Audrey's Dance Recital

Audrey's dance recital was on June 26th. She loved having her hair done, make-up done and putting her costume on, but she did not like getting attention for looking absolutely adorable. 

Does that sound familiar Doug?

The theme for their performance was "Under The Sea" and her costume was a clown fish.

 Check out that pose! 

Their performance was the most difficult of all the 4-5 Combo classes.

I was very impressed with her teacher throughout the year. She did such a great job teaching the girls. 

I'm not sure how much Audrey enjoyed performing, but I know that she loves to dance! 

June Soccer Camps

June was a crazy month for soccer camps. Bell Clair Soccer League is an outstanding league ran by Dave Fernandez and he held three soccer camps in the evenings broken up by age groups. So, Audrey was in the first camp, Ethan was in the second camp and Jacob was in the third camp. It was a huge commitment on our part to spend every evening, three week in a row at their soccer camps, but we felt it was worth it and the kids had a great time!

 

Let's Go Out to the Ballpark

The kids played on the Scott Air Force Base league this year. The coaches were great and they had a lot of fun playing. We saw a huge improvement with Jacob and Ethan. It was their second year playing. Jacob has also caught the baseball itch. He asked if he could go to a baseball camp now that the season is over. This year was Audrey's first year and she did quite well. She also really enjoyed using her pink hat and bat. 

Happy 40th Doug!

Dad's Visit

Dad came out to visit us for the weekend. He was able to see the kids play baseball and we took him over to Doug's new office. Unfortunately, it was so hot and steamy at the kids' games that we were all worn out by the time we got home. Maybe next time we can take him to see the arch--especially since he worked for the company that built it when we lived in San Jose in the 70's. 

It was a great weekend and we were so glad he was able to come out to see us.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

How close have you been to a giraffe? 

 Feeding the giraffes was the coolest part of our day. However, Ethan and I were more interested in looking rather than feeding or touching them. The rest of the family was more than happy to get up close.

For some reason this is the only picture we have with Mike and Tracey's kids. Their daughters are Brooke, who is on the left, and Lindsey, who is next to Ethan. The girl on the right was a friend of Brooke's.

 I'm still wearing a boot. My foot was bothering me while walking around so I sat down whenever I could.

 Riding the chair lift was a lot of fun. It was a great view of the city.

Rockies play the Cardinals

Doug, Mike and the boys drove up to Denver on Friday night to watch the Colorado Rockies play the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won which made the boys happy. They thought it was pretty cool seeing them play in Denver!

Trip to Colorado Springs

We had a last minute opportunity to go to Colorado Springs over Memorial Day weekend. However, it required me to drive 14 hours by myself with the kids, while Doug flew on a C-21. I drove through a storm that produced a tornado in Missouri and there was continuous rain and wind the first day. It really wasn't bad at all. I've gotten use to driving long distances by myself through storms and with kids. 

We stayed with Tracey and Mike Manor while we were there. For those of you who don't know, they were the ones who set us up on our blind date 16 years ago. 

 We couldn't go to Colorado Springs without visiting the Air Force Academy. The picture above has the chapel in the background. 

The kids were trying to avoid the wind by ducking below the guardrail. It was very cold and windy that day.

 In the chapel they have different areas of worship. Their main areas are Catholic and Protestant. The picture below is of the Catholic sanctuary. There was a wedding taking place in the Protestant sanctuary so we weren't able to go in there.

AWANA

We had a great year in AWANA this year. It was Audrey's last year as a Cubbie, Ethan's first year as a Sparkie and Jacob's last year as a Sparkie. They all did a phenomenal job memorizing scripture verses. Ethan finished his book and extra credit book by February, and Jacob finished his book and extra credit book by April. The boys memorized an amazing amount of scripture verses and it was so exciting to see them soak it up and learn them as well as they did.

Ethan was brought to the front during the rewards ceremony so the teacher could explain all of the stuff the kids could earn during their first year as a Sparkie.  

The  Four Amigos 

Ethan, Alex, Gracie and Shelby 

                            

 Look at all that stuff on Jacob's vest!

Over the last three years he earned everything he could possibly earn as a Sparkie. People were in awe of all the stuff on his vest. There were no other kids in Sparks that had earned all the patches, wings and jewels he had earned. We are very proud his hard work. It was a huge accomplishment. 

 Top: Shelby, Gracie and Audrey

Bottom: Audrey, Jacob, Ethan and Alex

Doug's Change of Command

 Doug's Change of Command for the

906th ARS was on May 10, 2011

It was a very proud day for those of us who have supported Doug throughout his career. 

We all know how much he deserved this honor and we know he will exceed everyones expectations as a commander in the United States Air Force.

After the ceremony the kids and I stood next to Doug in the receiving line to meet all the people who attended. The kids did an excellent job and had a lot of fun shaking everyones hand.

 Family that was able to attend from left to right:

Faith, Earl, Scott, Vivian, us, Jeanne, Dan, Elena, Kay

Audrey was a snuggle-puss the whole week. She loved giving everyone hugs and sitting on their lap.

These two pictures of Audrey with her aunts Elena and Jeanne are absolutely precious.