Long awaited award...and some time with friends

This weekend Tim and I flew out to Oakland California for an award cerimony. The Army Reserve has an award that they present to soldiers when they come home from deployments. So after over 2 years I was finally getting mine. It was a crazy week trying to get everything all set up and taken care of so that we could get out there, and God bless the neighbors that we have who were able to take Scott in for the weekend. The Army was more then happy to send Tim there, but wouldn't let me take Scott as well.

Tim and I flew out on Saturday afternoon to Oakland with another lady that is from my site who was also recieving the award. Once we landed and grabbed out bags, we hopped a ride with that same couple to the post where Tim had a car set up waiting for us there. After we grabbed the car, we made a quick stop off at our hotel to get checked in, and a quick check in the mirror and then we were on our way to meet up with friends of ours in San Francisco. We met Brian and Marci back in May on our cruise, and were instant friends. I had a chance a few months back to meet up with them and they are amazing hosts in their city. After dealing with the traffic on the Bay Bridge and getting there we went to the parking garage, said our hello's and went to a hotel there for drinks. The decorations in there for the holidays were just amazing to see. They had these strings of lights hanging from the celing that were just beautiful to see. They also had a few huge tree's decked out for Christmas in their lobby. After a drink we headed out for our dinner reservations, but before we left we stopped for a few pictures in the lobby, and in the process I almost knocked over their 20 foot Christmas tree! They had a chair sitting by the tree that I went to sit in, only the chair moved about about 2 feet into the tree when I sat on it. That just wouldn't have been good. For dinner we ate at this AMAZING little Italian restraunt. The owner kept coming over to our table to check on us, and kept managing to add on to our order, or talk us into better bottles of wine then we had picked out. He was good at his job, that's for sure! By the time dinner was done though, our time was up and we had to get back to the parking garage to get the cars before they closed up. So our good byes were said, and we headed off our seperate ways. I can't wait to see them again. It really is alot of fun getting together with them.
By the time we made it back to the room it was around 1am, and we had to be at Camp Parks by 9ish. Unfortunatlly for as tired as we both were, neither of us got much sleep that night. The heater in our room sounded like a freigt train running every time it turned on, and when that would cycle off, the fridge in the room kicked on. So with very little sleep we gave up trying around 7am and showered and got ready for the days events. The hotel there had a little free breakfast for us and then we took off.
Our cerimony was held in a gym type of room that was all decorated for us. After a "dress" rehearsal, we got going around 1030. They had our divisions Col there as well as the Bdg General to give us a speach. It was kind of funny as he talked about the adjustment of being home, and help that was out there...all I kept thinking was, I went through all that 2 years ago, everythings fine now! When we were called up for our award they asked that the spouces go up with us, so at this time we don't have any pictures of me actually going up to get my award, but I've attached a few that were taken afterwards. All in all it was a very nice cerimony that was long awated for. By the way, the awards were...a flag that is folded in a wooden display case that has the front and back of a coin mounted in it, as well as a basic plaque saying welcome home, and on the side is my name and dates of deployment. We were also given a coin by the general there presenting the awards,
a flag that says welcome home, a lapel pin for me and one for Tim, and a coin in a case (same one as is mounted on the flag case). The other things are nice, but all I really wanted to make sure I got was my flag. I was given a plaque, and other things from my actual mission on was on, but they are all things that will stay in the box, looked at once and awhile, but my flag I am proud of, and will have set out for all to see.

The Family Guy Deleted Scene '911 Call' FUNNY...

This is just too funny!!! I've actually known a few dispatchers that were like this..not to mention a few medics as well!

Musical talent

This school year Scott deceided that he wanted to play saxaphone. We did all that fun rental stuff and then contacted a good friend of mine who works for an intrument company. Turns out that it was a HELL of a lot cheaper to buy a brand new one from her, then to rent a used one for a year. So Scott made the choice to take some money out of his savings account to buy his very own. It took a few weeks to get here, but it was so worth it. Scott was thrilled at how nice looking it was and that it came with a better neck strap, and lighter carring case! So to my friend (I'll not name you here just in case :)...thank you so very much, your the bestest!!!! I've encluded a few pics of Scott w/his new sax.

It's begining to look a lot like Halloween....

