Our Garden

Though I have always said I have a "black thumb" instead of a green one, Shawn somehow convinced me that we should try and grow a garden this year. We've decided to grow some various vegetables and see how it goes. So far, nothing has died except a poor rabbit that had the misfortune of eating in the wrong garden patch. Shawn decided that the rabbit could not be tolerated and threw rocks at it. One got a little too close and pretty much killed it.....Shawn put it out of its misery. Since the rabbit died, our garden has been flourishing. May God rest the bunny's soul.

The garden before any work was done.

After tilling.

The plants awaiting planting.

The garden right after first planting. So far, we only have cool weather crops (lettuces, broccoli and cauliflower). It has still been too cool to plant any of our other plants, but we hope to do so soon.

In the Playroom

Elle shows Grandma a toy.

Uncle Shawn/Daddy reads the children a book.

Listening attentively.

Cousins at the New House

Quinn outside in the new yard.

Shawn TRIED to rake.....but, as you can see, the cousins had other ideas. Here are Kai, Elle, Quinn and Luke doing their best to ruin the leaf pile as soon as it gets put together.

Luke revels in the leaves.

The kids dismantling the pile.

At Grame and Grandpa's House

Quinn, Kai and Ilene go for a ride in Grame's wagon.

Go Buckeyes!

Quinn playing outside at Grame's house.

Quinn and Kai at Grame's.

Fence Building

Shawn and Jamas survey the scene as they begin their fence building for the Justice Estate.

Shawn putting up the fence.

Jamas and Shawn putting up fence poles. They worked pretty much two days straight, but they got the job done and it looked great! Since it was 10 PM when they got it done, I don't have any pictures because it was dark.

Cousins

Kai, Quinn, Elle and Luke enjoy some chicken nuggets at Celeste's house.

Elle and Luke play on the deck.

Kai, Elle and Quinn playing on the deck.

Luke and Kai supervise the fence building project.

The Guys' Camping Trip 2

Joe and Jordan huddle by the fire. It got down to freezing that night.

The campsite.

It takes teamwork to get the canoe out of the water.

They made it!!

The Guys' Camping Trip

Jordan and Joe get ready to hit the water.

Joe, Shawn and Jordan pose for the camera.

Joe and Jordan on the creek.

Early morning on Perche Creek.

Shawn's 30th Birthday

That's right.....Shawn hit the big 3-0 this year! Here are a few pictures from the small party we had for him at his parents' house.

Look at all that fire!! Good thing he's a firefighter, because it's only going to get worse!

Kai helps Daddy blow out the candles.

A gift from Cousins Jordan and Chelsea. You're never too old to play with cars!

Shawn looking at the scrap book his mother and I made him. Check out Kai eating that cake! Yummy!

Bahrain ERT Pictures

Here's Shawn with his Technical Rescue guys during Desert Sailor 2008.

Desert Sailor graduation. Here are the various members of the host nation and American military, along with the Sigma guys who conducted much of the training. Shawn is in the back row.

Shawn picking up his certificate for all the training hours he put in during Desert Sailor 2008.

The entire ERT, along with host nation members and the instructors.

A Few Pictures From Bahrain

As you may know, it's been about two months since we moved back to the States from Bahrain, but I have yet to post any pictures from the last couple of months. In the following posts, I will do just that. Here are a few leftovers from Bahrain.

Quinn after eating an Oreo by herself for the first time.

It's kind of hard to tell, but that is a kid's head sticking out of the sunroof going down the highway at 60 miles per hour.

Kai and Quinn in the bath.

Shawn after blowdrying his fro. He's since gotten a haircut....whew!

Whirlwind

We've been back in the States now for nearly two months, yet it seems like we've hardly had time to catch our breath! Time is funny, though, because it also feels like Bahrain was light years ago.

Today is the first day we've had internet, and I'm completely unprepared to try to chronicle our adventures in the last two months here today. It will have to wait until another day for now. But I just wanted you all to know that we're okay and getting settled in here in our new house and new life.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

WOW.....

After spending a pleasant week with my siblings and their families, everything is happening all at once. Shawn went for a second interview with a fire department near Kansas City on Tuesday, then we went to my sister's house for three days.

It was a blast to see their little ones and all four of our kids together, though a bit crazy. Shawn and Jamas put up a new chain-link fence in their backyard, so Celeste and I were stuck inside with four rowdy children. It was stressful and fun at the same time, but obviously I'm feeling much more nostalgic looking back at it than I was feeling at the time. Next time, though, we'll have a fenced in yard for the kids to run around in when I visit. I can't wait!

After that, I went to my brother's house and spent a couple of days there with him and his family. We played Guitar Hero (which I'm not so great at) and went to the Titanic Museum in Branson (thanks, guys!). It was a fun time and it was good to see my great-nephew Blake trying to toddle around.

During our week in the Ozark area, Shawn got a call from the fire chief of the department he interviewed at and found that he had beat out 21 other candidates to get a new job there. The catch is that they need him to start right away, so he's starting his new job on Monday! He will be working as a firefighter/EMT and doing more hands-on stuff than he's been doing. He's very excited. That means we've got to find and secure a house and move all of our stuff there by this weekend! We found a house we like and are waiting for all the paperwork to be processed on it; I'll keep the blog posted and be sure to put pictures up once we have them.

Another exciting change is that I'm going blonde again today, after over a year of being a brunette. I will let you know how it goes!