1 Year Review and Beyond

Has it really been a year already?  Time has sure flown by since our sweet Cecelia Jolie arrived last Labor Day weekend, and what a year we have had:)  Being parents has certainly changed our lives in so many ways, and we couldn't be happier.  She has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined.  Just watching and experiencing her milestones have been blessings beyond our dreams.  We look forward to many more fun years to come.  To commemorate this momentous occasion (and since we didn't keep up with this blog all year) we created a slideshow of the highlights from her first year.  I must warn you....it is 8 minutes long.  I tried my best to condense it down and 8 minutes was the best I could do;)  I hope you enjoy watching Cecelia grow and change over the year (if you choose to watch it;))

Here are a few pictures from Cecelia's 1st Birthday Party.  We had it on Sunday, September 2nd at "Concerts in the Park" in Coronado.  It was the perfect setting for her party.  Concerts in the Park is held every Sunday afternoon during the summer.  Locals and visitors come out to Spreckels Park with chairs, tables, food and drinks and just hang out listening to the music.  It is one of our favorite things we have experienced living in Coronado.  So what better place to have Cecelia's 1st Birthday.  And we were so happy to have Cecelia's NeNe with us to celebrate along with two surprise guests, the newlyweds, Major (T-Maj) and Natalie (T-Nat)!

So now you may be wondering...what does Year 2 look like for Cecelia and the Persons?  Well, a BIG MOVE is in our near near future.  We have made the difficult decision that our time with the Active Duty NAVY has come to a close.  However, Bryson will continue on with the Navy Reserve.  So, this means Bryson will be entering the civilian world.  We will have more concrete information about where we will be going in the coming weeks.  We will be sure to update everyone when we know more.  

Also, Cecelia will become a BIG SISTER!  We are so thrilled to announce that our family is expanding.  Baby Person #2 is set to arrive in early April 2013:)  We decided that we had so much fun not knowing if it would be a boy or girl for Cecelia that we are doing it again:)  Let the guessing begin:)

As always, we thank our family and friends for all your support and love throughout the year.  We are looking forward to our move bringing us closer to "home."  But we will certainly miss the wonderful friends we have made in California.  

Love to you all,

Muriel, Bryson and Cecelia

She's Mobile!

Best attempt at crawling so far. 7 months this week! She is a true blessing and brings joy to us daily. Enjoy!

Cecelia Jolie Person

I know that most of you would rather see pictures of our new addition than read my ramblings, so I'll oblige by keeping it short and sweet. The latest addition to Personville came in the form of a 7lb 15oz baby girl at 3:35pm on September 4th 2011. Muriel and I are blessed and excited. We look forward to introducing Cecelia to the world and all of God's endless blessings. We are humbled by the opportunity to raise and teach one of God's children on this earth. In her first 9 days, Cecelia has cheered on the Tigers to victory, endured the SOCAL Blackout of 2011, and maximized her play time with grandmothers, Lela and Ne-Ne. She is anxiously awaiting upcoming visits from Pappy and Wickey (Bryson's dad and stepmom) and other friends and family. Today, she had a 3 hour newborn photo shoot. With quite a busy schedule, she manages to keep a solid eat, sleep, diaper change, and repeat routine. Slough Belle is adjusting well, and easing into the big sister role quite nicely. Momma and baby girl are both doing great. We thank our friends and family for love and support and God for the wonderful blessings we have in our lives.

BMP

38 weeks! Baby P is almost here!

We have covered a lot of ground (and water) since our last post. We left 10 days later for a “babymoon” in Maui, went home for a wedding, baby shower, and bridal shower, enjoyed Independence Day festivities in Coronado, traveled home again for 2 weddings and a baby shower, and returned to Coronado for final Pre-Baby P preparations…needless to say, it has been a busy summer.

Sunset on our last night in Maui

The trip to Maui was a great experience. We packed as much as possible into our week long trip, yet managed to relax and slow down to the island’s pace. We stayed at the Hyatt Kaanapali on the West side of Maui. We rented a Jeep and did the Road to Hana. The road goes from the downtown area of Maui by the airport around the East side of the island. It takes you through rain forests along a rocky shoreline and eventually through a lava scarred cattle ranch on the Southeast side of the island where you watch the sunset during the last few hours of your drive. The drive and sightseeing kept us out until after 10pm, and we woke the next morning at 2am to drive 2 hours to the top of Haleakala volcano to watch the sunrise over the Pacific.
Sunrise over the Pacific.

It was a spectacular and cold experience. We layered up with multiple pairs of pants and windbreakers and rain coats. It was 80F when we left our hotel, and was 40F with 20+mph wind at the top. The majority of the sightseers were bundled with hotel blankets. After watching the sunrise, we took a helicopter tour of the East side of the island. Having driven the terrain the day before, it was neat to know exactly what we were looking at as we got the aerial tour. Ready for a relax day? We weren’t.

