Surfman

Brett made surfman! He is officially Surfman #421 in the Coast Guard. Of those 421 who have ever made surfman, there are only about 160 active duty surfman. I am so proud of him! This has been his dream since he joined the CG and he did it! I got invited to the station for his pinning by the Chief. Kayleigh and I got to see his Commanding Officer pin him with his surfman pin and hear him read the Surfman Creed aloud. Below are some pictures.

Surfman Creed

I will to the best of my ability, pursue each mission with the commitment, compassion, and courage inherent in the title Surfman. I will endeavor to reinforce the worldwide reputation of our forefathers in the lifeboat community. I will maintain a guardian's eye on my crew at all times and keep a cool, yet deliberate hand on the throttle. I will give myself and my knowledge as those who gave to me; so as the line of Coast Guard Surfman will live forever. I will ensure that my supervisors rest easy with the knowledge that I am at the helm, no matter what the conditions. I will never unnecessarily jeopardize myself, my boat or my crew; but will do so freely to rescue those in peril. I will strive with dedication and determination to bring credit upon Coast Guard Surfman past and future.

I'm an Aunt!

My first little neice, Ava Claire Wike, arrived January 17th at 6 PM Alaska time...and she is ADORABLE!! She was 8 pounds 12 ounces and 21 1/2 inches! This is rather exciting for Brett and I because we are an Aunt and Uncle for the first time. Brett is an only child, and I of course only have a brother. That makes Jared and Nicole our favorite brother & sister...and Ava our favorite, most beautiful neice! :) She is one lucky girl too. She's got awesome parents who love her so much! And most importantly, the coolest Aunt & Uncle. :)

So, welcome to the world Ava Claire! We are so excited you are here and we love you so much. I can't wait to hold you and snuggle. And I'm sure Uncle Brett and Kayleigh can't wait to play with you.

This last one is my favorite. It looks likes she's dancing in her sleep. :)

These days...

Kayleigh is changing so much every day. She's crawling...everywhere! She's pulling up on everything. I'm pretty sure she's dying to walk though that will probably be a while away. She does great when she's holding on to someone though. She's "talking" like crazy and even got out Dada...though I'm sure she's not quite sure that means something. Nonetheless, it's so sweet to hear! She's finally getting her first tooth and actually I think we are getting two for one! Her bottom two seem to have just cut through. As you probably know, she loves food and is enjoying feeding herself now. She's definitely a fan of the Gerber puffs.

And the other big family news is that Kayleigh's going to a big sister! That's right, we've got another little one on the way! We are so excited and are headed to the doctor this week. I'm feeling ok. A lot sicker than I was with Kayleigh. I'm so glad they will be so close in age, and we are hoping they will be close little friends!

Another important update...Cason had his kidney transplant and is doing fabulous!! It is such a blessing for their family that both B.G.'s mom, who donated her kidney, and Cason are recovering so well. He's even eating! That's a huge improvement! Continue praying from him and his family!

We hope everyone is doing well! We love and miss you all!

Love from the Bonner's!

Catch-up

I'm finally getting around to putting up Christmas pictures. There are a ton. It was a long trip and we got to visit a lot of people, hence a lot of pictures. :) Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!! Kayleigh had a blast her first Christmas!

We finally arrived in Georgia! I think Kayleigh was excited to see Nana!

Kayleigh's first experience was Santa. She's not quite sure who he is supposed to be. She's quite the skeptic. :)

All the young cousins. Notice Kayleigh is not happy at this point.

"what are you people doing to me?"

We dressed her up in Jessie's Halloween wig.

Kayleigh helping Nana decorate her first Christmas tree.

Spending time with JB.

Packing up Uncle Jared & Aunt Nicole's package.

We even got to go see Tricia, B.G., Jackson & Cason! It was so great to see them!

Visiting Nanny!

Out to dinner in Charleston with Natalia! We had such a good time, but our time was way too short!

Kayleigh visiting with Bob & Hadley. She was just a month old at their wedding for her first vacation.

The view from their awesome place in Bluffton, SC.

Hadley, me & Dare

Best buds.

Grandmommie with her two newest

Kayleigh & Papa

Kayleigh & Linda

My crazy cousins! They are hilarious!! It was so great to see them. It had definitely been way too long.

We even got to go to dinner with high school friends! It was so great to catch up with everyone!

"Wait...you look kinda familar. Haven't I seen you before?"

She's such an observer.

This was an awesome Santa!! K even smiled!

Snuggling with my peanut :)

Kayleigh & G.G. She was so sick. Her first cold & ear infection at Christmas! :(

My crazy dad!

And my really crazy husband.

I love my family!!!!!!

Home for the Holidays!

Staying up late to pack - check
No sleep from continously remembering things I forgot to pack - check
Finally falling asleep and then oversleeping - check
Weighing my bag, removing things I don't need (according to Brett), reweighing, removing, reweighing... - check
Rushing to the airport because of course I'm late - check
Getting a baby, diaperbag, carryon, stroller, and carseat through security (with a little help from the friendly pilot) - check
Getting through a 4 1/2 hour plan ride alone with a 7 month old - check
Hauling all of the above items through the enormous Atlanta airport - check
Making it home for Christmas - PRICELESS!

Well...actually it cost a small fortune for plane tickets, but it's so nice to be home for the holidays and spending time with family and friends! Being so far away makes it so much nicer to be home. Now we are just waiting on Brett to join us! Kayleigh and I miss him already! For everyone in Georgia, we are here until the 27th. Call us, drop by or kidnap us if you have to, but make sure you see us before we head back to the wrong I mean west coast.

Am I the only one?

So I was reading a favorite blog (You should totally check her out. She's hilarious! )and she posted about Esperanto. I never even knew this existed. Where do you even learn it? They certainly aren't advertising Rosetta Stone in Esperanto. I just thought I was pretty educated...at least on the basics, but never once have I ever heard of this. Or Chisanbop? Really? Do people use this? Well, I'm not sure if I'll ever use it, but officially know how to count in Chisanbop (if that's even how you use the word). So I just thought I'd share. If you didn't know, now you do. :)

Tahoe

Here are Mom's pictures from Tahoe...that I'm finally getting around to posting. These first pictures are from our tour of the Bay on the 47' Motorlife Boat. We got a sunset tour of the Bay including a trip under the Golden Gate, into Pier 39 to check out the seals, right alongside Alcatraz and closeups of the city and Angel Island! It was lots of fun and Mom even got to drive!

This is Emerald Bay in Tahoe. It is absolutely gorgeous! There's a huge waterfall and lots of trails to hike. We hiked up to Eagle Lake which was straight uphill to get up there, but totally worth it! It was beautiful!

I made it!!

And last but not least, Brett and Dad's snowboarding adventure! I know Brett enjoyed getting back on his board and I think Dad did pretty well. We'll see if he comes back for another try! :)