Christmas ♥

After our hero being in Iraq for the last two Christmas' we couldn't have been happier to have him home with us this year. It was our first Christmas together as a family of four! We got settled into our new house and put our Christmas tree up right away along with the rest of our decorations!

When we were still in Las Vegas, Aunt Dot bought the kids their Christmas outfits and we took them to see Santa Claus. MaKenzie was all about it and couldn't wait to see him. She knew exactly what she wanted to tell him. Titan liked the idea of it but once we got in front of Santa he clung to daddy for dear life! It was precious. We ended up taking a family picture with Santa and made sure Titan was not on the same side as Santa! haha. We saw him again at the mall and kmart, Titan waved from a distance but didn't want to go near him. MaKenzie was just bashful every time we seen him :)

Our Christmas Eve traditions have changed since we moved away from Vegas. I miss our Christmas Eve nights at Aunt Dots, but we are making new traditions as a family. We get to open one present each on Christmas Eve, and that's our new pajamas :). We pick them out for each other then for the kids. We bake cookies for Santa and watch a Christmas movie. The kids absolutely loved every minute of it! They couldn't have been more excited that night knowing Santa Claus was coming to bring them presents!!!!

Christmas morning was the best. The look on their faces opening all their presents was priceless. They were so excited and so thankful for everything they got! They had no idea how many presents they were getting either. So when they saw how many presents they had they were shocked! They loved opening them though. MaKenzie hugged and loved everything she got. Titan loved everything and would smile big and say YEAH! or WHOA! It took a couple hours to open all the presents, take them out of the boxes and set them up. Then we went outside and played for a few hours, while we were out there the power went out and ended up staying off for 8+ hours! We had to go to Carl's Jr. for dinner instead of making our Christmas dinner. We loved just spending time with each other and didn't care about the power. We had a camp out in the living room and snuggled and watched a movie on the laptop til it finally came on around 10pm.

Later that night, some of our family came into town! My mom, Harley, Porsche and Antonio came here for five days! It flew by, but we loved having them here! (thank you guys for coming!!!!)

We hope everyone else had an awesome Christmas. Since we were in the middle of moving and getting settled we weren't able to send out Christmas cards this year. Thank you to everyone who sent us one though! We appreciate it :)

Happy Holidays, hope everyone has a SAFE New Years. We are staying in and spending it with each other watching the countdown and fireworks via television! haha. Happy New Years to all of our family and friends :)

Family of eight ♥

After moving into our house and seeing we had such a big backyard we agreed on getting another dog. We have been wanting one for a while now, but had to wait until we got settled here to see what it would be like. Kera also needed another dog to play with. She has missed Zeus you can tell! They always played together and burnt their energy out on each other! So we got Rocko at the animal shelter in town. He is a six week old Australian Shepherd. He is an adorable puppy and the kids love him. Kera loves him and already wants to play. Rocko rather snuggle. He adores MaKenzie and I. He follows us everywhere. We take him to the park with us and he chases the kids around the whole time. He is adorable and a perfect addition to our family :)

I did want another baby to make us a family of eight but that will just have to wait a little while. Now is not our time!

Our new home, Ft. Huachuca, AZ ♥

So we have been here for 5 days! So far we are loving everything about it. We arrived in the afternoon on the 7th and went straight to look for our house. We were anxious to see what it looked like. After driving around for almost an hour with no luck we decided to go find the Army Lodging and check in. Arek asked them for a map of post and then we found our house on the map, which we had drove right by several times :) haha. The street cuts in half and has two different names but we assumed it was all the same. Anyways, we found our house, but it was dark out. We still got a great idea of what it looked like and were able to see inside through most of the windows. We fell in love right away! We explored some of base and Sierra Vista, then went back to our hotel. We were suppose to see our house the next day at 2:30 but Arek was able to move it up to 10:30. We did our walk through and of course accepted it. It is perfect for us and huge! We love the tile floors through out the house. The arch ways for the living room/family room are neat! The backyard is HUGE! Kera absolutely loves it. The bedrooms are all great sizes. In the kitchen, hallway and bathrooms we have sky lights. In both bathrooms we have a heater switch, and makes it nice and cozy when we shower! Every single room has a fan with its own switch and a light switch that is a dimmer. We love it! We have an interior and exterior storage room, both which are huge! We have a built in desk area which is nice! We also have a big front patio that we want to buy some furniture for. We bought a new dining room table the day we got our house. It is a six seater (4 chairs and a bench) we love love love! The view from our living room and guest room of the mountains is GORGEOUS. I love it. I feel like we are right on top of them!

The movers came on the 9th. It took them a few hours to unload everything then took me a few hours to unpack the kitchen, the kids rooms, the living room and dining room. I didn't finish our room until the next day. Which was yesterday. I finished our room and hung up all the pictures, put some toys of the kids together and my new desk together. Today I went through all the boxes of toys and extra clothes that don't fit the kids. I have boxes to donate which is nice! We needed to get rid of more toys. The kids rooms are perfect. Kenzie's is 100% girly and Titan's is all boy! I love it :) We are very blessed with our munchkins!!!!

We have bought rugs for the living room, dining rooms and kids rooms. We still need a few more and need to go curtain shopping soon. We also need a bed for our guest room then we will be all set :)

We are getting familiar with base and Sierra Vista. Sierra Vista is a cute city. Has a lot of places we are familiar with that the east coast didn't have. Some of the town reminds me of Las Vegas. We went to the mall last night. It is smaller than we are use to, but it's nice. The only thing I hate it doesn't have is a SUPER wal mart! I miss that, but the prices at the commisary are nice and I can still go to Wal Mart for everything else!

Well I have uploaded pictures on facebook. I will upload more soon and update again soon :)

Road Trip and Vacation!

Our road trip from Fort Drum to Las Vegas was a long one! We started on the 15th in the afternoon. The first day we drove for about 25 hours straight to Brush, Colorado. The kids did great and so did Kera and the cats. We were surprised. It got a little hard for Arek and I getting no sleep, but we did it. We got to visit for the afternoon and night with Grandma Connie and Papa which we loved! Then we were off the next morning to Utah, only 2.5 hours out of Las Vegas, but we needed to get some rest and wanted a full day to visit everyone. We finally arrived to Vegas in the morning on the 18th. We loved visiting everyone while we were in Vegas! We felt like we were going non stop for two weeks but it was nice to see everyone since it had been 9 months since our last visit to Vegas. We celebrated MaKenzie's 4th Birthday Party at the Freel's house which was perfect. She had an awesome birthday party and got so many presents. She loved being able to celebrate it with Family and Friends! Thank you to everyone that came! She also got a separate little birthday party the next day with my best friends and their babies! More cake and presents, she loved of course :).

We had a blast visiting everyone! Wish we had more time to visit, but now we are only 7-8 hours away and will love to visit again soon and have friends and family come visit us :) Our home is open!!!! Just need to get a bed for the guest room ASAP :)

It's the little things...

We took MaKenzie and Titan bowling last week. Titan had not tried bowling yet, but this time we thought he should give it a try. He was excited when MaKenzie put on her shoes, and wanted some of his own.. so we thought why not? They have a six pound ball that Kenzie lifts just fine, so we thought Titan shouldn't have a problem. Sure enough he carried it like it was nothing. They have a ramp for kids to help them bowl. The kids took turns back and forth bowling. They had a blast. It was fun for us to watch them. They are both getting so big. They are the best of friends and really love doing things together. It is crazy how time flies, but this is such a fun age for them both. For Arek and I to teach them new things, watch them explore, what them learn. It's priceless!! We get so much joy out of watching them laugh and smile and just be kids!!

First day of fall!

