Life with the Whaley's

Summertime

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:43:00 +0000

It is hard to believe we are really into Summer now. I love summer weather, but I think Summer is one of my least favorite seasons of the year. Our schedule is totally different and it seems that major life events are always in limbo during the summer. 2008 was our graduation and wedding, 2009 was living at our parent’s house and Keira’s birth, 2010 was moving into our new house and trying to get RJ into Bethany.

Now here we are in 2011 and we have so much up in the air. With the unfortunate news of Bethany University closing RJ is stuck with a half complete teaching credential and Master’s degree. Fortunately we have been reassured from his program director that if another school does not pick up their program that he will be fully assisted in transferring to another program nearby. We are also trying to decide how to increase our income. I currently only work part-time during tax season and RJ has tutoring students during the school year, but has not picked up any summer students. God has placed some very interesting opportunities in front of us so we’ll have to see what happens.

But are always thankful for what God is doing. RJ and I were able to take an trip to Cambria and Hearst Castle for our 3 year wedding anniversary. Here are some pictures:

Spring Craziness

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:51:00 +0000

It is amazing how fast this year is flying bye. Right now I am counting down the weeks until Tax Season is over! I love my job, but the end is always hard because I do not like being away from home so much. Hopefully next year I'll be able to cut back my hours some.

March is a fun filled month of activities. Last weekend I helped organize a BBQ fundraiser for Second Harvest food bank at my office. We did pretty good raising just shy of $200, plus we are still raising funds through the non-profit referral program. Any new client that comes in can elect to have Block make a $25 donation and it does not cost anything extra. This will be good all the way until April 18 so I am hoping to raise lots of extra money for the food bank!
This weekend is the annual rummage sale at our church, Aptos Christian Fellowship. Hopefully the rain won't kill the turnout and we'll be able to raise a lot of money for our Missions budget. I will be running the Coffee Cart so if you want to come get a Hot drink and check out the sale it is from 7am to 3pm.

Next week we are super excited because a bunch of friends from Vanguard are coming out to our house for a mini reunion. It is going to be a lot of fun to see everyone, catch up, and just have fellowship with amazing people!

For now I'm going to enjoy the rain!

Keira is ready for the rain!

A Busy Day in the Life of Keira

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:05:00 +0000

Checking Facebook and Yo Gabba Gabba

Cleaning the Kitchen

Working on Puzzles

Inspecting the "cave" and slide

Seasons of Joy

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 06:24:00 +0000

It is hard to believe that Christmas is nearly upon us. I feel like Halloween was just yesterday!
In the midst of our crazy schedules we managed to get a Christmas tree and some decorations up. This is our first Christmas in our very own home so it will be exciting to start family traditions as well as continue established traditions. One tradition is the Lucia Festival, which Keira was in her first time this year. I don't have the pictures loaded yet, but they will come soon. I do have others though.
We had our family photos done while in Hemet for Thanksgiving and it is amazing to see how big Keira is this year compared to last. Here are a few shots:

Last Years Pictures:

Mini Update

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:12:00 +0000

Keira is definitely a toddler now! She runs all around constantly asking to go outside. She loves to visit her Ponies and see the Deer walk through the property.
Daddy is working hard at Grad School and Mommy is busy with Coffee and Missions at church, but we are a happy little family. The house is slowly getting decorated and organized so it is more like a home. Unfortunately there is very little storage in the house so we have to get creative, so shelves are going up all over the place. I promise I will take pictures if the house is ever clean ;-) wink wink

This weekend is Halloween so there will be lots of pictures of Keira (and Mommy) in their costumes for the Harvest Festival.

Dirt

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:25:00 +0000

Keira loves playing outside!

Keira is 1 year old!

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:29:00 +0000

Here are a few photos from Keira's birthday weekend.

She turned 1 year old on Saturday June 26th. I cannot believe how big she is getting! We had Lily's party on Saturday and Keira's on Sunday after her Dedication at Church.

Long Awaited update

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Yes I realize I have not updated in much too long. Keira has been crawling for almost a month now and it still blows my mind how fast she is growing up. Here is a video of her crawling in the front yard.

