2009 Year in Review

The end of another decade is upon us and this past year brought many changes in the Virgin household. This was our first Christmas as a family of three.

We found out we were expecting in July of 2008 with a due date in late March of 2009. The pregnancy went fairly well with just a few minor complications here and there. Having been diagnosed with chronic hip dysplasia several years ago, our doctor decided it would be best to schedule a c-section a week before my due date. Kyle was working for CATCO on the North Slope at the time and scheduled his hitch in order to be home for the procedure. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as planned. A week before the scheduled c-section, and two weeks before our actual due date, the baby decided it was time. Aubrey Lynn was born on March 11th, missing Kyle's birthday by one day. She was healthy at 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Kyle made the trip back to Anchorage the next day to meet his baby girl for the first time.

Time seems to have flown since then. I was laid off from my job at Pepsi while on the maternity leave and have been enjoying my time home with the baby. Kyle went back to work over the summer with Granite Construction here in town. He was happy to be home with us every night. This fall i returned to my position as the head coach for the Service High gymnastics team. My girls did really well this season and placed 4th in the team standings at the Region meet. I hope to continue building the team next year.

Over the summer we did a lot of camping. My parents bought a toyhauler and Aubrey and i tagged along with them on several trips including Valdez and fishing in Kasilof. In November Aubrey and i also travelled to Virginia to visit my brother and his family. Aubrey did incredibly well on the plane and had a blast hanging out with her cousins. We also made several trips out to the Palmer Speedway. Since completing his rebuild of the F350 we rolled back in 2006, which has now become a rather large off-road rig, Kyle's attention has now turned to my 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8. After some tweaks, he has gotten it down to running a 12.03 second 1/4 mile. He hopes to be running even faster next summer. We also decided to trade in our single cab truck for a more family-oriented 4 door Toyota Tacoma.

Since her arrival Aubrey has grown into quite a monster and i am not talking about her size. She continues to be on the petite side for her age, but is very mobile and full of mischief. She has been crawling since 5 1/2 months and is just about ready to walk at 9 months. She has even mastered going up the stairs, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of coming back down. She tends to approach it head on which doesn't work out too well. She has developed a new habit of shaking her head no and seems to find it very amusing. Her smile is enough to melt any heart though. Kyle and i love our new roles as parents and feel very blessed to have her in our lives.

With Aubrey's arrival also came the end of my hobby breeding of Cocker Spaniels. I got my female, Hailey, spayed and decided it would be best to place our male, Hunter, with a new family who could give him more time and attention. Since then Quila, my Rottweiler/American Staffordshire/Mastiff mix, moved in with us. She loves Aubrey and tolerates her crawling and tugging on her.

Well, that about sums up our year.

Santa Time

So, once again i let myself get behind on posting an update. Christmas is almost upon us and we are looking ahead to another year of fun. Time sure has flown since we had Aubrey. She is growing so fast. At 9 months now, she weighs in at 17 1/2 lbs. Still on the petite side, at least for her weight. She is very inquisitive and full of mischief. She isn't walking yet, but it is only a matter of time. She has incredible balance and can stand really well. I think she just has it figured out that she can get places much faster by crawling. Most likely Kyle will miss her first Christmas as he is back up on the North Slope working for CATCO again this winter. I decided to take Aubrey to see Santa at the mall the other day, and to my surprise she didn't shed a tear!! I have included a couple pictures. One is of our little family of three for our 2009 Christmas photo and the other is of Aubrey and Santa.



<

Halloween 2009

I am sure everyone is wondering how little Aubrey is doing. It has been a long time since i posted an update on her. She is 7 1/2 months old now and growing up so fast!! She began crawling at 5 1/2 months and is already just about walking. Still no hair or teeth though. She loves to dance and giggle. Her personality is really beginning to shine through and we are enjoying each and every moment with her. Unfortunately Kyle had to go back up to the north slope to work this winter and missed her very first Halloween. My mom was nice enough to make her a panda bear costume that we had picked out and my friend, Bethany, and i took her to the Aces game. It was a lot of fun and Aubrey looked absolutely adorable!!

Regions 2009

Once again, this year i was the head coach for the Service Cougars. I really enjoyed it. My old South gymnast, Tosha, was my assistant coach. My team consisted of 7 girls: Clarissa, Taylor, Meghan, Mira, Haley, Brook, and Johanna. I also had Delaney as a team manager. We did great this year coming in 4th out of 8 teams in the team all-around with a score of 177.9. Haley came in 4th in the individual all-around and Mira came in 8th place. On the vault, Haley placed 9th and Mira placed 10th. On the bars, Haley took 4th. On the beam, Mira took 3rd and Haley took 4th. And on the floor, Haley took 4th and Mira took 5th. Great job girls!!

Labor Day Weekend 2009

For Labor Day weekend this year we decided to make a trip to Nelchina to visit Kyle's grandparents. Kyle ended up having to work on Saturday and Sunday so we didn't get to head out until Sunday evening. Before leaving town, Kyle received a phone call from his friend Jeremiah stating he had gotten his truck stuck offroad up north. Kyle left his grandparent's house first thing Monday morning to help him out. Aubrey and i hung out in Nelchina so her great-grandparents could spend some time with her.

Following are some pictures i took of the trip out. Kyle drove his big truck and Aubrey and i took the Toyota.



Grandpa Virgin loved Hailey...and Hailey loved Grandpa Virgin!!


Aubrey kept herself entertained by rolling around on the floor.


Aubrey loves laying on her side. She looks like she's posing!! A friend told me the bottom picture look like an ad for Baby Gap. Haha.


Here are some more photos of Aubs. She sure is a little ham!!




Here's Kyle's big truck. For those of you who don't know the story behind it, this is the truck Kyle and i rolled the day we officially became a couple back in 2006. The insurance company totalled it out and Kyle bought it back and turned into the beast it is today.

This is Aubrey watching some Veggie Tales with her Great-Grandma Virgin, or GG as she likes to be called.

When Kyle returned from helping Jeremiah he decided to take me for my first mudding trip in his truck. To my surprise, i really enjoyed it and the scenery was absolutely amazing!!

These pictures show you just how big the truck is. Keep in mind Kyle is close to 6'3" tall. I am only 5'2", but this truck makes me look really tiny!!

Some more of beautiful Alaska...

Aubrey's GG watched her while we were gone. We returned to find her fast asleep on the couch.

GG decided to pull out a dancing, singing Santa doll she had to see how Aubrey would react. I'm not sure Aubrey knew just what to think!!

This is Aubrey with her Great-Grandma and Grandpa Virgin, Joe and Peg. Or better known as GG and GGP.

Some pictures of the scenery on the way back into Anchorage.

On the way home we stopped in Palmer to visit Kyle's mom and dad, Beth and Dan. Aubrey loves visiting her Grandma and Grandpa Virgin because they always feed her all kinds of goodies. On this trip she scored a couple spoon fulls of whip cream!!