A New Year

Wow!  I cannot believe it is already 2012! Kyle and I sure have had a year of new adventures. Here are a few pictures of our year in review.

*We are missing February and only had one picture for a few other months which is why I am starting Project Life this year! It is a way to scrapbook EASILY! How perfect is that?! Some people take a picture each day and some people take pictures weekly, but ultimately, it's up to you. Make it personal and easy for you. This year I am going to try to do weekly, while I get caught up with previous years.  Once I get Project Life in the mail I will post updates of how it's coming! I am so STINKING excited!!! Here is Becky Higgins' (creator of PL) website:
beckyhiggins.com

This is an example of a PL page from http://www.debduty.com/.  It comes with filler cards and journal cards.  You place them in the pocket pages then put in your pictures, journal and you're done! :)

Now onto our year in review! Enjoy reliving our 2011!

JANUARY

Kyle and I enjoyed some trap shooting on Goat Mt in Colton with my parents and Ty. 

MARCH

Going away part at Padington's Pizza with my side of the family and friends. 

Our drive across country from Oregon to Virginia.

APRIL

Our 1 year anniversary in D.C.  The person who took the picture failed to get the White House in the background...sometimes I wonder what people think.  

  The Cherry Blossom trees were beautiful!

MAY

Rolling Thunder Motorcyle Rally. Very cool! We even saw Sarah Palin! This was one of Kyle's highlights will on the east coast.

We went to a few Nationals games which were a blast.  This one had one of those crazy southern storms! A torential downpour and lightning and thunder!

JUNE

Kyle and his buddy Wiseman out in the field...one of many FEX's (Field Exercises) 

During the guys' FEX's, us ladies would get together.  Here I am with a few wives at Georgetown Cupcake which is on the TLC show D.C. Cupcakes! They were De-Lish!

JULY

I visited home to attend Katrina and Tyler's baby shower for Macie and...

we took a family vaca to Hawaii! Little did I know I would be moving to this exact place in about 2 months! :)

I celebrated my birthday in Oregon too!  I extended my stay because we found out Kyle was going to be on a FEX, so I wanted to spend it with family.  But look at what my Marine sent me! :)

AUGUST

At Great Falls Park in Northern Virginia.  They had nice hiking trails with beautiful views.

SEPTEMBER

Finally got a picture with my good friend Mandee and her kids at her birthday party

My beautiful niece, Macie Rae, was born on September 7th.  AND...I was able to take this picture because my parents flew me out!!! I am so thankful for them! Kyle was gone on a FEX and I was missing a big family moment...I pulled at my mom's heart strings while crying into the phone while they were in the hospital after her birth. :)

Kyle is on the far left in this group of Marines at Showalter's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony held in Maryland.

Exploring Baltimore after dropping off Kyle's truck to be shipped to HAWAII!

My parents came out for Kyle's graduation and we visited Philadelphia.  Standing in front of the Liberty Bell. 

We also did night sightseeing in D.C. It was my moms first time there and I think she had a blast because it was a beautiful night and seeing D.C. at night is a whole new thing than during the day.

Kyle's graduation from TBS.  He was definitely relieved for this day! What a stud! ;)

OCTOBER

We finally made it to Hawaii. Living in a motel, but we made it!  Can't believe we get to be in this beautiful place for 3 years!

NOVEMBER

Happy Thanksgiving! We took a short, but steep hike in Lanikai for part of our first Thanksgiving alone and without a house!

DECEMBER

After Kyle's WPW surgery.  What a trooper.  I am so thankful they fixed his heart and we are still praying to find out about his atrial fibrillation.

Christmas at the beach in a swim suit. WHAT?! :)

Looking back I can't believe at how much we have done in 2011!  Hopefully this year will have just as many adventures, more friendships made, and...we get a house!!! ;) (Can you tell I'm going out of my mind anxious to get a house?)

Wishing you all a Happy 2012!  Come visit us in Hawaii! :)

Exploring the beach

On the 26^th my friend Stephanie and her husband Patrick arrived in Hawaii.  I met Steph in Virginia, while our husbands attended TBS.  They also got stationed in Hawaii and I couldn’t be happier! It is wonderful to see a familiar face.  We picked them up from the airport and dropped them off at the lodge (our old home for 60 days) to get settled.

Since Kyle and I were on base we decided to go to one of the beaches we had yet to visit.  Fort Hase Beach does not have much of a “beach”, but it has beautiful water, a magnificent view, and fascinating rocks.  I had my camera and I took initiative to have a photo-op…needless to say Kyle wasn’t too excited. ;)  We had a great time just walking around, talking, and taking in the scenery.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Beautiful sand, rocks and ocean.

Okay. I love this picture! :) Kyle was very reluctant to do a picture like this, but I convinced him and glad I did! :)

Wearing my new shirt from Darcy and Josh...love it! 

We love how the trees look like they're blowing in the wind at all times.

A sneaker wave came up and soaked Kyle! It hit that rock in front of him and shot straight up his leg. 

Portugese Man-of-War! This was about as a big one!

