Navy Graduation

After 2 whole months of anticipation Jake finally graduated from Basic Training. It was a wonderful weekend of catching up and hanging out, and it came to an end far too quickly. Here is a quick summary:

We drove down Thursday night and got into Chicago pretty late. After a short nights sleep we headed down the road to the Naval base. We arrived about an hour before the ceremony and the majority of that time was spent walking long distances in the freezing cold (at this point I was seriously regretting my choice of foot wear). When we finally got to the graduation hall we were surprised to find that there was almost NO seating. We were forced to separate, but Rorie and I found a seat directly in front of Jake's division. The ceremony was wonderful: quick & dignified. An impressive feat considering that there were almost 1500 recruits graduating. At the end of the ceremony the MC announced "Liberty Call!" and huge warehouse style doors behind the recruits opened up to the outside. It was instant chaos as family members swarmed onto the floor to find their recruits. We found Jake fairly quick and it was WONDERFUL to see him. Rorie was a little hesitant at first but she soon let him hold her. He was only allowed to give me a quick hug & kiss and then had to "escort" me to the car. He wasn't even allowed to hold my hand! They were very specific on PDA and what was appropriate for a sailor to do in public while in uniform (Jake had to remind me more than once during the weekend). To celebrate his accomplishment we took Jake to Outback for some "real" food, a.k.a a big fat steak. The whole day made me very proud to be a Navy Wife!

The next couple of days were spent mostly at our hotel (plus a quick trip to Gurnee Mills), everyone just relaxing and enjoying being together. Rorie was THRILLED to have her dad around and I was relieved at how fast she warmed up to him. Almost every other word out of her mouth was "Daddy!" She had so much fun showing off for him and hogging his attention. It made me sad all over again to think how much she had been missing him.

Sunday morning we attended church with Jake on base. The ward was tiny, about 4o people, but the spirit was very strong. It was very apparent that for many of the recruits, church was the one thing that got them through the week. Jake was asked to give a talk last minute (about 5 mn before sacrament meeting started) and it was the highlight of my day. It was very sweet and very tender and for the first time I really realized how difficult the last 8 weeks had been for him. There were very few dry eyes by the time he was done speaking.

Shortly after church my parents and Rorie headed back to Marquette, leaving Jake and I to enjoy Valentines day together. Jake surprised me with a new digital camera to replace our very slow and fuzzy hand-me-down one that we got from my parents when we got married. I couldn't have been happier! We also got to spend half of the day together on Monday before I had to head home. I was so grateful for the time that we got to spend alone together. It had been far too long since we have had any one on one time. It was more than a little sad saying goodbye and leaving him alone on base. It was only bearable because our next visit was less than two weeks away.

Jake left Basic Training on Wednesday and was transferred across base to A School. I got a call from him last night letting me know that he had arrived safely and that he could have his cell phone as soon as I shipped it to him. What a relief! Just knowing that he will have a way to communicate more readily makes A School about a million times better than Basic Training.

Thanks to everyone who called Rorie and I, wrote Jake, and prayed for our family these last two months. It has meant the world to us and has made us feel very loved!

Love
The Kenisons

PS. Enjoy the pictures!

My absolute favorite picture: Rorie trying to salute like her dad.

At a super fancy McDonalds...just hanging with dad

Rorie picked on her poor dad all weekend.

Not the most flattering picture ever...

In case you didn't notice, there are no pictures of Jake is his dress blues (the outfit you probably think of when you imagine a sailor) or pictures of the actual graduation ceremony. This includes Rorie's adorable sailor dress or the new outfit that I carefully put together for the big day. This is because I forgot my camera at the hotel (enter your favorite blonde joke here). Luckily my new camera is nice and small and can fit into my purse. No more bulky ridiculous camera case to lug around with me, which hopefully means no more missed photo moments in our future. Luckily Jake will soon be receiving his Graduation DVD and cruise book (boot camp year book) any day now, so at least we will have some documentation of the big day.

Just a quick update...

