Introducing Stephanie Glen-Gallegos

From over 3000 miles away I managed to pirate some pictures from my brothers wedding. That's right, Otto got married! But this post is to welcome my new sister-in-law to the family. Welcome Stephanie!

Serious business.


I love the cake guys...


I picked this picture because Stephanie was looking at the camera and because Jet was in the background. I don't know...it made me smile.


Cake!


The happy couple.


Congratulations Otto and Stephanie!

Brad in Iraq

Brad Stoller is a dear friend of ours, he and his mother introduced me and Brian. He and Brian were in the same Guard Unit in Salem, Oregon. When Brad comes to Ft. Rucker for training it's like having a college kid return home. We have him over, feed him, he does laundry, the boys play video games, and so on. We love Brad.

Here are a few pictures he sent us from Iraq.

This is Brad.


This makes the temperature in Alabama seem mild. You may not be able to read it...."The temp picture was taken about 5 minutes after the picture of me. I've seen the temperature gauges in the aircraft get to 48 C." Yes he said 48 C...that's 118.4 degrees Fahrenheit folks.


The flight line.


"The Duststorm picture was taken from the same spot as the "normal day flight line" and yes the stadium lights are on. That was actually not the worst it has been since I got here. There was one night where you could only see about 2 street lights. It is similar to being in a very dense fog."


"We have been busy with everything except flying, which is a good thing. We have one building (the size of a double wide trailer) that is our coffee shop. It has a projector so we can watch movies and quite a few board games. The people that work behind the counter volunteer and the drinks are by donation. Several of the guys have become very good with make smoothes. I'm building a deck just outside for people to hang out and relax on."


Be safe Brad. See you soon.

Now that's hot!

I never get tired of watching Abigail draw, paint, pastel or even color. She amazes me.

Here she goes.


This is the face she makes when I take too many pictures of her when she's drawing.


The outline.


Pastels are her thing...


Look at her go


Hot, hot, hot!


And it looks great on the kitchen wall!

I'm on my waaaayyyyyy!

I sure am going to miss her calling that out as she goes running through the house following the faint calls from a four year old begging her to build her a tent....again. Mary has only been here for a few weeks, helping out with the kids during summer vacation, but it feels like so much longer. We sure have had a blast with her!

We visited the Ft. Rucker Aviation Museum.

Inside of a Chinook ch-47


I love EG's hands (Mary was holding her up)


Mary pretending to fly


Mary really flying. Mr. Brian took her up one morning. She even took the controls...for a minute!


Games with Abigail


She taught EG the art of dancing while wearing an ipod.


She smiled a lot.


She went to play groups with us every Tuesday. The kids all loved "Miss Mary". So when the time came to enjoy the last dinner Mary would share with us this visit she asked if we could invite the whole gang...so of course we did.

Look at her wrangle them.


OK everyone...say cheeeeese


She's definitely one of a kind


Mary you are a beautiful girl, inside and out. Thank you for the time you spent with us this summer. We are all looking forward to seeing you again in November.

Wordless Wednesday (I know it's Tuesday)

Rain Dancing

It's been a while since we've had a good rain. On the drive home from Miss Megan and Layla's house there were smiles when the rain drops started hitting the windshield.

And when we got home there was....

Dancing!


and more dancing!


OC update.

She came to us with the name OC, short for "outside cat". She's been with us for a few weeks now and we can't get her to go outside for anything! So we've decided OC now stands for "our cat".

She seems to be pretty happy here.


Tearing up rugs is hard work!


On a completely unrelated note...this "little" bugger took up residence in the den this afternoon...but only for as long as it took me and Megan to freak out, measure, take pictures, and toss him back into the great outdoors.

ick

Tamale Heaven

One of the things I miss most about Portland is cooking with my baby sister Jet. She and Mr. Chris would come over and spend the entire day putting together a crazy wonderful meal. Well Jet and I would cook while Mr. Chris would play video games with Abigail. (EG was too young to help) At the end of the day we would stuff ourselves with the feast we had created. Well today, thanks to "the other Melissa", I got a tiny taste of Portland.

On the menu....


She and her youngins came over around 1:00. The kids scattered and she and I got to work.

Gathered some of our ingredients.


Got the husks soaking.


What would tamales be without...


Let's get this party started.


Add some fresh corn.


Sometimes this is the only way.


Then the real work began.


We did this for a while.


It was so worth it.


Not so long that I wasn't able to talk her into this.


Her forte not mine ;0)


Her tortillas were the hit of the meal.


Add some avocado, rice and beans and let the feast begin!




Today was so much fun. A full house and a wonderful meal...I couldn't have asked for more. Thank you Melissa!

Mark Curtis Hill, may you rest in peace

Mark Curtis Hill, 21, passed away Saturday at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

Graveside services will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Princeton.

He is survived by his mother, Janet Tyndall May and husband, Harry, of Wilson; his father, Hubert Curtis Hill and wife, Linda, of Bunn; three sisters, Donna Bonnell and husband, Patrick, of Pikeville, Ginger Dail and husband, Jr., of Goldsboro and Emily Hill of Goldsboro; his grandmother, Nettie May of Roanoke Rapids; aunts, Janice Jones and husband, Johnny, of Goldsboro, Faye Keeling of Portland, Or., Cathy Bizzell and husband, Jimmy, of Goldsboro, and Sandy Faircloth and husband, Ricky, of Mount Olive; and five nieces and nephews, Kristen, Peyton and Jana Bonnell and Morgan and Charlee Dail.

The family will receive friends tonight from 6 to 8 at Shackleford-Howell Funeral Home in Fremont.

Although flowers are welcome, memorial contributions in memory of Mark may be directed to the American Cancer Society, 930 B Wellness Drive, Greenville, NC 27834.

The family is being served by Shackleford-Howell Funeral Home, 102 N. Pine St. in Fremont, where condolences may be posted at www.shacklefordhowell.com.