New Pet

We found this critter living under the floorboards of our tent today.

Tomfoolery on Halloween!

Jenny & Destiny stayed in Milton so Destiny could go Halloweening with her cousins, Jeffrey, Jessa, & Jack. We began the evening by meeting Zack & Natalie at CiCi's Pizza. Ha! We were tricked, cause we were told if we showed up in costume we ate for free. Aw... but we paid, and enjoyed being together. Natalie didn't wear a costume but she made an pretty cool turtle outfit for Zack! Some how we made it out of there without getting a picture of him, but he made a pretty awesome turtle (especially with his skinny kegs and all.) Jack had his costume messed up before we left there with Pizza, soda and all, but then sharks are probably not known for their tidy eating habits!

We decided to go over to base housing to trick or treat. Cute as can be... Destiny was a pink unicorn, Jessa was a princess, Jack was a shark, and Jeffy was a pirate. This was Destiny's 2nd Halloween, but it all was new to her. She seemed fascinated by the costumes and the decorations. She would stop and stare and just watch people walking by. At one house, Jeffy was a bit freaked out because they had several adults dressed up, one looking like a dummy was sitting in a chair then suddenly hops up when Jeffy was trying to figure out if he was real! He totally startled Jeffrey, but Destiny just stood there watching... like "what a silly cousin!" Jessa found out where a couple of her friends lived along the way too. The lighted pumpkins and decorations were fascinating to Jack and Destiny. At one house the porch light was on, but no one answered the door. The 3 older kids scampered on to the next house, but Destiny found a Bob the Builder chair sitting on the porch and went and sat down like it was the perfect place for a little break! Lol! Yes, they all collected plenty of candy and Grandma collected her share of bounty for taking them! Yummy!

Wielding an AK-47

This week I had the chance to fire an AK-47 for the first time. It was great fun. I fired about 600 rounds and my shoulder is black and blue today. It is a really impressive weapon. There are only 4 pieces to the whole thing, making it one of the simplest inventions in the history of warfare. By comparison the M-16 has 16 pieces. That simplicity makes it very forgiving. It rarely jams, even on full automatic, and tolerates the sand and dust very well. There was a sandstorm going on while we shot and mine did not fail at all. That's more than I can say for the M-16, which simply won't fire if it gets sand in it. It is amazing to think that Mikhail Kalishnikov's design is 62 years old and hasn't been changed at all. It is also the most widely proliferated weapon in the world with over 200 million having been produced. By comparison, 16 million M-16s have been produced. It is easy to see why it is the preferred firearm for dictators and terrorists around the world: it requires virtually no maintenance, can put a lot of rounds downrange quickly, and costs very little ($25-$130 apiece in 3rd world countries.) It was fairly accurate at the 25 meter distance we fired from.

Virginia Visit

I had a very enjoyable visit up to Virginia to visit with Josh, Deborah, and family. The kids and Deborah were all super excited about Joshua arriving home from Kuwait. Deborah was packed and ready to head off on their private anniversary vacation up to New York.

Jonas, Maddie and Eliza & Wyatt and I had our own special time (including a day of skipping school). Jonas decided we "needed to have a little extra time to sleep" and reset the alarm clock for 10:30 am or something! By the time we woke up we were late and it was an early release day.....so..., oh well!! We had a fun day instead.

The kids each had grown so much! Especially Wyatt, since I had seen them in February. Maddie had developed a special talent of climbing the door frame with her toes and fingers! What a little monkey!! She could climb up in no time flat. I should have recorded it!!

Eliza is in preschool and really loves it! The pumpkin picture is of their pumpkin patch. Jonas is an expert at video games! Watch out, all of you uncles!

Cousins At The Beach!

Cousins At The Beach!

During Jenny and Destiny's visit during September & October 2009 , they were able to make a few visits to the beach together. Here are a few of the pictures. Jack & Destiny were so cute together, and Jeffy made a fun big cousin toting Destiny around on his shoulders. Jessa as always takes very good care of Destiny and Jack. Enjoy these pix!