This last month has been super busy for us. M mom and I spent the 4th,5th and 6th in Clio,MI with my brother and sister in law. We were able to fit in a ton of Christmas shopping, great meals (I love cracker barrel!) and of course, time with Anna and Ben Ben. That Friday was also Jake's last day working at Whetstone, and he spent the weekend watching Rorie and finishing the wood floors at my parents (isn't he just the best?).
The next week was a blur of final exams (yuck) and last minute planning for Jake's departure. Sunday night at our weekly family dinner, we had an early Christmas celebration for Jake where he opened presents from his family and a stocking from me. It was a bitter sweet evening, but we were glad to be able to give him a little bit of Christmas.
First thing Monday morning I brought Jake to the recruiters. We were able to spend a few more minutes together while Jake filled out last minute paperwork and took his final drug test (such fun). It was horrible saying goodbye to him, but exciting to know that we were finally on the adventure we had been planning for almost a year.
Jake was able to call a few times to let us know how his trip was going. He arrived at Basic Training Tuesday afternoon, called to say a last goodbye, and then surrendered his phone. We will be receiving a letter sometime next week so that we have his mailing info. This will be our main form of communication for the next 9 weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will be able to call home on Christmas Day, but nothing is set in stone. We will let you all know his mailing address as soon as we get it, and pass on any information that we get.

We appreciate all of your love and prayers!

Love,
Meghan & Rorie

Utah Pics

For some reason my computer wasn't letting me post pictures with my last blog. So here are all our Thanksgiving/Utah pics...ENJOY!

The Mellor boys impatiently humoring me

Dallin in his puffy jacket trying to get outside

Rorie on the 4 Wheeler


The Mellors at Thanksgiving Dinner

Bethany and Tory...the newlyweds :)

LtoR: Melissa Davis, me, Terren Pyeatte

LtoR: Peyton Pyeatte, Rorie, Lily Davis at our playgroup reunion

Nen, Ri & I

JT...SO cute!

I think this picture says it all

Rilyn was an expert equestrian!

Nen and JT trying to stay warm

Silly

Rorie the Cowgirl

Well until next time....

The Kenisons

Thanksgiving/Utah Madness!

For Thanksgiving this year I (almost) surprised Jake with a trip home to Utah. We had a wonderful time, but the trip was a little hectic and way too short! We were there just long enough to realized that we needed a lot more time to do all of the things we wanted to do.

We left Marquette last Sunday at 6:30 (never again) and arrived in SLC by 1pm. Darrel was there to meet us and he drove us down to Springville to the Mellors. Unfortunantly Brenda happened to be flying in that evening from Seattle (she was visiting Jake's other sister Laura) and we missed her by just an hour or two. It was great to see Neldon (a little frazzled) and the boys and the nice warm dinner they had waiting for us was great too. That evening we went down to Payson for ice cream at Grandma's and got to see a majority of the extended Marvin family. It is amazing how much has changed in just 6mo! Rorie had a ton of fun playing with all of her cousins, but by 7:30 we were pretty much beat. By 8:30 we were all sound asleep at Jake's parents house in Levan

Monday was our one relaxing day. We spent all morning and afternoon in Levan, talking and catching up. That night we left Rorie for a little one on one time with Gma and Gpa and went to Nephi to see Jake's sisters Mia and Andrea in their school play. It was callled Once Upon A Mattress and it was a re-make of the story the Princess and the Pea. We were a little shocked at the slightly racy storyline, but it was a hoot to watch Andrea being chased across stage by a rowdy King.

Tuesday my best friend Nen and her two kids, Rilyn and JT came down to spend the day with me. Jake entertained Rorie and Rilyn with pony rides while Nen and I caught up and I enjoyed meeting JT for the first time. It was wonderful to see them and JT was a riot! Such a happy bubbly little baby.

Around 4 we headed up to Springville to have Rorie's 18mo portraits taken with her cousin Dallin. We met at the studio and I finally got to see Brenda! She looked great with her little baby bump, if not a little frazzled toting all three of her boys. The pictures went ok, but we were a little let down. Rorie and Dallin have taken wonderful pictures in the past, and these ones were just not up to par. They were both cranky and didn't want to cooperate, but we still managed to get a few cute pics (I will get them up as soon as I can).

Wednesday was our busiest day by far. We started the morning with Sterling Marvins funeral. It was a very sad day but the speakers were wonderful and the over all spirit was uplifting. It is always hard to bury someone who should have had so much life left, but it seemed that the family was relieved to know that he was home and in a much better place. After the funeral Jake left with Bethany for some equestrian therapy will Brenda and I headed out for some retail therapy. We came home at three to relieve the babysitter and then Rorie and I headed out to meet up with our old play group. Melissa Davis, Terren Pyeatte and I met when I first moved to Springville. We were all first time mothers with young infants and we became fast friends. Our play group and their friendship really made Springville feel like home to me. It was great to see them and to get our babies together again. We got to catch up while the babies fought (I mean played) with each other. At 5 we left the kids with their dads and headed out to dinner. It was a wonderful evening! My last stop that night was at Nen and Tommy's new apartment. It was nice to have a little more time with Nen and to get to see Tommy as well. We talked a lot about his first semester of law school and their transition from a house to a student apartment as well as from one kid to two. They certainly have had a very busy 6mo!

