Getting Older

Grandma and Grandpa Cox- mom's parents

Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt- Dad's mom and step-dad.

Grandma and Grandpa Heap- Dad's dad and step-mom.

I know we haven't posted anything for a LONG time. Facebook just became easier than blogging, but I decided I will try even if it's only once in a while. For those of you who helped sponser Zac for his Washington D.C. trip, or those who will just be curious, we will have him blog about his trip when he gets back. His trip is the end of March, so it will be after that.

Anyway, the title of the post is Getting Older. I know I'm getting older because two of my grandparents passed away in the last 3 months. The end of an era is gone. I can no longer go see my Grandpa Heap or my Grandma Schmidt. Visiting them each summer was tradition. That is what we did every year since I was a baby. Well, we saw Grandma more often because she lived closer, but Grandpa Heap was over in Emmett, ID. and we stopped in every summer. Even after I married Jon and we had our own family we stopped and saw Grandpa every year. We usually went out to lunch or dinner. The kids got to golf with him a bit one year and a few years in a row we got to go Cherry Picking with him. I'm so thankful for those memories and that my kids got a chance to know their Great-Grandparents a bit. I love my grandma and grandpa and Iwill miss them much, but I'm so happy for them that they are reunited with those from whom they have been so long since separated. My Grandpa Schmidt died when I was 16. My grandma lived with out him for 22 yrs. She was brave and independant, but she missed him. They are together again and can dance (which is what Grandma loved to do), to their hearts content. My Grandma Heap died about 4 years ago I think, and I know that my Grandpa has been lonely ever since. They too are together again, and I'm so happy for them. The slightly interesting thing is that Grandma Pat (Schmidt) and Grandpa Gene (Heap) used to be married. They are my dad's parents. They divorced when my dad was a young boy. Even though they've been apart for over 60 years, they died within 3 months of each other. Grandma Pat didn't ever like Grandma Heap, so I hope they are getting along okay these days. Anyway, I thought I would write this blog as a tribute to two wonderful Grandparents. They gave me fabulous, comforting memories from childhood and adulthood and I am very grateful for them in my life. Here are a few pictures of them. I added my mom's parents too. Grandpa died in 1998 or 99, and Grandma is still hanging in there. She is my last Grandparent. I don't think she will be with us too much longer, but we will enjoy her while she's here. I love you all my wonderful Grandmas and Grandpas!

Joe, Jeremy, and Jim at the birthday.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Birthday party at the Smith's

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Cade and Zac got to fly a legend today!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The flowers are blooming in Montgomery.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

We did an 0500 hike to Stewarts Falls this morning.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Hanging out with cousins and family.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Best haircut in the world!

I've heard of presidents and senators that waste time and spend a lot of money for a haircut...well we are not much different since we drove from Alabama to Utah to get a great haircut. Kira has been cutting all of our family's hair for five years now. She's the best. She and Tucker are heat feisnds too. We love to visit them.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Timpanogas Hike

The boys and I did an overnight hike near the summit of Timpanogas from American Fork canyon. My dad was our guide. He gave the boys ice axes and used the ropes for some of the steep areas. We ended up going off trail since the glacier still covered a lot of the switch backs. To continue on to the summit would have been a lot more than what I or the boys could handle with no snow experience and without crampons. It was a great hike!

Hanging Out in Provo, UT

We are now in Provo, Utah for a couple of weeks. The mountains and dry air are refreshing to see and feel again. We hiked to the "Y" above BYU this morning. It was fun to see the valley from that viewpoint.

Rainforest cafe in Nashville, Tn.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Rainforest cafe in Nashville, Tn.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Hottest girl at the ball.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

ACSC complete, another year of school to go.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Cade got to go to camp for the morning.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Time to swamp the canoe for the merit badge.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Zac and Bowen at scout camp this week.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

At the Montgomery Biscuits game for family night.

