January - I turned 21 for the 8th time.

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February - We drove down to Los Angeles to see Valerie. She was there for a week so I had to take the opportunity to see her, especially pregnant with her baby girl! We spent the day at the Getty Center. I don’t remember what we did for Valentine’s Day, but I know Stephen got me beautiful flowers!

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March - Uneventful.

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April - Stephen took me and the puppies up to San Francisco for a week! I love that city and I was so happy to be there with the person I love most in the world and my babies. Our trip could not have landed on a perfect time; we didn’t know that the 2008 Olympics torch was scheduled to be ran through the city 2 days after our arrival. It was a controversial one because many protested the Olympics held in China, there were protests all over the place. The Embarcadero was packed with people pro-China and human rights activists. Chinese flags flooded the streets like a blanket of blood (how ironic) and then there were the Tibetan flags scattered all over the place as well. It was great to experience the rallies.

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May - We find out we’re moving to Stuttgart, Germany! Stephen applied for a job and got picked up for it a couple weeks later. For a few days we were stressing out about it because the people he worked for didn’t want to give him up and they tried their best to stop his move. Thankfully people in high places put their foot down and confirmed his orders.

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June - I resigned from my job at GS&ES to get ready for the move. We didn’t have much time to prepare because his orders were to report in Stuttgart no later than the second week of July. I spent the entire month of June packing and preparing for the move. We also decided that Alex and Gabby come with us to spend a school year in Germany.

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July - We celebrated three years of marriage! Stephen got older. We moved out of base housing into a hotel for a week and then on the 1oth we flew out of LAX into STR. This was a very tough time for the puppies. It was a very long flight and they were cooped up in a travel carrier that fit under the seats in front of us. They were very well behaved but I knew they hated it, whenever I checked on Kookiis she was shivering. I wish I could have taken her out of the carrier and put her on my lap. Vandy did very well; I think she slept through most of it. When we arrived we stayed at a hotel for over a month.

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August - Alex turned 11. Kookiis turned 4. We finally found a house to move into! Moved in as soon as we could, we have lived in a hotel too long! Thankfully, we didn’t have to pay for the bills. Of course if the military had a better process they wouldn’t have spent over $10K for our hotel stay! Talk about tax dollars down the drain! Tay becomes very sick from GBS and begins his stay at the hospital.

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September - Vandy got older, we think she turned 3 this year; we chose this month for her birthday because we adopted her from the shelter in September 2007. We start to settle in and the kids start school. I get on a plane to Manila, Philippines to be with Tay and Nay. I arrived on the 2nd, by that time Tay has been in the hospital for about 2 weeks. I stayed the entire month, around the middle Yen joined me; she and I left at the end of the month. During our entire stay, Tay was in the ICU. He was in a state of paralysis and was unable to speak. I was giving up hope and my heart has broken.

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October - I am back home. I missed my husband and my babies so much while I was away. Seeing Stephen at the airport filled my heart with warmth. Tay remains in the hospital, critically stable. What does that mean? It’s an oxymoron to me.

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November - Stress starts to build in our home. Alex has become rebellious and very unhappy. He expressed his feelings about wanting to return to Texas with his mother. Tay remains in the hospital, still critically stable. Some great news ~ Mama Len has become an American, after years of waiting it finally arrived. Yay! Obama is elected president of the United States!

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December - Gabby turned 10. It completely escapes us that Christmas is near. The stress at home and the condition of Tay took away the Christmas spirit. We fought to get into the mood by going to Christmas markets, I attempted to decorate the house but when the tree was up and the lights were set they burned out! Christmas spirit killed. The catalyst was Alex depression manifesting into an unacceptable outburst, this time he had gone too far ~ he finally got his wish… to go back to Texas as soon as school was out for Christmas break. Needless to say there was nothing to celebrate.

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I welcome 2009 with open arms! Hopefully this year will be a better year for us.