Thursday we headed back to Levan for Thanksgiving dinner. It was held at the Levan chapel. We had so many people that the cultural hall was the only place that could accomodate us! It is times like those that really point out the vast differences between Jake's family and mine. Dinner was delicious and filling and by the time we got back to Jake's parents house I was ready for a nap. Jake's cousins all came down from trap shooting and four wheeler rides, and the kids got to work off their turkey and mashed potatoes on the trampoline. By the time everyone left we were all ready for bed, but we stayed up to savor our last few hours with the Kenison's.

Friday morning we set out for the airport at 5:30 (seriously WHO made these reservations?!) and we were a little worried that Rorie and Jake were coming down with the flu. We had to stop 4 times (two times on the side of the freeway) so that they could throw up. Luckily they both seemed better by the time we got to the airport and we just chalked it up to too much food and too little sleep.

Our trip home was long to say the least, but after only a few minor glitches (thank you very much American Airlines) we made it back to Marquette safe and sound.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the rest of your Holiday Season!

Love,

The Kenison

One of these days...

One of these days I may get on top of my blog posting but in the mean time here is another catch up post:

Our summer just seemed to fly by. We had so much fun being in Marquette and enjoying all that the UP has to offer during its "warm" months. Now that fall is here Jake is starting to get a little nervous about his first Northern Michigan winter, especially when we had our first snow fall the second week of October. Luckily for him he only has about a month and a half left to endure before he gets to escape.

My first semester back at school has been a busy one. I really do enjoy the program and I am learning a lot. It is also fun for me to have a little bit of the true college experience, even if it is only for a few hours a day. The one major draw back is missing out on days with Rorie. It has been a hard adjustment for me but Rorie is having the time of her life. Spending all week being spoiled rotten by Grandma and Grandpa is heaven for her. I knew we were in trouble when Grandpa told me he had cooled down her oatmeal in the morning by putting a scoop of peach ice cream in it. We had to have a little conversation about proper diet after that one but on a whole they have been amazing with her. It is such a blessing to have such willing and generous parents near by.

Jake is still excited about his upcoming adventure this December, but with his departure so close we have begun to get anxious about the unknown. No matter how good the reasons are for it, seperation from your family is always a hard thing to deal with. We are so thankful to have one more holiday together before he leaves. We will have to make sure it is a great one.
Rorie is growing in leaps and bounds. Rorie has had the same three teeth for months, but just the other day we found not one, not two, but 5 NEW TEETH coming in. She has also grown about three inches in the last few weeks and she is officially too tall for 12mo clothes (although her waist is still too small for most 12mo pants) and we have had to scramble to replace her wardrobe. She is talking more and more everyday and we are loving watching her learn to express herself.

This week is halloween and we are so excited for Rorie's first real trick-or-treating experience. We will make sure to take lots of pictures so that we can share them all with you!

Until next time,

The Kenisons

Baby Rorie

Click here to view these pictures larger

Greetings from the UP

It has been way too long since I updated this thing. Since my last post our little family has moved cross country, have a new house, new jobs and also a new ward. It has been a very busy couple of months but we are having a wonderful time! Being back in Marquette (my hometown) has been so fun for me. I have loved seeing old friends and favorite hang outs and most importantly getting to be near my family. Rorie is enjoying being the center of attention and is enjoying the summer weather even more. It has been a very mild summer here but we have still managed to spend a lot of time in the great outdoors. Here are some great beach pics:





This June was our 2 year anniversary. Since we were a little tight on cash after the move we made it a pretty low key night. We went out to dinner without Rorie and then spent the rest of the evening at Presque Isle ( a local scenic destination) enjoying the beautiful scenery. It is so hard to believe that it has already been two year! Hopefully the next two years will be just as great!

The last bit of exitement since our move was the 4th of July. Jake got to be in the local parade with the rest of the local armed forces. Rorie fell asleep shortly before the parade started and I was working, but the rest of my family was there to cheer him on. That afternoon we all headed down to Marquette's annual Food Fest. The festival is a super fun tradition where all the local vendors bring their food (both local and foreign cuisine) to sell for charity. We had a great time walking, eating and visiting. That night after Rorie fell asleep Jake and I headed down to south beach to watch the fireworks display. It was pretty cold by then but we managed to keep warm :) All together it was a wonderful day! here are some cute (and patriotic) pics of Rorie enjoying the festivities:




We hope you are all having a great summer and we will post more later.

Love

The Kenisons