Is it really close to the end of September? I can't believe how fast this year is going by. The weather here is looking beautiful. I am enjoying fall so much already. The leaves are changing colors, the breeze is nice and we are starting to drop back down to the sixties. I am going to miss this season when we are in Arizona!! It has become my favorite season. Winter is right around the corner! I can't wait for the snow. I am going to miss that when we are in Arizona too. Speaking of which.. we are moving in less than two months. I can't believe it. We are getting excited and anxious. We are leaving here on November 16th. We are driving straight to Arizona to sign in for housing. Then coming to Vegas to visit! We should be spending Thanksgiving in Vegas, which will be nice.. we have missed a lot of the holidays with our extended families! Can't wait to see everyone!

Titan is turning two next month. I feel like I just had him!! He is becoming such a big boy and definitely a toddler now. Although, he has hit the terrible twos stage which isn't as fun! haha. He can be all happy and playful, then one thing will tick him off and HELLO TANTRUMS! Yeah, not very fun, but it happens right? Just a stage!! Him and MaKenzie are doing great. They are both getting excited for Halloween, we are already seeing so many decorations and looking at costumes for the kids. It should be a fun year with both of them walking and saying trick or treat!! MaKenzie had the queen size bed in her room, but we decided she would be happier with a bed more her size. So we bought her a pink toddler bed and she loves it. She does great with sleeping in her own bed. She is getting anxious for our move to Arizona. She knows she will be starting school down there and she can't wait. One of the kids favorite things to do is go swimming. We take them to the indoor pool weekly.. they love it. Titan loves playing in the kiddy pool. He also loves the big pool as long as his life jacket is on. MaKenzie suddenly starting doing great with swimming. We are teaching her in the little pool how to kick and swim underwater. She is doing great. Soon we will be putting her in the big pool without her life jacket to teach her there. She loves it and will be swimming in no time!

Arek was gone for a week at the Warfighter Competition in Fort Leonard Wood. Him, Hunter, & Brennan were a team going against thirty three other teams. Their competition was three days long. On the first day alone, seven of the teams fell out. They finished every event and did amazing. I recieved many phone calls from Stevens Wife (their trainer) saying how amazing they were doing, how Arek keeps the team motivation up and was the beast of the team that just kept going no matter what! They ended up placing 11th. I couldn't be more proud of him for even being chosen for the team, competing and placing instead of falling out. They did amazing and have a lot to be proud of. From what I heard the things they had to go through were outrageously tough. I can only imagine! I could never ruck with 75lbs on my back for 68 miles!!

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Now that Arek is home and done with the warfighter competition we are focusing on our move, and him starting to clear next month! We are just staying busy with the kids and are enjoying our last fall, then winter here in New York, we will definitely miss it!! Although we are definitely looking forward to the summers in Arizona!

We hope everyone else is doing good!!

I have posted a lot of pictures:

((newest on the last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR FAMiLY

I have also posted new videos:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,

The Brock Family ♥

August has flown by!

I can't believe that summer is almost over. We hit a couple weeks of high 80's low 90's and it was beautiful. I am excited for fall though. The weather is dropping back down and we are in the 70's again. Fall here is so beautiful, and the leaves changing is so neat. I hope we get to see some more snow before we head out to Arizona too. I am going to miss the seasons in New York!!

It has been a busy month for us. The time has flown by. Earlier in this month we got a new kitten. He was abandoned at only a few weeks old. There were two, Marian took one and we took one. We have kept them together and had to feed them out of a bottle for a while. Finally they are eating soft foods and milk on their own. MaKenzie and Titan absolutely love them. We are thinking the kittens are boys and we have named ours Simba, Marian and Kevin named theirs Gizmo. Lola and Kera both play with the kittens and take care of them by licking them clean. Simba is so playful and pounces on Kera and Kera is so gentle with him! Lola takes the mommy role and watches over them. We also got a fish tank from one of Arek's friends. So we bought a few fish. I feel like we have our very own zoo :). It's fun though. The kids absolutely love animals!!

The second week of August was Arek's company family day. We all went to Remington Lodge. They had lots of food, activities for the kids, tug of war for the platoons and a pie auction for some of the higher ups! It was a fun day. The kids loved playing in the park and jumper. Arek love the tug of war competition, and the best part was watching the higher ups get pie in their face & Arek getting to put pie in some of their faces :). It was a lot of fun.

We celebrated our five year dating Anniversary on August 12. It is amazing how far we have come in five years and I never would have imagined this is where we would be, but it has been the best five years of my life. I couldn't be more proud of Arek and everything he does for our family. We couldn't be more blessed with the two most beautiful, smart, healthy children, and of course each other!! We have got to experience so much in our lives since Arek has joined the Army. Our kids are seeing all kinds of new places and we experience so many new things! It was the best decision Arek could have made for our Family! We celebrated at home with a nice dinner & that was the night we got the kitten, so it was our present to each other and the munchkins!!

We are all four doing good. Arek is getting ready for his competition on September 15th. We are not looking forward to him being gone for a week, but we are proud of him and know he will do great at the competition. If his team places 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The army will be flying us out there to attend a ball with him to celebrate. His team has been training hard and I know they will do awesome!! We are getting excited for our big move to Arizona. We will be leaving here on November 23rd. We will be driving to Arizona to sign in to housing and then we will be off to Las Vegas to visit while we wait for our house! All four of us are excited about it!!

We hope everyone else is doing good. We have posted lots of new pictures!

((newest pictures on the last pages!!))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love to all,
The Brock Family ♥

Happy Birthday Arek ♥

It has been a little while since I updated, but it has been a busy couple weeks! We had Chad, Lexi, Brock & Alyvia visiting us for a week. MaKenzie & Brock were so excited to see each other. It was great watching them play together all week and get to hang out. Titan and Alyvia had a love hate relationship. They both liked to pick on each other! They were still adorable together! On Arek's days off we took everyone to Alexandria Bay to show them around and check out Boldt Castle. That night we also went to the county fair which was neat! On Sunday we went to Westcott Beach. All four of the kids loved the water. It was fun watching them all play and splash around. We had a good week hanging out at the park, showing them base, off base, and some of the other towns. We were happy to be able to have them visit and hang out.

MaKenzie & Titan are doing good. They are both getting so big and amaze us each and every day. We look at them and just smile. It is an amazing thing to be able to see each other in two beautiful little kiddos. MaKenzie is very into helping getting Titan to use his words more. She likes going up to him, pointing to things and telling them how to say it. He is doing a great job and already has started talking so much more. Still learning new words everyday, and finally getting more clear to hear what he is saying. He still could care less about going to the bathroom on the potty. He thinks he should go potty in his diaper, then try to run to the bathroom and take his diaper off! haha. We aren't in a rush yet, he is still only 21 months old! We have been working on teaching Kenzie how to write out her alphabet and numbers & teaching Titan to use his words along with new words!

I had a surprise birthday party for Arek on Sunday. Kevin took him out fishing for a couple of hours so we could set up for the party. ( They caught 9 fish within a couple of hours! ) Marian and I decorated the house, made cupcakes, and got everything ready. Then Kevin showed up with him and as soon as he walked in the door we all yelled surprise and you should have seen his face. His smile was priceless :). He was so happy and thankfully really surprised!! We had a great afternoon hanging out with friends bbqing. Then we decided it was so hot that we should go to Westcott Beach. We went and hung out there for a couple of hours and had a blast. The water felt so nice. We swam for a while, buried the guys in the sand, and let the kids play at the park. We had a great Sunday!! Arek really enjoyed his surprise :).

Arek and I have been doing good. Arek has been keeping busy with work & warfighter. I have been babysitting randomly to keep me busy. It has been fun. I love babies!! We have officially found out when we will be moving. Our request to leave early was denied. So our date to report to Fort Huachuca is December 10th. We will be taking our pcs leave and will be heading out of here around the 15th of November. We were disappointed it wasn't approved, but are excited we finally know for sure and can start planning our big move to Arizona!! Other than that, we have been loving the warm weather and just hanging out!! We hope everyone else is doing good!!

Of course I have posted lots of new pictures since my last update:
((newest pictures on last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=0

Also some new videos:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,
The Brock Family

Climate changes of New York.