We rose with the sun the next morning to drive to the smaller airport close to our hotel to catch a flight to Oahu. We toured Naval Base Pearl Harbor to include the USS MISSOURI (BB-63), USS BOWFIN (SS-287), the Pacific Aviation Museum, and the USS ARIZONA Memorial. It was a long day, but we could not let ourselves travel half way across the largest ocean on the planet without visiting this important piece of American and world history.

The following day, Wednesday, we had another early morning. Bryson went on a SCUBA boat for the day and Muriel got a massage and took to the streets for a day of shopping. We spent the afternoon at the pool scoping out the scene for our last full day at our hotel. Wednesday night we went to a luau at our hotel. Thursday was spent at the pool relaxing and unwinding from the first part of our vacation. We traveled back to the mainland Friday to be home for Memorial Day weekend and kickoff the summer in sunny Coronado.

June was a busy month, too. We traveled home for Mitch and Jessica’s wedding, and Muriel stayed home for an extra week to visit and allow time for a baby shower. The baby shower (thrown by family and friends) was a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a special day:) It was great to see family and friends that we had not seen in months. She returned to CA with best friend Kristin in tow. We are always ready to entertain guests (in small numbers...as space is limited) and introduce them to life on Coronado.

The next weekend was Independence Day weekend. Coronado does 4^th of July like no place I have ever been. The normally sleepy tourist/navy town sees a quadrupling of its population as it celebrates over the course of 4 days. There are road races, open water swims, parades, concerts, fireworks, and house parties up and down every block. Bicycles and golf carts on the road out number cars for most of the weekend because if you move your car, you probably won’t find a parking spot when you return.

Our backyard for the 4th!

We spent the last week of July on the road. With two weddings to get to in the bayou state, the doctors said that if we wanted to be in Louisiana, we were getting there by road, so we did. It wasn’t an exciting trip, so I won’t try to make it sound like one. Making overnight stops in Tucson, Fort Stockton, and The Woodlands (Thanks again Aunt Allister and Uncle John!), we took 4 days to cover the 1,750 miles with swollen feet on the dash and panting dog in the back seat. We made it to Baton Rouge Thursday afternoon to have dinner with family. The following day, Dr. Nasca was admitted to the hospital. We went to Flynn and Dana’s wedding in Hammond on Saturday, and spent the weekend around BR, visiting the hospital a couple of times per day. Dr. Nasca passed away after a courageous 5 year battle with prostate cancer on Tuesday, August 2^nd. We see it as nothing short of a blessing from God that we were able to come home, say goodbye, and be with family and friends during these times. The outpouring of love from friends and the community during this time has been humbling. He was a loving and generous husband, father, stepfather, surgeon and friend, and will be greatly missed by many loved ones and friends.
Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, CA March 2010

In the final years of his life, Dr. Nasca lived life to the fullest. Traveling the world with his best friend (my mom) and spending precious years with friends and family. He fought the battle to the very end, subjecting himself to the physical tortures of experimental medicine and studies. We can only pray that because of his bravery in the face of this killer disease others will benefit from these studies, and one day we can better understand and fight prostate cancer.

A few days later, we celebrated the wedding of Thomas (Muriel's brother) and Ashley in New Iberia. It was beautiful and a wonderful celebration for everyone. We couldn't be happier for the two of them and their little girl, Mali:)

Muriel and her mom before the ceremony.

Upon our return to Coronado, we received more heartbreaking news. Longtime family friend and best friend to my dad, Jim Huff, Jr passed away on Wednesday, August 10^th. Pilot, engineer, salesman, outdoorsman, father, brother, son, and husband, “Lil Jim” was larger than life and loved by many. From piers along the banks of Lake St. John to a little cabin in the mountains of New Mexico and points in between, he will be missed by many.
Angel Fire, NM November 2010. Jim (second from Left) came along on last November's elk hunt just for the ride. Last November was the last time I saw Jim, and that trip was the longest I had ever been around him. They don't make 'em like that any more folks.

After 2 weeks+ away from work Bryson had some catching up to do and we had a lot of final baby preparations to complete. Two days after our return, some friends threw us a couples baby shower at our house. A good friend of ours, Mike, took some "maternity" pics of us before the shower.

This weekend we enjoyed lots of good food (per the pregnant one's request). We attended a Food Truck festival at the Del Mar Fairgrounds where we sampled some eats and took in a horse race. Sunday, we went to the historic Hotel Del Coronado for their semi-famous brunch. Although some would say it is a little pricey and others would say it is way pricey, it is quite a dining experience.