Janene decided to use our raincheck tickets.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Smallest I've ever seen.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sarah and Janene hanging out in Birmingham.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Spring Break

Well, Jon and Joe Sheffield didn't have the week off when the kids did, so Sarah and I decided to still take our 10 kids, plus 1 friend, and go to the beach. Thankfully another friend of ours, Tomicka Barnes who is single decided to come along too. She is the ward Primary President and a school nurse so she's very used to working with kids. We found a great deal on a beautiful 3 bedroom condo on Pensacola Beach. With the 3 of us splitting it, it was cheaper than 3 rooms for 2 nights at a Hotel. The weather was beautiful. A bit windy and chilly in the mornings, but great in the afternoon. I had also invited our neighbor with her 2 boys to come and she ended up inviting another friend of hers with 2 kids, so us 5 adults and 15 kids spent the days on the beach, by the pool and playing tennis. It was a great time and went surprisingly well. I think that's because we ladies are used to the caos whereas had the men been there, they would have gone NUTS! We all came home a bit sunburned, but happy to have gotten away for a few days. I'm sad because it might be the last big trip that our kids and the Sheffield kids will have together for who knows how long. They may be moving to Belgium next. I guess we'll have to take a trip to Europe!

Yeah! We get to see snow this year.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

DAD'S PROUD!

I know everyone is enjoying Janene's missing tonsil pics but I had to show off my little soccer girl. Caylee plays on a coed 8 year old team and she is doing great! She scores every game. It's amazing to watch her dribble so well and play so hard. she still has a lot to learn and improve on but she'll be playing girls NCAA soon enough. It is the highlight of my week to see her play.

No More Tonsils

Sorry I haven't posted for so long. Not too much exciting going on lately until last week. I had a tonsilectomy on Wednesday. The procedure went fine and recovery has been better than expected, but still not that fun. The best part of all of it is still those few moments after they start to give you the anesthesia but before you actually drift off. It's such a good sleepy feeling. Aaah!
Anyway, I thought I would post some more pictures of my mouth since I know you all like to see the inside of it. The tissue is white because it's dead i'm assuming. They laser the tonsils out now. I didn't realize there would be such large holes in the side of my mouth. Well, hope you like the show.

