July 2018 - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

When we last saw our stalwart heroe, they had landed in Moorhead, MN and welcomed a new family member.  Then they seem to fall off the face of the Earth.  Yeah.

, While we were gone for the winter, our house suffered significant weather related damage.  Once we got home, we both started our local jobs and started to work towards opening the house and trying to get a handle on the future.

A lot has happened, and there is little photo record of most of it.  I was torn between a number of posts without pictures and then just being busy all the time.  I finally broke my blog inaction by deciding to just talk about all that has happened and what all we've been doing.

Just after we got home, Eliza and her family came to stay for a few weeks. They were moving into a new house, but the timing left them without a residence for a bit.  It was really nice to have them here and we put both sets of bunk beds into Eliza's old room.  The kids had a small pool in the yard to play in, Brett had the four-wheeler running and there are lots and lots of LEGOs.  Alexander even came up from Texas for a bit.  "Uncle Alex!!, Uncle Alex!!"  Part of all that was us helping them move out of their old place and then into their new one.

Devils Lake High School had it's graduation and we attended the graduation party for Micah Cox whose parents helped us raise our kids as well.

There were a few events that we participated in this summer.  We participated in a Flag Day ceremony at Roosevelt Park in Devils Lake put on by the local VFW.  We both became honorary lifetime members.  You don't have to be and old guy to be in the VFW....

Memorial Day found us home instead of in Arlington, VA for a change, and we attended a program at the Memorial building in Devils Lake and helped laying wreaths at the cemetery in honor of the fallen.

A third event we participated in, was the Independence Day Parade as we often do.  We had work looming over us so we were unable to stay for the night at the Lake that we normally get to do. 

Family in June, including Laurie's birthday.  Patriotic and personal events in July, including my birthday and Eliza and Brett's anniversary.

Now it's August.  we've been working on the house and watching and following the Boston Red Sox who are having one of their best years ever.  More work on the house hangs over us and there is still the possibility Laurie will take a short travel assignment between now and when we leave for our October assignment back in Imperial County, CA.

For me, I always define The end of a blog season as when we hook up the fifth-wheel and hit the road.  Hopefully, between now and then, i'll be a little more attentive here.

Christmas! - Christmas! - Christmas!

It's Christmas.  What is there to say?

Laurie cooked another amazing dinner, very very very excited kids, family, presents, football, horrid cold weather, cuddling and lots of fun.

Laurie and I made a run to the store and Brett and I did later.  Included here are some pics of a trip we took home later.

Some Presents and Stockings

The tree on Christmas morning

A veritable plethora of goodies

"C'mon, Mommy, start passing out the swag!"

The expression of delight

Big boxes

Mimi helps assembly

Frigid cold in Fargo

Sun dogs.  This only happens when all the moisture in the air is frozen.  It was -43 degrees.

Our driveway

Amazing sunset due to cold air.

Happy boy

Pile on!!

Lurkers

December 24th - Christmas Eve 2017

This became a bit of a busy day.  A little shopping, some hanging out with the kids and all.  I took some time and did a photo session with the kids on the stairs.  I took quite a few pictures.  I will post some of the best ones here.  It was a lot of fun. 

A little later, we all got bundled up and piled into Eliza's van and Brett drove up to his folks house where his family was doing Christmas.  We had some appetizers and then retired to the living room where the kids opened presents.  Afterwards we sat around and visited with his family.

The Stairs Photo Session

A fun picture where I loaded the girls with wrapped presents

Car fun

Grandpa's house

December 23rd - Cookies!!!!

The week of Christmas was a very busy week.  Besides some shopping and all the family bonding, there were all the usual holiday activities, despite the mind numbing cold (-35).

The day after Corbin's birthday, Eliza sat her kiddies down and they made cookies together.

It's always fun watching Eliza with the kids doing things.  The kids have a lot of fun learning while making such a mess. 

Their Mimi helped them as well.

Oh, The tree is up