California, Michael #3, Up to date!

In November I got to go stay with my brother and sister-in-law for a whole month. My mom, Grandma, and I went down to help them get ready for their new baby! He expected arrival date was Dec first I believe. Although we had a good time, I safely say I wouldn't want to live in 29 palms! I had an awesome time with family, but I missed the trees and the green of Oregon. There were some crazy wind storms and some awesome sunsets, and I got to take some cool pictures of cacti! Michael is stationed there for the Marines. It was the longest time I had ever spent away from Josh. It was hard to leave home, but I knew how important is was for me to be there for Bud and his family. Not only that, it was also the longest my Grandma and my Mom had ever been away from their spouses. Shayna (my cousin) was able to come over from the LA area and spend the day and night with us too. It was a really good time. I did however miss home a lot and when it was time to go I was ready, although I still got sad to be leaving everyone. Baby Bud came into the world on Nov. 29th around 2:45 am. It was a pretty intense ordeal. It started as a pretty normal labor and ended in an e-emergency C-section. Let's just say it made me a little scared to have to go through labor myself someday. No worries though all is well with both baby and Mommy, as most of you can see on facebook. He was a big boy and continues to grow! I hope we will get to see more of him soon!
   Our drive home was pretty intense also. It was good at first. I drove from 29 palms to Fresno, then my mom took over from Fresno to Sacramento,(we had a little detour through some cotton fields) at Sacramento I drove till Redding. My mom got to drive through the snow over the mountains. We made it home safely and I was able to surprise Josh. He didn't know I was coming home that day. It was nice! A few weeks later Bud, Gina, and lil' Bud came up for Christmas. It was a really neat Christmas having everyone together for the first time in a while. We played games, danced, and ate a lot of really yummy food. We also got to take family pictures! Of course it is a Jarvis tradition to take pictures whenever Bud is back in town. I love my family and it was great having us all together. Sadly Bud had to leave New Years day because he had to report for deployment. He is on the USS DENVER Somewhere in the ocean. We pray constantly for him to be safe and return home whole and healthy. It makes it really hard to listen to any form of Country music. Through a website called Motomail.us we are able to send him letters as much as we want, and they are delivered to him constantly. We love you Bud and know it is because of your sacrifices and others that stepped before you, that we are blessed with the Freedoms we have today!
a quick update of the last three months. I know, I have been a slacker! In January it was my birthday. It was low key and fun! Josh has been working hard at work and school and I have been working hard at home and school. I have started a few projects... although I haven't finished very many. I am taking a photography class this term and hopefully I will be able to post some of our projects. I am also taking photoshop and had learned some really cool stuff. Other than that life has been pretty laid back for us. My sisters came up for a girls weekend and we had a blast! So much fun in fact, we have another scheduled for next weekend! After that Josh has a field trip to the coast for his Geo class and we are going to stay the weekend! Nothing like the Oregon coast in February! I will make a commitment to stay updated and post more often. Oh, we also bought a new camera and returned it. We having a hard time finding one that really fits us. Soon we will I am hoping! Hope all is well with everyone! Oh and Happy Valentine's Day!