Return from Utah

Emily and I had the opportunity to drive to Utah in preperation for our move there. We accomplished eveything on our to do list in two days. We got there Monday morning, after spending lots of money on new tires because of a flat we got on the way, and we walked into the base housing and they offered a place for us and we signed for it. It was an amazing experience to happen. The next day we got the kids registered for school and did a few other things then we were done. What we thought would take four or maybe five days we got done in two. It was great.

So we spent the next day going to the Salt Lake Temple and then going to see Dave and his family. That was a great day also.

After that we decided to leave early, even though we did not want to leave because the weather was so nice, we drove through Oklahoma and made a pit stop in Tulsa, where I served my misson. We only stayed a few hours, long enough to stop and have a refreshing glass of Root Beer from Webers and to drive in one of my areas. It was nice.

Now we are home and now comes the dreadful task of packing and moving. We will leave in the middle of August.

Pineapple Jam??

We tried it but so far it has not worked so well. Both batches the Pineapple didn't turn into turn into jam, just a liquid. The first time we tried it said to cook until it turned into a thick jel and I sat there and stired it for about 20 min while boiling hot lava molton pineapple syryp splattered onto my feet. Didn't turn into jam. the next day we tried to add pectin, what one would use for Strawberry or Peach jam. That didn't work either so for now we will abandon the hope of Pineapple jam but regroup and research. But one day we will make Pineapple jam.

On another note, things are moving ahead in the move process. We have been going through rooms and cleaning house and getting rid of things were done taking with us. We are excited for the new adventure that is coming up.

Up next Peach Jam.......

We're going to Utah

Well the time has come for us to move. We recieved the orders that we are going to move to Hill AFB in Utah. We leave around the middle of August.

We are sad to close this chapter of our lives; however, we are excited to open a new chapter.

We will miss all our friends here in San Antonio. Bitter sweet. For some, this is nothing new to the military life, but for us this is our first move.

Thanks to all who made this assignment great. It is true there are many things I wont miss such as the humidity, bugs and fake Christmas trees; however, there are many things in which we will miss, mainly the people.

To be continued........

P.S.
it is never final until I sign in at Hill.

Here are some pics of Puerto Rico

This was a great trip to Puerto Rico

This was in Old San Juan, the streets are paved in colored brick and has been preserved with the old Spaniard touch.This was in the city of Ponce, there is an old fire house that they have turned into a musem.

My Grandfather, my Dad, Me, and Marcus.

We were visiting my Grandmothers side of the family.

This is on the northwest corner of Pueto Rico. The waves were much bigger because of an oncoming storm and this is on the Atlantic side where the currents are different.

This was our first day there, we were traveling from the airport to my parents house. We stopped at this small beach and let the kids run around and with the sun setting it was amazing.

This was one of the times at the beach. The kids loved the beach and thought it was the best.

Puerto Rico !!

Well we got back from Puerto Rico a couple of weeks ago and I must say this time of year is a great time to go. The weather was great, 80's and little humidity and great rain showers, which we don't get a lot of here in Texas, so that was nice to see. The food was great, especially the bread from the bakery, something that is just not the same here. It was nice to see the family both my parents and sister and her family; it was also nice to see my Grandparents and Aunts and Uncle and cousin and all the extended family. Folks I haven't seen in a long time. Marcus and Annabella did great with meeting all the family. For those who don't know Annabella is shy as all get out and it is not Marcus' favorite thing, and in Puerto Rico, or at least my family, they are very touchy feely with hugs and kisses, somthing my kids are not used to here in the States. They did well, especially Marcus it was funny because when it was time to meet someone new, he knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He walked up and let whom ever hug and kiss and touch his face; however, he had this look on his face that was priceless. It was that of I don't want to do this but I know I have to. It was the best ever. You could just see it in his eyes.

We went to the beach and played in the water and beach and built sand castles and the kids loved finding shells and all sorts of things.

It is way past my bed time now so I will get pics posted in a couple of days.

Relay For Life

Hey everybody!!

I have embarked for the first time ever to be a team captain for the upcoming Relay For Life here in the San Antonio Northeast region. My team name is McRamos' and I am excited to do this. I'v wanted to do this for sometime and now it seemed right. I have been able to establish my team name and now I am reaching out in many ways to gain team members and donations. I am using my blog to keep everybody informed of the progress that is going on with the team and how, if anybody, that is not close by to donate to the cause.

Here are some facts about what Relay for life is about.

* Relay for Life is an opportunity for the raising of money for the American Cancer Society.

* The mission of the American Cancer Society is to eliminate cancer as a major health problem.

* The ACS is the largest private source of cancer research funding, donating $2.7 billion for cancer research since 1847 and funding 38 Nobel Prize Laureates.

