Our New Puppy!

The boys finally wore me down and we brought home a new puppy last night. He is a little black schnoodle (schnauzer and poodle). We think he is about 18 weeks old. We adopted him from a puppy mill rescue organization here in Colorado Springs. If you ever want a new pet, check out http://www.petfinder.com/. He has been a little nervous here but did well last night with us. He wants to be with us all the time but has to stay in his crate a lot until he is finished potty training. He is doing very well with that. We named him "Bodie". After much research I found out that in 1950 the 82nd Airborne had a parachuting mascot dog named SGT Bodie. Since Tim used to be with the 82nd we thought it was a neat name. Here are photos of her. http://home.sc.rr.com/nol/Winds%20of%20War_files/Sgt.jpg. The boys are absolutely so happy to have Bodie join our family.

Boy Scout Camping Colorado Style

Trenton and Tim went on their first Boy Scout campout here in CO. They went to 11-mile Canyon on the Platte River home of some of the best fly-fishing. It was SO chillly and so wet that weekend but here in CO they camp in any conditions! They had a great time of course. Tim is going to have to invest in some colder weather gear than what we have now.

The World's Most Dangerous Summer Band

Right after we moved here we signed up Trenton for the "World's Most Dangerous Summer Band". It is a summer band run by the now former band leader at his school. This year there were about 75 students in grades 6-12 and some college students came back to participate too. They had 2 weeks of rehearsals and then 4 performances in the community. They performed a fun repertoire of movie theme songs and jazz selections. Some of those kids are so talented! Trenton had a great time and really improved his trumpet skills. In the second photo maybe you can pick Trenton out dead center. (Click on photo)

BROTHERS

Here is a good photo of Trenton and Drew on their "new to us" love seat in the basement where they play video games. I've been making good use of craigslist.org.

July 4, 2008

We missed our families' July 4 reunions this year so we took these photos so everyone could see us and where we live. These were taken in the field across the street from our house and of course that is Pike's Peak in the background.

20 YEARS! WOW, that's a long time!

On June 10 Tim celebrated 20 years of Active Duty in the US Army! Now he works for half his pay! :) The boys and I baked and decorated a cake as a surprise.

Our move

On May 23rd, we drove away from Ft. Meade headed to Colorado Springs. We took 5 days to get here. We stopped in Wheeling, WV; Terre Haute, IN; Ft. Leavenworth, KS; and Hays, KS. We enjoyed getting to tour Ft. Leavenworth and see the historic buildings and the start of the Oregon and Sante Fe Trails where you can still see the huge rut left in the hill by thousands of wagons after crossing the Missouri River. Hays, KS was a very interesting place too. Many a outlaw or rough rider went through that area in the 1800's, Buffalo Bill Cody being one of the famous ones. We saw Boot Hill where outlaws were buried as they died "in their boots". There was also a wonderful restaurant, Gella's Diner and Brewing Company, that we'd love to visit again. If you ever get to go to Hays, it's a neat place. The back of Tim's truck was my view all 1600 miles!
Then we arrived in Colorado Springs and here we are. Trenton celebrated his 11th birthday in the hotel.

ORIOLES game!!!

We finally made it out to an Orioles game on May 15. They were playing the Red Sox and I think there were more Red Sox fans there than O's fans. The O's were not doing so great at first and were behind 3-2 but.........in the seventh inning we loaded the bases and then Jay Payton hit a grand slam! It was AWESOME. I was so hoarse after that game. We got there early for the Red Sox batting practice and Trenton got a ball. Drew loved doing the "CHARGE!!!!!"

Band Concerts

Trenton is still doing great things with his trumpet. He was invited to play in a composite band of students from elementary schools in the Ft. Meade area. They spent a whole day rehearsing at the high school and then put on a concert. His school of course had a spring concert too. Here he is during warm-ups.

Tim's Change of Command

Tim gave up command of the 392nd Signal Battalion on May 4, 2008 at Fort Meade, MD. A little sadness but much relief!

Boy Scout camping

Trenton is now a Boy Scout and went on a camping trip to Antietam National Battlefield in April.

Something I skipped--Our first ski trip

I forgot to add this back in January but here are photos from our first attempt at snow skiing. We went to a place in Pennsylvania with our Chapel. It was a lot of fun. Trenton and I did not fall. Drew and Tim had a little more trouble at first but quickly caught on. Drew went down without poles.