Merry day after Christmas!

Well another christmas has come and gone, we have survived and had quite a bit of fun visiting with everyone and of course eating. We were also lucky enough to be able to get to talk with Cody online. Of course it wasn't quite the same as having him here, but it was way better than not being able to talk to him at all. Today grandma and I took Hailey, Kelsey and Sean all shopping. We about killed Sean with boredom, Kelsey spent her entire gift card, and Hailey is much more frugal when she is spending her own money! More fun is in store for the next few days, than in no time we will be back to our boring lives, and of course back to school.

Happy Christmas Eve!!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! This was the picture this morning off our back porch, the twin sisters and the angry red sky, not a good day to go sailing!

Meet Holly....

Well here she is at last! Our new puppy, we re going to call her Holly since it's so festive and christmas-y. The introductions went well with the big dogs, well she was horrified by rylie, but who isn't. She is slowly coming out of her shell, and has successfully gone to the bathroom outside. (brrr) We think she will fit in great and we think she may even be a red headed tri when her puppy hair has been replaced by big dog hair, dont worry you'll get tons of pictures! Grandma arrived safe and sound today, and I was lucky enough to go get her and spend quality one on one time with her, which doesn't happen often, there is a long line of people who want to spend time with her! We did shopping at Costco and a couple of other "secret" stops :) By then the Canadian police found us and it was time to head across the border! We cant wait to see everyone again on Christmas day, cheers !!

It's not just a job..

It's an adventure! and a little dangerous as well, cody sent these pics to grandma who was sweet enough to forward them on to me :) Cody and his buddy are strapped into their C130 in a chair that is strapped in as well to refuel helicopers mid-air in the pitch black night! At least he wont be bored all the time, as long as his harness holds! The other picture is of Cody's adorable (tiny) girl friend Jerren, whom we will all get to meet when cody brings her home! The girls are officially enjoying christmas break, and so am I. Grandma gets here on the 21st we are all very excited and ready for it to be christmas, sort of, 99 percent of my shopping is done there are just a couple of more important things...After some important decision making by the Junior executive branch of the family ie: cathi, dave, and myself, we have decided to have the ever festive holiday burgers on christmas day. Everyone is invited and encouraged to join us!!!!

monday morning

the weather is yucky, windy and rainy. Kelsey and I are done with Whatcom, and she is still recuperating from her tonsilectomy. I am doing house stuff and thinking about starting my Christmas cards. Tomorrow kelsey has her drive test, and this time hopefully she will have a drivers license! She also has Baker tomorrow and cheer is in full swing, so no more idle time for her. Both of the girls are looking forward to Christmas break which starts on friday. I have been instant messaging, and video calling cody, it has been so much fun, and so cool to be able to see him. He looks good and seems to be in great spirits. It's amazing that he can be so far away but we can still hear him and see him, computers are amazing. I know Cathi & Don are incredibly busy with their tree farm, and of course grandpa has been there to help too, but I really miss all her updates! I will do my best to fill in once in a while, of course I am not promising anything great. I have added a new picture cody sent to me of him getting ready to go into the town. He said they were going to go to the coast soon maybe too, I believe it is the Red Sea.

It took forever!

but he finally made it. Cody called me from Virginia on tuesday night, from there they were headed to Europe and eventually to Saudi Arabia, where he called again to let me know he was Ok, but tired. Then finally on Dec 1st he made it to Djabuti Africa, where he will be for the next three of four months. We have talked once, he says it's very hot there, humid and miserable. He did send me an e-mail with some pictures, they also caught some poisonous snake right outside their tent! He said the base is small, but it doesn't take long to walk from one end to the other! Anyways I will keep everyone posted with news and pictures as I get them. I am really looking forward to being able to video call him with our new web cam that grandma & grandpa got for us. It is very cool, as I have gotten to practice with grandpa while he has been in Canada. It will be great to see his face AND hear his voice! Thankyou Mom & Lee!!!