Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Tax Plans...

~*Joe and Rachel's News!*~

As tax refund time nears, Joe and I have been thinking of how to wisely spend the money. Paying off bills and such seems to be the number one use, but also we want to take a family trip this year and Joe and I would like to do something for ourselves since we never got our honeymoon.

For our family trip this year we choose to take the boys to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey California. The aquarium from what I hear is huge with tons to do. So we figured since Joshua's birthday is in April, that seems like a perfect time to go on our family vacation. We are going to go April 16th - April 19th, being as I was advised that the aquarium is a two day project. This way we can take the kids to the beach and spend some quality time as a family.

Now for as far as what Joe and I have decided to do, we would love to go to some distant country and get away from it all as it should be. But instead we decided to stay close to home and do something here. We have decided to take Scuba Diving lessons together! The certifications are for life, and we can dive anywhere and anytime we want. Joe and I are both very excited about doing this. It kinda feels like we are having a mid-life crisis, but neither of us are in any way at our mid-life. So the classes begin in march and we are thinking of maybe going back to Monterey sometime this year, after our family vacation, to go diving there.

This year already seems like its going to be a great one...

Monday, January 25, 2010

~*Gymboree*~

*Joshua's News*
For the last month I have been racking my brains because I have been out of school, not really going to the gym, and just being lazy. Because of this Josh has started to push buttons, not in a bad way but he wants to play more constructively, and it is always while I'm in the middle of doing something (ie the dishes, laundry, cooking). So I was looking online for something more constructive for him and I to do outside of the house. There was the church play dates, and the park (weather permitting), and visiting friends and family. Nothing seemed to be right though. Then I found Gymboree while I was looking online. I started to look at their pictures and sales pitches. They have the kids broken up into groups from 6 weeks up to 5 years of age. This started to intrigue me, so I started looking further. For Josh's age group they have imaginative play, and team working, and some minor "helper" skills such as cleaning up toys and stuff. So I decided that it was worth checking out, they offered free preview classes.

So Joe and I both took Josh to his first day, just to see if it was worth paying almost 60 dollars a month to go. Right off the bat they started with wiggle time, it's where the kids run around and just play and get all of their wiggles out. Then came circle time, they sang songs and actually had a learning lesson in there. His first class they talked about trees, and learned about picking apples, and jumping in leaves, also treehouses. The kids were to use their imagination to pretend that this one play structure was a treehouse, and they climbed the ladder, and looked over the side, and then used the slide to go out of the treehouse. They had the kids climb another structure and pretend to pick apples from the apple tree. Then they had them climb through these tunnels in which they were supposed to pretend were hollowed out tree logs, until they were high enough to jump in a pile of leaves.




























All in all Josh really enjoyed himself, they played parachute games, and had bubble time also.


Joe and I felt that it was something that Josh would really enjoy, so we enrolled him. This has turned out to be one of the best decisions we have made for Josh. He enjoys playing with kids his age, and he's learning so much.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Our Family


Joe and Rachel - Married almost 2 years. Joe is a Correctional Officer, who is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice at the University of Phoenix. In his spare time he likes to be outdoors, shooting, playing video games, go to the gym, or just spending time with the family. Rachel is currently a stay-at-home mom with their youngest son Joshua, and is pursuing a Associates Degree in Nursing with an emphasis on Surgical Nursing. She loves to read, be outdoors, watch movies with the family, and spend "mommy-time" with Josh.

Joshua - is almost 2 years old, and is a total boy. He loves to play with cars, building blocks, and hang out with the family dog Aiden. Josh has reached so many milestones, his most recent is his speech and potty training. He has just recently started attending Gymboree as a "mommy and me" activity. He seems to enjoy the imaginative play that the classes provide.

Joey - is almost 5 years old! Wow how time passes by. Joey is currently in pre-school learning all sorts of things, from colors to numbers, shapes to letters. He has an active boy personality, and loves to show it off. He enjoys being outside when the weather permits. Right now he is interested in dinosaurs and sharks, and who know what will come next.

Time Flies...

Joe and Rachel

Three years ago in March of 2007 Joe and I began dating, and shortly after we felt that we didn't want to be with anyone else. We enjoyed many of the same things, such as going to the movies, or out shooting, or even just hanging out at home. Joe really liked to play video games while I watched, and Joe liked to hold me while I read. We were engaged August 2007, and around the end of August we were blessed with the news of a baby being added to our family. I know it was a little out of order but we felt that it was Our Lords plan from the start. Joe already had a little boy from his previous marriage whose name is Joey. We began searching for a good set of family values and found the Latter Day Saints, and began studying with them. 37 Long weeks went by and Joshua Michael Rodriguez was born into this world at an astounding 5lbs 6 oz and 19 in long.

We were so happy to have our family started. Shortly after Joshua was born, we began our plans for our wedding. We were married June 22, 2008 at 6 pm at the Robb Drive Chapel, the following day June 23 we were baptized. We became members of the Reno 3rd Ward. Shortly after getting married Joe deployed overseas. Not long after Joe deployed I found out that I had been accepted to Nursing School at Truckee Meadows Community College. Meanwhile while attending Nursing school Josh was growing ever so big. 8 long months went by and on February 14, 2009 Joe came home from his deployment overseas. Josh and myself were so excited to have Joe home. Times were a little rough after Joe came home, with him still adjusting to being back in the civilian world, but things picked up where they left off. I took some time off school when he came home and picked up classes again in August of 2008. Joe was continuing to take classes at the University of Phoenix studying Criminal Justice. As of today January 24, 2010 Joe and I have been together almost 3 years and married almost 2. Our love is still stronger than ever and continuing to grow.