We rang in the New Year while still in our home in Hawaii. We watched Matt's ship, the USS Rueben James leave for a 4.5 month deployment with Matt by our side at the beginning of February because only two short weeks later we started on our next adventure. In mid February we said goodbye to our friends and wished farewell to the Hawaiian islands. Matt went directly to Coronado Island to train for six weeks for his new position as a Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer while Adalyn and I went to Washington to stay with my parents and Emma went to play with Ebony at the Ceausu household. Thanks again Vince and Kristen! I loved having an extended stay in Washington to connect with friends and family I've been missing and all the yummy food and gorgeous scenery Washington has to offer. Matt joined us in Washington towards the end of March and we celebrated Adalyn's first birthday a couple of weeks early with a small birthday party at my parents home with a flower theme. How could she possibly be one already? Time sure is going by faster then ever.
April was just around the corner and that signaled the time for Matt to check into his new duty station at Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base in Oceanside, CA. California here we come! We decided to make a little vacation out of it and detoured from I-5 for the Pacific Coast Highway. We made quite a few stops on the way including Lincoln City, OR, Bandon, OR, Ferndale, CA, San Francisco, CA, and Santa Barbara, CA. Adalyn was amazing the whole trip and we really enjoyed the spectacular coast line, farmland, and redwoods. We were even able to drive through a tree!
We arrived to our new home a few days before Adalyn's birthday and quickly settled into our new place. We live at the end of a cul-ta-sac only 1.5 miles away from Matt's new job. Matt has enjoyed the shorter hours and long lunch breaks compared to his position in Hawaii and has had lots and lots of time to spend playing with Adalyn and enjoying his hobbies.
We spent the summer getting to know San Diego county. We love Balboa park. We were able to spend 10 days in Montana with Matt's family and friends and I made a trip to visit my dear friend Brooke and her precious baby, Brayden, in North Carolina.
We also enjoyed having lots of visitors come stay with us. My parents came three times, several members of our Hawaii family, Stacey and Erika enroute to RI and Amanda on her way back to HI, came to stay with us, Matt's brother, Clay, and his family came, and we are currently lucky enough to be hosting Matt's parents for Christmas this year.
We struggled for several months this fall with the diagnosis of Trisomy 18 for our unborn son, David Jeremiah. We never imagined we'd be able to endure this kind of grief and sorrow. We have so many of our friends and family lifting us up in prayer and we were comforted by a never ending peace from God. David was stillborn on November 26 at 29 weeks gestation. Thank you to all who have kept us in your thoughts. We were blessed to have a midwife who not only supported each and every decision we made regarding the pregnancy, but was touched deeply by David's short life.
We spoiled Adalyn for Christmas this year. Matt made her a dollhouse and I tried my hand at a little woodworking and made her a play kitchen. We also gave a face lift to a VW Beetle power wheels we found at a garage sale with a fresh coat of paint and a new battery. We can't wait to watch her cruise around the neighborhood in it.
We enjoyed every bit of 2011 and we hope you did too! We are looking forward to seeing what the new year will bring to the Felton family. We are anticipating a big move in the fall of 2012. Hopefully it'll be close to you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Matthew, Amy, Adalyn, and Emma the dog
