Happy New Year!

We wanted to take a second and wish everybody a Happy New Year's Eve and New Year. The New Year is only about an hour away here. We decided just to stay home this year and take it easy, with most of being sick! The year has flown by way too fast as most of them do when you have a good time. We do wish we could be with everybody during the holidays and new year, so know we are thinking about everybody and maybe someday we can all be together. Hope everyone has a great night and great new year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from England! Jordan woke up at 7:00 AM and I tried to get him to go back to sleep but Marsha stopped me! The kids had fun opening their presents and two or three months worth of work was over before we knew it. Amanda and her family came over for dinner and we played a few games, Marsha's new Disney Trivial Pursuit and Phase 10. Marsha won both games!

Jordan and Calvin waiting for Kaylee.

Jordan and Calvin checking out Calvin's new Geo-Trax.

Kaylee is so excited she can't keep her eyes open.

Jordan and Kaylee checking out his new CD Player and CD's.

Kaylee ripping open a present.

Jordan got some new games.

Kaylee's new dollhouse.

Calvin opening some presents.

Jordan and his new Scrabble.

Kaylee has some cars now to play with the boys.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Kids On Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve here in England and the kids are ready for bedtime so Santa can come!


We hope everyone has a good Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We wish we could be there with everybody but we are thinking about you and we love you all.

Happy Birthday Jim!

NORAD Tracking Santa

NORAD is tracking the arrival of Santa Claus again this year and I found this on their website about the history of it all.

"For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command, known as NORAD. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately."

You can track Santa this year at http://www.noradsanta.org.

Holiday Coke Commercial

As far back as I can remember Coke has always put out Holiday commercials and tonight I saw this one for first time and thought it was cool.



Pepsi can't compete with that!!! Sorry James, Jim, Robert I couldn't resist.

Cookie Party Time

COOKIE PARTY!!!!!

Last Saturday night we held our Christmas Cookie Party and invited Amanda and her family over to decorate some cookies. Marsha and I even got to decorate a few, helping out Calvin and Kaylee. Enjoy the pictures.

Oh, Christmas Tree

We picked up our Christmas tree last week. When we were living here last time the Boy Scouts used to sell Christmas trees on the base but we couldn't find them this time so we picked this one up from a guy outside the Base Exchange.

I was impressed with Marsha, she only took about 5 minutes to choose the tree but she didn't have that many to choose from! I think last year or the year before we went to a few differant tree lots before she found one she liked!

Marsha and the kids decorated the tree and did a real good job and look there are already presents under their!

We are also having a cookie party today and invited Amanda's family over. I will post some pictures soon of that.

12 Year Anniversary, Air Force

Twelve years ago today I boarded a plane at Los Angeles International Airport bound for San Antonio, Texas and started my first four years in the Air Force. If you asked me twelve years ago what I would be doing on this date my last answer would have probably been still in the Air Force and in England. But now a wife, three kids, three bases and two differant countries later, here I am and it is looking like it will be a career. Only 8 more years until I retire and start my second career.

POTC: Dead Man's Chest

At the Mildenhall BX and Shoppette the displays for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest have been out for a few days. On the announcement it said the movie would be available to purchase at 0001 on December 5th. So today on my way to work I stopped by and picked up our copy. We missed the opening of the movie in the states and didn't have the opportunity to see it here so I can't wait to get home tonight to watch it. I promised Marsha I would wait until I got home to watch it with here and not at work. I bought the 2-disc version with the DVD of extras, including Dead Men Tell No Tales: Re-Imagineering The Attraction and a special on the premiere held at Disneyland which we watched live on the internet in Las Vegas.

UPDATE (11:30 PM) - Just finished watching the movie, I give it a big two thumbs up. Marsha said she was a bit dissappointed with what happened toward the end with Elizabeth and Jack before the Black Pearl went down, but she liked it. I watched every second of the bonus features at work so I was anxious to watch it when I got home. We put the kids down for bed and then turned it on. I can't wait for third one and we are definately going to the theater to see that one.

Cool Christmas Lights

This was floating around last year on the internet and I think it was even a commercial? Here it is again because I think it's cool!

Physical Therapy Update

On Friday I was finally able to get to 0 degrees flexion on the knee and 125 degrees extension so I no longer have to go every day. I now go 3 times a week for the next 6 weeks or so and then I move my physical therapy to the base gym and do it on my own.

Disney Movie Collection

We added a new Disney movie to our collection, Robin Hood: Most Wanted Edition was released this week. For some reason we didn't buy the DVD when it was released in 2000 so we had to buy it this time. From what I have read there isn't too much differance between the 2000 release and 2006 release.
Robin Hood was originally released on November 8, 1973 and is the 21st animated feature in the Disney animated feature series. It was also the first feature to begin production after the death of Walt Disney on December 15, 1966.


Original Robin Hood Poster

Movin' On Up, Technical Sergeant

On June 14, 2006, a few hours before I left Kirtland Air Force Base heading out to Las Vegas, NV to take some leave before moving back to England I got a phone call from my boss. He told me I had to meet with our Captain and the Commander before I left the base. I was anxious to get on the road and the last thing I wanted to do was make an extra stop and get held up for any reason. To my surprise they just wanted to see me to congratulate me on my promotion to Technical Sergeant (TSgt). My line number was 2455 which means that 2,454 people get to put it on before me, not too bad I guess. When the promotion numbers were released for the month of November they stopped at 2443, which means I missed it for that month by 12, horrible! So on December 1st, I get to sew it on. My goal is to make Master Sergeant the first time before leaving RAF Lakenheath to head my next assignment, I will need to study a little more this time maybe?