So yesterday we had a wonderful day weather wise. It was almost 80 degrees out, with a wind coming across. So that afternoon we headed outside to enjoy the sun and put out our Halloween decorations. For the last few years we have put on quite a show, have even scarred our share of kids with it all! So we pulled out our cool color coded boxes and went through everything we had, and started decking out the yard. However as we were begining to finish up we started thinking of the idea that were in Colorado now, and not all our stuff is weather friendly....so some of our stuff will have to stay hidden until Halloween! After that we headed back inside to watch the sever disappointment of the game (once again, you should know...). The next morning I got up to a few inches of snow on the ground and freezing tempatures! By the middle of the afternoon we had about 8" or so fall. The tempature has warmed up a bit, and they say it is going to go up to about 80 again by the end of the week...so for the next few days I have the fun of muddy dogs in and out of the house! The dogs love the snow though. It is funny to see Teddy bounding through the snow, and it never fails that Lincoln gets wound up. Tim will toss them snow balls and the dogs will chase them digging around looking for them. One of our fun tricks is to toss biscuts into the snow and watch the dogs try to find those!!!

Sweet Rocky Mountian Paradise

This weekend we made it up to the mountians to enjoy the fall colors. My most amazing husband humored me by driving all the way out to Aspen so that I could go and see the John Denver Santuary that they have out there. So before I go any futher let me just admitt here that I am a huge fan of John Denvers music. I remember being a kid and cleaning the house with mom and having the record player stacked with John Denver, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstat. When Tim and I were married we even had the song that John had written for his wife as our wedding song, "Annie's Song". If you've never heard the song, your missing out...it truly is a beautiful love song/pome:




"You fill up my senses
Like a night in the forest
Like the mountians in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like the sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again


Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again."

So there we are on a 4 hour drive to see some rocks that were engraved with song lyrics. Tim was even so sweet as to let me listen to hours of Denver as we drove out there!
We set off that morning with the threat of cold and rain in our future, but willing to take the chance. We had the dogs loaded in the car, the GPS programed and a picknic baskets over flowing for or day of adventure. It was amazing...once we got out of the main part of town we didn't see a fast food restraunt for the next hundared or two miles...maybe even more. The route we took went right through the mountians and at times was a bit zig zaggy...it was funny to see it out on the GPS screen, so we took a picture of it and joked around that it was like we were driving the road that they used for those "zoom zoom" comercials. We made a few stops along the way to get some neat pictures, stretch or legs, and let the dogs take a leak. After about 4 hours we arrived at our destination, not having a clue as to what we were going to find. One thing we didn't find though was parking! We drove around the main part of town (think very small little village). Finally we gave up and went for the parking garage. Finding an open spot as soon as we pulled in we grabbed our lunch and dogs and went to the park across the street for our picknic. The weather was holding up for us so far. It was in the low 60's with some gusty winds...I'll take that compaired to what we were supposed to be getting. After eatting Tim ran everything back to the car and then we were off down the trail to find our rocks. Now if your wondering to yourself...why would a yuppy town like Aspen have a memorial to John Denver? Well the answer is, because he lived there for much of his career, in fact his ex-wife Annie still lives there in their house up in the mountians there. When John lived there he just fell in love with the beauty of it all. After being there I can see why, and knowing his music the way I do, I can see where much of his inspiration came from. It is hard to be surrounded by such beauty and not feel something. One of my biggest goals there was to find "Annie's" rock and have a picture of Tim and I taken next to it. I can't wait to print this one out and hang up by our wedding photos.
After we had enjoyed the beauty of the area it was time to move on. We had spotted a neat looking "park" that had some off road parking and many trails that we could walk and let the dogs smell to their hearts content! On our way back to that spot we made several stops to get pictures and then deceided to stop off at the Continential Divide to get a few pics. This spot is above the tree lines at 12,095 feet, and here it was VERY cold and windy! Scott was excited to be able to play in the snow there! After a quick look see we were back in the car and I was having second thoughts as if we should go hiking at that spot. Well as we drove down the mountian the tempature went back up to the low 60's. We did go through a bit of rain, but by the time we made it to "our spot" the weather was PERFECT! The dogs go out and were going nuts with all the scents all around them! Lincoln is like a little hunting puppy when we take him out to the woods. Tim thought it was pretty funny as Lincoln was litteraly dragging me through the woods following a scent. In and out of creeks and up the mountian side. This is really becoming something that I love to do. I have always had a love of nature and the beauty of it all. Now I have a cool camera and an amazing husband to join along...and of course the 2 dogs and 1 son that have no say in any of it! Finally after several trails our wet dogs had dried off and we were about ready to head home. To head over to the main trails we had a really neat wooden bridge to cross over so on our way back we played a quick round of "Pooh Sticks" and then headed back to the car (if you don't know what Pooh Sticks are...sorry) Tim had Scott pick up a few pine cones that we're going to try and plant (have you ever priced a pine tree before?) Then Tim found an old spot that had a bunch of trash in it and there Tim and Scott found an old Budwiser can in it that had to of been about 30 or more years older!
The drive home was just as amazing as our ride in, the sceanery didn't grow old at all...only problem? I had filled up my memory chip, and only now as I write this do I remember that I had 2 more in my camera case!!!!

