Tolman Family

So, this is what Jessica always looks like. When she's awake, she's WIDE awake. Everyone who sees her says, "she has such big eyes!" The funny thing is they said the exact same thing when I was a baby. My mom has pictures of me with my eyes the size of saucers. Like Mommy, like baby. :)

Well, here it is! The Monterey Public Library Bookmobile was unveiled on Saturday. And look who's on the side - It's Hank! He's a star! For the next 30 years Hank's face will be driving around Monterey, bringing books to the masses. Doesn't he look hot? Jessica thinks her Daddy's pretty cool.

We went up to San Francisco to celebrate Hank's birthday. It was the first time Jessica had been there. She loved it. We drove down the crookedest street in America, then we went shopping downtown. We ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (Hank's favorite restaurant). About halfway through dinner Jessica realized she was hungry and she started screaming. Luckily, since the music in that place is so darn loud no one around us could even tell she was upset! Alpha Company had a fitness competition the other night and the families of the soldiers were invited to attend. We had a bake sale to raise money for the company Christmas party. I brought a pumpkin cake roll and it was auctioned off for $30. Woohoo! The picture above is of the event Hank competed in. The blur is Hank. He had to wear a 50 lb rucksack and run a lap around the track. I think I clocked him at about 100 mph at this point. Happy Thanksgiving! We stayed in Monterey for Thanksgiving this year. Hank's compan...

Jessica and I went to the Monarch Butterfly sanctuary today for playgroup. No, Baby is not quite old enough to play yet, but Mommy likes the social interaction. It was pretty amazing. "Monarchs west of the Rockies come to Pacific Grove and several other locations on the central California coast. En route, they may travel as far as 2,000 miles, covering perhaps a hundred miles a day, and fly as high as 10,000 feet. A mighty achievement for a creature much smaller and more fragile than the tiniest bird!" There were almost 18,000 butterflies there today. They all cluster together in the tops of the trees. At first we thought it was kind of lame because we could only see the 20 or so butterflies that were flying around. Once we finally realized that the trees were actually covered in butterflies, not leaves, it was pretty cool. ...

Hank turned 26 on the 19th. Happy Birthday! Jessica and I brought cupcakes to him and his class. So, there are a million things I love about Hank, but I'll just list 26. 1. He loves changing diapers. 2. He likes to travel to new places with me. 3. He is a great cook. 4. He always cleans the bathroom. 5. He loves teaching primary. 6. He loves his scouts. 7. He is an amazing scriptorian. 8. He knows a lot about politics, economics, history, geography, physics, biology, languages, and the gospel. 9. His family looks up to him and he tries to set a good example for them. 10. He got a 3, 3 on the Spanish DLPT. 11. He loves America. 12. He gets up in the middle of the night with the baby. 13. He loves Disneyland. 14. He has a great laugh. 15. He has a great sense of humor. 16. He is a people-person. 17. He is a great knitter. 18. He brings me flowers 'cause he knows I like it. 19. He works hard to provide for us. 20. He wants to be his best self. 21. He is so...

So, we think Jessica's starting to understand that her hands can actually do things. At first they would just flail about as if she had no control of them, but now they're becoming useful. She sucks on them, she pushes things away, she grasps things, and most importantly, she hugs. We love it. I snuck this picture while Daddy and Baby took a nap. Cute, huh? Bright-Eyes Hank got an award from the Battalion Commander the other day for Excellence in Education. Here at DLI it is very hard to pass the DLPT (the BIG test) in Arabic. In fact the pass rate is about 13% - not good. There are 3 semesters and Hank took the test at the end of the 2nd semester and not only passed it, but aced it with flying colors. He got a really cool-looking Battalion coin. He will still take it at the end of the year and he plans on being the first person in 30 years to get a perfect score. Go Hank!

I am so grateful for the Veterans in our country. I am grateful for all they've done to make our freedom possible. I am so proud of Hank and his friends who have sacrificed so much so that I can have a better life. No one should have to go through the things they have, but they know that someone has to and they do it willingly. That is real courage. Real love. Thank you Veterans.