The Kitten Saga

This is "Santa's" saga of how we got our kitten. Mrs. Claus helped him on this one. Mrs Claus left the house to be at the Human Society by 10 am or so. The Human Society was busy as lots of good little boys and girls wanted animals for Christmas. Mrs. Claus went to the cat room. Oh they were all so cute, which one to pick. So Mrs. Claus made a call to Mr. Claus. Mr. Claus had some critieria. It had to be fairly young, and a grey/brown tabby. Mrs. Claus wanted it to be female. Well that narrowed the choice down to one. How easy. Well, the one choice was a 10 week female that had a yellow snotty nose and didn't look so well. So Mrs. Claus inquired, "Is the kitten okay?" "Oh yes," was the reply. "She just has an upper respitory infection. Sometimes their immune systems get weak when they are spayed.(or from the frigid air at the North Pole, which ever children understand better.) We will give you enough antibiotics for today and tomorrow. Then you will have to get a vet to give you the rest." Well, that sounded simple enough. Santa could just leave instructions with the new owners. Mrs. Claus looked at the ticket that listed the price of adoption. "$90!" "Oh my word," she thinks. But the family really wants the cute little kitty, so Mrs. Claus decides to proceed with the adoption. The process took FOREVER! And all the while she was filling out papers and waiting to speak to people, the smell and the animal dander where KILLING her! Tissues please, tissues!
So finally, Mrs. Claus had the little kitty in her cute, new, little carrier, ready to go. The Humane Society worker says, "Oh, let me go give her today's dose of antibiotics. So, Mrs. Claus drags the kitty out of her cozy carrier and hands her over. A few minutes latter the worker returns with the kitten and says, "we gave her today's dose but sorry I can't give you any antibiotics. They won't let me. You'll have to find a vet to take her to."
Oh great, now Mrs Claus is going to have to make a stop at a vet clinic on Christmas Eve day. So, Mrs. Claus starts driving around the North Pole. "Oh," she remembers, "there is a pet supply store and a clinic near our house. I'll go there." When she arrives at the clinic it is closed. Mrs. Claus goes next door the the pet supply store. They say not too many clinics will be opened, but they look one up for Mrs. Claus. It just happens to be half way back across the other side of town, but she has no choice. So she drives off in that direction and a minute later, poor new little kitty starts sounding funny and suddenly BARFS in her little carrier. OH CRAP, what has Mrs. Claus gotten herself into. YUCKY! She keeps driving and the kitten settles down a bit. Well, she's almost to the clinic when, "Oh disgusting, she did it again, even more." Mrs. Claus is so grossed out at this point and she's thinking, "can I take her back?"
So she gets into the clinic. They have to have her fill out paper work and sit and wait for the doctor. "Gees, how many stinking people take their pet to the vet on Christmas Eve," she's thinking. Well, the doc finally sees her and the kitten. They give Mrs. Claus some supplies to clean out the carrier. Oh soooo gross it is. They wipe down the kitten for her. Thankfully the first time check up is free, but the antibiotics are going to be $38. The vet is pretty sure that the kitten puked because they had just given her the antibiotics before she went in the car, and the car ride upset her stomach more, but they can't be sure. The doctor informs Mrs. Claus that she will need to bring the cat back in after the holidays for feline luekemia and aides testing. Mrs. Claus didn't know there were such diseases. And the kitten would need booster shots. Okay, now the kitten is the most expensive present the family will be getting this year. She inquires as to the cost of all the follow up visit. "Oh, lets see, the testing is about $55 and the shots are blah, blah, blah... that will be about $155." Mrs. Claus has to hold her tongue. Maybe the kitten would have to fall out of the slay or something? Certainly the family won't be too happy that their gift is going to cost so much post facto. Mrs. Claus is in about the worst mood she can be about now. She hasn't eaten since breakfast and it's now about 2pm or so. She still has the drive home and has NO idea how the cat is going to do in the car this time, but she heads off anyway. Well, the kitten did much better. Apparently her stomach had settled down and she didn't have any problems on the way home. Mrs. Claus had previously enlisted the help of her neighbors to keep the cat until later that evening. There were just so many little elves running around the Claus' house, that it wouldn't have been good. Nice neighbors eh? So she quickly took the cat in the neighbor's house, set up the littler box, got out some food and water, and said goodbye to the sad, sick looking little kitty.
Later that evening when the little elves had settled down and just before Santa left on his rounds, Mrs. Claus had to go out the back door, around the side of the house in the dark and over to the neighbors, lest the one little elf that was still listening, wondered why the front door was opening and closing. She retrieved the cat, brought it back to their house ad got it all ready to meet it's new owners.
Thankfully, the new owners have taken very good care of her, she got over her cold, and the owners have since found out that the base vetrinarian is much cheaper than the ones in town. Tabby is growing like a weed, and the Creer family is very happy that Mrs. Claus went through such a horrific day to bring her to them. Cade says he doesn't know how to thank Santa enough for bringing Tabby. The End

Santa's Gift

Santa scored a big hit this year with his gift to us. He brought us the most adorably cute kitten. She is a gray/brown tabby cat and accordingly her name is Tabby. We love to just watch her play and then we love to cuddle up with her and go to sleep. It a good thing she's very adorable because the process of how "Santa" actually got the kitten to the house unseen for Christmas morning, and how much she has already cost is a SAGA all in itself.
The other pictures are from our day at the Gulf Shores State Park today. The sun was shinning and warm, the sky was blue, and we were there with our best friends, so it was a great day. There are a few perks to living in this forsaken corner of the country. :) For those who don't know, here are the names of the kids in the tree branch picture: Bowen, JD, Rebekah, Caylee, Ellie, Meagan, Cade, Zac and Aubrie. Happy New Year everyone!

Blue Angels

I found the other picture of Bowen under the Blue Angel Jet. It was taken a month before he turned 2. Zac was not born yet. Now Bowen is 13 and our youngest is 5. Wow, how time flies.

