17 December 2011

You're In the Army Now!

Our son Tyler finished his college education in Dec 2011, and also recieved his commission into the US Army! He is now a 2nd Lt and will be heading to Fort Rucker, Alabama by the end of the year to prepare for his Helicopter School.

Flying Helicopters hs been his life long dream!

Oath of Service

The Smile of Success!


First Salute
First Mission Accomplished - The Commission

Jason & Lissa with their Girls
 
The rest of the gang (minus Russ who had to head to work right after the ceremony)

Congratulations Tyler, We are proud of you. happy for you, and pray for your continued successes!!

The Handsome Young Officer
and though we did not know it at the time, Tylers Future wife was also there with us (Note: This last picture was added a month before the wedding, not at the original posting date - kc)

21 November 2011

Introducing Grandchild #4!!

I should have posted this a month ago right after I got home from Utah, but better late than never.

This is Sophia Anne Lee, Adri and Russ Lee's first baby. She was born on October 10 (three weeks early) but still weighing in at 7 pounds. The birth was quick and relatively easy for Adrianne.

Here she is on her way to her two-week old doctor's apointment.Here's my favorite thing to do with the new babies--hold them as they sleep on my shoulder.
Uncle Tyler teaching Sophia proper napping techniques.
Sooo adorable when they curl themselves up into little balls!
There are lots more pictures of Adri and Russ's blog which is linked to ours.

Welcome to our family, baby Sophia!!

31 October 2011

In Iceland They Call Their Country "Island"

In July I saw a three-day package deal to Reykjavik, Iceland.  It included air fare with direct flight from Washington DC, two nights in a hotel including a buffet breakfast, and an all-day bus tour.  I thought it was a very reasonable price, considering how much air fares have been this year.  And it was only a five-hour flight.  Kent and I wanted to go to Iceland when we lived in Germany but never made it, so we went ahead and booked the tour.  We also convinced our friends the Andrews to go with us.

Our flight left at 8pm on Thursday evening, and we arrived in Reykjavik at 7am.  We'd paid extra for a bus transfer to our hotel, where we allowed to check in and to eat at the breakfast buffet.  Afterwards we headed to downtown Reykjavik to look around and shop for souvenirs.  It was EXPENSIVE.  They have a 24 per cent sales tax, which you should remember the next time you complain about your state's sales tax!
Seeing this church in downtown Reykjavik was one of our first stops.
It's the most famous landmark in the country.  Kinda looks like it's made from legos, doesn't it?
This is the organ inside the church
This is the view from the observation deck at the top of the church.
We thought the houses throughout Iceland were very picturesque.
We like to see the sights at night when they're lit up.
 Most of the energy in Iceland is provided by geothermal steam.  This pipeline carries steam from the hot springs to the cities and towns.   
We took an all day bus tour to see some of the natural wonders of Iceland.  It's called the "Golden Triangle" tour.  Our first stop was a geyser that goes off every 10-15 minutes.
 Our next stop was a massive waterfall.
 As we drove through the countryside our tour guide pointed out the greenhouses, where they grow most of their vegetables.  I think all the fruit is imported.
 We also saw several herds of Icelandic horses.  They're pure bred; if a horse is ever taken off Iceland it's not allowed to return to the country in case it might have mingled with another breed.  Our guide told us that  the only animal native to Iceland is the Arctic fox.  All other animals were brought in by boat or iceberg.

There are also no mosquitoes, ants or cockroaches in Iceland.
 The last stop was a national park the shows where the north American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, and are pulling apart 2cm every year.
 All the trees on Iceland were chopped down by the year 1000 AD.  They are now trying to build up the forests again, but we saw very few trees in the part of Iceland where we were.
 On our last day we went out to a large mineral hot spring that's supposed to have healing qualities.  We could see the steam rising from miles away as we drove toward it.
 The hot spring is called the "Blue Lagoon" for the color of the water.

 The water was a light, milky blue color.
 It's a very popular resort.  These people are lined up to buy drinks at a little bar on the water.
 Here we are with our traveling companions, David and Tresha Andrews.  We enjoyed their company.
 Thought I'd show some Icelandic language.  Our tour guide said it's one of the most pure Scandinavian languages because it was written down a thousand years ago and they've been very isolated for many years.
On our flight home the skies were clear and I had an awesome view of Greenland from the air.  I saw icebergs and lots and lots of snow mountains.  From what I could see the southern tip of Greenland was a solid sheet of ice--a glacier, I suppose.

08 September 2011

Even More Pictures From our July Activities

There were so many pictures from the family reunions in Oregon and our visit to Lissa and Jason in Texas that I had to post more pictures. As promised I started out with a picture of Daniel with his amazing mother, Krystal.
Me with my mother and sister. Me with two out of three of my daughters.



Garrett and Krystal went out to eat while I babysat Daniel. I took him out to swing and he really loved it. I even got him to laugh.

We also spent a morning with Kent's side of the family in Vancouver, WA. Below you'll see that Kent always finds a project to do when he's at his mom's house. Russ and Tyler were his lovely assistants.

Here's a shot of the Carson (and a Lee) men--the first time Daniel had met most of his great-uncles.

A four-generation shot with Kent's mom, Kent, Garrett and baby Daniel.


Daniel with his great-grandma Carson.

Daniel with his great-grandma Christensen. (my mom)

Garrett, Krystal and Daniel with the new car they bought in Oregon. They were on their way to drive the seven hours to see Krystal's side of the family.



And now for the visit to Texas--


July 24th was Savannah's blessing day. I had been there since the 7th of July, but Adri and Kent flew in just for the weekend. Kiera was happy to get some extra attention from Adri and Grandpa. Here's Savannah on her blessing day, lying on a quilt made by her great-great grandma.




The girls.


I made the blessing dress while I was in Texas since I didn't have time while I was home. It was intricate and time-consuming, but it turned out well.Kiera liked to sit with me while I was sewing. Hopefully everyone has linked over to Lissa's blog to see the picture of Kiera and me sewing together.


Such a PRECIOUS family!!

Kiera is modeling a dress I made for her mommy. Lissa wore it when she was about five. Kiera is only three but she can fit into it, though it's a little big. I put this picture in so everyone could see how long Savannah's hair was when she was only two weeks old!! We had so much fun being with our kids and grandkids in July; it was hard to come back to Virginia.