12/11/08...31 1/2 weeks

11/23/08...29 Weeks

How cute is this?

The cute hats my class made for our Thanksgiving craft.

More of the belly

She sure is growing!


11/02/08...26 weeks

11/08/08...27 weeks

11/16/08...28 weeks

Tagged

I was tagged by two of my sister in laws, Jennifer and Melody, so I figure I better do it. The rule is to go to your 4th picture file and upload the 4th picture. Our 4th picture file is "baby" and our 4th picture is:

Really. That is what it was. You can't make this stuff up. I think it is pretty self explainitory. Sorry for posting it again Caralee! :)

I tag Michelle, Veronica, and Natalie.

The Baby Bump

We haven't been taking pics regularly but here is most of what we have so far:


9/21/08...20 weeks

10/02/08...21 1/2 weeks

10/12/08...23 weeks

10/19/08...24 Weeks

The latest ones are still on the camera. Sooooooo, to be continued...

Halloween in San Joaquin

Every year for Halloween in San Joaquin, my school parades around the town. It's a big deal that everyone looks forward to. The whole school lines up at the gate and follows the sherrif escort (with flashing lights and all). The roads are blocked off and the people line up on the streets and cheer and wave to the kids. Good times. Here are some pics from the 2008 SJES Halloween parade.

All lined up and ready to go.

Sherriff escort ahead

Starting out

Shout out to Jennifer

I got the cutest package in the mail. It was filled with these- 5 of the most adorable head bands you've ever seen! Cute, cute. Baby Thomasita Duran is going to LOVE them! Thanks Jennifer!

One year older and wiser too

Yesterday was my birthday. First of all, THANK YOU for all the emails, phone calls, and texts wishing me a happy birthday. It was (besides the fact that I am OLD). I had a great day. I got lots of things done at work and left to go home early/on time for once. Then Thomas took me to see the movie, Secret Life of Bees. Its usually disappointing to see a movie based on a good book but I thought they did a really good job with it. Has anyone else seen it? Then we went to dinner at Yosemite Ranch. Mmmmmmm. SO GOOD. We had the firecracker shrimp appetizer, the apple blue "nice little dinner salad," and I had the double nut crusted calamari steak with a baked potato and sweet potato fries. Thomas really liked my calamari- just ask him about it :D. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Then we came home, opened presents, I blew out the candle on my cheese cake (didn't eat it though...I was way to full), and went to bed. Thanks for a great bday, Thomas. I love you!

Emma Elizabeth Berry

We are so excited that our new neice has arrived! We can't wait to meet her!!!! She was born last week on September 30, 2008 at 4:30pm. Mike and Amy didn't find out the gender this time so we are especially excited at the fact that she is a girl! We will have a little girl cousin for OUR little girl!

Samuel and Emma

Ana, Daniel, and Emma

And now what you've all been waiting for

Okay, okay. This one is for real. Now that my mom and dad know what we are having (they're on a mission in Manchester, England and I haven't been able to talk to them since they left) I feel like I can tell the rest of the world. Thanks for all the phone calls, emails, and texts from everyone. Okay, if you guessed we are having a boy you are wrong. IT'S A GIRL! We are really excited and couldn't be happier. Here are some of the ultrasound pics from last weekend:


Isn't that the cutest little foot?

The ultra sound tech said she wasn't allowed to say it was for sure a boy or a girl and had to put the "?" to avoid lawsuits. She said she looked at it from several different angles and she had no reason to think it was a boy :)


BTW, I got a pregnancy ticker, as you can see to the right, but it seems to be a little off. Sunday I will be 20 weeks. Oh well, its cute.

WE'RE HAVING A...

