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Friday, March 28, 2008

#25!!!!!!

We are #25 on the waiting list. I know that doesn't mean exactly 25. There are other factors, but we are moving up!!!! YEAH! I think we are going to go out and celebrate being #25!

Monday, March 24, 2008

He is Risen!

We had a busy Easter. We attended the sunrise service at 6:30, returned home for a quick nap, and then attended Dave's contemporary service. He did a great job. I'm married to the best preacher around :) Here he is with the kiddos and the children's moment.
Here we are as the Leonard Family....we are only missing a little guy with a cute little blue shirt and suit. After church we walked over to the O-Club and had a Sunday brunch. The Easter bunny greeted us at the door.
I snuck a picture in of McKenzie and the bunny.....he kind of cornered her for me :) Thanks Easter Bunny!
Dave found the "hard to find" Easter Eggs (It even said it on the package) I hid this one really good! Dave accused me of making it too difficult.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Egg Hunt and more


Miranda before her Easter Egg Hunt. She came away with only 4 eggs, but still lots of fun.
McKenzie before her last Easter Egg Hunt. She won't be able to do this next year. She'll be 12 and in Jr. High. Dave and I have trouble believing it is true! She is a wonderful girl and blossoming so well into a wonderful young lady.
Our favorite little neighbors, C & K. They were over while their mom and dad went to the ER to be checked after a minor car accident. This is the "before photo". Before Miss Val told him that he couldn't ride his car anymore because he took it into the road!
Miranda is trying out Nathan's tire horse. One of our must have's before we move.
Colton taking a try on the horse.
Notice Miranda is parking the truck....he wasn't very happy with me. But ok with Mr. Dave letting him ride the horse.

Baby Bedding!

I purchased the baby's bedding today. It wasn't great timing for the budget, but it was on clearance and the last one (so I thought.) I stopped in at Baby Depot to see if it was on sale. I noticed it was online. When I arrived, I couldn't find it in the usual spot. I almost began to panic and reminded myself that I could purchase it online.....and pay shipping. I looked a little further and found the display set in a bag and marked down. I quickly grabbed it. I then asked the sales lady if there was more to the set available. She pointed me to a basket of clearance. I picked up the valances, wall hangings, blanket and diaper stacker. Dave pointed out how much the baby really cared about wall hangings and valances, but it isn't really about the baby is it? :) As I went up to the register there was one more set not opened. I quickly traded for the unopened set. Turns out it was marked down an additional $25 than I thought! Yeah! I got it just in time...whew!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Jog for the Bog

The girls' school had a fund raiser for the outdoor school pond. Miranda and I ran/walked 2 miles. McKenzie and I jogged one mile, walked one and jogged the last one. They both did a great job. This would be the same day that my car died and was in the shop. That meant that I had to ride my bike to my afternoon appointment on base. I was one tired girl that night!
Unfortunatly, I forgot my camera for McKenzie's section of the run. Her run was first. Hopefully I can get the pictures from another mom and post them. I know that it was the school's goal to finish 800 laps, or 100 miles. I know they exceeded the goal, but I am not sure by how much. We have one fit school!


Miranda won an honorable mention in the Alabama Seat belt Safety Poster Contest. She was honored with the other winners at the School Board Meeting. She is here with the School Board President and District Superintendent. I will tremendously miss the all of these people and the principal. I know our next school with have the children at heart as much as this school does, but it will be hard to start over.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Nathan CuuChuoc



Val and I have been discussing baby names. One that we are considering is Nathan CuuChuoc. Nathan means "Gift of God" and Cu'u-Chuoc means "Redeemed to save (In Vietnamese).

Coâ-loâ-se 1:14 Vietnamese (1934) (Col 1:14)
trong Con đó chúng ta có sự cứu chuộc, là sự tha tội

New American Standard Bible (©1995) (Col 1:14)
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Nashville Star

We have friends who are going to go audition for Nashville Star in Nashville this weekend. It will be their oldest son and Kiki pictured in the bottom picutre of this link. I'm so excited to see how it goes for them. I know that they will do really well. They are both very talented. I can't wait for them to make it big!