Rainy, cloudy, sunny, thunderstorms, windy, humidity & hail.. All in one day here in New York. It is amazing to experiecing a different climate than Las Vegas! Even though the rain comes suddenly and often ruins plans because it comes out of no where. It is neat!! I love the rain. It is officially impossible to tell what the weather will do from week to week!!

4th of July wasn't the same for us this year. We are use to BBQ'ing and doing a bunch of fireworks, but it rained all day here and fireworks are so illegal in New York they are impossible to find, even sparklers. So we didn't get to celebrate it like we usually do, but we still had a great day. We took the kids to the pottery store. We picked out two dog bowls and made them for Kera. They turned out great and the kids loved it. We also took them to Alexandria Bay on the 5th when the weather clearned up to go on an hour boat tour of the 1000 Islands. It was a lot of fun. They both loved the boat.

So we have all been good. Kenzie & Titan grow like weeds! They both seem to be getting so tall and mature in the blink of an eye. MaKenzie is so motherly lately and loves taking care of her brother and any of the younger babies that come over to play. She likes helping out and being the mommy of the bunch. It is adorable. Titan and her have to be the cutest together lately. Watching them play together is hilarious. They love making each other laugh and do the silliest things. Titan is FINALLY using his words more. He says new words all the time, but when it comes to using them on a regular basis he has been holding back. Finally, we have got him to start using them more and now he picks up all kinds of new words from MaKenzie. Before we know it he will be speaking in full sentences and having conversations with us. His new word that MaKenzie taught him is "snack" & he has no problem using that word ALL THE TIME! haha, but he sweetly follows it with a "thank you" :). They are both doing great!

Arek & I are doing good. He went to the doctor for his knee and they told him he had a severe sprain and that he basically couldn't do anything on it for 4 weeks or he would only make it worse. So we were happy that it was not a torn ACL or meniscus so we didn't have the chance of surgery. He just has to do physical therapy for 4 weeks and wear a brace. Thank god! Since his knee is hurt he can't go to WLC. Of course I am happy about that :). He will get to be home with us for his birthday!!!!!! He couldn't be more happy!! Other than that we are staying busy with the munchkins!

We were excited to find out last week that Chad, Lexi, Brock & Alyvia will be coming to visit us tomorrow night. We all are so excited. MaKenzie jumps up and down talking about it and has been marking down the days all week. She was so excited today to say that tomorrow her cousin will be coming to see her!! She tells Titan and he jumps up and down, and runs in circles screaming! haha. They are so excited. We can't wait to see everyone and see how big Brock & Alyvia are now! It will be neat to see Kenzie & Brock spotting each other for the first time, and it will be fun to watch Titan & Alyvia play and interact more! Arek & I are excited for Chad & Lexi to see the base! It will be a lot fun!!

I uploaded new pictures!!

(( guest password is: brocksguest ))

newest pictures start on page 17!!

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love to all,

The Brock Family ♥

Loved family visiting!

What a great week! We loved having my Grandma, Aunt Dot & Sister visiting us. They arrived here on the morning of the 25th. Arek was at work and we were waiting for them outside. Kenzie ran right to them and gave big hugs, Titan went right to them also. We hung out and showed them around the house. Watched the kids play and just relaxed! Arek got home for a little break to say hi to them. Then he had to go back to work & we went to show them a little bit of base. Marian and I took them to the commisary & px. Then we went over to Remington Park to feed the ducks, but they were MIA so we decided to go swimming at the indoor pool! We had a blast there. Then we headed back home to meet up with Arek and relax all night. On Friday morning we went out and about in Watertown to show them around. We walked along the Square and then we went to Westcott Beach. My Aunt, My sisters and I ended up going far out in the water and had such a great time, we laughed our butts off the whole time!! Then we went back to our house since Arek was getting off work, changed and went to Alexandria Bay! We had a great time looking around Boldt Castle & Shopping in Alexandria Bay. On Saturday, EARLY morning we headed out to North Adams, Ma. We stayed the night there and visited some of my Grandma's side of the family and got to see where she grew up! On Sunday we shopped a little and had to say our goodbyes, then headed back to New York! On Monday we were out and about all day looking around Watertown & Alexandria Bay. Then Arek got off work and we went to feed the ducks at Remington Park. Sadly, they had to go to the Airport super early Tuesday morning. We loved having them visit and had a great time with them!! ((thank you guys for coming out :) !!))

Kenzie and Titan are doing good. They loved having Harley here ALL month, and having Gma, Aunt Dot & Porsche here to visit!! Kenzie especially misses them bunches. She was sad when they were all gone on Tuesday. The night before she kept telling them they couldn't leave, but then said " Fine, you can leave when I wake up, but when I wake up again, again & again will you be here?" She is precious :). Titan of course misses them too! MaKenzie is becoming such a young girl and not a baby girl. She is always looking out for her brother and takes such good care of him. She loves having the pool in our backyard! She just jumps right in and swims like a little fish. She has become brave enough to take her floaties off and go under. I know by the end of the summer she will be swimming. She would swim all day if I didn't make her get out! Titan is doing great with the pool too! He has been brave enough to put his floaties on and swim alone now! He use to have to be in my arms with a bear hug around me to be happy :), but he goes off on his own now and it is too cute!! They love playing together and have been doing so good with sharing! Titan still learns new words everyday. We love hearing him say new words and can't wait until he finally stops being stubborn and uses them on a regular basis!

Arek and I are doing good. Today he had to go to Urgent Care for his knee. They were doing combatives and he hurt it pretty bad. He is in a brace and cruches. We are waiting for his Xrays to be reviewed and we will be finding out more on Monday morning when he goes to a specialist. We hope it is nothing too serious! It could be a torn ACL or torn meniscus. Either way, we are just hoping that he won't need surgery and it will be an easy, quick recovery! Other than that, we have been great. We loved having everyone visit! We are getting ready for him to go to WLC on July 14th, although he may not be able to go.. depending on his knee. Arek went to the Soldier of the month board on Thursday. He did a great job and came in second. He will be going to promotion board next to become "promotable". We don't know when he is going yet, but I am proud of him :).

We have lots of new pictures!!
Photobucket guest pw: brocksguest

New pictures: (( new pictures on last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?sort=ascending

Our trip to Ma:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/TRiPS/ROAD%20TRIP%20TO%20MA%20062709%20TO%20062809/?sort=ascending

We love everyone & hope everyone is doing good!

Love to all,
The Brock Family ♥

Loving summer time ♥

Arek finally had a four day weekend after his crazy 13 days of working straight, and it was a GREAT four day weekend. We were busy all four days but we had a lot of fun.We went fishing a couple of times. Arek and his friend Hunter caught two fish each. It was a lot of fun just sitting out there watching Arek fishing and MaKenzie & Titan try to fish and play in the water. Harley and I tried fishing too. All we caught was some sea weed, but it was still a lot of fun. We also went out to Westcott Beach. It was our first time going there. We had been waiting for the weather to warm up to go and it was well worth the wait. Westcott Beach is Lake Ontario and we could hardley believe it was a Lake since the water was so beautiful. We took Kera out with us and that was one of the best things about it. She was so cute to watch play in the water. When we first got there she was nervous to touch the water but I walked about 10 feet away from her and said "Kera come get me!" and she ran right out there to me. She is such a good dog! She stayed right by us to make sure we were okay. I went far enough out to where she couldn't reach so she had to doggie paddle, but she wouldn't leave my side. As far as I went she was going to be right there making sure I was okay! She is an amazing dog!! Arek had a blast playing with Kera in the water too. MaKenzie & Titan loved it as well. Kenzie was brave enough to walk out there after 5 minutes of contemplating it.. then we couldn't get here to come back in. Titan was more about staying within a foot from the shore! haha but he did great. He sat there throwing rocks the whole time. Harley loved it of course and was out there riding the waves and swimming around. We all had a fun time and are definitely planning on going back before Harley goes back to Vegas! We also took the kids to Velocity. They had a lot of fun there. It's has a huge bouncing area, then an obstacle sliding area, then an arcade, pizza & lazer tag. It was fun! Arek and I enjoyed the bouncy area as much as the kids and harley did :). Arek and I also played lazer tag together, which was a lot of fun! We had a great four day weekend!!