Thanksgiving

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Once again I indulged in so much food and sparkling cider that I was in pain, literally. Burping never felt so good. (Jon will hate that I posted that.) We had a international flare to our day this year. In Jon's ACSC class there's a guy from Moldova. I won't even pretend to know how to spell their names. I can say them but now spell. Anyway, Moldova is a former Soviet Union country. We wanted he and his family to experience an American Thankgiving. We also had some friends from church over. The Dunning family and Tony Hudgins. James Dunning is from Great Britain. So yes, our conversations were very much about international affairs and politics. Every thing went fairly well with food prep, but I did have a debacle that I have not had before. The little red button timer on my turkey had popped up after cooking for the recommended time, but when I took it out to start carving I quickly became aware that it was not done, as pink juices start running onto the platter. I cut off all the major parts, cranked the oven to 425, put the cut pieces back into the tin roaster, covered them with foil and baked it while I finished my prepration. Then I took it out, put it in the microwave for a few minutes, put it on the table and hoped for the best. LOL, it was the best Turkey I've ever served. All the guests loved it. Whew, fooled them didn't I. Anyway, it was a great day. I am very thankful that every year we get to have a big gathering with friends whether they are new or old. I look forward to all the different adventurous Thanksgivings that await us in the years to come. We welcome anyone at Thanksgiving any year that you want to break with tradition and try something new. Just let me know a bit ahead of time I can plan accordingly. The more the merrier. Oh, the pictures are the adult table, the kids table (they get paper) and the point where I pick my teeth and go, "Oh crap, the Turkey isn't done!"

More P'cola

I thought I would add some more to the Pensacola blog. It was such a nice trip even thought it was so short. It rained all the way down and I thought it would rain the whole time we were there, but it didn't. Our hotel was right on the beach and Sat. morning we got up and ate breakfast on the deck (jon's post). It was beautiful. Then we went down on the beach. The sun poked out once in awhile and it actually got to the point that we were breaking a bit of a sweat. The sand was so fine and soft. If you've never been to the "Emerald Coast" you don't know what fine sand is. The kids jumped waves a bit. The water was too cold to get too wet. There are awesome shells all along the beach. Totally different ones than Oregon and California, so we have quite a collection now. We walked about a mile up the beach to the main "Pensacola Beach" which is like the Waikiki of Pensacola in the way of tourism, but it was very quite and not to many people. There was a sand grooming machine going which made the already soft sand feel like velvet. It was amazing. Then we walked back to the hotel and packed up and checked out. The next few hours we spent driving to all the places we used to live, the hospital were Zac was born and the Naval Aviation Museum on the Naval Air Base. This was Bowen's favorite place to go when we lived in Pensacola. Of course he was only 3 then, so he only had vague memories of it, but the kids loved it and it was fun for Jon and I to go there again and relive some memories. The last few hours we spent with the Laws family. They were friends of our when we lived there, then we moved and they moved, and they have since moved back, so it was fun to see them and get reaquainted. That is the best part of our military life- all the wonderful friends we make and are able to see here and there and keep in touch with. Anyway, the pictures are of our apartment when we first moved there (so run down now, I would never live there), our town house we moved into on base (no one in the pic), Zac infront of the nasty Naval Hospital he was born in, and a few at the museum. The one of Bowen under the Blue Angel jet is nostalgic. We have the same picture in front of the same jet back when he was 3. If I can dig it up I will post the 2 together sometime. If anyone wants to come visit and go down to a beautiful emerald green coast with oh so soft sand, come on down.

Pensacola, Fl

I'm back to blogging from the blackberry. We made an impromptu drive to p,cola for the weekend. This is where I did my flight training.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Visual Aid

Okay, I figured my strep story was better with a visual. Can you see the large white spot on the right side of the picture. That's my lovely tonsil. Hope you love seeing all the inside of my mouth. Isn't my uvula beautiful.

Miserable Monday

Sorry no pictures, just me wallowing in my Monday. Actually, it's not that bad, but I think it's ironic that it is Monday and all this stuff has already happened.

