The best Easter EVER!!

Hello Everyone!!

Wonderful News!! Jonah is home FINALLY!! :o) Our prayers were answered & Jonah is home safely. We were able to meet him around 3AM Saturday morning. We spent the rest of the day sleeping & admiring our little girl together. We got up early Easter morning & were able to make it to church. It was so wonderful to finally be able to attend a service together as a family. We will be heading up to Michigan April 4th-18th. We are so excited about seeing family/friends & look forward to visiting with you all. Our time together until then will be to relax around the house & just enjoy spending time together just the 3 of us. Thank you so much for all your love & support. Words could not express how happy we are to finally be together. It was a long 7 months, but we pulled through!

Wow, it's warm!

So, on our way to the airport today it was almost 80 degrees in San Diego. I'm sure my northern family/friends are lovin this news. Anyways, Dawn is here (my mother-in-law) visiting for the week & I've planned a couple fun things on our "to do" list. We're hoping to get to the zoo sometime, see the flower fields in Carlsbad, visit Balboa Park, some pre-birthday shopping (I'm turning 25 in less than 2 weeks, ewww I'm old), and just hanging out for the most part. This is great b/c I needed a little pick me up. Jonah is going to be home in 4 weeks & the anticipation is killing me.

Jonah called today & got to talk to Dawn & I for awhile. He's doing good, bored some, missing home, and just as excited about getting home as we all are for him arriving. He has been going out on some calls this week where he's been able to kind of take charge & be the control leader of the operation. He sent me a photo that was taken today of him out dismantling an IED.

Ella had her shots last week & she's doing great overall. She's such a cutie & I'm so excited about Jonah finally coming home to be with not only me, but his daughter as well. I look forward to seeing the two of them together. I know she's going to be a Daddy's girl b/c he spoils her already just like he spoils me. You're so wonderful Jonah. :O)

Jonah will be home anytime mid to late March. Please keep him in your prayers for safety & to get home to his girls safely. Here's some recent photos of the 2 loves of my life. :O)

70 Degrees Here!

I thought that all of you experiencing cold weather would love the fact that I'm rubbing in how warm it is in sunny California. Haha. Yes, we've made it safely home finally. It was a very stressful trip back home, but we recovered. My sister, Michelle, (bottom picture) came to visit Ella & I last weekend. Unfortunately, we were sick the entire time that she was here. Sorry Sis! We had fun though & she was such a big help. :O) Now that we've recuperated & gotten the house orgainzed with all of Ella's baby items, we're starting a routine & waiting for Jonah to come home. He'll be home in approximately 6 weeks from today! YAY!!

Ella is doing great. She is conquering sitting up by herself. However, she loves to be on her tummy now & is trying to crawl. I'm hoping she'll wait at least until Jonah gets home, however, she already knows how to scoot to where she wants to be, so baby proofing has already started in our household. She eats 2 solid foods a day (usually a fruit in the morning & a veggie/carb at night). She seems to enjoy all fruits, carrots, & sweet potatoes. She's not too thrilled about the green veggies. Haha. On February 7th Ella turned 6 months old. She has her well baby check up in less than 2 weeks where she'll be getting her shots again. She's finally sleeping in her own room at night which is a blessing. I was hoping that this would be accomplished before Jonah got home. She's such a Sweetie & I can't wait for her daddy to finally be home to be with her & me too of course! :O) Love you Jonah!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, especially for Jonah. I'll keep you up to date on when he'll be arriving home. We are still planning to fly up to Michigan sometime in mid April to be able to visit with family & friends. Thanks again for all your love & support. ~EMD

I forgot to mention: Jonah & I have been married for 1 year now! It's been a crazy one that's for sure, but we truly have been blessed & we can't wait to celebrate it together asap. :O) Also, Ella has 2 teeth that have decided to come in on her bottom gums. They look like they'll grow out just a little more; I'll try & get a good photo once this happens. This might explain all the extra fussiness/drooling. Haha.

Up in Michigan then home!!

Ella & I had a safe trip up to Michigan. We arrived here the day after Christmas. We'll be here for about 2 1/2 more weeks & then we're finally going home!! Once there, we'll only have to wait about 2 months until Jonah will finally be home!! We're so excited!!

The trip up here went surprising well. We actually ended up not even stopping in Detroit & got lucky by ending up a one way trip to Grand Rapids. It was great especially since it was just Ella & I which is quite difficult traveling with a baby alone. We've a long trip ahead of us out to So Cal coming up soon. It'll be at least an 8 hour plane trip then an hour drive home with a rental car. We can handle it though & it's exciting b/c we'll be headed home!! During the 2 months of wait time we will have some family coming out for visits, so it'll help with the time.

Saturday was my first time taking a spinning class. It's an extreme bike workout. My butt was sore all day yesterday. Ha! Although, it was great exercise & I plan on going at least 4 more times before we leave.

Jonah is back from his op. He said it was really slow & he's glad to be back to his station. We're already starting to plan things that we want to do when he gets home. In April we'll be flying back up to MI to visit with family. We hope to take a couple nights to ourselves too while we're here hopefully at a local resort in TC while the Grandparents watch our little girl. :O) Thanks guys! Mostly, we're just looking forward to finally being together & spending time as a family.

As always, please continue to keep Jonah, Ella, & I in your prayers. Thank you for all your support. Lots of love, Elizabeth

Tis the Season

Hey family & friends!

I just put Ella in her swing for her n-a-p of the morning. Needless to say, she's cooing & smiling at me while I type this. I think she's changed her mind about sleeping. Ha! She's discovered that she can do things on her terms. Like feeding for example, she'll eat what she wants & stop... 2 hours later... she's hungry again. LOL. Schedule? What's a schedule? One week I think we've got it down pat, then next, I'm like, "What's going on?" She's a lot of fun though, but wears me out. Ha! And she's not even crawling yet! :O) Luckily Daddy will be home once that starts up unless she decides to do it before 7 months! Yikes! Anyways, Ella is doing wonderful. She loves her exersaucer & flips around everywhere on the floor. She's learned how to scoot over towards toys/presents that she wants to touch. She can sit up but needs at least one hand to balance her. She's a cutie!

Jonah is doing well. He's going out into the desert for 10 days. I don't know much about the operation, but I do know he'll be doing his job which is very dangerous, so please keep some extra prayers in for him & everyone else going on the op. He won't be able to contact me at all during this time which it going to be really tuff b/c we won't even be able to speak to each other on Christmas day. :O( This holiday we're both ready for it to be over with so that we'll be closer to being together. :O) I love you Sweetheart!

Ella & I will be heading up to MI next week the day after Christmas. We're going to be flying & a little bit of driving involved, so please keep us as well in your prayers for safe travels. May you all have a blessed holiday with your families & know that you're in our hearts.

Enjoy the new photos! :O)

Ha! Ella just fell asleep.

PS- Here's a picture of Jonah taken a couple months ago. :O) We love our Marine! Be safe & come home soon!