MaKenzie & Titan are doing good. They love the nice weather and playing outside too! We bought them a big pool for the backyard over the weekend, which they are in love with. We didn't realize how big it was until we put it in the backyard. It is perfect though. The weather is finally nice enough to enjoy it too! Titan is getting smarter every day. He is quite the handful though. He has become such a daddy's boy and loves to be in daddy's arms. While we think it is precious.. he throws tantrums when he doesn't get held on command! MaKenzie is still little Miss Independent, and also knows what she wants! She is fiesty :). They are both doing good and are very active and so much fun to watch from day to day!! They are both so smart and amaze us each and every day!!

Arek and I are doing good. We are very excited that my Grandma, Aunt Dot & Porsche are flying in tomorrow morning. We can't wait to see them! We will be sad when everyone has to go back to Las Vegas on the 30th. We are also realizing how close it is until he goes to WLC. Hopefully they will give him a few days off before hand so we will be able to enjoy our time with him before he is gone for two weeks. It is definitely going to be hard! Of course we will get through it :). We are just getting ready for everyone to get here in the morning & are excited about driving to massachusettes to see my Grandma's family and where she grew up!

We hope everyone is doing good and send our love to all :)

New Pictures: ((password: brocksguest))
((newest on the last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love,
The Brock Family ♥

Finally feels like summer!

It has finally been in the 70's & 80's and feeling like summer here! We still get rain a couple times a week, but it doesn't last long and the sun comes back out. We have been taking advantage of the nice weather and spending lots of time outside.

My sisters got here on June 5th and we have had so much fun. Porsche had to go back on the 13th, but will be coming back out with my Grandma & Aunt on the 25th. (we can't wait!) We took them out sight seeing and showing them what the base looks like. They both loved it. They think it is so beautiful and green here. We love showing them around. While Porsche was here we took them out to Sacket's Harbor & they both got to put their feet into Lake Ontario. We had such a fun time out there. We also took them to Remington Park a few times on base to feed the ducks, ride the boats, and peddle go karts. We took them out to Old McDonald Farm so they could see all the animals. They got to go on a Dairy Farm tour too which they both thought was neat! My sisters and I haven't had that much fun together in long time, it was nice! Since Porsche has left the weather has been great, so we took Harley out fishing on Black River. She loved it. Titan & MaKenzie loved fishing and then got bored so I took them by the water and they just love walking and playing in it. Titan has become so brave and thinks he is a big boy. He loves going out in the water. We went swimming today and he did great. He put a life jacket on and was out in the water just kicking his feet. The first time we tried getting him to swim in Florida he cried the whole time. He just started loving the water recently! We are looking forward to My Aunt, Grandma & Porsche coming out here on June 25th. We are so excited to show them around & go sight seeing with them. It will be a blast! We are also making a trip to Massachusetts and we couldn't be more excited to see where my Grandma grew up. It will be so much fun!! We have missed them lots and it will be so nice just to see them again!!

MaKenzie & Titan are doing good. They have loved having Harley & Porsche here. Kenzie was so excited to see them both, but loved having Harley "her best friend" around. Titan didn't take long at all to warm up to them and stuck by Porsche's side a lot. When they got into town it was 11:30pm so the kids were sleeping. We didn't want to wake them up so we left them in bed and waited til the morning. Arek had to go to work early so it was just the kids and I. I got Titan out of bed and went and laid down waiting to see if Kenzie would ask about them since she knew they were coming that morning. After about 5 minutes of watching cartoons she said "hey mom, porsche & harley are coming today!! what time is their plane?". I said "hmm.. let's call them and see" so I called Porsche and acted like I was asking her where they were and gave the phone to Kenzie. She said "Hi Porsche, what are you guys doing" and she says, nothing just laying down, you? and Porsche and Harley walked into the room. Kenzie's face was priceless and I wish I would have got in on film. She sat there for a second like, "are they really in front of me right now?" it was too cute! Titan looked at them like.. why are you in my mom's room right now? haha. Then Kenzie screamed and hugged and kissed them!! It was neat :). She was surprised that they were in New York and not Vegas since she is use to visiting and not people visiting New York, she must have asked a thousand times, Mom how did they get to NY? haha. Titan was hooked to them by the end of the day and showing him his cute personality! They both loved them visiting! Now next week we get to see Gma & Aunt Dot too!!

Arek and I are doing good. Arek has been patrolling on day shift for a couple weeks and then got asked to join War Fighters. He was very excited and loves it already. War Fighters are a group of the best fit and most knowledgeable MP's in the Army that train for a couple months and then compete against each other at Fort Leonard Wood in September. So he has had a crazy schedule switching from MP to War Fighter. He been working 11 days straight, got half a day and still has a couple days to go before he gets his weekend off, but he is happy and proud to be a War Fighter and I couldn't be more proud of him. I know he will do great! We have enjoyed having my sisters here! I stay busy with the kids and harley :). I love being a stay at home mommy!!! While Porsche was here they watched the kids for us one night so we could go out for a few hours alone. It was nice, we definitely needed it!! We got our fishing licenses yesterday so we are excited to go fishing all summer and hopefully catch something!! haha. We didn't have any luck yesterday. Other than that we just stay busy with the kids.

I have uploaded a TON of pictures.
(( guest password is: brocksguest ))

We took some in Sackets Harbor:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/FAMiLY%20PHOTO%20SHOOTS/SACKETS%20HARBOR%20FUN/

Lots of new pictures here:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

& a few new videos here:
((newest videos at the beginning))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,
The Brock Family ♥

June is here!

The months seems to be flying by. Can you believe that in June we still are hitting 50's some days? and 40's some nights? This weather is crazy and taking a toll on us. We have all had sore throats and head colds the past two days. Finally it seems to be balancing out in the 70's.

So it's been almost a month since I updated! I didn't even realize it. The kids are doing good. Titan has his 18 month check up here in a couple days. He is saying new words all the time, but being a stubborn little boy when it comes to using them on a regular basis. We bought him a potty because when he goes pee or pooh in his diaper, runs and gets a diaper and wants changed. So we figured it would be worth a try to introduce him to the potty. He isn't getting it just yet. He thinks that as soon as he goes to the bathroom he has to run to the potty instead of right before. So he has not went on it yet. We are leaving it out in case he wants to go, but we're not pushing for it. He has learned to brush his teeth on his own, and loves to do it every morning and night, but he has become stubborn with not letting me help after he "brushes". He thinks he is boss most of the time :). Boys are definitely different to raise then girls!! MaKenzie is doing good. She is going through an all girly girl princess stage. She is in love with the color pink & wants everything she owns to be pink. She will no longer wear anything Cars and says its for boys only. She loves dressing up and being a complete girly girl. She use to be such a tomboy! They have been having several playdates with our next door neighbors two boys, and Arek's friend Jeremy's two girls. The boys are Micah & Jonah. She runs around telling everyone Micah is her boyfriend. They have to give big hugs and kisses when they leave each other. It's adorable at this age :). It won't be so cute in a couple years haha. The girls are Arianna & Peyton. They all have a blast together. Titan adores Peyton and likes bringing her toys to play with. Both of our kids are going to be a handful with their boyfriends & girlfriends when they get older!!

