So, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not very good at keeping up with a blog!  Maybe I need to get my rear in gear and start updating people on the Ramos family's goings-on so y'all don't get tired of visiting a blog that's old and dusty!
Here we are back at Fort Riley, KS for the second time and living on post in yet another awesome neighborhood!  Grace and Evie both attend Ware Elementary which is a mere hop, skip and jump from our house.  Genna is in pre-k at the post CDC and is preparing for next year's venture into kindergarten!
We live in a brand new neighborhood, on the hill in the McClellan subdivision and we have the best neighbors you could even ask for!  The "Loop" has become very close and all of us mom's have a great system of watching each other's kids and keeping each other "in the loop" as to which child is where and what they're up to!
The kids have found their niche and have formed close bonds with the other girls in the neighborhood.  We have daily play dates and pretty much a sleepover every weekend!  The ladies of The Loop now have a bunco group that meets once a month and the neighborhood sponsored our first progressive dinner for New Year's Eve.  In the summer we plan to have many a neighborhood BBQ and other little gatherings as often as possible.  We've definitely been blessed with a wonderful group of people in this neighborhood!
That's all for now, nobody can say I haven't updated my blog!  Goodbye for now, y'all!

Looking back....

The year is almost over and I have to say it has been the most difficult separation Peter and I have endured in our marriage. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and am looking forward to this being over. It is my hope that we won't have to endure another separation. My wish is that we can stay right here and Peter can retire and we can raise our girls in a stable environment with no more moving. My emotional ups and downs during this deployment have really taken a toll on us, but we plan to get through this together and come out at the other end as better people who are more in love than ever!

A long year ahead...

Sadly, it's that time again:  saying goodbye to daddy for a year.  I'm a little nervous about what the year has in store for us, but am confident in the Lord's grace and mercy.  The separation will be harder on the girls than any of us and it's my intention to help them to understand how important daddy's job is.  I'm going to "try" to put some stories/comments/photos on our blog a little more often; especially since I've been so bad about it recently!

The girls!

Silly girls laying around with the dogs!

Evie's new napping spot

Genna loving on Patch

Our beautiful trio

Wow, it's been a while!

Gosh I'm getting lazy!  I last posted at Christmas!  The Ramos family is doing great and we're still lovin' our "new" house!  We've added our last addition to the family recently, our Dachshund/Beagle mix, Patch.  He's the perfect companion for Molly because he gets her off her butt and makes her play!  He's wonderful with the kids and I think that's one of his greatest attributes (besides being a super cutie!)

Merry Christmas!

Seasons greetings everyone! Just like last year, we're attempting to save some paper (and some time) by eliminating Christmas cards and simply sending our well-wishes through cyberspace instead!

What are we up to? Well, this summer we moved from Fort Leavenworth, KS to Walkersville, MD and purchased our first home! We have settled in nicely and have finally finished with all of the painting and decorating. We love our new neighborhood and have made some really great friends.

Grace is in Kindergarten this year and she absolutely loves it. She is doing really well with reading and writing; we're very proud of her. Grace's favorite thing to do when she's home is play "teacher"...and what a bossy teacher she is!

Evie just turned 3 years old last month and boy is she a thinker! It's so amusing to hear the things that come out of her mouth! Recently she has decided she would rather wear diapers than use the potty, which has been very discouraging, but we're hoping she'll change her mind soon and become "a big girl".

Genna is now 15 months old and is walking and climbing all over the house. She has amazing little conversations of gibberish with herself and her sisters. She is doing really well with communicating by using signs, gestures and words.

Peter just got back from a 10 day trip to Korea and is still a little foggy from jet lag. He has been working at Fort Detrick with the 6th MLMC as the SPO S3 (lots of gibberish I know, but that's the Army for ya!) Over the next few months he'll be participating in training exercises in Korea and here in Maryland.

I have been working hard at making this house a home while caring for the girls and daddy too! If time allows I'd like to be a volunteer at our local animal shelter. I plan on making some doggie beds to donate and would like to be part of the foster program as well. I have also been working with local charities to support families in need this holiday season.

Well, that's it from us....here's hoping that this note finds everyone in good health and good spirits! We pray that you will all have a blessed holiday and very happy new year.

God Bless!
Love,
The Ramos Family
Peter, Michelle, Grace, Evie and Genna

Trimming the tree

Our first "real" tree at our new house!

Genna really enjoyed eating the ornaments!

The tube that the ornaments came in proved to be more fun than the tree!

Finally got Evie interested in helping

Grace looking super cute!

Winter fun

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Daddy and the girls enjoying the snow!

The ferrets were having a blast playing. They're quite entertaining to watch!

The MAN room!!

I actually painted and arranged the man room while Peter was away and surprised him when he got back. Of course there had to be a place for his Army guys to fight their battles!

Here is my sunny sewing room. We added an area where the kids can play or draw and the room with the white wall is another part of the basement that we set up as a play area. You would think with so much for them to do we'd have lots of time to hobby down there, but that's not the case....it's always "I want to go upstairs mom"!

Our beautiful kitchen and new fridge and our "sitting room" with the couches new "makeover". Still have pictures to put up in this room but it's getting there!

Evie and Genna's beautiful garden room and Grace's pink and aqua fairy room

Our House

Here's some pics of our cozy family room

Grace's birthday with her friends at Summer's Farm

The giant bouncy pillow was a BIG hit!

Grace and her "crew"














Relaxing with Cousin River