It started early as Jon was getting ready for work. He found that we had caught a mouse in a sticky trap. (Yes, we have a mouse problem.) He didn't want to bother with getting the shovel out and putting the poor thing out of it's misery so he just chucked it the outside garbage. (For all I know it's still out there struggling. ICK!) Then he left for work. I dragged myself out of bed to be out to an 8:30 am Dr. Appt that I had scheduled last night as I was miserably suffering from strep throat. How did I know for sure it was strep throat you ask? Because it is the 4th time since March that I've had it. So, yes I requested the shot in the butt and I get oral antibiotics. The flight doc is referring me to an ENT specialist because he believes the strep bacteria has set up house in my tonsil and rears it's ugly head when I am worn down. He said I need to find out what treatment would be appropriate. Uh, does that mean I get my tonsils out at the good ol age of 37. Lucky me. It's one thing to get all the popsickles, etc you want when your a skinny active kid. I don't want a week of yummy sweet, sugary stuff.

So, while I'm in the exam room waiting, and waiting, my kids call to say they found another mouse. This one is dead in a snap trap, and they think it stinks. YUCK! Well, Zac decides he can be the brave one and he gets it out from behind the couch and throws it in the outside garbage. So now whichever mouse is still alive can physically suffer and emotionally suffer as it sees it's dead loved one laying in a snap trap next to it.

So after my shot in the right hip, blood draw in the right arm and endless waiting, I come home. Now I get to call the maintenance guy who was supposed to be here at 8:30 this morning, and reschedule. Yes, I had left him a message at 9:30 pm last night letting him know that I was miserabe and would not be here in the morning. He has to come caulk in the holes in our shower where the ants have tunneled through the grout and decide to come get a peep show every day when Jon or I take a shower. It's rather disconcerting to have to rinse out piles of ants every morning before you can get in. ICK! What is up with all the critters that want to come live in my house. Get the heck out!

Now, I get to try and clean my house for Thanksgiving, entertain my bored children who are out of school ALL week, and go buy a Turkey all while I feel like I have a hot iron seering my tonsil, and just enugh energy to do nothing. LOVE MONDAYS! In all honesty though, the large horse pill size ibuprofen and the Rocephin shot in my rear seem to be helping immensly and I think I will be able to muddle through the day. Now I just have to figure out how to entertain my kids, without spending much money or much energy, and with out getting out a ton of craft or project stuff. Hmmm! Hope you all have a wonderful week and a very Happy Thanksgiving.

visited 33 states (66%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

Found this on a friend's site. Thanks Stewarts! As you can see we have the west, southwest, midwest, and the south covered well. Mostly we have the Great Lakes area and the east left to visit. I'm not sure what Tennesse and Kentucky constitute. I guess we'll have to jet up to Nashville while we're here and catch ourselves some good country music concerts. Toby Keith, here I come. I never dreamed I'd set foot in so many of these states. I'm thankful that I've been able to see so much of the country. Technically, I didn't set foot in all of these states, but Jon did.
If it was strictly me you'd have to take off the Carolinas, Virginia and whatever is above Virginia. Yeah, my geography of the east coast stinks. If we go to DC next I'm assuming it will improve.
Anyway, get out and see the country folks. It's amazing! Happy Traveling!

Happy Halloween (Is Over)

I'm not a huge Halloween fan. I'd rather focus on fall and getting ready for Thanksgiving. I hate spending money on costumes and I really HATE picking up candy wrappers off the floor for the next few weeks. But at the last minute the Halloween bug bit me and I found a bit of spooky spirit within. Sooo.....

The first picture is Cade, Caylee and Zac on the night of the ACSC (school Jon is in) fall festival. It was a fun night.

The next is the dreaded pumkin carving night. I hated the goop as a kid and I still don't like it as an adult. I didn't like it as a kid because of how it felt, now I don't like it because of the mess I have to clean up.

For the next picture, I had no idea Jon took it and it's totally embarrassing, but once I saw it I couldn't resist. It's from our church halloween trunk or treat. I'm not too above making a fool of myself, so I just have to ask, is this what you call a little "junk in the trunk" and if that's the case, which trunk is the trunk that has the junk?

Like I said, I couldn't resist.

