Travel to Utah

Going to Utah for Spring Break was something we all were looking forward to but the flight itself was something that I dreaded. But now that it is over I can't believe how smooth it went. All of the kids wanted to help they each carried a suit case to check in and then Dax and Chase wanted to pull the carry on. I thought Chase was so cute pulling a bag as big as he was. I am glad that we had Grandma's help. On the first flight she took the older kids and I had Chase. It worked really well until Chase wanted to see Grandma also. Our first flight was late so we had to run to our gate and they were loading as we took the kids to the bathroom .On the second flight we had a whole row to ourselves so the kids were able to play musical chair. Which was good because we were delayed on the runway. I felt really bad though. I packed lots of snack for the kids but they didn't get anything for dinner. I didn't believe that it could happen but my kids were sick of candy crackers and cookies. When we finally got to Utah they ate a quick dinner then fell right to sleep. All in All it was a good flight.

Alice in Wonderland Ballet

Mom and I took the kids to see the Alice in Wonderland ballet. The kids had a great time. They had a tea party before where you could meet the cast a lot of fun for the kids. The ballet was really good it was just to short. Before the intermission all the dances were modern dances. I had to tell the kids that they were the trees and flower in Alice in Wonderland. Lucky Chase slept through the whole first part. After that the kids got really interested and then wanted to come home and watch the movie. It was a fun day.

St. Patrick day

The Kids had a great day. When the kids woke up our milk was green. Then we ate corn beef and cabbage, green jello, green grapes, green bread, green cookies and green milk. After dinner the kids discovered a Leprechaun had been in our house. They found leprechaun gold all over our basement. You can also see our new couch in the pictures.

Career Day Program

Dax has been practicing his song for about a month. Every night he sings a different song. He was asked to dress up as who he wants to be when he grows up and he chose a soldier. I am not so sure I like that idea with Judd being gone, but he has a long time till he has to decide and I am sure he will change his mind a lot by then.

Krygystan

Here's a pix of me and my 200 roommates at Krygystan, and this is what I look like after flying approximately 1/2 way across the world. Shipping out in a couple of days.

Judd at training

This is Judd in all of his gear at his training in Washington State.

I signed out this million dollar beauty from the army-it will be "mine" for the next few days while we convoy train-it's mounted with a 7.62mm M240 and a gunner named Duke...

Shared Photos (6 photos), by Jeannie Robins

So it is official. Judd is gone. He left Tuesday morning. We said goodbye at the airport. It was a sad day but we were with like company. I have made a new friend out of this whole experience. Her name is Cherokee and her husband Chad will be with Judd over there. These pictures are from her camera, since I gave mine to Judd to take. This is his second deployment, so she has been a real help. She has been answering question given me information, and most of all a shoulder to cry on. She is the one person that understand best what we are going through. She has two little girls younger than Annabelle. The sad thing is she will be leaving to go home to Hawaii for most of the time.
The kids are doing great. Dax keeps asking where daddy is. I tell him he is still on an airplane. So he prays for the airplane. It doesn't seem to affect Annabelle yet but we will see. As for Chase his only concern is playing with the choo choos. He has a one track mind. I am doing great two day down 154 more to go ( per the oders he left with but I wont hold my breath).
Click here to view photos

New Years Day

Judd spent his last day before deployment with the kids. We spent 4 hours building Dax's and Annabelle's lego sets. The kids didn't even leave the table the whole time. It was a great day. Judd spent the rest of the day packing and preparing for his trip. Chase decided that he was going to go with Judd he climbed in the bag and even brought his own pillow.

Happy New Year

We had a great 2009. So much has happened this year. Annabelle is becoming quite the little dancer, and has started to read. Dax loves school, soccer, started basketball, and learned to ride a bike in 1 week. Chase turned 1 and transitioned from baby to toddler. Judd finished his orthopaedic surgical residency. We sold our house even though the market was at a low. We lived a transient life starting out in a hotel while Judd studied for the first part of the orthpaedic boards. We transitioned to Utah for a month between assignments while Judd spent 2 weeks in Maine--also studying for the boards; Judd PASSED Step I of the boards. We moved from San Antonio Texas to Bellbrook, Ohio where we found the perfect house for us in a great little small town community just outside of Dayton. I found two great gyms to work at in the Dayton area. Judd walked into a busy orthopaedic practice at Wright Patterson Medical Center. Judd had the hunt of his life with his Dad and brother. We went to Hawaii for a conference without the kids for a week. And to round out the year, Judd got a short notice tasking 2 weeks before Christmas to deploy with the Army in Afghanistan for 6 months to follow a month of training in Fort Lewis starting January 4th. So here is to next year, though we may start it apart, may we reunite stronger then we were before.

Our 2nd Christmas

Since we can't go home this year for new years like we had planed due to Judd Deployment. The Robins mailed all of our gifts to our house. They got here on Dec 30. The kids loved it they got to open presents two different days. All of the kids got new sets of Legos, Annabelle got a new boy barbie and a car, Dax got math games, Chase got a Chuck fire station. I got new Uggs and a Coach purse, Judd got a new shirt, sweater, and a gift card to cabella. Plus much more. We were really spoiled.

Dax's Telescope

Dax was so excited about his telescope. It is all he has been talking about for over a month. Judd got it all set up on Christmas but it was to cloudy. Every night Dax would ask if it was clear or not. Finally on Wednesday he heard the weather say it was going to be a clear night and he asked his dad if they could try. Dad was able to see the moon and a bunch of craters. I think it will be a good gift if I can figure out how to use it while Judd is gone.

Christmas

This was the first Christmas that we have ever spent without our extended family. I was having a hard time with it, I just didn't think it felt much like Christmas. Judd and I had to step up this year and take care of everything that our parents use to do. I made sure to make some of our favorite foods, but we also tried some new things, Judd grilled up some of his pheasants on Christmas eve. We watch the Christmas Story and read the scriptures as a family. It was really nice, our family was able to slow down and share the true meaning of Christmas with our kids. On Christmas day we stayed in our PJs all day except Dax who had to put on his Nike right after he opened them. We took our time opening presents and let the kids play with them all morning. There was no fighting and the kids stayed in the family room all day. I made ham and all the fixing for Christmas dinner. We missed all of the family. It turned out to be a great Christmas with the kids, and I will always remember it.

Hawaii

Judd had a conference in Hawaii and I decided to tag along. It has been 6 years since we last went to Hawaii. We dropped the kids off in Utah on our way there so that I could relax and Judd could go to the conference. Even though it was a vacation of sorts Judd worked out every day. He found the pull-up bar that he used on our honeymoon and put it to good use. They put on a great Christmas Luau. The dancing was better then the food. While Judd was in meetings all day the other spouse and I had lots of fun. I learned to surf, which I still need lots of practice at. I went scuba diving and saw an old boat, lots of turtles, and spotted eagle ray. I even petted and octopus. We also decided to go para-sailing, it was beautiful. Each night I would meet up with Judd and we would go to amazing restaurant. Judd took one day off and a group of us decided to go to the east shore. We had a great time kayaking, boogie-boarding and just playing around with friends. It was a great time. I was able to forget about all of my worrys.

Chase's 1st Hair cut

The night before we left for Utah we took the whole family to top cuts for haircuts. Chase really needed one his hair was curling up around his ears. He was really good for the lady. She even used the shaver. Chase loved the feel everytime she put it up to his head he would lean in and smile.

Annabelle's Dance Class

We signed Annabelle up for Dance at her school this year. It wasn't the best of programs but she still had some fun. There were to many kids in her class so she would act up to get attention or pretend she couldn't do it. I will be finding a new place when the new year begins.