08-08-08

Last week I took the kids to the Olympic Training Center here in Colorado Springs. We have never been there before and the timing was perfect, just a week before the Opening Ceremony in Bejing (which is tonight).

I was completely fascinated by the facility and gained so much more respect for the games and the athletes. We got to tour the entire facility, seeing where the athletes eat, sleep and train 5-6 days a week. We even got to see some of the wrestlers, swimmers, syncronized swimmiers, shooters and trampolinest (sp?) who will be at the Olympics this year.
At the facility, they had life size statues, lines to show distances of courts and fields, and the exact heights and widths of beams, goals and baskets. Here were some of our favorites

Equestrian

Judo


Basketball

Soccer

Field Hockey



Baseball

Shooting

Skating and Skeleton

Bobsled

I tried so hard to get Mason to cooperate, it just wasn't working. I didn't tell the kids until after the picture that the top podium was for the Gold Medalist. I didn't want to deal with the fighting over that one!

When I was little, the same age as Taylor, I used to pretend I was Mary Lou Retton. Juli, Heidi and I would spend our summers pretending we were gymnast in the Olympics, we'd even pretend we were on the podium accepting our gold medals. Remember that girls? Taylor also loves gymnastics so I had to get her with the balance beam and then in the Hall of Fame with Mary Lou's picture



As we were walking out the torch that was carried in the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics was on display. I had to get my picture with it because when I was 6 yrs old, I got to hold the torch with a man who was running with it. The picture is somewhere at my parent's house in an Olympic frame. I also was able to go to some of the events with my family that year, I would love to be able to do that again someday.

And proof that Mason was there with us

There are 5 Mascots for the Olympics. Each one represents each of the Olympic rings and together convey the message "One World, One Dream." These 2 are Nini and Huanhuan.

They even light the flame at the Olympic Training Center the same time the flame will be lit during the opening ceremony and then put the flame out during the Closing Ceremony.

We are really excited for the Olympics this year! Tomorrow night we'll be watching the Opening Ceremony with our friends. We'll be in our new Beijing Olympic shirts, and as requested by the kids ......... eating Chinese food and a fruit pizza shaped like an American flag. Bring home the Gold USA!

Happy Anniversary

9 years ago today I made the most important decision in my life! I'll never forget coming home after my first date with Steve and telling my roommates that I was going to marry him. They thought I was CRAZY. 8 mos later, we were married.

I never thought in a million years that someday I would be without him and alone with 3 kids, trying to make life as normal, for us and them, as I possibly could.

9 years ago I never thought he would be some place like Iraq during a time of war and uncertainty.

I never thought that I would not be with him on an anniversary, let alone just hoping I can at least hear his voice on our special day.

9 years ago there were a lot of things I never could have imagined. But today I love him more than I ever thought I could. This deployment has been the most difficult time in my life, yet it has been one of the greatest times in our marriage. If the next 9 years are anything like the first 9 years, life is only going to get better!!!

Happy Anniversary Steve, I LOVE YOU!

4th of July in Iraq

For the 4th of July, the US Army put on a sports day competition. Our NATO contingent of around 60 at latest count entered a team in every event (ping pong, tug of war, basketball, soccer, volleyball, spades, bench press, 5k run, etc.). It was a good time and we won easily – the joke is that this was NATO’s first undisputed victory anywhere!
Here’s a picture of our security contactor from Nepal (no one over 5’8”) put together a volleyball team and killed everyone – they were very proud. They play volleyball in our compound until 11PM every night – so they were well prepared.


Here are 2 pictures of our tug of war team, composed of folks from Hungary, Britain and Poland. We should have just told our Hungarians to do the team by themselves. The guys they have here are a tough lot. Evidently, tug of war is nearly a national sport in England. Our lone Brit tried to talk strategy, but his accent was so strong, I gave up! We took 2nd, which isn’t too bad. We certainly weren't going to win on style points.
We have 12 USAF officers – captain and up working here training cadets. We're from all over (Oklahoma St Univ, Alabama, Colorado, Kent St, Germany, Hawaii, and more). Here is a picture of us.

