Monday, July 19, 2010

Pictures, Birthdays, Bowling, Picnics.....


Yes, you can say we have kept ourselves busy these past couple weeks. I know, if I had blogged last week I wouldn't have SO much to talk about tonight. However, I am going to try to update you all on everything that has been happening in our lives.

Last week, it rained a LOT. My coworkers (locals) were all complaining about the rain and a few even mentioned moving to Hawaii. I had to giggle a little at this statement because from what I've heard, it rains a lot in Hawaii too. I wonder if my new favorite Kodiakians really know what they are wishing for. Don't worry, the sun finally appeared again and we attempted to spend every waking moment outside on those pretty days.

I received a call at work 2 Thursdays ago from the director of the CDC (child development center on base) letting me know there were available spots for BOTH kids to start.....the following MONDAY. The last time we spoke, we were looking at approximately Sept./Oct. before there would be spots available. I was in shock, but I did not have time to sit still on this one. I immediately got on the phone with the doctor's office requesting shot records and medical forms. After speaking with my favorite nurse Crystal (who is also a Coastie wife) and getting all the medical paperwork taken care of, I then had to meet with the teachers. I met with Carter's teacher on Friday and his first day was Monday. Hydie's teacher was out the week we were offered the spots so I had to wait until Monday to meet with her, and Hydie started on Tuesday. Both kids seems to really enjoy it, and the cook and Hydie's teachers are doing a fantastic job accommodating Hydie's food allergies.

Tuesday of last week (Hydie's first day of daycare), it was muggy and gross all day. We had planned to have family pictures taken by Amy at 6 p.m. that afternoon. We hoped for some outdoor shots, but I definitely planned for that not to happen. As we were in Amy's home posing for her awesome camera, I began to smile even bigger. The sun was coming out from behind the clouds and the rain had finally moved out!!! Now, we had NO excuse not to do outdoor pictures, and I am VERY thankful for the opportunity because Amy did an amazing job!

Thursday afternoon, I spent cleaning my office and packing up for the weekend. KANA had their annual picnic on Friday which meant I didn't have to go to "work." Everyone seem to walk with a spring in their step Thursday afternoon. The kids and I head to the picnic Friday morning. We all had a great time, and Hydie even ran her first race! I hate John missed it, but he couldn't take off.
Carter and Genieve (HR Director for KANA) at the KANA Picnic
Hydie hula-hooping during her very first "race"

After the week we both had, John and I decided we needed to doing something fun. John called our friend Andrew to see if they would like to join us for a night of bowling. I haven't been bowling since 2 nights before Carter was born. We had a blast, and I still can't bowl worth a flip but it was tons of fun.
Saturday, July 17th was my 23rd birthday and John's duty day. It was pretty muggy outside, and Carter was extremely fussy with his cold and teething. The kids and I enjoyed our morning of boringness, but we finally spunked up later that afternoon. I called my friend Danielle to see if she wanted to join us at the park and then head to dinner. It was my birthday after all, and I refused to cook. We met up with a few of my friends whom I haven't seen in quite a while at the park, and it was nice chatting and catching up with everyone. Thank you again Danielle for helping make my birthday a great one!

Sunday FINALLY got here! John came home from duty and loaded Hydie in the Explorer and headed to town. He wouldn't tell me what he was after, but I kind of had a clue. They were gone for a while, but Carter and I didn't really mind. He and I snuggled in the big chair and played. Sunday night, John cooked an amazing steak dinner with birthday cake for dessert! He even bought Hydie diary free ice cream so she could have a treat too. He also had a beautiful bouquet of pink roses on the dining table and two gift bags. I couldn't wait to see what he and Hydie had picked out. The first bag had 3 jar candles and the other had 3 beautiful picture frames. The frames were for the pictures Amy had taken on Tuesday. Thank you to my loves!!! You definitely made this birthday special (even if we did celebrate a day late)!!!!


Monday, July 5, 2010

God Bless America

This is our 4th Independence Day being a military family. I am so proud to say that my husband is a part of what allows our nation to be the "Land of the Free." No, it is not easy and yes we have days that we ask why are we doing this, but on days like today I know we are doing exactly what God has called us to do. We thank you for standing behind our military and supporting them.
Earlier in the week, John was promoted to ET2. To celebrate his promotion and July 4th, we invited a few friends over for a barbeque on Saturday night. We had a great time enjoying fellowship with our friends. It was kind of a bittersweet night for me. While preparing for the event, I decided to make "family recipes." I was given a homemade cookbook with hand written index cards of all my family's favorite recipes when John and I got married, so I started looking for "cook-out" recipes. I made Ms. Robbie potato salad and homemade ice cream, and I used Brittany's Flag cake and Mrs. Evon's cream cheese pound cake recipe to make dessert. Everything came out perfect and I have to say the potato salad was almost to die for. Wonderful!!
While cleaning and getting ready for everyone to arrive, Hydie and I were placing flags on the tables. Well, this led to a mini photo shoot of Hydie and Carter with their flags. Might I clarify myself, it was one flag that Carter kept stealing from Hydie. Now you understand the reason for the not so great pictures.

After dinner while the guys played a round of poker, we brought out the bounce house for the girls (Hydie and Alyssa) to play outside since it was beautiful. The girls played and played. We even got brave enough to let Carter play with the big girls. This was his first time in the bouncer so he was quite confused on what exactly he was suppose to do. The girls jumped until about 10 p.m. when we all decide that it was getting too cold and the bug were too bad to stay out any longer.

After getting warmed up inside, we decided to drive up the hill to Upper Government housing to Lookout Point and watch the fireworks at midnight. This was the first time we have seen fireworks in Kodiak because every year it has been raining and too fogger to shoot them. We were really too far away for good pictures, but this is what we saw.


We hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!