Arek and I are doing good! We are getting ready for my sisters to get here on Friday!! Then my Aunt & Gma will be here June 25th. We are so excited to have family coming up here and showing them around. We have been staying busy on his days off getting the kids out and about enjoying the weather when it's nice. We recently took a trip to Alexandria Bay. We took the kids on a boat ride over to Heart Island, to see Boldt Castle. It was beautiful. The kids loved the boat ride and they love walking around the Castle. Kenzie thought princesses lived there :). Arek and I loved it too. It was such a beautiful day. After we were done at Heart Island, we walked around Alexandria Bay looking at the neat boats and cool shops. We also took the kids to Remington Park on one of his days off. It's here on base. We took them on a peddle boat which Titan didn't like because he had to wear a life vest. Then we took them on a peddle go kart around the park which was a lot of fun. They both loved feeding the ducks! We live in such a small town, but there is so much to do within an hour in every direction! It's neat! We plan on doing a lot more sight seeing and fun stuff when my sisters get here, and when my aunt & gma get here! Arek is preparing to go to the Soldier of the Month board in a couple weeks. I couldn't be more proud of him. Soon after that he will be able to go to the promotion board for his Sgt. He is finally on a regular schedule. He works day shift for June (from 4:30am to 2:30pm) and has Thursday and Friday off. We like having a set schedule! We are waiting to hear about his orders. We will be leaving here between the end of August and the end of November. We are anxious to see when so we can start planning our big move!! It will be here before we know it!!

I have uploaded lots of pictures and videos since my last update!!

(photobucket guest password) brocksguest

I always upload pictures in order, so the newest ones are on the last pages :)

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=0

and videos (newest at the beginning):

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

We hope everyone is doing good!!

We love you all,

The Brock Family

Rain rain go away!

We definitely have been getting rain every day for a week and still expected to get more!! Our flowers are finally starting to bloom and the leaves are finally coming back on our trees! We do have nice sun in between the rain though!

Titan picked up some new words this week!! He is finally saying Sissy. MaKenzie loves it. He has said it before but now he really says it and to her! It's adorable. He also learned how to say vitamin (he LOVES taking them in the morning), birdie, and poo poo. We are excited every time he says a new word. It will be neat to be able to have conversations with him. He is a little wrestler this week also. He figured out how to tackle Kenzie and how to play tickle monster. We are trying to catch him doing it on video tape because it has to be the funniest and cutest thing in the world. He gets his handles up like he is going to tickle you, tries to say tickle tickle, squints his face and then attacks!! It is adorable. He is definitely feeling back to normal and is a little rascal! We are happy he isn't feeling sick anymore!! MaKenzie is doing good. She is her normal miss personality self. She likes to let Titan be the trouble maker as she is the little birdie in his ear telling him what to do, and running and laughing. Those two together as a team are a handful! They are so much fun :).

My sisters, Aunt Dot, and Grandma officially have their plane tickets!! We couldn't be more excited to have family coming to visit us. Harley will be here from June 5- June 30th and Porsche will be here June 5- June 13th. Then my Aunt Dot, Grandma & Porsche will be here from June 24th - June 30th. We are planning a trip during that week to North Adams, Mass. to see some of my Grandma's family and where she grew up! Then we might be driving to NYC! It will be exciting and we are definitely looking forward to it!!

Arek and I are doing good! He is currently working mid shifts (8:45pm to 6:00am). We definitely don't like this shift, but thankfully he will be starting Heavy Weapons school on May 11-May 23. Which is normal 9-5 schedule. We also found out he will have to go to WLC training July 14- July 29th and miss his birthday with us. Of course we were very upset, but we will get through it and make the best of his birthday when he finishes it! During WLC he will be on 5 miles away from us, but not allowed to come home or see us. It's definitely going to suck! Other than that, we are just staying busy with the munchkins.

Lots and Lots of new pictures and a couple new videos!

New Pictures:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=120

New Videos:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,
The Brock Family

May is here!

I can hardly believe that it is May already. It really just seems like the time is flying by. I am pretty sure the saying goes "April showers bring May flowers", but we are to expect rain for the next week and half! We don't even have any flowers yet! haha.

Titan has'nt had a good weel. He has been very grumpy and not himself. So we had to take him to the doctor for a sick check. He had spring cold, bronchitis and a minor ear infection. No wonder he was so cranky! He had to take a couple different medicines but he is doing much better now. He has learned to climb out of his big boy bed and that has been fun to deal with! We had to get a gate for his door, because we would just wake up and he would be tapping us on the shoulder. It was adorable, but we definitely didn't want him wondering around the house when we weren't even awake!! So we have a gate up and he hates it of course. Last night he kept me up until 2am. He went to bed at 7:30 like normal, but woke up crying at 10:45pm, which he never does. So we tried for a good half hour to get him to lay back down, but it wasn't happening. I ended up staying up with him laying on the couch snuggling, catching up on my shows haha. He just wanted some mommy loving! He laid there with me all the way until 2am cuddled next to me. Then he finally passed out. I think he just had a bad dream and needed some loving :). He has been a little monkey. We can't keep him off climbing things for more than a minute. It is definitely different raising a boy then raising a girl!! haha. He is going to be a little trouble maker like his daddy! MaKenzie is doing good and somehow avoided the spring cold! She had some bad allergies for a couple days, along with me, but they finally passed. She is little miss personality. I have never seen a three year old with such an opinion, spunk, and personality! Arek and I could listen to her talk and her stories all day long. She is the greatest to have a conversation with, kids definitely say the funniest things!! Since Titan has been sick she is all about making sure he is okay. She gives him hugs and kisses and helps with his medicine. She makes a bed for them on the floor and just snuggles with him. She wishes that she can pick him up and hold him like mommy and daddy is what she tells us all the time :). She always says when I get bigger I'm going to do this and that it's cute! Titan is now 25 pounds!! & Kenzie is 34lbs!!

Arek and I are doing good. Arek got his dream system(for the tahoe) he has been waiting for the past five years. It was suppose to be a birthday present for him, but I ended up agreeing to get it early for him :). It has a nice DVD player and the rest of the crap he wanted haha. It makes him happy so it was worth it! He just finished Customs training. Now he is back to working the roads for another week and then does Heavy Weapons training. He is very excited about that class! I am doing good. I attempted the Master Cleanse Diet, very hard by the way! I did it with our neighbor Kevin. We were going for 7-10 days, but cracked on day four haha. It was hard, but it was nice while it lasted. We both ended up losing four pounds. We wish we could have stuck it out though!! We had two days in the 80's here last week, so we made sure we took the kids out and let them play in water! We had a car wash bbq with a bunch of people on one of the days and it was a blast. Arek had to go to work after an hour, but I stayed with the kids and they loved the water. Titan got scared a couple times of the sprinkler, but MaKenzie could have played out there all night! We wish the 80 degrees would come back already!!

We are getting excited for next month! We have some family coming out and can't wait! My sisters are coming out on June 6th. Harley is staying the whole month of June and Porsche is going back June 13th. Then towards the end of June my Grandma, Aunt Dot, & Uncle Tad are planning on coming for a little while. It will be nice! We are taking Kenzie, Titan & Harley to Virginia in the middle of the month. We are going to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA! Two great parks that are a part of the here's to the heroe's program! We are all pretty excited!

We hope everyone else is doing good! I have lots of new pictures and a couple new videos!!

Pictures:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=160

Videos:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,

The Brock Family :)

Spring is around the corner!

We are suppose to hit seventy degrees by the end of this month and we couldn't be more excited!! Winters are so long here at Fort Drum!! haha. We have forgot what it is like to be able to go outside without a jacket or hoodie :). We have had some nice days in the 60's and we always take the kids to the park or let them play outside. They love being outdoors, so when it rains they don't like it!

Easter here was great. We decorated eggs the day before Easter. Both of the kids helped me boil them, then MaKenzie started dying the eggs while Titan was more interested in coloring on them. Finally Titan wanted to try out dipping them in the dye and we couldn't get him to stop. He loved it. MaKenzie loved mixing all the colors and coloring on them as well. She waned to make sure that they were perfect for the Easter bunny. The kids were precious to watch on their little egg hunt to their Easter baskets. Titan did a great job and was very into finding eggs and putting them in his bucket. MaKenzie loved every second of it. The Easter bunny spoiled them with something they have both been wanting for a long time! Everytime we go to wal-mart MaKenzie asked to look at this tricycle and rides it up and down the isle. We knew we had to get it for her, since she waited so patiently for it. Titan always sits in MaKenzie's princess chair and we thought it was about time we get him a cars one he can sit in. Daddy had to go to work that afternoon, but we had a great morning with him and spent the rest of the day playing out back or playing inside with the empty eggs! Who knew empty eggs would be so entertaining!! haha.

