Jake and Manny

It all started when Jake was invited to play at the Murdock's house. The boys spotted the hugest Praying Mantis we've ever seen on their back screen door. Sister Murdock was kind enough to bottle it up in a mesh covered Mason jar for Jake to take home.

It is usually a good thing that our cat loves bugs. She eats spiders and crickets...it's an attribute that we appreciate. Unfortunately, her love for bugs caused her to get her claws stuck in the mesh that was covering said Mason jar. This resulted in shattered glass spraying all over the tile floor. Picture the scene: Shattered glass, 3 sets of bare feet, and a cat and one freaked-out Praying Mantis in the middle of it all. What do you do first? We managed to rescue Manny (although he lost an antennae), get the cat out, keep the dog out, and keep our feet safe.

Jake kept Manny for 8 days. (He even made the trip to Scout camp with us.) We bought him crickets at Petco, and enjoyed watching him eat them like shrimp. Unfortunately, the cat got into the crickets, too!

This morning, Jake made the decision to let him go (after we took some photos for posterity). First, we opened up the critter keeper and Manny hopped right out. Then I picked him up and placed him in Jake's hand. He very quickly climbed Jake's arm and up to his face. He really liked hanging out there. When Jake couldn't stand it anymore, I relocated Manny to Jake's head. When we finally said our goodbyes, Jake walked him outside, and Manny flew away. We miss him already, but it was fun while it lasted.

Moonlight with the Rosells

We had the best time a couple of weekends ago! We got to go back up to our old stomping-grounds in North San Diego County and get drilled-on by one of our dearest friends! Just kidding...no that really did happen, but AFTER Dr. Rosell worked his dental magic is where the fun part came in...we went to the Moonlight Theater with the Rosells to see Guys and Dolls! Once upon a time, we used to catch several shows a summer. After missing ALL of them last summer, we vowed to SEE all of them this summer (and they have a great line-up this year). Next, we are going to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and then a couple of weeks later, Les Miserables. This was such a great time. It was so great to see them again, see how much their kids have grown, catch up on all the happenings, and just leave all our responsibilities at home for a couple of days. They really lifted us up!

Scout Camp

For the third year in a row, Patrick, Troy and Cliff spent a week at Scout camp. We missed them SO much!

Jake, Coree and I went up to visit them on Friday night for family night (and Jake got to spend the night!). It was great. We got to sample the food they've been eating (which was much better this year now that they hired a retired Navy cook) and attend their closing campfire and award ceremony. The guys were a little miffed because for some reason they didn't present the awards that their group won (the triathalon, campwide games and scoutmaster shoot...Cliff!) Oh well, we know they are winners! Cliff and I (as veterans) were able to participate in the flag retiring (burning) ceremony at the end, which was special.

The real surprise came when Patrick told me he wanted to stay on as a staff member for the next two weeks! Coree and I were not really happy about it because Patrick brings so much fun to our home, but we are being unselfish by wishing him well! I am sure that it will be a great experience for him. It's going to be really hard for me, because that means I won't see him for 3 more weeks, because he comes back the same day I leave for Indiana for a week...that means I will spend a month with no Patrick!:( We bought him some M&M's and his favorite beef jerky at the commissary today so we can send him a care package. Who knows, we might even go see him on Friday for the closing campfire. Knowing him, he'll be the star of the show.

Girls Day Out--The Sequel

It just so happened that our home school consultation (in San Diego) was scheduled for the same day as the Father/Son camp out at church. Since the boys wouldn't be able to join us, what were the girls to do? Go get their hair done, blow a wad on matching shoes...and to finish it off? Cheesecake Factory!

Girls Day Out

These pictures are from the mommy daughter day Coree and I had awhile back. We heard that Jane Goodall was coming to speak at USD, so we HAD to go to San Diego to hear her speak. She was fabulous! It was our lucky day, because Aunt Marsha just so happened to be in town catching a cruise ship with a friend of hers, so we were able to meet them for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, too! It was a great day! Jane Goodall was so inspirational. She made me want to be a better person...and a better mom. She had an amazing mom that supported and inspired her to be able to do what she does. She had some pretty amazing stories. It was great to be able to share the experience with my own daughter whom I love SO much. Hopefully I can inspire and support her even half as much!

