2009 started out great! Kerry and I got to fly to Puerto Rico to pick Jake up from his mission. We had a couple of days to play before we picked him up so we had some fun at the beach, eating out and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We went kayaking one day and had a riot. I was afraid we would tip over and my camera would get wet but we did great! We paddled through the mangroves and saw lots of birds and other critters. Later that day I did drop my camera in the ocean and ruined it. We took a trip to the rain forest the next day and went hiking through streams and up waterfalls with a group of two other couples and 2 guides. It was the funnest thing ever. After we ate lunch they took us ziplining through the forest! Since I didn't have a camera we had to buy a disposable one and the pictures turned out real crappy. But I would definitely go on this day trip again!

We ate at some great places but this wasn't one of them! Karyn warned me, "if it doesn't smell good, don't eat it" but I decided to be brave and really experience the culture of Puerto Rico. I don't know what I ordered but it was deep fried on the outside with some ground up fish product inside. It was nasty!

The day finally came and we got to go meet Jake at President Dewsnups. All of the missionaries that were being released were there for a testimony meeting, which we got to attend. It was amazing to hear the testimonys and feel the spirit! After that - Jake was all ours!

We went to Old Town in San Juan where there were many shops, statues, fountains and history!

Jake took us to El Morrow Fort in San Juan. Here is a dashing fellow posing on top of the fort overlooking the ocean.

In Humacao Jake baptized Luis and his family. (Luis is the one in red) Luis is an amazing guy and loves the church. He just got his mission call to Mexico and can't wait to go preach the gospel. His family absolutely loves Jake and surprised us with a delicious dinner!

Jake with Francelena Franklin, who loves to cook for the missionaries and do their laundry.

Jake spent two months of his mission on St. Thomas so we flew over there for a day. We spent the time visiting a few people and checking out the sights.

There were lots of iguanas on St. Thomas and at "Coral World" we got to feed them!

We met a lot of awesome people on Tortola that Jake taught and baptized. They all loved him and didn't want him to go home. These are a few of them. I can't remember all of their names!

We went to church twice on Tortola. In the morning the english speaking branch meets and at night the spanish speaking branch gets together. This is a picture of the spanish speaking branch. There are four visitors and two sets of missionaries so the branch is really small.

On our last day on Tortola the senior couple, the Solomons took us on a tour of the whole island (it is only 11 miles long and 2 miles wide) and we had a blast. Sister Solomon told us everything we needed to know about Tortola.

The best thing about Christmas is being with the family and seeing the grandkids of course! We hadn't seen them since September and Averi had changed the most. She loves to be held and cuddled and Aunt Julie was always nearby to snuggle her. She definitely got a bit spoiled while she was here!

Here is little miss Katie bug. She got to be an angel in Grandma Jorgensens Christmas play. She is definitely an angel and so sweet. She always calls people things like sweetheart and honey, gives lots of hugs and says "I love you."

Christmas flew by and we got some great pictures of Katie, Paul and Averi. Here is Paul wearing the apron I got last year for Katie to wear to make gingerbread houses. I guess he decided it was his turn to wear it. Don't worry though, he is all boy. While he and Katie were opening the very large present that Kerry and I got them, he ran over and grabbed a screwdriver to use to make the job a little easier. He is the cutest kid ever!