MaKenzie and Titan have been good. They are both learning new things every day. MaKenzie officially knows more spanish and chinese then Arek and I both. She watches Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao Kai-Lan every chance that she gets and learns a lot about those languages from that show. It's amazing. She is the best little helper in the world. She loves helping clean up and more than anything, taking care of her brother. She helps me pick out clothes for him and change his diaper. She always is right by his side if he cries asking "What's wrong Titan, sissy is right here". Titan got sick the other night and threw up while Arek was working so I asked if she could watch him in his bed while I clean up the mess. When I came back from the bathroom she was sitting next to his bed telling him how he will feel better in the morning and she hates throwing up to, and its okay Titan sissy will make sure you feel better. It has to be the most precious thing in the world. Titan is learning new words all the time. He loves saying "night night" and he says bye bye, new things we catch him saying all the time. He loves to mock us. One of these days I swear he is just going to start talking in sentences. He has became a big daddy's boy lately. Whenever Arek leaves for work MaKenzie doesn't cry anymore she gives him a big hug and kiss and Titan cries at his feet. It's a great feeling that he has such a bond with Daddy after being deployed for 15 months and only seeing him via web cam and talking on the phone. Both of the kids love being outside. Whenever we have a nice day out, I could just leave the back door open and they would play outside all day long. We wish the rain would go away and the 70 degree weather would hurry up and get here :)!!

Arek and I are doing good. He has loved working patrol the last two weeks. He deals with some interesting cases and people, but he loves what he does!! Last night I couldn't have been more thankful for our MP's. Arek was at work and the kids were asleep, it was about 9:30 here. I was watching One Tree Hill and it was on commercial, so I went in the kitchen for water when I hear Kera barking at the front door, I go to yell at her to be quiet when I see and hear someone trying to open it. My heart sank and I panicked. I quickly turned on some lights and turned on the patio light. The yellow ribbon we have on our door was blocking the peep hole so I couldn't see out right when I turned on the patio light the screen door slammed shut and I saw someone running away. I tried calling Arek but couldn't even get my fingers to dial the correct number, he had no service so I called our neighbors and Kevin came right over with his flash light, hand cuffs and baton. Arek called right back and I barely told him what happened and he was here with at least 5 cop cars before I knew it. I definitely felt safe and protected. I just wish they could have seen someone to put my mind at ease a little more. Now Arek is off for the next two nights thank god. I couldn't be more thankful for Kera barking and letting me know someone was at the front door and that they successfully didn't get into the house!! Other than that, we have been good!! Kera is now 14 weeks and is learning sit and stay so well. She is a great pup and finally getting along with Lola. She always wants to play with Lola, but Lola is a little feisty. Now they lay together and get Lola doesn't freak out around her!!

Lots and lots of new pictures and videos posted!!

New Pictures:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=40

Easter Pictures:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/HOLiDAYS-SPECiAL%20DAYS/EASTER%20041209/

Videos:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,

The Brock Family!

Easter is almost here!

What a busy week for us! Arek finished MPCC and officially starts working as a policeman today. He got pepper sprayed the last day of his school. He hated it of course, but did good! He is happy it is over and excited to start working the roads. We have to get used to his schedule changing. The schedules change every 15 days. So far his first schedule doesn't look too bad. He works days today-Thursday and swings Friday-Sunday then is off with us Monday-Wednesday! He works on Easter Sunday, which sucks but not until 12:30 so we will be able to celebrate with the kids in the morning!!

We went on our Marriage Retreat with his company on Thursday-Saturday. Our drive up there was nice. The scenery was beautiful, the kids laughed and sang the whole way there. It was a beautiful day out! As part of the marriage retreat you have to take classes about marriage and coming home from deployment. So we took the kids swimming before dinner. Then our first class was at 6pm. We took them down to daycare and it was hard at first! Once we finally left the room though they did great. Titan took a minute to settle, but when he did he played and had a great time. We peeked in on them on our break at 7pm and they were playing and having fun. Then when we picked them up at 8pm they were holding each other snuggling almost asleep. It was the cutest thing ever. We decided to take the pup and kids on a walk down main street since it was still so nice out. We got to bring Kera with us. The only thing we had to pay for during the trip, but it was only $75 and worth it! That is all we had to pay for the whole trip. The Army paid for the hotel, food and even us driving up there plus some!! On Friday they had to go to day care again for three hours and they did great. We were done by noon and ate lunch, walked main street, went bowling, hung out, ate dinner, went swimming, and played cranium with five other couples during the night. We had a great time! The kids passed out the whole way home, and so did I :). It was a great mini vacation and we had a lot of fun. We even enjoyed the classes. They were interesting!

On Sunday we took the kids to get their Easter/Spring pictures taken. They did a great job, and all of them turned out amazing. We ordered a bunch and will be sending them out in two weeks when we get them back! So please reply to this email update with your addresses :). After their pictures we had a Batallion Easter Party to go to. MaKenzie and Titan both loved hunting for Easter eggs. Titan still did not want anything to do with the Easter Bunny, but MaKenzie loved him. Yesterday we relaxed with Daddy all day before he had to start working the roads for the next six days today. We were thankful for our 5 day weekend with him!!

The munchkins are doing good! Titan slept in his big boy bed for the first time on Saturday night. He cried for about 5 minutes, but got over it right away and fell asleep for the whole night. Now he just goes to bed like normal and sleeps great through the night still! His four teeth that have been taking forever to come in have finally popped through and he looks like he has a mouth full of teeth. MaKenzie is doing great and now wants to start going to school! She loved daycare even though she got nervous at first. She is very anxious and excited for the Easter bunny to come to her house!

The weather here has been crazy. We have had 60 degree weather one day, and snow the next!! I am looking out my window this morning and see a white blanket all over. It's APRIL!! haha. It's beautiful though and our gross grass has turned into green grass again, finally. It is looking so nice out! If only the sun would stay out and stay above 60 degrees!! Arek and I are doing good! He is excited to be working as a policeman! I am excited to here about all the stuff he will do each day :). I am starting my spring cleaning today!! FUN FUN :). Kera is now 12 weeks old! She is getting so big, so fast! She is doing great with potty training. She is also doing great with being kennel trained. She has learned her first trick that Arek and Kenzie have been teaching her which is sit! We are all doing good!!

I have a ton of pictures!!

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Easter/Spring pictures:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/FAMiLY%20PHOTO%20SHOOTS/EASTER%20PICTURES%20040509/

Our Trip to Lake Placid:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/TRiPS/LAKE%20PLACID%20040209%20TO%20040409/

Videos:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

We hope everyone else is doing good!! Please send me your addresses so I can send you pictures of the kids when we get them next week!! Thank you :)

Love to all,

The Brock Family!

We're on PCS orders!!

So I have to start with the most exciting news of all. We are on PCS orders to move to Fort Huachuca, Arizona no later then December 10th. We have been researching lots of bases and finally decided on Fort Huachuca since Fort Carson was not open. It looks like a beautiful base and has a lot of site seeing and beautiful towns/cities all around it. We will also only be seven hours away from Las Vegas! We will be able to visit and have family visit more often. They have lots of new housing and it looks beautiful. We couldn't be more excited! We love being out of Las Vegas and getting to expierence so many different towns and traveling all over the United States!!

Other than that, nothing much new going on. The kids are doing good. Titan is becoming even more friendly with the puppy and doesn't freak out anymore. He is out of his high chair and now sitting in a big boy booster seat at the table with us. He loves it! He loves playing outside when the weather is actually not freezing. He is so active and full of energy. It's a lot of fun watching him and MaKenzie play together. MaKenzie is smitten with the puppy and loves taking her on walks. She just got a new car that she is in love with. Her new favorite thing is riding it around the neighborhood. She gives Titan rides in it and he loves it.

