!

Jerry, AJ, and Amy
Marty and Stephanie....wait, are they twins?
Mom and Dad, and yes, Dad really is that much taller than mom.

Our New Florida House

It only took Matt and I a few days to find our new home in Florida, thanks to all of Matt's great prep work and Internet research. We ended up renting, but thought buying in this market was just a little too risky for us at the moment. It is a cute, 3 bedroom/2 bath house on a little lake. We do have gators living in our lake, which I guess is par for any body of water in Florida! They pulled a 9ft. gator out a few weeks after we arrived. Thankfully, I wasn't at home to see it! We have PLENTY of room for guests, so please, make sure you come and visit! We were only there a short time however, as we needed to head off to Ohio for a training. The summer of travels continues!

Summer fun

After Hawaii, Matt and I spent time in Chicago, then in Cincinnati. We were able to visit with family and friends, which was nice. We were also able to show off our wonderful tans from Hawaii! So much fun!
We finally made it down to Florida just after spending the 4th of July with Matt's family. We stayed overnight with Buffy and Jeff LaPeters, right before their little one, JR was born. I saw Buffy and knew how much I had to look forward to! We stayed in base housing until we could find a place of our own, which thankfully didn't take long!

Here is a picture of me pregnant at 20 weeks. Man was I tiny!

Hello Hawaii!

Matt and I didn't really get to go on an extended honeymoon (only a few days in Wisconsin) so we decided to take time in between his assignments to go on a longer trip! We chose Hawaii for several reasons, one being that Katy Thomas' parents were so generous in letting us use their condo, but also because I really wanted to go to Hawaii as I hear it is awesome! Airline tickets could also not be beat, so all signs pointed to Hawaii! Matt had already been there when he was at the Academy for a few weeks over a summer, however we stayed the entire two weeks on the Big Island and the condo was in Kona on the West coast. It was a blast!

The gorgeous view from our Lanai, or balcony as I called it!

Matt impersonating a statue at the Refuge.
Momma and baby looking their best!
The Refuge

St. Peter's Catholic Church on the shore...so tiny!

The Green Sand beach....we finally made it! That is a story you need to hear sometime.
South Point and the windmills that didn't work.

Snorkeling at pregnant beach. Seriously it was a tiny beach but I was one of six pregnant women there!
Our adventure around the island up north.
Volcano National Park, or should I say Mordor??
Steam coming from the ground in Volcano. There were over 100 earthquakes two days after we went, and they ended up closing the park! Good thing we went when we did!

Baby Hale can never say that he or she never went to Hawaii! Here is proof!
Just amazing...the sand was like sugar!
Secret Beach #1

Breathtaking!

We look so happy...but Matt looks a little scrunched up. We tried so hard to take pictures of ourselves!
Our last sunset....it was beautiful!

Bye Bye Boston :(

Well, all good things must come to an end, and our time in Boston was one of those good things! Matt was finally finishing his thesis, saying good-bye to MIT, and closing that book, literally. His thesis ended up being about 300 pages!

Carly's friend Jen Willeke came out for a visit, that ended up starting very wet, but drying out by the end. We had a blast, and were able to see all the fun things in Boston one more time.

Our wonderful Boston friends came over to the apartment for one final brunch, which turned into a surprise of gifts for Matt, Carly and Baby. We were so grateful and blessed to have them with us!

Carly's time in Boston ended early, as she was off to New Staff Training with FOCUS at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. It was sad, but good to be moving forward.

Matt finished up just in time for the movers to come and take all of our things, but that meant we were that much closer to our real honeymoon in Hawaii, and seeing both of our families!