The last picture is the final product of my trunk after I got out all the junk. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. It was actually pretty cool. It scared a few kids and wowed a few adults. Pretty impressive considering I came up with the idea that morning and spent all afternoon trying to find a party store that still had black plastic.

Now, I'm just glad it's all over and we can move on to a real holiday like Thanksgiving. I love all the FOOD!

Do I have to read all of them?

Hey everyone...I know you're all going to miss my great posts but as you can see below I have a lot of reading/studying to do. That is why my blog has suffered lately, so Janene has finally agreed to take over. Don't worry I'll still be checking your blogs out when I can! Coolest Man Blogger Ever- Signing Off.

These are a few other pictures I had hoped to post with the last blog, but the computer was taking forever to upload them and I ran out of time.
I think the little white dress Caylee is wearing looks remarkably well for being 29 yrs. old. Kudos to my mom for her fine sewing abilities.
Jon is is never happy posing for baptism pictures in the oh so awesome white jumpsuits.
Caylee however, is just so excited she can hardly stand there.
Well now that I'm learning the ropes of this blog thing, hopefully there will be more frequent posts, and maybe I can learn enough to be a bit more creative in our design. But then again, NO promises!
(Obviously I still haven't figured out the formating tricks, so be patient.)

Caylee's Baptism

Sorry this is so late after the fact. I'm going to try my hand at adding to the blog now. (Janene)

Caylee's baptism day was wonderful. Jon's parents and my mom were all able to come out. Caylee looked so beautiful in her white dress that Margaret bought her. We actually found it at a Walmart in Eastern South Dakota last winter, on the way home from one of Zac's gymnastic meets. How obscure don't you think? Anyway, my mom found the dress that I wore when I got baptized, so Caylee was able to wear that one for the actual baptism. She also wore my blessing dress when she was blessed as a baby so I think that's pretty neat. Anyway, we are proud of her and are thankful to all who shared her special day with us.

Mormon Helping Hands

Bowen, Zac and I drove to Houma,
La. To help with hurricane relief. We worked pretty hard on several different homes, some of them deep in the bayou. Never thought I'd spend any time somewhere like that. It was amazing to see how organized the LDS church is, especially when you know they are volunteers. I was also amazed to see how hard the boys could actually work!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Hanging out in D.C. At the White House with Christiane Amanpour

Can you guess who this is?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Trail Riding

All the grandparents are out for Caylee's baptism this Sunday. Grandpa, the boys and I decided to catch a quick trail ride in on Saturday. We rode the swayback bridge trail near the Jordan dam and Coosa river in Wetumpka. Zac has a new Moutain Bike and he's tearing up the trails. This is the access trail along the power lines. Most of the trails are in the forest with quite a few switch backs and some mild elevation changes that make for a pretty and relaxing ride.
This is the Coosa rive right below the Jordan dam.
Bowen and I are contemplating whether or not we could finish the Coosa challenge. It is a Running, Biking and Kayaking race in October that starts right behind Bowen on the Coosa.
Zac and Grandpa below the Jordon dam.

First Day Of School

The kids were pretty excited to ride the bus to school...right up until they found out the bus driver was mean! She yells at the kids to sit down quickly and be quiet. Once the initial shock was over they were okay with the bus riding. Zac, Caylee and Cade have to wear school uniforms...any combination of khaki, red, white and blue.
Here we are after the second day already doing homework! Even I was doing my school homework...I have to keep reminding myself that I get paid to go to school so it's not so bad.
Bowen doesn't have to wear a uniform but he does have to keep his shirt tucked in at school which is almost as bad in his opinion.

We Made It

We finally rolled into our new neighborhood and home! It's going to be perfect for all of us. I'll wrap up the trip blog with more of our favorite photos and memories here in the next day or so. Thanks for everyones comments, I'll try to answer more comments as well. Jon
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Formation Driving

I had to post another quick blog to make a confession. I know you all think of me as that perfect guy who never makes any mistakes but I made one:) I posted a picture and said that we were somewhere in LA. I also posted our current nights location as the same. We actually spent the night somewhere in Mississippi. The original blog and pic were correct. By the way, O'le Miss is green and pretty.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

On The Road Again...5 hrs to go

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tired of the same view out your window everyday too?

