Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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45AS Kids Christmas Party

Santa flew in from the North Pole on the C-21 today and brought presents to the kids of the 45AS. We sure will miss having Santa make a special trip for us, I don't think our next assignment will be so Santa friendly.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I don't think I could've asked for a better birthday morning, had Jason not been TDY it would've been perfect! Ethan and Rachel "snuck" downstairs to decorate and hide my presents. While I layed in bed waiting for them to tell me they were ready I could here them talking/planning and testing out the noise makers to make sure they worked. I pretended to come down the stairs like I was barely awake so they could surprise me. It was so funny and sweet to see how excited they were. Rewind a few hours to the middle of the night and Ethan came to sleep in my bed to make sure I didn't go downstairs before he and Rachel had time to decorate. He woke up every hour making sure I was still asleep. He later told me that he was so tired from not getting enough sleep because the excitement of surprising me was too much. I got the kids off to school and went to CrossFit, and the group their treated me to breakfast at a local diner. Our schedule has been so busy. Jason made it back from his TDY and we spent the evening at home for my birthday. Jason made dinner and Rachel made my cake. CHEERS TO 33!

Christmas Tree is finally up!

We normally put our decorations up the day after Thanksgiving but since we were gone, decorations were delayed this year. The tree is Jason and Rachel's area of expertise. Me and Ethan do the lights and all the other decorations inside the house. Rachel really loves putting the tree up with her daddy and I think it will become a new Christmas tradition.

Oahu Scrapbook from the Larrabees!

A free digital scrapbooking design by Smilebox

Maaahooolllaaaaaaa! PA-PA-PAYA!

Thanksgiving in Oahu!

Jason and I sent the kids to TX to stay with grandparents while we surfed it up in Oahu. I think we covered everything there was to do on Oahu: Pearl Harbor, Pacific Air Museum, North Shore, Waikiki Aquarium, Hanauma Bay snorkeling, Kaneohe Bay, Wamei Valley Botanical Gardens, Dinner cruise, Dole Plantation, Polynesian Culture Center,  full moon at Bellows, and countless attempts at surfing, otherwise translated into trying to drown myself.

Happy Halloween!

I have no pictures to post for Halloween this year, I'm so upset! My camera was on the wrong setting and I didn't realize it until I went to download the pictures. Rachel dressed up as Belle and Ethan was Dracula. We trick or treated around the base and passed out plenty of candy after we were finished trick or treating.

Pumpkin Carving

Our neighbors hosted a wonderful pumpkin carving party. Ethan and Rachel really got into carving their pumpkins this year. They even cleaned out all the seeds, something I just can't do, it grosses me out.

CHEER TIME!

Rachel had a blast today at a cheer camp hosted by the Biloxi High School cheerleaders.  She learned a few chants and a cute little dance routine.  She worked really hard at school to earn good behavior all week and got to pick her reward.  She has been wanting a pair of twinkle toes for a long time and she finally got them, perfect timing.  She twinkled her little toes off today at cheer camp! GO TWINKLE TOES!

Ethan's Baptism

Ethan decided it was time to make the next step in his salvation!  He asked Ms. Ashley to baptize him, because Mrs. Jessica has a baby in her tummy and she might not be too comfortable bending down.  The weather was perfect and Ethan waited patiently for his name to be called, he was the last one on the list. Satan beware, Ethan's a deep thinker and it might be in your best interest to think twice before messing with him :-)
We are so proud and blessed!

Jiu Jitsu Yellow Belt Test

Ethan and Rachel have been practicing Jiu Jitsu and loving it.  They've worked really hard over the past few months and this morning their hard work payed off.  They passed their test and both advanced to yellow belts.  They are so excited!

The sunflower bandit is back...

The kids have been waiting patiently for the sunflowers to bloom.  We all think they are so pretty, and the kids wanted to eat the seeds once the flowers matured.  Well our little squirrel friend couldn't leave the flowers alone.  He's enjoying a sunflower bloom in this photo, and soon after he chewed down the big one right by the bird house.  The kids were so upset when they noticed, Ethan even asked if we could get squirrel poison...ouch!

Ethan's Solar System

Ethan's second grade class had to make solar systems for their science project.  Ethan was very pleased with the finished project.  Science is definitely his favorite subject!

Keesler AFB Mini Triathlon

The 45th AS was represented well at the base triathlon today.  Jill, Jason, and Dave took second place in the relay division.  Great Job!

CrossFit Memorial WOD

We did a Memorial workout for 3 Special Forces soldiers killed in Afghanistan last year:
Capt. Ronald G. Luce Jr.
Sgt. 1st Class Severin W. Summers III
Sgt. 1st Class Alejandro Granado
All died Aug. 3, 2009, from wounds suffered by a roadside bomb in Qole Gerdsar, Afghanistan.
The soldiers were assigned to 2nd Battalion 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), which is headquartered in Jackson, MS.

1st & 2nd Grade

Ethan and Rachel started school today at Jeff Davis Elementary. We rode bikes to school, even though it was so humid and hot. The school is less than a mile from our door so the bike ride wasn't too bad. Rachel's teacher is Mrs. Fontenelle and Ethan's teacher is Mrs. Bialias. The second photo is the first day Ethan started preschool in Grand Forks, it's hard to believe that was 3 years ago. They are growing up way too fast!