T-Ball

Here are some pictures from two different games Kali had. The first pictures her Bubba was here to watch. She is very aggressive this year and as a lefty, hits much better right handed. She hits it out to the outfield every time and they won't let her run any extra bases. She has tried to hit it left handed, but can't slam it quite as far. You can see by the pictures, she gets down and ready. Hmmm, wonder if she'll be a softball player or golfer?

Kenneth

I drove with Kenneth to Camp Pendleton on May 16th. We didn't leave until around 9:30 PM and drove all night. Kenneth had to be checked in by 11:50 Sunday evening. I stayed near the airport that evening and took a 6:00 AM flight out Monday morning. You know, I've wrote about this before....all the people who keep telling me it gets easier to say good-bye. All I have to say is they are full of shit! Anyway, Kenneth has been assigned to the MWSS-372, which in non-Marine terms is the Marine Wing Support #372. I do believe I have that main page on my blog if you want to check it out.

Kali and her Bubba at the park

Before Kenneth left for CP he and Kali went to the park to play. I met them there and took some pictures. It was filled with smiles, laughter and tears. You can tell towards the end....just look at Kali's face, it says it all!

Visiting Grandma

Before Kenneth left we decided to drive up to McCall and see grandma, she hasn't seen Kenneth the last two times he's been home. For those of you who live up there and wonder why we were up there but didn't come see you, it was during the week, people were at work/school. It was a quick trip and here's a few pictures.

ANNOUNCEMENT...........

This is the big announcement........Kenneth proposed to Cori while he was home, actually on Mothers Day. The date was going to be June 2010, but I believe it's been changed to July 2010.

All of my kids........

Here's all my kids while we were in Oklahoma City on May 2, 2009

Pictures that Kenneth has taken

Here are some pictures that Kenneth had taken during his MOS training. I edited these for him. Keep your eye out, i'll post more.

Adventures in Tornado Alley........

Well, this should be before the Oklahoma post below, since it happened after we left graduation in Texas and headed to Oklahoma. However, it's going here and it's in it's own little post. I really wish I had pictures to show, but I wasn't about to get my ass zapped or thrown across the county. However, I will start by saying that we did attempt to get a picture of some beautiful lightening........had we known what we would be driving into, not sure if I would have taken that time or maybe we should have taken more time....Hmmmmm! Here's the story:

So we leave those nice blue sunny skies where we stopped and photographed the windmills. We pull over at a gas station so everyone can take a potty break. I'm the last one in and out. When I come out I noticed that a storm was brewing and everyone was loaded in the Suburban, well, everyone but Sherrie. She's attempting to take a lightening picture with her cell phone. Yep, impossible! I get my camera out to try and get some. Little buggers wouldn't cooperate. I'd focus on one side of the sky, they'd show up just out of my site on one side or the other. I'd move my camera to that direction and yes, it'd still be out of my viewing range. The kids are telling us to stop and get in so we can head down that road. The road that will be leading us to a very dark sky.....VERY DARK.......so, Sherrie and I get in and I get on the road and yep, right in front of us the most beautiful lightening that branches out in three different directions. Of course we start laughing. It wouldn't be long before we weren't doing that anymore. It started to rain.....very hard, then that rain soon turned into hail........and it started hailing freaking hard.......along with the wind picking up and yes it's very dark. We all start to remember that Kenneth's sea bags, which hold all uniforms, civilian clothes, expensive boots, hats, etc are strapped to the top. Not to mention a bag was put on the top that had his i-pod home system, school books and his orders......YES, HIS OFFICIAL ORDERS, MEDICAL RECORDS THAT ARE SEALED AND DENTAL RECORDS THAT ARE SEALED! We are at that time trying to figure out if we should turn around or just forge ahead. Kali is sitting next to Kenneth and with his quick thinking he told her to put on her earphones and plug in a movie. She asked if he would hold her hand and she fell asleep. It's a good thing, because we decided to forge ahead. It is hailing and blowing so bad you cannot see in front of you. I slow down and see a vehicle ahead, yes, there weren't many on that stretch of road.....should'a been a clue! I slow down, to 5 mph, yes that's how fast they were going. I stay with them and notice a car on the side of the road. It said, "Storm Watchers", and I believe there were two people standing outside in that hail, with gadgets in hand, looking across that road we were driving on. The car goes silent! I slam down on the gas and get around that car! I'm not kidding you when I say I drove 65-75 mph in that storm! We were looking for the next town as well as ditches, overpasses, etc. just in case. We never saw any of those.......barely even a house along the way. Down the road a ways, we see another car along the road, you guess it.....more storm watchers! Kayla is in the very back seat and I hear this, "Just in case........I love all of you!" We all say it back! Sherrie makes a call to her parents to have them check the weather channel. Sure enough, there are tornado warnings everywhere we had been. She said there was softball sized hail in Abilene, Texas.......we had just left there. So, we ended up driving all the way to Oklahoma City that night, not ever knowing how close we were to a tornado and it's probably a good thing we never found out. I have been scared of them since I was a little girl and let me tell you, i'm still scared of them as a big girl!

