Volleyball!

The Gym was sponsoring a 3-man team volleyball tournament this morning for the Airmen. The Chaplains were doing a "Burger Burn" for them ( cooking them hamburgers). About 9:00 last night, Sam had the idea that maybe 3 of the chaplains here could make a team and play!!! Steve and Chaplain Toney actually agreed, so they actually played against these young airmen and did pretty well! Here are some pictures of the men playing and the kids watching. They didn't win, but it was fun!

Here is Sam and his boss, BOTH down!




Collin and Kaebrie watching from the sidelines.
A cute one of Christopher playing on the swing. He wasn't real interested in the game.

FRENCH BRAIDS!!!

The "HAIR" Girls!! :-)

Kaitlynn spent the night with her friend Madison Saturday night, and Sunday morning Madison's mom, Tabitha, did Kaitlynn's hair in two french braids for church. When she took it down on Monday her hair was curly and she loved it! So when Tabitha came over today, Kaitlynn asked her to braid it again. When she was done, I jokingly asked her to braid Kaebrie's hair! (Kaebrie really only has a mullet). So she did!!! The worlds first french braided mullet on a 22 month old! VERY difficult to do on a head that is only growing wispy's.

SO cute I HAD to take some pictures!!!

First Time Fly Fisher!

After some practice in the backyard, Sam and Collin took off late this afternoon to do some fly fishing! Sam checked out some books from the library and read that the BEST spot for doing that in the WHOLE state of Idaho was only 34 miles from here, so off they went!

They could not find any waders small enough for Collin, so after about 15 minutes he was to cold to stay in that mountain water, but Sam said his form was great! Nothing was caught today, but that wasn't the goal anyway. Practice and spending some great time together, THAT was accomplished! :-)

GROWING UP!

Time sure does fly. We are mere weeks away from being here in Idaho for a YEAR already!

And the kids? They are incredible living examples of passing time.

Here is a picture of Collin and Kaitlynn today with their new BANK STATEMENTS! They have been begging to open a savings account, so today we went to the local credit union, (who are VERY child friendly), and they each opened up their very own personal account! They were so proud handing over all the money they had saved!

Collin understands a BIT about the interest earning process, but I think Kaitlynn thinks she is going to make a LOT of money! They have online banking access and their own passwords (that they made up) so they can see the progress of their savings, and hopefully not to many withdrawls.

Collin's next question was, "When can I get my own checking account?" :-) The answer from this bank was WHEN YOU ARE EIGHTEEN! :-)

AND......... here is Christopher in his new BIG BOY loft bed! Kaebrie will be outgrowing the crib any day now. I have already caught her twice with her foot hiked up to the top of the rail trying to crawl out!! So, the toddler bed that Tiff has had will need to passed down AGAIN to the youngest. So, when a good friend offered us a loft bed for free a few months ago, I said YES!!! knowing a new bed for Christopher would in our near future. The future arrived yesterday and he was SO EXCITED to go to bed last night and did it with NO problems at all! "Just like Collin'" he kept saying.
Growing up. There sure isn't any stopping it. But we sure are enjoying all the changes. Sam and Collin left a few minutes ago to go try FLY FISHING! I made sure they took the camera, so check back soon for some of those pictures!

Strike Dam with the Airmen's Group!

A few months after we got here, Sam started up an Enlisted Airmens Group. They meet at our house for dinner every Sunday night, then they have a Bible Study, then some fun and games. We have a great core group that comes every week and constant visitors. They young men and women who are involved are really great. We are getting to know them very well and like spending time with them. Christopher knows them all by name!

Sam became a Christian as a young airman in Turkey, and he really has a heart for these young people who are so young and away from home for the first time.

So, today, we took the group 30 minutes away to Strike Dam. The military has an Air Force only spot where you can rent all the supplies you need! We rented one ski boat and one pontoon boat, and water skis, knee boards, and GIANT tubes!!

We left Kaebrie at home and the big 3 kids joined us for a fun day of water sports! They rode the boats (Christopher's FIRST boat ride ever), drove the boats, swam in the middle of the lake, went jet skiing, and TUBING!!! Aside from a few moments of seasickness from Tiff, we really had a good day!

What better way to spend a day that reached 105 degrees then on and in and around the COOL water!

Here we go, most of the pictures are self-explanatory, but I will comment on a few. This is the 3 on the pontoon right before we left!

Christopher and Kaitlynn liked driving the boat. By the end of the day, Collin was driving it totally by himself!


The ladder made easy access for getting in and out of the water.
There is Sam driving most of the group, there are several more being pulled on the tube behind the boat.

Collin LOVED the tube!

That is Collin being pulled byt he boat out there!
I really like this picture. Here is little Christopher just watching Daddy and the big boys. Wonder what he was thinking?

Kaitlynn went tubing with Miss Jamie and had fun!

Even got Christopher on the tube, but he didn't really like it, especially when they fell in!Daddy shows off his skills in the water!
WooHoo!!!!!!! First time on a jet ski for BOTH of them and they LOVED it!!!!!!!!!


Daddy tried and tried, but just could NOT get up on those skis!!!!

All in all, a GREAT fun day. We are tired, a bit sunburned, and the room is really rocking right now. Almost making me dizzy. Been awhile since I have been on a boat, much less sat on one in the water for 6 hours straight. I think my equilibrium is a bit messed up. Nice to find another great place to go that is so close. We will be going back there again!

Better stop typing now, the keyboard is getting slightly blurry! :-{ BYE!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!!!

The kids were SO excited that Daddy was having a birthday on Saturday! They asked if they could make him a cake "not from a box." :-) So, we went shopping on Thursday and on Friday while he was at work, they got busy! Collin and Kaitlynn did a great job reading the recipe and following directions!

Here they are with all their ingredients laid out, a clean pan, and ready to work on the only counter top we have to work on!

Here Collin puts the oil and chocolate bars in the oven to melt.
While I was downloading all the pictures I came across this one, that I DIDN'T TAKE!!! Kaitlynn took it, so i decided to include it!
There they all sit, staring at the oven window, watching and waiting for the chocolate to melt. By now, Christopher could tell something was up and he decided to join in the action; creating a seat for himself with couch cushions.
Well, if someone gets to wear a pot holder, don't they all??? :-)
It finally melted, now it is CAREFULLY adding the remaining ingredients to a VERY hot pan!

(I know, I could have picked a less complicated recipe!)

Christopher gets a turn stirring!
The final touch: Adding the chocolate chips for the frosting! YUM!
The finished product!!! It actually looked about the same after it was cooked too! :-)
They may not look a thing alike, but they sure do love each other!
FINALLY, it is Saturday and time to give Daddy his cards and present.
Tiffer wants to help Daddy with EVERYTHING!


Trust me, there is NO shortage of help around here when it comes to opening presents! Daddy gets a hiking backpack!!
Now, it was a tad to small, and Mommy was going to return it, but Collin ( who loves to go hiking ) offered to buy it with his money that he has saved up from Birthdays, Christmas, and doing extra chores around the house. So, Mommy took his money and Collin is the proud owner of the new backpack!! :-)

Daddy will be ordering one for him very soon.

Singing the HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG!!!!!!!
The birthday boy has a little helper boy to help him with the candles!
HAPPY 38th BIRTHDAY DADDY!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!