New Milestone!

Dave went out with me to work out. I ran 2.3 miles straight today!!!! I have jogged 1 1/2 miles on a treadmill, but boy is it different to jog it outside. Dave was a trooper to go so incredibly slow so that I could keep up. I'll probably not be able to move in the morning. I am on my way to getting to a 5K run! Once I work up my endurance, I'll begin work on my speed.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Mystery Trip

We woke the girls up early this morning for a "Mystery Trip" (Thanks to the girls' principal for coining the phrase) They didn't have any idea that Dad had the day off, or that we were going anywhere. We hopped in the car and headed for destination unknown. On the way we saw some interesting things. This is a must have photo. Just a little taste of the south.

Look where we ended up at!

This was one of the items on our "must see" list before we moved.....I think we have checked everything else off except Cape Canaveral in Florida and we are going to have to pass on that trip. We should have stopped in to see it before Dave left for Iraq. Maybe another time. By the way, for all of my active duty military friends, this little trip is no admission for you!!!! What a delight of a surprise. We had to ask twice. The only charge was for the I-Max.



Here is a shout out to our little friend Able. I don't know why the monkeys intrigue me so much. At the Smithsonian, you can see the real deal stuffed (what? I couldn't believe it when I saw it!). This is just a resin replica.

The girls enjoyed the climbing wall. They figured out it is a little harder than it looks. McKenzie got up pretty good right off and then fell off. Miranda did well too. We had to miss the gravitron (can't remember the name) a child right before our group soiled the machine....we had to pass! We also passed on the rocket launcher. It is similar to the Supreme Scream at Knott's Berry Farm. Once is quite enough for mom and dad. (The girls didn't want to anyway) The I-max and simulators were good though.



McKenzie's new hat. It is a milk carton. It is quite comical. She is the missing child photo.




We stopped for Vietnamese Food on the way home in Birmingham. We enjoyed talking to the young waiters. We asked for some tips while traveling and eating (so we don't accidentally end up with a chicken head in our soup) They suggested that we take their menu and use it to order. What an excellent idea. It is in both Vietnamese and English. This should help considerably! Notice Miranda's hold on the chopsticks. By Vietnamese superstition she is very close to her family. The farther back you hold the chopsticks the more distant you are. Not that I believe this, but it was fun to watch her.

Also-----Guess what was in my mailbox when I arrived home? Our Dept of Homeland Security approval!!!!!! Yeah! I'll be certifying yet another document tomorrow.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Dossier Finished!

Our dossier is finished. Dave had his dr. appt on Friday and was able to get the letter by the afternoon and I raced down to get it certified and made it just in time. Today I will be copying all of the last documents and then Fed Ex'ing them to our agency for review. Hopefully we will receive our pre-approval from Dept of Homeland Security this week as well. This will be our very last doc for the dossier. Luckily I don't have to have it certified. I can simply scan and e-mail it! Wouldn't it be such a blessing if it arrived today? After we get that, our agency will send it to the Vietnamese Consolate office in San Francisco for approval and then off to Vietnam for translation and more approval. We are getting closer.

Now that our part is completely finished with the dossier, it is on to moving documents. We all have to have physicals and signed letters for the Dr to receive Dave's official orders. Can you believe it? Have I not been to the Dr enough and had enough signatures that my health is fine? Luckily for Dave because he couldn't get in any sooner than yesterday he was able to knock out both forms in one visit. I however will be taking the kids in to the Dr. on spring break for signatures. Hopefully not more immunizations. We also have to make appointments with the mental health office to make sure that we are stable enough to move overseas. I don't mind, but man are there a lot of hoops to continue to jump!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Pair-o-Dice



Dave is excited to be moving to Guam. His last Island assignment was Iceland. We are looking forward to warmer island weather with ocean breezes above freezing! We are also looking forward to hops and exploring the far East. Travel plans include: Vietnam, Australia, Hawaii, Japan and Korea. Other activities that we plan to try: Marlin fishing, Scuba, and touring WWII battlefields (At least Dave plans to ;). The girls have plans to spend a lot of time on the beach.