Kenneth's sea bags were dumped out in the motel and only a few things were soaked....however the bag that held his important things wasn't so lucky. His home system had water dripping off of it....it still works! His two sealed envelopes, well, they were still sealed and wet, not sure if anything has been said about those. His orders were blown by the blow dryer and placed on the dash to dry..........

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum- May 2, 2009

Let me first just say to you, if you ever get the chance to go visit this beautiful Memorial/Museum, please do it! It is breathtaking. The museum takes you through a step by step process from the beginning to end and everything in between. There is a room where you hear an actual meeting being conducted when the bombing occurs, then you hear chaos. You get to see rooms that have had the contents after the bombing and are placed just as they were found, evidence, videos, news footage, the list goes on. We actually were pressed for time and let me tell you, we weren't a bit happy! We had to be out of the building at a certain time so Bill Clinton could have the building to himself, with caterers, etc. Man, what a bad day to go! We wondered why there were a lot of news stations showing up, then we saw his security..........BARF! Enjoy the pictures:)

The entrance

"The Fence"

"Reflecting Pool"
The water is sitting on what was once the street where the bomber parked the vehicle used
Part of the original building

Rescuers wrote on this wall which was a building next to bombing

Children from all over sent these, the wall was huge

Looking down on the "Field of Empty Chairs"

This is my favorite picture: Josh "reflecting" near the "Fild of Empty Chairs"......actually I think he was trying to be mad. HAHAHAH, don't think it worked:)

Our best attempt at a skipping coin

Damage on a nearby building

More actual damage

Beautiful mossy trees outside the Memorial

This "Weeping Jesus" sits with his back towards the entrace, across the street at a church

One Last Photo of Texas......

I'm leaving you with one last photo I took in Texas. We stopped after graduation at what I call the "Windmill Farm".....they were everywhere! You can't imagine how large they are, which is why i'm glad there is a truck in this photo as well. The noise they make is this really soft whooshing sound. It's very peaceful.........which we should have enjoyed more, because the next story I tell is far from peaceful! More from our trip coming........I'm off to a t-ball game!

Crash Rescue/Firefighting Graduation Part Two:

Here we are at graduation ceremonies.....Kenneth is ready for it to start so he can get the heck out of there, lol! It was a very nice ceremony. They showed a video the boys put together of the pictures they took during their stay. They then introduce each of them and they go through the line and shake the commanders hands. A badge is given to them and once everyone has gone through they bring them up front and let the family members that are there come up and pin them. Kenneth's friend Flores didn't have anyone there so Kayla pinned him. Other dignitaries will go and pin the others with no family members. Now, the Marines have to give theirs back.....they get NOTHING, yes....they only get their certificate which I think is a crock, but what do I know anyway?

Note how many Marines there are graduating vs the Air Force.....there were only 6 or so Air Force, the rest were Marines

This is where he's getting the badge he has to give back.

Kenneth's roommate on the left.....CREEPY GUY....Kenneth had to put him in his place a few times. Sounds like most everyone didn't like him! Flores is to the right. He is one of Kenneth's best friends.