:)

Happy New Years Eve! Hope you have had a fabulous year and if not, I hope 2012 is much more joyous! :)

Kyle goes to surgery.

This is going to be a long entry…sorry in advance! It is a health update for Kyle.

Earlier this month Kyle was diagnosed with WPW (Wolff-Parkinsons-White) Syndrome.  For the last couple years Kyle has been having a racing heart rate at very random times.  He could be sitting on the couch watching TV and his heart rate increase like he just ran a 100 meter dash.  We tried to figure out correlations between when it happens to what he was doing, but it was very random.  He would have gone to the doctor sooner, but he was nervous it could possibly discharge him from the Marine Corps.  As a Marine, he did not want to do anything that would get him medically discharged, but his family I wanted him to get it checked out.

This last month his heart was acting up more often than ever before, so we decided he should go to the doctor.  First he met with a Navy Corpsman, next he was sent to the surgeon for the company, then he was sent to Tripler (Army Hospital in Honolulu) to meet with a specialty doctor, and he was finally sent to an electro-cardiologist, Dr. Shen.    

Abnormal pathways between the atria and the ventricles cause WPW.  When signals travel through the abnormal pathway it stimulates the ventricles and causes the rapid heart rate.  To cure WPW, Kyle needed to have surgery.  The surgery itself was non-invasive thank goodness.  Dr. Shen put a catheter through both femoral veins in the groin.  He worked the catheters up to the heart and then mapped out the heart.  This is done so they know exactly where the pathways are and they can make sure they are in a safe spot to ablate them.  Then they start the ablation. 

We showed up at Queens Medical Center at noon on the 22^nd to prep for Kyle’s surgery at 2pm.  They prepped him before 1pm, but luckily we had a TV and Scrubs and Everybody Loves Raymond to keep us busy until 2:45pm when they finally wheeled him into surgery. Usually the surgery takes about 2 hours to complete.  I went to the cafeteria to get dinner, talked to family on the phone, and tried to stay busy on my computer.  Around 7pm Dr. Shen stopped by the room very quickly and quickly told me that it was a tough surgery and they found two pathways, not just one.  He believes they got one completely, but the other one may come back.  Then I briefly caught something about afib and then he hurried away.  Might I add that he is Chinese and is difficult to understand…most of the time.  So I didn’t really think much of it.

Smiles BEFORE surgery

Watching "Scrubs". We thought it'd be suiting.

Kyle's IV.  He did not enjoy this :( He had to keep it in through the night. 

Around 7:20pm Kyle was wheeled backed to the room.  Since they did not sedate him completely, he was awake and pretty coherent, but he still was a little out of it because of the medicine they gave him.  Kyle then proceeds to tell me, “They had to shock me five times!”  Um…excuse me?!  A nurse came back out and told us that he went into atrial fibrillation five times throughout the surgery and they needed to shock him to bring his heart back to a normal rhythm.  They ended up keeping Kyle overnight, but we got a private room, which was nice.  We watched some Law & Order: SVU until they brought Kyle dinner and then we “slept”.  Kyle was hooked up to the heart rate monitor all night so they could keep an eye on his heart rate.  Every time his beats per minute went under 60 the machine would beep obnoxiously.  It happened VERY frequently through the night. I slept on a chair that folded flat, but glad I was able to stay with Kyle. 

Kyle's lovely hospital outfit. :)

All hooked up to monitor for the night. 

In the morning after very little sleep.  I think Kyle looks better than me and I didn't even go through surgery! ;)

We were released around 9am the next morning and headed home to try and sleep since we didn’t sleep well the night before.  Around 10:20am Kyle put his right hand on his heart like he always had previously when is heart rate would sky rocket.  I looked at him and knew.  It was happening again.  We immediately called the Dr because after surgery it should not have happened again.  We got an appointment at 1pm and it had happened another three times.  That’s more than it has ever happened in a day.  Dr. Shen informed us that he believes Kyle has atrial fibrillation and that is why he went into it so many times during surgery.  He had a predisposition to it. 

We were fortunate enough to rush this surgery in time for Kyle to go to AAV School in California on January 7^th.  After surgery he was supposed to be good to go. Now, with his heart still acting up we aren’t sure if he will be able to go.  He had a follow up appointment with the Doctor at Tripler and the doctor wanted him to wear an event monitor (tracks his heart rate) for two weeks and then check in with him.  Two weeks is the 11^th.  That is four days after he is supposed to report.  I am sitting in the room looking at Kyle just knowing he was screaming inside.  We arrived in Hawaii October 1^st and since then Kyle has not been able to be in charge of a platoon since he has not gone to school.  If he can’t go to school in January, the next one isn’t until June.  He desperately wants to go to school to learn and then come back and lead.  Now back to the doctor’s office, I decided to speak up because I didn’t know if Kyle would.  I asked the doctor if we could try one week on the monitor and if his heart is good he can go to school, but if not, then he will stay.  The doctor agreed! We have an appointment on the 5^th and are praying this week Kyle’s heart stays normal and doesn’t act up.  Please pray the same thing! :) 

Thank you family and friends who have been praying for Kyle, his heart, the doctors, and myself! We love you!