Animal House

These girls are a riot. We don't know whether the cat (Charlotte) learned this from the dog (Brownie) or if it is just a coincidence, but they both love to lay around and even sleep like this. They keep us laughing, that's for sure. Today we were looking at some pictures of Brownie from when we first got her, and she looked so young! It's hard to believe we've had her for 7 years now. She's going to be 10! I can't bear to think of how little time we have left with her. She's been such a huge blessing to our family. Charlotte is growing on us, too. We didn't expect to get cat, or love her so much, but she is very special...an ambassador for her species. I worry every day about putting them on that 18 hour flight to Okinawa, how they will do...if they will go crazy, if they will know we are doing this because we love them and couldn't bear to be without them, or if they'll think they are being punished. Life's full of tough choices, I guess.

Troy hits the road...heaven help us!

This is actually back in May, when Troy had his first "behind the wheel" lesson for Driver's Ed. The instructor actually raved about how well he did (maybe that is standard since they want you to come back for more lessons). I think he's done great, although he's got to loosen up a bit. I do wonder how on earth I got here, though. How can someone so young have a child that is driving? Seriously...it seems like yesterday I was watching him pull away from the curb on a wobbly bicycle with his dad running behind him...how did that turn into pulling away from the curb in a car and driving away?!?

Back in Business...

Hello Everyone! I am SO happy to report that the power supply was the only thing that was wrong with our iMac. It is now replaced, and everything else is still intact!

Cliff and the older boys just left this morning for Boy Scout camp, and I'm so bummed out. I know it's only a week, (and that pretty soon Cliff will be deploying again regularly for months at a time) but I hate for him to be gone even for a night. I am so undisciplined...I still need someone to tell me it's time for bed. I remember Cliff's first big deployment. I fell asleep sitting on the couch every night. I'd usually wake up during the show after Conan (can't remember the name) and drag myself down the hall. It didn't make for a very restful night! Anyway, now I don't even know how to operate the TV (too many inputs), so there is no danger of that. Now, if I can just drag myself away from the computer at a decent hour...

Technical Difficulties...Please Stand By...

Hello Everyone,

We will have to take a brief blogging hyatus, as our iMac is in the shop. The power source needs to be replaced. Not bad, considering it's the only difficulty we've had with it in 5 years. Anyway, talk about a sick feeling, when you go to start up your computer...nothing happens...and you suddenly realize you have hundreds of $ of iTunes and thousands of priceless photos on this machine, and almost NONE of it backed up! When I confessed this to the iGenius at the Apple store, he calmly informed me that it would be a good idea to do that right away. Ya think? Not to mention, I have a spread sheet that tracks when our bills are due, etc...do I have a paper copy? Of course not! Why would I need that when it's always at my fingertips? Sheesh, I'm in iDiot!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

We hope you are all having a fantastic 4th of July. We miss the tradition we had of going to the ASW base in San Diego to participate in the festivities for military families and watch all of the fireworks going off there...I think they set them off simultaneously from 4 different locations. It's a little smaller here. At least we don't have to fight the traffic afterward! We had a good old-fashioned pancake breakfast and parade...very small town, and lots of fun for the kids.

Grand Canyon Slideshow

Cliff's Birthday/Father's Day

I love this man...and this picture! I love that he is a chocoholic...I always know that I can't go wrong giving him good chocolate for any occasion...or for no reason at all (and he shares, too!). This was taken on Fathers' Day, which happened to fall on his birthday this year. He loved all of his gifts. We weren't going to get away with joint birthday-Fathers' Day gifts, so he got lots of stuff: Aloha shirts, Chargers-themed gadgets, and as seen here, a giant box of Godiva!

Our Grand Canyon Trip

Toward the end of May, feeling suffocated by all of our commitments, Cliff decided we would take an impromptu Grand Canyon vacation. He looked at the 3 month perpetual calendar on the wall, saw virtually no free weekends from June into July, and decided the very next weekend (last weekend in May) that we needed to act. After all, we have 6 months until we can't just jump in the car and visit a national park for the weekend. He checked Online for reservations, and since it was still a little bit early in the season, found ONE campsite with 2 nights in a row at the south rim, and a few hotel rooms right in the park. Given the choice, the kids overwhelmingly chose camping. I had to agree, it would make the trip more memorable (just wasn't sure in what way!) so I relented and packed my air mattress. We had a fabulous time! The weather was perfect, the wildlife was amazing, and we made a ton of memories. This photo was taken the last day, so we are looking pretty rough and dirty. We hiked a little ways down the canyon, just to say we did. Other than that, we chose to walk around the rim. We did a fossil hike with a ranger (science credit...check!) Enjoy the slideshow!