* In 1985, the first Relay for Life event was held and raised $27,000.

* Since then more the $1.5 billion has been raised.

So here is your opportunity to reach out and donate to the American Cancer Society through my team. Here is how it works.

1. Go to the Relay for Life web site. WWW.relayforlife.org/northeastsanantoniotx

2. Click on DONATE

3. Either click on SEARCH FOR PARICIPANT and type in DEREK RAMOS or
click on SEARCH FOR TEAM and type in McRamos'.

4. If you choose to donate under my name you will see a picture that is obviously not me, I can't get the picture to change. click on DONATE.

5. Follow the instructions to donate. If you do it through this web site there is a minimum of $10.00. If you prefer not to do it over the web site but you want to donate, I understand I don't like to do payments over the internet either. send me an email (mailto:derek.ramos@sbcglobal.net)%20 and we can arrange some other way.

6. If you want to donate to the team just choose the McRamos' and follow the same instructions.

So there you go for those near and far. Please join me and my team in our efforts to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The blog will be updated with accomplishments and pictures as we make progress then look for a posting on the Relay for Life event in May.

Thanks again.

Merry Christmas

Well another year has gone by, crazy huh? Another year in San Antonio Tx. Not that we don't like it here, we just want to see what else is out there. We are still living on base, but we moved to another unit because of renovations. We like living on base , it is quiet and my commute to work is five mins and that is with the morning rush. So here is the updown on everyone for the year.

Marcus - Boy oh Boy oh Boy, is he ever a boy. He is a lot of fun even though it takes a little bribing to get him to change his underwear. He started the year off in pre-kinder and was having a good time. Right before Thanksgiving Emily decided to pull the kids out and home school them. I think he enjoys it more becasue hegets more of a challenge. Marcus has become the comedian in the family, you never know what is going to come out of his mouth and when it does it is hilarious. There was one time we were playing a game for family home evening that involved acting out animals. The animals that he came up with and acted out was the funniest thing ever. Marcus loves his hot wheels cars and monster trucks.

Annabella - We went through a rough year with her. There were things that we had to work through to help her behavior; however, now at the end of the year she has gotten much better and is much more enjoyable to be around. We are grateful that we were able find out what was going on and able to help her through it. It is an ever changing process and all we can say is "can't wait for the teenage years." Part of the problem was schoolso that is when Emily decided to try homeschooling and it has made a world of difference in a lot of ways. Before, she would be so shy and self conscious that she would not vounteer for anything. Now she was raising her hand in and wants to do talks in primary. It was been wonderful. Not where she needs to be totally but from where she was at a few months ago she has come a long way. Annabella has lost so many teeth this year I can't even keep count. She hates to lose her teeth, so bad that she freaks out completely. But when it is out she's all better. Crazy funny. Annabella loves her dolls and teddy bears and she has a great imagination when it comes to drawing and art. I think she is going to be an artsy fartsy girl.

Emily - Emily had a rough year with her health. The year started off with a couple of trips to the emergency room with pain in her chest. The ER docs said she was not dying so they sent her home and followed up with the military docs. They could not figure out what was going on and they poked and prodded and agter many specialists, nobody could figure out what was going on. It had gotten so bad that she could not function to take care of the kids even so that we had to have friends take the kids in the morning and after school till I got off of work and then I would have to come home and take care of everyting from dinner to laundry to everything. Not that I am complaining but that is how bad it had gotten with how she was feeling. We are eternally gratefull to all our friends that helped with watching the kids and meals. Thank you. After some time on doctor was able to get her on a med that took the pain away, but it never answered the question on what was causing the pain and still today we don't know, we just know that the pain is goine and life was getting somewhat back to normal. After our three week road trip to Washington her back and hip doctor called and said she is going to need minor back surgery. So she went in got it done and is slowly recovering from that. The doc was also able to give her a coupel of shots in the hip to correct some issures that had risen. So over all she is haning in there. She takes it day to day, some days she feels fine and others not so well. She takes it in strides. Other than the health issures that has really kept her from doing a lot she has really dedicated herself to helping Annabella through the issures she ahs been having and taking care of the rest of us. She such a great mom and wife, we are lucky to have her.

Derek - As for me, I am just going along taking care of Emily when she is not feeling well and the kids and so forth. Iam three classes away from finishing my degree in Homeland Security. I cannot wait till it is over. Work is going well I ahve been blessed with great leadershopa nd suprevisors to train me and mold me into a great Airman. I was also bless with a promotion, which comes if February. (Emily is writing now) We, Emily and the Kids, are grateful to have great husband and dad in our lives! Derek took an Airman Leadership course this summer and earned two out of three awards for academic achievement and leadership! He truly earned those awards!

Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope everone has a great holiday season and a great new year.

Take care,

The Ramos'