We have been in two cars now since Az. Already I am tired of calling janene on the cell phone to communucate reststops and destinations.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Somewhere in Louisiana!

Are we there yet?

Abilene - Our Old Stomping Grounds

It was good to pass through our old home Abilene, Texas. Now you can see that West Texas truly is an ugly desert! Not even a big cactus anywhere to see...just a lot of oil rigs and dry fields. There are a lot of wind mill farms...bigger than any ones I've seen in other states.

We lived at Dyess AFB for almost five years during my first B-1 assignment. Caylee and Cade were born there and Bowen and Zac both broke bones there. We also built our first home there so it was fun to go see some of the old sites. Chris and Chennell McClung were wonderful hosts in their beautiful new home. He is an instructor at the B-1 Weapons School and also a B-1 WSO. I finally got my haircut after 30 days...pretty wild hair as seen in the photo above (Starting to look like a civilian!). I dont have any pictures of our old home...but it looks like all of the new homes in that area copied our brick and home design (Guess Janene and I were cutting edge in 2003 when we built the home).

Tucson Stopover

We stopped over at my cousin Joe Creer's. His family is still Utah on vacation but Joe came home early to go back to work with the border patrol. We had fun on the 4 wheeler and at the park. Caylee and Cade of course threw tantrums because they couldn't get in the pool. Joe has a beautiful home in a great neighborhood with pools and parks. I forgot how pretty the Arizona desert can be. That's a big cactus!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Mesa, Az

Along with going to the baseball game in Mesa with Janene's brother's family, we spent some time swimming in their pool and hanging out at home. The kids loved just vegging at home with cousins for 2 days. I did a "boot camp" workout with Sue at 0530 in the morning and I am feeling the 30 days of no workouts pretty bad right now. Arizona makes some very colorful sunrises in the desert. I think that was one of the first O'dark thirty sunrises I've seen since we left for vacation. It will be tough to get back into the early morning wakeups when we get back to school and work (school).

Play Ball!

We are now in Mesa hanging out with Janene's bro and his fam. We are at the Diamondbacks vs the Dodgers. It was 108 today!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Finally Eastbound!

As we made the right turn this morning to get on Hwy 10 we realized that we were going to be headed East for the rest of our trip. Final destination Montgomery, Al.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Fun At The Beach

We spent the day doing a quick tour of Universal Studios, Hollywood Blvd., and body surfing the waves at the beach. Notice that this is the first time we haven't had our jackets or sweatshirts on at the beaches we've been to. Caylee had fun catching sand crabs with our friend Jordan (she looks so tiny following him around!) Janene took a picture of every actor or actress' star that she likes. Check out the crazy "Devil" man we saw there! LA is a crazy place.

Hollywood!

We made it to LA! We'll post more later after venice beach.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

San Simeon, California - Hearst Castle

Seeing the castle was pretty interesting, in a museum sort of way...but as you can see, it got a little boring to Bowen and I after the first few stops. He looks just like a 12 year old rebel who wants to do his own thing. After a 30 day road trip he may have a few more wounds that need stitches with the attitude adjustments we give him (just kidding about that).
Caylee and cade were fun to follow around and watch as they saw all of the 18th century marble statues. Cade wanted to know why they didnt have any clothes on? I told him they were changing to get in the pool. I then turned around and told Bowen and Zac that they had to close their eyes everytime we walked past one. I guess we'll be having that talk on the next boring 5 hour drive. All I could think about when I saw this gold in-layed tile pool was..."skinny dipping anyone?"

Janene, Caylee and Cade at the castle

Hearst castle was amazing! Too bad we can't have our family reunions there.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy B-day to me

36 years old today and right where I want to be.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

My sister Polly...our tour guide

Polly is our guide for the day in San Fran. Although the temp is about 70, the jackets were nice on the ferry to Alcatraz.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

currently in San Fran with Polly

Going to Alcatraz
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry