Good Bye 2012- Hello 2013

So it's New Year's Eve. The end of 2012. It's been quite a year and I am happy to see it go. We have so many wonderful things to look forward to in 2013....

Daddy coming home!

Selling our house! (please, someone, buy our house when we put it on the market...)

Moving into town!

Mommy/Daddy Cruise!

Grandma Pamela and Aunt Rosalie coming to visit!

Grandma Pat and Grandpa Lee coming to visit!

Maybe another cruise this summer!

Kids riding the school bus next year!

Henry going to Middle School!

Jeff going to 4th grade!

Jenna going to 1st Grade!

Kelsey going to K3? Maybe!

Another Douberly on the way? Who knows?!!!!

So much fun is headed our way! Here's to 2013! Bring it on!

Christmas Morning!

We had a great morning opening gifts with Daddy via Skype. He got to be with us the entire hour and a half that we spent opening gifts. Even Missy joined us. :) The kids were really happy with the gifts they received and have played with them all week long! We ate cupcakes for breakfast and then enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner while the craziest storm blew outside. I was so happy when it finally passed over. Thank you to everyone who sent us such lovely gifts! We truly felt very loved this year. We miss Daddy but we're getting close- just one more month to go!!!!

Christmas Eve at the Douberlys

Merry Christmas from the Douberlys!

Here we all our with our new Christmas jammies on listening to Daddy read the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2. Skype is a miracle. 

December Fun!

Jenna with her Reading Fair Board. She did a great job!!

Back on the 12th little Kelsey Anne had surgery to repair a tiny hernia she has had for as long as we can remember. It was nice to see so many familiar faces at the hospital on base. They took super good care of Kelsey- even cutting her bandage into the shape of a heart! Kelsey was a fantastic patient except when she woke up with the pulse oxygen thingy taped to her thumb that she normally sucks. Once we got that off we were good to go. It was quite a long day but I am so glad it won't be hurting her anymore and will only be getting better- not worse. She recovered remarkably quickly and was jumping on the bed again just 2 days later. We just went in for her post-op appointment and she no longer has any restrictions. We were all so happy she could finally have a bath and we all went swimming again that evening. I am so thankful my children are so healthy. It was a rough day. I feel for parents whose children go through things like this all the time. They most certainly need all our prayers!





Jenna had her Christmas Kindergarten program on December 13th. The program was the ABCs of Christmas. Jenna part was, "F is for fireplace, cheery and bright!" She was the cutest little fireplace ever! All of the children looked so cute in their costumes. I love that it's still ok down here to celebrate Christmas. With angels and Santa Claus alike! 

A Little Bit of Static...

An afternoon in the park turned into one funny photo shoot late last month. We all shared lots of laughs and lots of trips down the slide that day. Kelsey's hair reacted the best. The older three just loved sliding down and shock Grandma Pat and me!!

Halloween 2012

My mom and I make a great team! She came out for three weeks in October. I don't know why I didn't take any photos. We stayed super busy the whole time! I wanted Kelsey to dress as a Roaring 20s Darling since her bobbed haircut was perfect for the era. We were thrilled to find a homemade flapper dress at a thrift shop but it was about a size 12! Just a little big for a three year old. Then, at about the same time, mom and I  both thought about just cutting the top off the dress, putting elastic in the new top edge, and putting the old straps back on. It worked perfectly! While mom was sewing the elastic and straps, I used the scraps to create a matching flower to go in her headpiece. Oh, My! She looked too perfect! It was just as I had imagined. We had a ton of fun making the costume and even more fun showing her off. People in the stores were so cute. One man in the BX even asked her to do the Charleston and was surprised that we had already coached her on the dancing. Away she went a-dancing! So cute! Jeff was a total sweetie and wanted to be Daddy for Halloween. Jenna, always the princess, looked stunning in her costume, too. Henry, for some reason was no where to be found at picture time. I think he may be growing up...

October Pack Meeting

October Pack meeting brought the Douberlys more awards and Halloween fun! Jeff received his first of 4 achievement beads and Henry received his Forester Webelos pin. The boys then enjoyed lots of really great Halloween games and treats. 

It's about time...

Back in October Jenna moved into a big girl bed! She had been happy in her toddler bed for more than three years, but someone in the ward offered us a free twin bed meaning Kelsey could move into the toddler bed and we went for it! Jenna loves her big bed. It is super comfy! She even got to get a brand new bedding set which she loves! My girls are growing up!

Kelsey's Photo Shoot

I think I have the cutest kids EVER! Here are Kelsey's 3 year old photos. It's so fun to just go outside and snap some fun photos! She was a total doll and I love how her photos turned out! 

Operation Hero

Happy Birthday to me! Back on October 13th I took the kiddos to enjoy Operation Hero on base. It's a special activity for families of deployed service members. The kids get to pretend they are off on their own deployment. The check in, receive dog tags, t-shirts, and "immunizations" (syringes filled with kool-aid). Then they get to enjoy activities like being bandaged and carried by medics, flipping giant tractor tires, learning about weapons, talking with chaplains, driving military vehicles, using night vision scopes in a darkened tent, and watching police dog presentations. It was a super fun morning!