Liz is one of my dearest friends. We met while in high school, although we didn't go to the same school. Our boyfriends (at the time) were best friends. We always say that the reason for going out with them was so we could meet each other! Fast forward 14 years!

She and her family arrived last night. That includes her totally cool hubby Louis, who my kids think is the greatest because he does these crazy twisty flips on the trampoline and lets them call him Uncle Iris (don't ask), and their 4 ADORABLE kiddos ages 5, 4, 2 and 2 mos! Today we decided to take in a little bit of Denver, kid style of course.

We went to the Denver Aquarium

Where the kids acted like the animal in the background
(but in a good, at least they were somewhat obedient, kind of way)

Afterwards, we were starving and knew the only yummy sit-down-restaurant to eat at, with a bunch of crazy kids, would have to be

The music was louder than the kids, hard to believe........ it was great!
The adults got to talk, sing and eat a hot meal
The kids even requested that us adults stop singing, and our reply
"What did you say?"
The best rock-out song of the night had to have been... Queen's - Bohemian Rhapsody

We even encouraged our 2 yr olds to kiss
And yes that is an orange in his mouth and she has one too!

And our girls entertained us with their dance moves

After rock-in out at dinner, we walked around the downtown area.
One man said to us "You guys have a lot of kids." I said "Yeah, he's the dad and we're his wives. Between the 2 of us we have 7 kids." The man just stared at us. He finally could speak again after I told him I was kidding. Poor guy

We stopped and listened to a few of the entertainers on the street and then told the kids they could make some money by putting out their "hard rock" cups and dancing.
We were kidding but the girls thought it was the coolest idea ever...... dancing for money....who would have ever thought of such a great idea???
We encouraged that too (for the sake of a good laugh and picture)
So they did and as you can see, they even made the man in the background smile.

After a few pictures, we quickly bribed them to stop with the promise of a quarter each when we got home.
It was a great day and put it this way, we'll all be sleeping well tonight.

Preston on the Farm

Preston had a great time with Papa and Grandma on the farm and certainly enjoyed being the center of attention. If he had any fear of horses upon arrival, it’s gone now. He started off riding Goddess -- she’s about 14 years old - a great kid horse and graduated to Scotty (Grandpa’s roping horse) with much more “get up and go.”

Being on a farm also introduced Preston to some unexpected learning opportunities. Dad was walking a horse out of the barn and the horse’s “member” was waving in the wind. Preston noticed and said, “Gee, his penis is big – even bigger than my Dad’s!!!” I did not coordinate this post with Jo! But if I get in trouble – at least I can’t be sent to Iraq! This was too priceless not to post.

The picture above is a classic if anyone knows my Dad. He is a Jack-of-all-trades never sitting still. He’s had this Honda motorcycle is for nearly 35 years and now you can see it has morph’d into a more advanced species – but still alive. I showed the guys here in Iraq with me and one asked if he mowed grass with it too. Give Dad a few months and he’ll be using it to mow hay. I believe the platform on which Preston is sitting, used to be a grain/hay cart that he framed with angle iron and welded to the motorcycle frame. Dad cut apart an my old bicycle and bolted the seat/frame to the cart -- that’s what Preston is sitting on. Preston’s backrest is from another motorcycle. The 3rd wheel is the front forks and wheel of said euthanized bike. All topped off with some stylish racing red paint. The pad on top of the gas tank is a wrap/pad for a horse’s leg - this is obviously serves as a 3rd seat -- # of seats must match the #of wheels. Thus, all things are a compound in one – or in this case, just compound.

This is my favorite picture and for me personally, is one for the ages -- Papa and Preston’s boots (with spurs of course) . I’m grateful Preston got to experience some of how I grew up. Simply, we worked hard, we played hard, and we loved each other.