Well, we have two weeks left until Baby P’s due date, nesting is in full swing. Baby P's room is finally ready for him or her. We eagerly await for little blessing to get here!

(Pictures of Bryson's mom and dad on left and Muriel's mom and dad on the right.)

We will keep you posted, so stay tuned.
Bryson and Muriel

23 weeks and Counting!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and Mother’s Day with family and friends. We were fortunate to have the Latiolais in town for Easter. My parents flew to San Diego on Good Friday to spend Easter with us. We had a great time enjoying good food, hiking and relaxing. It was nice to have family around to spend the holiday with. Below is a picture of us in Julian, CA at the top of Stonewall Peak. It was quite a trek, but definitely worth it.

This past Sunday was my very first Mother’s Day! I have been very blessed to have had such a wonderful pregnancy thus far. I pray that it continues to go well until Little Person arrives. It is hard to believe, but we are over halfway there! I am now 23 weeks and the baby is growing! We are even feeling the baby move quite often. Pretty incredible! (See pics below of my growing belly) We cannot wait to see this little one. Some of you have asked if we will find out the gender...well...we both agreed in the beginning that we want it to be a surprise. So no turning back now. We will all just have to wait and see!

Baby Person - 18 weeks

Easter Sunday (sorry for the fuzzy iphone pic)

Mother's Day

Other than all the baby preparations, we have been busy (well, Bryson has been busy;))with a few other projects around the house. You may recognize this bench.

Bryson made one while in Afghanistan and decided to make one for our front porch. It looks great and now we can enjoy the Louisiana Southern tradition of sitting on the front porch with a hot cup of coffee..or an ice cold beer. We have also planted our vegetable garden..a little bigger than last year. Soon we will have tomatoes, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, eggplant, strawberries and even okra!

Next on the agenda, a little “babymoon” to Maui!

On a side note, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who may be affected by the Mississippi River flooding.

Take care,
Muriel and Bryson

It has been quite some time since our last blog post. 2010 was a busy but great year for us. Coronado has been such a wonderful place to live. We are very fortunate to be stationed in such a beautiful and safe community. We are enjoying spending lots of time together and exploring this area of the country. The weather isn’t too bad either…..I think we are getting a little spoiled! But of course, Louisiana will always be home to us and we look forward to the day that we will be able to move back and be with our family and friends again.

With 2010 already a month and a half behind us, we are now in the midst of planning out the rest of this year. Weekend trips, work conferences, Hawaii vacation, Louisiana visits and now - to add to the mix -preparations for Baby Person! We are very excited to let everyone know that we are having a baby! Baby Person is due to make his/her appearance Labor Day Weekend. So, needless to say, we have a pretty exciting year ahead of us. We look forward to keeping everyone updated on the progress and the new adventures ahead. Thank you all for the love and support you have given us. God has blessed us with such wonderful family and friends, and now we have been blessed with such a wonderful gift.

God Bless

Love,

Bryson and Muriel

Below is a picture of our first ultrasound taken last week at 10 weeks.

Fire this Man, Fire them ALL!

Fox News reports that the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) has decided he refuses to do his job! In the article, Fox says that he "reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities."
If this is true, this is in violation of federal law and the mission statement on the Department of Homeland Security's I.C.E. website.

The I.C.E. website says its mission is "to protect the security of the American people and homeland by vigilantly enforcing the nation's immigration and customs laws."
"...VIGILANTLY ENFORCING..." Now, since when did that become synonymous with "BLATANTLY IGNORING?"

Dig a bit deeper and you'll find that I.C.E. has its own Office of Detention and Removal (DRO). On their site, you'll find:

"DRO is the primary enforcement arm within ICE for the identification, apprehension and removal of illegal aliens from the United States. The resources and expertise of DRO are utilized to identify and apprehend illegal aliens, fugitive aliens, and criminal aliens, to manage them while in custody and to enforce orders of removal from the United States. DRO is committed to enforcing our nation's immigration laws in a fair, effective, and professional manner."

These people are not doing their jobs!

I am not talking about agents, detectives, and officers, but the bureaucrats that tie the hands of the men and women in the field. Bureaucrats that blur the line between law enforcement and politics. Bureaucrats that let that line get blurred by not standing for what is right and defending the Constitution. "YES MEN" that do whatever they can to please those above them and don't have the spine to stand for those below them.

These are the same people that are tying the hands of our troops overseas that must wait until some idiot shoots at him or blows up his buddy's truck before he can engage him.

These are the very people that must be held responsible for the crippling effects their policies are having on this great nation. It is not just politicians that we can vote out, numbered among them are also political appointees who serve no one except their king who appointed them. They must be held accountable.

Good news, it is the weekend and there is a limit to how much damage these people can do when not at work!

God Bless!
BMP