Tolman Family

I woke up to this this morning: Hank and Jessica surprised me with this wonderful breakfast - for no good reason! Hank said he wanted to make a deposit into my love bank. What a sweet guy! (Notice the heart-shaped pancake and the giant box of chocolates.) I love Happy Breakfast Day!

For every cute picture that I take of this little angel, there are ten others that didn't turn out so well. Here are some of the random pictures we've taken this month.

Good News! We finally got our orders! We are officially moving to Arizona (not Korea!). Hank will be an instructor there for the next year and a half. We will be living in the city of Sierra Vista. It's about an hour south of Tuscon, right by the Mexican border. It's a small town in the middle of the desert. It should be fun! So, since we're moving we decided we better hurry and see some of the sights around Monterey that we've been meaning to see ever since we got here. Today we went and saw the classic Big Sur waterfall. It was beautiful. It looks small in the picture above, but the water drops 80 feet to the beach below. We also went to Pfeiffer State Beach. It was probably the most scenic beach I've ever seen. It is a very secluded beach surrounded by forests and cliffs. No, this is not a trick of the camera, the sand here is actually purple! It is so cool! I would definately recommend a trip to this secret little cove if you're ever in the ar...

Okay, so this is the absolute coolest water ever. (Get it, cool?) I'm usually not a huge fan of flavored water, but I love this mint water. I've actually only tried the peppermint and the spearmint, but I'm really anxious to try the rest. Chocolate mint water?! Are you kidding me?! Awesome. So, we have a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine (I was tricked into it), but I like this new Food Network Magazine so much better. Seriously, it's awesome. We decided to cut back our cable, so we no longer get the Food Network. It was our favorite channel. But this magazine totally gives me my Food Network fix! It is filled with recipes, and stars, and tips. I love it! I think I'm going to subcsribe to it because it's $3.99 in stores, but only $1 per issue if you subscribe. www.ldsjournal.com is a really cool website. It's a free online journal that you can connect to wherever you can connect to the internet. I have a really hard time remembering to writ...

Click the image for a closer look We had a wonderful Valentine's weekend this year. We had the opportunity to stay at a "ranch" in Big Sur (thanks Spencers!). First we went to breakfast in Carmel Valley at the wagon wheel. I had eggs benedict florentine and Hank had oatmeal banana pancakes. After a halfhearted attempt to find a geocache, we headed up to the ranch. It is a beautiful big house overlooking the ocean. There was a swimming pool, hot tub, treehouse, playhouse, stable, corral, etc, etc, etc. We even had a fireplace in the master suite. The best part was we had it all to ourselves. It is meant to be a place where you can connect with family and enjoy the beauty of nature, so no TVs, CDs, blackberries, etc are allowed. It was so nice to have a weekend to just spend time with each other. It was raining for most of the time we were there so we spent a lot of time huddled in front of the fire. We read books and sipped italian sodas in the hot tub, watched t...

So, nothing is for sure yet, but I thought I better update everyone on where we're going next. We were told that Hank was being sent to Korea, but we never got the orders to go. Then the other day we were told that he will actually be sent to Fort Huachuca, Arizona to be an instructor for the Human Intelligence Collection school.* Yeah, from Korea to Arizona. That's a big difference. If that is the case then I will be able to go with him and we'll be there till his military term ends in a year and a half. The sad part is that I won't be going to Utah, afterall. But being together for the first year of Jessica's life will be wonderful. I'll keep you updated. *Because the Army has a bad habit of changing its mind at the last minute, all information is subject to change.

Hank graduated today from DLI. It was so cool. He was on the stage for most of the ceremony because of all the awards he was getting. He also gave a speech in Arabic. Unfortunately I missed a lot of it because poor Jessica was fussing the whole time (she got shots yesterday and hasn't been feeling very well). Okay, now it's time for me to brag about my awesome husband. Here are just some of the things he was recognized for today: - Diploma with Highest Honors from Defense Language Institute. - He scored a 3, 3, 2+ on the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT). That is pretty much the highest score you can get. He scored the highest in his graduating class and had the highest GPA as well. - Associate of Arts in Arabic degree by the authority granted by the Congress of the United States of America. - Provost's Award for outstanding scholastic achievement and superior language proficiency. - Army Achievement Medal for meritorious achievement as an Arabic Linguis...

After church today we played this: This is our current favorite game - Ticket to Ride. It's surprisingly fun to play with only two people. I really shouldn't brag about it, but I WON! (That doesn't happen very often when playing against Hank.) and ate this: This is one of my favorite recipes. It is so easy and it tastes just like it is made from scratch. Try it. Trust me, you'll like it. and sang: So, it may surprise some of you to know this, but Jessica can talk. Yes, yes, it's true. We have a baby genius. She says, "Hi," and when you ask her what her favorite color is she says "blue." Just today I asked her if she was ready to go and she responded with "go." Her vocabulary is expanding everyday. We often have very intelligent conversations consisting entirely of blowing rasberries. She loves to sing, too. Clapping her hands during patty-cake is her favorite part. . . . okay, okay, I may be embellishing a little, but I...

We took a trip to San Francisco yesterday for Stake Temple Day. We had our good friend, Chris, come along to babysit while we were in the temple. This is the first time we have been able to go since Jessica was born. It was so nice. It was a beautiful day...so beautiful that Jessica had to wear her sunglasses. Afterward we went to lunch at our favorite restaurant, Joe's Cable Car. Joe makes the best hamburgers ever. Then we went to a street fair and I bought some really cute barrettes for Jessica and me to share. We then went on a hunt to find the best dessert in Little Italy. I think we found it. It was such a fun day!