In other news I am back at home with Keira and so glad to not be working taxes anymore. I am working a wonderful home based business that I love. RJ is about to finish up his German class and we have yet to hear from San Jose State about grad school. He has two tutoring students and is looking for a summer job. We are also looking into him getting his teaching credentials if San Jose doesn't work out this year.

We are still not in our own house, but we have begun to unpack because it is getting much closer. PG&E seem to be slowing us down more than anything at this point. I need to get new pictures of the house up so you can see all our progress!

TTFN!

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Always getting herself in trouble. She got here all by herself, and she does not crawl yet...

Quick Update

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:47:00 +0000

Our house is getting closer to being done. The contractors have completed the foundation and they should be close to done patching things inside. The floors come in next week and then the big things left are to hook up utilities.
I am still working hard doing taxes and RJ is taking German class at Cabrillo. He will submit his Grad School application next week so cross your fingers on that. Keira is growing more everyday!

Here are a couple Pictures:

She Loves to play with the Kitty Cats

Sitting Up all by herself since Valentines day

New Pictures of Keira

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:58:00 +0000

Daddy is trying to send me away! Just kidding, I love boxes.

Ready for a walk

I love jumping and playing

Christmas Photos and Family Update

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:17:00 +0000

Hi Everyone! Sorry we didn't get these pictures up sooner. Melissa is now working at H&R Block as a tax preparer and RJ got hired (Finally) by Club Z tutoring who will soon be sending students his way.

Keira is growing like a weed and already has four teeth! She loves to help Grandma Julie in the office while Mom is at work. We also picked up the building permit for our house! So as soon as the rain lets up the foundation can be poured and the house can be delivered. We are hoping for a late February move-in date. We will keep everyone updated on the progress.

Here are a couple pictures from Christmas is Southern California

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:14:00 +0000

Merry Christmas from the Whaley's!

We are in Hemet this year celebrating Keira's first Christmas. Lots of pictures to come!

Tooth Picture

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:12:00 +0000

I finally got a picture or Keira's two teeth!

Food Video

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:41:00 +0000

Sorry it took me a bit to get the video working.

Keira's morning update

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:06:00 +0000

Keira likes to tell us about the world.

Keira's Favorite things

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:47:00 +0000

She loves to read the sunday paper with Grandma Julie

She Loves Christmas trees, especially our fiber optic one

She loves to pet her cat Abbey

Tooth Number 2

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Keira's second tooth poked through last week and we can see the top two sitting under her gums. She looks soo cute with the little white in her mouth. I have been trying to get a picture, but you know how well babies hold still.

First Food

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:52:00 +0000

Keira got to eat Sweet Potatoes last wednesday, 11/25. She has been watching mom eat and trying to steal food off her plate for a couple weeks so we figured it was about time to let her try out some yummy things. I was going to give her the first food on Thanksgiving day, but we spent it at the Titus home so I didn't want to bring the high chair over there.

Don't let the pictures fool you, she liked eating a lot. Of course she wants to hold the spoon herself.

Giggles

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Keira is one happy giggly girl!

Thanksgiving 2009

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Keira got to celebrate her first thanksgiving this Thursday and then braved Black friday with Mom, Grandma Julie, and Great aunt Susan. We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Titus home this year which has been a tradition for many years, but has not happened in about 4 or 5 years because many people could not make it down from Oregon. Keira was the only baby this year so of course she stole the show.

As far as shopping goes, she was a champ! I think she ended up getting more clothes than anyone else, but what else would you expect? Here is a peak at one of her new tops (leopard print of course!)

Teething

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:36:00 +0000

Keira surprised us with a tooth on Tuesday. It just broke through the gums and her second is not far behind. I guess that is why she was waking up so much at night the past month. I have been trying to get a picture but she isn't so good about holding still with an open mouth :)

ChrismaThanksAWeen

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:51:00 +0000

I'm sure most of you are asking what the heck that means. Well, it is a fun little holiday that we created a few years back with some good friends. This was the first year it was hosted in Aptos and it went great! Keira had lots of fun and got to finally meet her Aunt Antje.

4 Months old

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Talking and Singing

noreply@blogger.com (RJ and Missa) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:46:00 +0000