Well we went to Kaiser tonight to get our ultrasound done of the baby. They tell you to drink 32 ounces of water and hold it for an hour. I couldn't make it. We had to make a pit stop on the way. Nevertheless, I still had to go so bad during the ultrasound I was about to cry. (Is this grossing you out Caralee? Worse than the pee stick? :) sorry.) The ultrasound technician got all the measurements she needed but the baby had it's legs crossed...like it was sitting indian style (criss-cross applesauce or like a pretzel). Thomas kept telling the tech to poke it and make it move. I was trying not to cry and at that point could care less whether or not we found out what it was. I asked if I could just go to the bathroom and see if that would help the babys position. She said I could and it did. We found out what we are having! What do you think it is? Call us and find out! If you don't get a chance we will post it in a couple of days. We just can't pass up the opportunity of telling our friends and family in person. :)

Mrs. Duran

For the last few weeks I have been known to 20 students as Mrs. Duran. I got a job over the summer teaching Kindergarten at San Joaquin Elementary in the Golden Plains Unified School District. Where is that you ask? It is in San Joaquin, California...about 20 miles south on the 41 and 20 miles west on Manning Avenue. It is a 40-50 minute drive for me each morning and afternoon, depending on how fast I can go, how many big trucks I need to pass, and how many cars coming the opposite direction that prevent me from doing so. It has been very fun so far, and very interesting. San Joaquin is an extremely small little town in the middle of a bunch of fields. Most of the parents of my students are field workers, speaking only Spanish and with little education. Almost all of my students came to me as Spanish speaking only. This was very tricky for me, who only had 1 semester of Spanish in high school and 1 semester of Spanish in College, for the first couple of weeks. It's not so bad now. Being so young and having a necessity to do so (to understand what the heck their teacher is saying to them), almost all my students have picked up English very well and can communicate with me. So, that is what I have been doing since August 12th, being a Kindergarten teacher. I'm so glad for the opportunity to put my education and creativity into practice for as long as I can. We'll see what happens come February.

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!

I'm not the best poster in the world but better late than never right? This post is long overdue but I don't think our news is a surprise for anyone reading this. We are really excited to announce that we are having a baby! I am about 18 weeks along and due February 11, 2009. We found out super early (like at 4 weeks) and kept it a secret (tried to at least) for a few more weeks. It seems like I've been pregnant forever. About a week ago Thomas was deep in thought and then said, "Man, I can't believe we still have another 5 MONTHS to go! It seems like it should be time already!" That's exactly how I feel and we aren't even half way there yet. I have been through all the morning sickness (NOT fun) and am now into my 2nd trimester. My belly is slowly getting bigger. We've been taking measurements and belly pictures to capture the growth. Our last ultrasound photo, which was taken at 12 weeks, was the first one we had with it actually looking like a baby. Our next one is in ONE WEEK on September 12th and is hopefully when we will find out what we are having, as long as the baby is cooperating. Cross your fingers! What is your guess? Baby Thomas or Thomasita? Take a vote!!!

Ultrasound at 6 weeks

Ultrasound at 12 weeks

Elder Lundin

My cute nephew, Jake Lundin, recently got his mission call to serve in the Taiwan Kaohsiung mission! He reports to the MTC on October 29th. This is a Mandarin Chinese speaking mission and I've heard he's already started learning the language and walking around the house speaking phrases in Manderin Chinese. We are so excited for him. He is a great person and is going to be an awesome missionary. Congratulations Jakers!!! We love you!

Whiting Reunion 2008

12 hours and a van full of people

Jake on the Rope Swing

Pismo 2008

*Half a Decade*

5 YEARS ago today Thomas took me to the temple and we were married for time and all eternity! Sometimes I can't believe we have been already been married 5 years, and other times it seems like we have been together forever (not in a bad way)=). I am so glad Thomas choose me. I love you!

Last weekend we celebrated with a 3 day trip to So Cal. Here is what we did.

Day 1: San Diego
We ate at Roberto's in Solana Beach (A berry family favorite)


went to Mission Beach and Mission Bay





and Coronado Island and Hotel Del Coronado





Day 2: Escondido/Hollywood/Wicked
We took a walk down memory lane (at least I did) and went to Escondido to see my old house and neighborhood.
Old Street:


Old house:


From the back:

Our tangelo trees. mmmmm.


Old High School



Old Church:


We even stopped for a donut at The Donut Corner! Can you see how big those donuts are?





We went to all the touristy (sp?) places in Hollywood
The Kodak Theater (Home of the Oscars)



Hollywood walk of Fame





Graumans Chinese Theater






Then we went to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater! The highlight of the trip. It was AWESOME!!!





Day 3: Beach
We walked around Venice Beach (great place for people watching) and got hit by a wave. We were sandy and wet the rest of the day. Unfortunantly, we forgot the camera. =(
Then we drove around Malibu and stopped at a beach for the rest of the day.