Flashback Friday...Fathers and Sons

This is such a fun tradition that we have in our Church. Every May, fathers and sons (basically all males) get together for a campout to commemorate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. I especially love this time, since I have 3 boys...and have an excuse to indulge in some girlie time with my only daughter while Dad and sons have some male bonding time. This is a flashback to 10 years ago. (Jake was still nursing, so he got to hang with the girls. Lucky guy!)



Happy Dad, pitching the tent



Happy boys in wide open spaces.
(This campout was held at Lake O'Neil campground on Camp Pendleton.)



There is a funny story that goes along with this porta-potty. Patrick was potty trained...but still trying to master his timing in out of the ordinary situations (like camping). It was a good thing Mom packed extras, because even though this was only an overnight campout...let's just say the story involves Dad running, carrying Patrick like a football...but still having to leave a pair of Thomas the Tank engine undies down in the depths of this thing. Bummer.



Troy observing the 5 second rule. This cool dude is Brother Erekson. He was our neighbor, and is an awesome guy.



And look who it is...Brother Kretschmer and Jorden! This was before Ty and Ry, obviously.

Even though Cliff wasn't there this year, Brother Coulter took our boys up to Okuma for the festivities...and word has it, he knows how to camp! The boys gave reports of steak and bottomless rootbeer. Breakfast the next day was followed by jet-skis and fun on the beach. Cliff can't wait to join them next year!

Not in a Million Years...

Do you recognize this imposing figure?

How about that baby face? Are you wondering what the heck he's doing in this get up?

Let me back up a little and explain...

It all began when our kids started school here in January. Troy is not a small guy, I'm sure you've noticed. He's 6'2" and around 240. So naturally, he constantly got 'the question'.

(Do you play football?)

He ate lunch each day with a group of boys who do play football, and they kept encouraging him to join the team. But there's one problem. Troy doesn't really know football...none of our boys do (poor Cliff...a Chargers fanatic and not one son to share the passion). After school one day (a few months later), Troy said, "I've been thinking, maybe I should go out for football." to which I replied, "Maybe first you should talk to the coach and ask him if it matters that you don't know anything about football."

Luckily, the head coach is Troy's history teacher. When Troy asked him, the coach said, "I've been meaning to ask you if you are interested in football." Troy explained the situation, and the coach assured him that they would teach him everything he needs to know. The next day, Troy started after school conditioning for 2 1/2 hours a day, 4 days a week...including running, weight lifting and field exercises. (There is even an activity bus that brings him home each evening!) He's been making great progress in his running, and has only puked once. They are still working on getting him to look mean...it's just not in his repertoire.

So, it gets better...a few weeks later, Troy tells me that one of the assistant coaches is also the choir director. (He's no dummy...I'm sure he was probably choir director first, and then joined forces with the football program to recruit male voices.) Anyway, this coach is constantly after these guys to join choir. So on the last day to turn in schedule requests for next year, Troy and four of his football friends went down to try out for choir. The coach listened to their auditions, then simply said he knew he had his work cut out for him, but they at least had the raw materials he could start with (lungs and a voice box, I think).

So, now we have a football-playing canary. (This just came to me...wasn't that the premise of a Brady Bunch episode?)

Anyway, as long as he doesn't sustain any brain damage, and this doesn't interfere too much with my travel plans this summer and fall...this could be a very awesome thing for him to experience in his senior year. Way to go, Troy!

While the boys were away...

So, while the boys were away with Brother Coulter at the annual fathers and sons campout for church over the weekend, Coree and I had a pretty low-key Saturday. We started out by sleeping in, of course. Then, we dropped by the Family Day that was being held for families of IA's* at the hospital. We recorded a message to send to Cliff (which I probably won't really send to him because I started crying) and built a care package (that the dog later shredded while left unattended, netting her 4 packages of beef jerky, several pouches of assorted nuts, fruits and Kool-Aid powder, and one pack of Wrigley's Spearmint).



Hey, at least there were snowcones! We also got lots of little giveaways like DVD's and coupons for base restaurants. Mostly, it was just nice to be thought of.



Afterward, we had lots of little errands to run, but first we stopped and ate at the Globe and Anchor for lunch and decided to inventory the loot while we waited. It's a good thing. This is the only evidence we have now that some of this existed.



All things considered, still a pretty fun day.



*Individual Augments: Service members who are taken from their units and plugged into a billet elsewhere, with any branch of service, to do a specific job for a short amount of time.

Flashback Friday...Tell me a story, Daddy

Oh, how this picture melts me like butter. I love this man! He is such a good daddy!


Like her two older brothers, Coree knew from an early age that books are worth more than gold. In this very room (before this red toddler bed that I shortly painted pink), when she was old enough to climb out of her crib...she would go to this bookshelf to the left in this picture, empty all of the books off of it, toss them one by one into her crib, and climb back in...where we would find her happily "reading" to herself.

Lately, since Coree's daddy has been deployed, she's the one "telling" him stories. Thanks to the world of Webkinz, Coree has become interested in writing about animals. Her specialty seems to be wolves...and she has quite the imagination for fantasy and amazing details as she delves into the minds of these packs. She emails her dad a few chapters at a time, which is a good thing, because while I can be a "report what I see" kind of writer...I have NO imagination for fantasy. Cliff's creativity and English degree help him to give her more valuable feedback than I could provide.


This is where the magic happens...



And here she is, in her early computer training. Who could have known ten years ago, what a familiar sight this would become! Yesterday, feeding virtual dogs newspapers and slippers...today, exposing their inner-most thoughts.