Arek and I are doing good! He is almost done with his MPCC classes to start working the roads! He is doing great in it and will complete it on Friday! He was selected to take a heavy duty weapon course in a couple weeks and he is excited about it. I am doing good, love being a SAHM more than anything, love having daddy home, and in our routine of things! We are going to a Marriage Retreat that Arek's company is hosting next weekend. It's at High Peaks Resort in Lake Placid. The hotel and area is beautiful. Check out the hotel! http://highpeaksresort-px.trvlclick.com/ . All the rooms they booked are lake view. We're excited to go on another mini vacation!!

I uploaded lots of new pictures!

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=240

We hope everyone else is doing good!!

Love to all,

The Brock Family :)

Getting back into routine!

We enjoyed our last week and half here in New York before Arek had to go back to work on Monday. A few days after being home from our vacation.. we had to drive down to Syracuse and pick up our new baby girl, Kera Bear Brock! She was so big at only 7 weeks old! MaKenzie and Titan were so excited to finally meet her. MaKenzie didn't want to let her go! While Titan didn't want the pup to touch him, but he wanted to pet her! It was adorable. The car ride home was good. The first night was good too. She didn't really whine, she pee'd and pooh'd on her pads. During the week she had bad diaherra which made a mess of her bed area every night. Now that finally passed and she has been good! She pee's and pooh's outside, and during the night she pee's on her pad! Titan is getting used to her. He spots Kera and says "pup!" and gets all excited, but the minute Kera tries playing with him.. he screams! haha. He's not quite sure how to handle it. He is getting used to her though and lets her sit by him, he pets her and only freaks out if Kera is running towards him. MaKenzie is absolutely in love with Kera. They snuggle and play together all day long. Kenzie helps me take her outside and give her treats and says "good girl kera!" when she goes potty outside. It's priceless :). Arek and I love her! We are so excited to watch her grow and train her. She is now 8 1/2 weeks old and getting so big! When she first got her, she had one ear up and one ear flopped down. Now both of her ears are up! Kera has a boyfriend that the Singhs got just a few days after us! His name is Zues Oso(bear in spanish) Singh. They love playing together. Zues even escaped out of their backyard a couple days ago and came to our door crying, I let him in and he immediately ran to Kera and started playing. He's a smart dog remembering where we live!

Titan and MaKenzie finally got over their little travel colds and allergies. Kenzie mainly just had allergies. She sneezed, coughed and had a runny nose, but Titan had all of the above and wouldn't eat anything. He also was very quiet. Now he is eating everything in sight again and babbling all the time. We are very happy he is back to normal and feeling better! They are both doing good! Titan has became such a daddy's boy these last couple of weeks. He is very clingy to him and fights with Kenzie over who can sit with him or who he picks up! Arek started work on Monday and both the kids miss him very much! The second Titan hears the garage door he runs saying Da-Da and Kenzie runs right into his arms! Then the first half hour he is home they just wrestle and play with him! We hate that Daddy hate to go back to work, but it sure beats him going to Iraq. We cherish him coming home after work every night and spending the weekends with him!!!!!

The weather here has been nice. No snow and some rain. We have been in the 40's most of the week and loving it. We bought a grill and had a BBQ with Arek's friends on Sunday before they had to go back to work. We were all outside with our t-shirts on! haha. Crazy how 40 degree weather is so nice to us! Arek and I are doing good. We celebrated our two year wedding anniversary on March 3rd! Arek bought me beautiful pink roses and a new wedding ring(since I lost the diamond in my original one). I love it! It resembles my other one so much and it is perfect! As if that wasn't a good enough anniversary present he surprised me with a BEAUTIFUL coach purse a couple days later on his lunch break! It was sweet :) and he has good taste!! It was a great wedding anniversary and I look forward to the lifetime of them to come :).
Most of you heard, he did the blazzin' challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings last night. We went there with his whole platoon! Arek, his friends Kevin and Hunter all tried the Blazzin' Challenge. We must have had the whole restaurant watching them :). Arek of course made it look like it was easy :). The BWW Blazzin' Challenge is you have to eat 12 of their wings with blazzin' sauce in under 6 minutes with no drink, ranch, celery or anything else. You also have to make sure you get every part of meat off of the bones. Arek did it in 3min. 21sec.! His friend Kevin did it in 5 1/2min. and Hunter came close but didn't make it! It was a fun night! Now we get a three day weekend!!

I posted lots of new pictures on our photobucket! We hope everyone else is doing good!!

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love to all,

The Brock Family :)

Home sweet home!

We are finally getting settled at home and back into our routine. We had two GREAT vacations in Orlando and Las Vegas! Our trip to Disney World was everything we thought it would be! We got there on Tuesday the 10th. When we arrived to the airport we went downstairs to the Disney World welcome center and rode a bus to the hotel. While they went and got our bags and delivered them to our room. It was nice not having to worry about picking them up! Right when we got to the hotel we checked everything out then decided to go buy our park tickets and check out epcot :). We went right to the Nemo show they have there and then walked around for a bit. Wednesday we went through Magic Kingdom, which was definitely our favorite place! The castle was beautiful! There were so many characters everywhere we went. MaKenzie ran up to every character giving them hugs and saying hi. Titan was not so sure about meeting them at first he walked up very slowly and cautiously. He soon started walking up and giving high fives but no hugs. Then soon after that some got hugs, some just got high fives. By the time we left all of the girls were getting kisses and the boys were getting hugs. Then Kenzie and Titan would stand next to each other turn around and smile. They were priceless to watch. Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom and then later in the night to Downtown Disney. Animal Kingdom was really neat! We loved walking around looking at everything. We went to the best musical we have seen. Finding Nemo. It was awesome! They also had an awesome play area called Dino Land which the kids had a blast in! Downtown Disney was a shopping and dinning area, but it was still a lot of fun! There were some neat things to look at and the kids loved the Lego Store! Friday we went to Hollywood Studios. They had American Idol there but we never got to see anyone! We took Kenzie and Titan to "play and dine" with Playhouse Disney! The characters would go around saying hi to everyone one by one while we ate. They loved it! We also watched lots of shows, met more characters and played in the "Honey I shrunk the kids" Playground, which was neat! Friday night we went back to Magic Kingdom to watch the night show they have which was beautiful we also went on a couple more rides. They have a neat pooh bear playground there! On Saturday we went back to Epcot and spent the time walking around there. It was more of a dinning and shopping theme park. It was still fun and had amazing views. It was beautiful! The weather in Orlando was beautiful. We were in the 70's and 80's the whole time and it never rained while we were out. It was perfect. We even went swimming a few times. Which we needed after a LONG day of walking. It was so nice to just relax at the pool! We left EARLY Sunday morning, but we had an amazing trip! We are lucky to be able to go on so many wonderful vacations! It was a great family vacation and we sure love having Daddy home with us!!!

We arrived in Las Vegas Sunday afternoon! We had a family BBQ and it was good to see everyone! We spent the first five nights at Aunt Dot's and the next 4 nights at Tarron and Chad's house. The Las Vegas vacation is kind of a blur. haha. We had several things to do every day and we were going non stop. We wanted to make sure we spent time with everyone!! We had a lot of fun though. We got to meet our little nephew Conor who was precious. We had a great BBQ. Some great dinners with both families. We had a snow day at Mt. Charleston which was a blast. We had a play date with my girlfriends which was awesome. We celebrated Alyvia's first birthday. Arek had a poker night with the guys. I had a girls night out while he was my sober driver. It was a lot of fun, great memories and so good to see everyone in Las Vegas. It's crazy going back there to VISIT. It's so weird living so far away from our family but we do love being out of Las Vegas!

Our flights home were nice! The first flight was 4 hours and all four of us were passed out within a half an hour and didn't wake up until the plane was landing. Then we had an hour lay over for potty breaks and a snack. Then an hour flight to Syracuse which Kenzie passed right back out on and Arek, Titan and I just hung out. It was so good to get back home and start getting settled and into our own beds and our routines.