Taking in some local nature

Last Sunday we had a late start game so took advantage of the free time and grabbed the dogs and went walking to a little "canyon". Michaela was staying with us so we went ahead and let her grab her dog as well. Now before I tell the rest of the story let me back track to another one. My 2 dogs are to the point that they are kind of ok walking together. Our doxie though is very hyper when he gets to walk. We have a harness for him to wear as he likes to choke himself w/just a collar on. He is pretty funny to watch. It is kind of like a dog on a tread mill. He runs like crazy, but gets no where! Thank goodness he is only around 15 pounds because we can keep controll of him. He also has the strong desire to be front dog at all times. Now Teddy and Lincoln have gotten to that point in their lives that they know each other well and live in realitive harmony with each other. However when a new dog enters the picture Lincoln gets very uneasy and slighly defensive. Teddy just gets horney and will stop at nothing to "get to know" the other dog no matter the gender. So Michaela has a dog now that is a form of a terrier and very hyper...so 2 hyper dogs in the same yard and one uneasy one makes for an interesting senerio. So now back to my story. 2 dogs on a walk with a new one tossed into the mix. What started as a family walk, turned into a extended out line keeping all dogs away from each other. Michaela had to walk about 50 yards in front of us. Followed by Scott about 25 yards behind Michaela with Lincoln. We had Teddy because he was just going nuts trying to catch up to Michaela's dog (Mya). The walk was close to the house and once you drop down a bit, other then housing projects and new school project up on the ridge, it was like being in a whole different world! We opted not to walk the entire path that they had there, since the dogs were going out of their minds, but it was enough to get some pictures and out of the house to enjoy the area around us.

My little sister finally did it!!!!

So I'm sitting here watching the game (and if you have to ask what game, you just don't know me very well!!!!) Anyways I figured that now would be a good time to start doing updates...so the plan is for every Sunday to do an update here.

Back in August my family came out to visit. Now when I say family I mean entire family! I had my mom, dad, middle sister Sara and her boyfriend/husband Rob, and their 4 that's right 4 kids, my youngest sister Emily and her boyfriend John. Needless to say there was a hugely full house here for that week!!! During the week we mostly just hung around the house catching up and hanging out. Back over the 4th of July Tim and I went out and picked up an old bowling machine (65). Amazingly it works pretty good still. So for us that was the nighly event. Tim and I, and my sisters and their signifi others playing. We would split up into boy vs girl teams and what made the game even more interesting is that the machine would randomly pick a player to screw! John could "bowl" a strike but get no points for it. Then a game or two later it would be Sara, or anyone else. Strikes would be flying but the points wouldn't.
Midway through the trip my sister Sara had decieded that after like 100 years with her boyfriend that now was the time to finally make it legeal and offical!!! They did a JP style wedding so it was kind of funny as we headed into the jail/court house as we all had to pass through security. So there we are all dressed up having to put all our belongings, including bouquets onto the conveyer belt. After the wedding we headed back to the house for a dinner and cake and a night of poker. I would like to say congradulations to her and Rob. I'm very happy for them and wish them all the best in the world!

While they were here we also celebrated my neices 6th birthday and my nephews 9th birthday. We also had several waterballon fights. They started off for the kids, but turned into a "grown up" revenge style of game. Let me tell you we had some HUGE ballons too! We had bought many bags of waterballons and let the kids have their go with those. We had also bought some regular party style balloons that had was you might see in a ballon bouquet sized ballons in it. So when filled with water they were the size of a small bomb. One that we did must have weighed at least 15 pounds! I had also saved a bunch of fire works for Sara and Robs wedding, but it rained here each night so we didn't get a chance to light them off until Sunday night right before they were going to have to leave. I had so much fun having my family all here, but with so many people and so many events going on it seemed as if we wen't able to go anywhere at all. So I do hope that they all come out again sometime (maybe a few at a time) so that we can show them around some of the neat things we have here, both in town and all around!