Cultural Exchange

What a great day we had today! This is a little group of LDS ladies...4 Japanese and 4 American. we got together for a cultural exchange in Susan's home and had such a wonderful time getting to know each other.

The funny thing was, when they made the announcement at church that we would be hosting these cultural exchanges between the American Military District and the local Okinawan Stakes, I was racking my brain trying to think of what kind of craft or cooking skill I could offer to teach that Japanese ladies would be interested in. They just seem to be so talented at so many things. Anyway, I never thought of anything to offer, but Susan invited me to join her group.

Susan is from Texas, so she offered a class about Texas, and it was brilliant. She had a big US map and she showed them where Texas is and where she is from, then she had the rest of us American women show where we are from as well. She taught them lots of interesting facts about Texas, she made chili and pecan pie and lemonade for lunch, and we snacked on Texas caviar and guacamole and listened to country music, while sitting in Susan's beautiful garden. All of the Japanese sisters seemed to really enjoy themselves, so it felt like a success. We all helped each other with our languages, and it really got me excited for my Japanese lessons.

But my favorite part of the day was at the beginning, when all of us introduced ourselves and told whatever facts we would like to tell...including how we were introduced to the Church. It was so wonderful to hear what brought these Japanese sisters to the Gospel, whether it was missionaries knocking on their doors, or a neighbor's invitation to attend English class at the church building. I was overwhelmed with an appreciation for our missionaries, and how they change lives for generations, forever. The sister standing right in front of me now has a daughter on a mission in Hawaii.

We had such a great time, we've decided to do it every month, so Misty will host it next, and then it will be my turn. I don't really think I want to teach a class on California (Brenda's from SoCal, too...maybe she could teach that one) and I think all Mormons know about Utah...so now the challenge will be to come up something good. I welcome your suggestions!

Fun at the Aquarium

Since Jake's teacher only got one volunteer to chaperon the last field trip, the mommy guilt surfaced and I agreed to go along on this one (passing up a free lunch elsewhere, I might add).


Oh how I've missed riding a school bus (NOT!)...


It was a beautiful ride, I have to admit...even if it was twisty, slow and lasted an hour and a half each way.


When we were almost there, this Japanese tour bus pulled along side. They were going nuts over this bus full of American children. It was really very cute to see all of these old people pointing, laughing, waving, etc.


And here we are...get a load of these steps. But this is just the beginning!





It's quite the thrill over here to see local kids in school uniforms...but usually it's the boys wanting to get their picture taken with Japanese school girls. If only Coree were here, this would have made for a very cute picture!


These things were all over the park. All kinds of sea life made out of landscaping. Pretty cool...but I won't bore you with the half dozen shots I took. You get the idea.


Thank heaven for escalators!


One of the many pics I took during the show. (Again, won't bore you with the rest. If you've been to Sea World, you've seen the same thing.) This was cute with the traditional Okinawan hat. But I just have to say, it was hard to impress since I lived in such close proximity to Sea World for 30+ years of my life. This reminded me of Sea World back in the 70's, but it was a cute show.


It was super crowded.


And here we are at the beginning of the main indoor exhibit. It was nice of Jake to wear orange so I could pick him out, even though this is not one of my favorite shirts. Incidentally, why is it that you can buy a boy a closet full of nice, presentable, collared shirts...and he will still go for the rattiest t-shirts, every time? Picking my battles.


Here are my charges, about to be eaten by a shark.


This I found SO funny. There are cleaning people everywhere! (Remember the airport?) It was very fitting that there would be a scuba janitor in the tank. I think he's holding a Magic Eraser. LOVE those things!


The only think Jake really cared to see was a box jellyfish. He was kind of bummed that they only had a display instead of a real one.


Another shot of our clever group.


These guys are eating their dead buddy. Pretty harsh!


When you exit the large exhibit, you walk under part of the tank. I arranged this fly-by earlier with these guys.


This is probably the part the kids will remember most...this massive network. Get it..."net" work. (I kill myself.)

So we're walking back to the bus and a friend of Jake's asks if he will sit by her on the bus ride back. Fully expecting Jake to say, "No, my mom is with me", I am STUNNED when he looks at me and says, "Is that OK?" I protest, "Then I'll have to sit by some strange kid!" To which he replies, "Or adult." They are both just staring at me, when little miss sunshine pops in with, "Today is my last day. We're leaving for Peru tomorrow."

OH! The old, "I'm shipping out for Peru in the morning" line! What, does she think I just fell off the turnip truck? Sheesh!


There's the happy couple, in the row behind the guy in the white hat...chatting away happily the whole ride, while I donned my iPod and tried not to make eye contact with the girl next to me.



I decided to be the better person and offered to photograph them one last time, before this was all just a memory and she was off to her new Peruvian life. She is pretty cute...and has impeccable taste in men, I might add!

Payback's a Medevac

Stuart Karma meets Jones' Justice:


I heard a ruckus on the roof late Monday night and assumed it was Patrick. I opened the door to yell at him, but he answered from his room. I said, "Someone is on the roof." Troy and Patrick looked at me like I was nuts. Then they heard it, too. In a flash, Patrick was down out of the loft bed and out the front door. The Jones' boys were caught red-handed. Nice chopstick job on the front lawn, huh?



The palm trees aren't the only thing swaying in the breeze...



In the morning, this is the message we found on our front porch.



Apparently, they came back and finished the job.



Notice the soda can ornaments hanging in the tree? Nice touch.
The best part...they did a real number on the roof. There was so much TP up there, that each morning since we've had a fresh supply on the lawn. The gift that keeps on giving. That's OK...each morning as we're rounding up the new crop, we are reminded of how much they love us! But guess what, Joneses? We "love" you more, so stand by! Mwoohahaha!