We have been hanging out with our neighbors Marian and Kevin, having a good time! Getting ready for our puppy to come home with us next weekend. Getting all unpacked and the kids definitely love playing with their toys again :). MaKenzie and Titan both have a bad cough and runny noses. The climate changes are getting to them! We took Titan to the Doctor on Thursday for his 15 month check up. He is 23.3lbs and 31inches long. He had to get some blood work and he sat there without even a budge or tear. He just watched them. We have to go back on Monday for shots and I hope he handles that just as well :). Arek and I are doing good! Arek says "happy to be home, miss the family in Vegas, but love our neighbor's (the Singh's) here at Drum". All of our snow is melted we have like NO snow left on the ground. We don't know if we will be getting anymore. It's crazy it melted so fast and we actually see our grass!

We will update again soon. We hope everyone is going good!

Our Disney World pictures:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/TRiPS/ORLANDO%20021009%20TO%20021509/

Our Las Vegas pictures:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/TRiPS/LAS%20VEGAS%20021509%20TO%20022409/

Our Videos:

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,

The Brock Family

Our leave finally started :)

As of Saturday our 30 days of daddy not working finally started!! We are going to enjoy every MINUTE of it!!! Our vacation starts in the morning and we are all four so anxious!!

We have had a great week! Daddy had to work every day, but it's the best to have him come home at the end of his work day!! We cherish every minute together so much more. Not a lot happend during the week. Just work and spending time together. Friday was his company's Family day. We had a luncheon and they handed out awards. I recieved two awards from the FRG for everything I did. I was the only one to receive two, so I felt accomplished :). Didn't realize how much I did!! We watched a slideshow of pictures from Iraq, had a few guest speakers, and lunch. It was fun!

We officially bought the last addition to our family to make it COMPLETE :)!! She is a beautiful little german shepherd! I have pictures of her from the breeder on my photobucket! We won't be able to get her until the first week of March when she hits 8 weeks old :). She is so freaking cute though!!! We are naming her Kera (arek's name backwards) Bear Brock!

MaKenzie and Titan are doing good!! MaKenzie still gets upset when Daddy has to go to his job. She cries and tells him she doesn't want him to go anywhere. It's heartbreaking, but she is adjusting! She just wants to make sure daddy does NOT go back to Iraq! Titan is getting more attached to Daddy. Titan seems to think it is cute to throw little fits. That's his new thing! If you don't understand what he is crying about and give him his bear or cup to make him happy he will take the cup and bear and toss them, then go UHMPH. haha. He is a little handleful when he gets upset!! Most of the time he is a smiley little boy that loves to make you laugh :). Arek and I got another matching tattoo yesterday! I got minnie on my left foot and arek got mickey on his right foot then we have shading that goes into half of a heart on each of our foots and when we put them together its mickey and minnie with a whole heart :). He thought of the idea while he was in Iraq! They turned out so good and we love them!

We leave in the morning for Orlando!!!! We packed and cleaned the house all day. We are all so anxious. MaKenzie talks about all of the stuff she is going to do down there and is very excited about it, Titan listens to her and jumps and yells with her :). Arek and I can't wait for this much needed family vacation :). We leave Orlando on the 15th for Las Vegas and we're all four so excited to see family!! We can't wait to spend time with everyone and for everyone to see how much the kids have grown and their personalities!! We are in Las Vegas until the 24th! We have a late night flight so we arrive in Syracuse on the 25th morning!

I have lots of new pictures on my photobucket! I added some from Arek's camera too. He went to a Lonestar concert right before he left Iraq and got some great pictures and videos! He even got an autograph for me :)!!! I have to upload the lonestar videos on my youtube since they are big files so I will link you guys to those later :).

We hope everyone else is doing good! We will have a new update after our vacations to Orlando, and Las Vegas!! and lots of pictures of course!!!

Here is the link from where I added pictures last! (password: brocksguest )

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=400

and here are some new videos :)

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,

The Brock Family!!

Our hero is home!

Homecoming had to be one of the best moments in our life. Next to the births of MaKenzie & Titan, and our wedding day! The emotions we were feeling I can't even explain. It was so amazing to be in each others arms again. It was the best feeling in the world for me to know he was home safe with us again. We survived our deployment!!!! It was the longest 15 months ever, but at the same time it went by fast and we're so thankful how much we got to talk to him, see him on webcam and etc. It definitely made the time go by faster. We are also so thankful all of our prayers kept him safe and brought him back home safe to us!!!! We are so proud of our Soldier!! To be able to say he fought in OIF is amazing!

Homecoming day was hectic. I wanted everything to be perfect and we were so anxious for the hours to go by! The moment Arek called and said he landed at Fort Drum, and it was freezing.. I was so relieved. It felt amazing knowing he was CLOSE to home!! We had to wait a few more hours to go to the gym. Once we walked into the gym my heart filled with joy, my body with excitement and my stomach with butterflies. We sat there anxiously for an hour and half waiting for him. MaKenzie was getting nervous and started to cry. She wasn't sure what was really going on. Then I told her Daddy was behind the doors and talking to his other soldiers, then at 6:00pm he was going to walk in! She said "OHHHH" and then got very excited and started jumping up and down wanting DADDY!! Titan was playing and just kept saying "da-da" and laughed and jumped with MaKenzie. After teasing us for almost 20 minutes with " your soldier is right behind those doors " & " are you ready to see your soldier yet? " They finally opened the doors!!!!! All 148 of them marched in and I got the goosebumps and have never felt so PROUD! We sat in the perfect spot.. he ended up being RIGHT in front of us in his formation! Before we could even get over the excitement and joy of him being right in front of us they shouted out RELEASED and all came running :)!! ((thank god, because they were saying the ceremony was going to be an hour or more!!)) We ran down the bleachers and right into his arms!!! He picked us all three up and it was an instant feeling of wholeness! We were finally complete again!!!!!!!! MaKenzie was so excited to see her daddy and talk to him in person. She kept saying " I love you daddy " & " I missed you so much daddy ". Titan went right into Daddy's arms! He knew exactly who he was! He was a little shy at first, but by the end of the night was coming up to him and saying "up" and giving him bunches of kisses! Arek and I were both ecstatic to be with each other again! It was blissful :). and PERFECT!!!

Now MaKenzie is inseparable with her Daddy. Although, she is pretty understanding about him going to his JOB (you say work to her and she thinks he is going to IRAQ) So we say Daddy has to go to his job. She says I want you to stay daddy, but understands and gives him a big hug and kiss. Definitely a daddy's girl. Titan is torn between mommy and daddy! He goes back and forth between us :). He is precious.

Arek got home Thursday night. We stayed home and just enjoyed being with each other again. Arek LOVED the house. He had to work on Friday for half the day. Then he came home and shoveled. Then decided he wanted to plop in the snow and take me down with him! haha he loved the snow though. He made snow angels, jumped into it and got snow all over him. On Saturday morning we took the kids up the hill to go sledding and we told daddy to go first! Well the snow was too fresh and daddy ended up sliding right into the snow and again got snow all over him! haha so Kenzie, Titan and mommy didn't even try :). We took the kids out front and built a little snowman! It was fun. Later on we headed to the mall. He got some new clothes and his new PS3 (spoiled =]) but he deserved it!!! Superbowl Sunday we had a little party at our house with some of his friends. His friend Martinez's mom and dad cooked an amazing Mexican meal. We played poker, ps3, and kenzie had every single soldier wrapped around her finger and playing with her on the mats in her playroom! It was priceless! Titan also got his first hair cut! Daddy shaved his hair off. He looks sooooo adorable. He loved it too! He thought it was fun :). I didn't take really any pictures of Superbowl Sunday, I wish I had!! It was a lot of fun! Now it's Monday and daddy is working. We leave in just about a week to Orlando!! Daddy's leave starts Saturday and we are soooo excited!!! We can't wait to see everyone in Las Vegas in 2 weeks! Hope everyone is doing good :).

Here are some pictures!!

The link is from where I updated them last :)

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=280

Love to all,

The Brock Family :)