Leonard Log

Patrick N Nate

2011-05-19T04:01:00.004+10:00

Life has been busy. The kids and Val have moved from Guam and are staying with her parents for a few weeks until Dave finishes up next week and joins them. We have had trajedy strike our family and we returned early for Phil's funeral. Here is one of my favorite pictures. Nate was bonding with his cousin Patrick after the graveside. One glimmer of joy in the midst of a very difficult time. We will be visiting more family and then heading on to San Antonio next month.

New family photos to come

2011-05-13T01:26:00.000+10:00

We have been through a whirlwind around here....or wherever we are. Dave's family had a trajedy on a Wednesday (our Thursday). Luckily we had already had our pack-out. We left island on Saturday morning to fly to be with his sister. Dave has returned to Guam and the kids and Val are in Oregon until he finishes up his tour in Guam.

Thank you to Amanda Cox for being such a great friend and photographer and squeezing us in the night before we flew out. Val wanted one last photoshoot at the beach. Here is a snippet. There will be more to come.

Cardboard Testimony

2010-12-06T06:44:00.003+10:00

Foursquare Family

2010-12-06T06:37:00.004+10:00

I'm a fireman!

2010-09-01T08:37:00.004+10:00

8th Grade Graduation

2010-06-17T19:53:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-22T07:13:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-22T07:11:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-22T07:05:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-22T07:02:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-22T07:00:00.001+10:00

playin

2010-05-21T20:25:00.001+10:00

Singing Happy Birthday on stage at the Hard Rock Cafe!

2010-05-21T19:24:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-21T19:21:00.001+10:00

nachos!

2010-05-21T19:19:00.001+10:00

Daisy Rock

2010-05-21T19:12:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-21T14:51:00.001+10:00

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2010-05-21T14:47:00.001+10:00

Hard Rock Cafe

2010-05-21T14:43:00.001+10:00

Busy, Busy!

2010-05-18T19:03:00.002+10:00

Hey! I'm back! We have been very busy with Dave's job and I have been busy trying to keep up with stuff around the house and running the little errands for Dave to keep him focused on his job. The ministry is great! I find it so much easier to catch up with everybody on Facebook. I'm sorry that I am a slacker here. I have pictures to be downloaded off of the camera, but I haven't had time. I barely have time to brush my teeth :) I have been having several bad hair days because of this craziness. So, I'll make this short and sweet. We are still alive and loving Jesus....just busy. I'm off to finish up the cake the General's Wife ordered for tomorrow. (I have another dragon cake order coming up later this month). Many blessings from the Leonards!

Air Force Chief of Chaplains

2010-05-03T07:49:00.003+10:00

The AF Chief of Chaplains joined us for the launch of the Emerging Worship Service. What a delight to have him here. I am very impressed with is humble spirit. I'm honored to have his as our leader!

Along with the launch of a new service (similar to a church plant in the civilian world) Dave has led the rennovation of the Single Airmen's Center (Lighthouse) and is the POC for the National Prayer Luncheon. Those of you in the AF chaplain world know that these three things in one week is A LOT of work for one guy! Let's not mention that he was on call too! Way to make us proud, Dave!

Family Photos

2010-04-07T08:34:00.006+10:00

Baptism

2010-03-28T22:31:00.002+10:00

Cynthia and Me

2010-03-28T22:01:00.002+10:00

First nap with BaBa

2010-03-23T20:54:00.002+10:00

Birth Certificate

2010-03-23T10:56:00.002+10:00

Oscar the Grouch

2010-03-23T10:50:00.002+10:00

buzz

2010-03-22T08:02:00.002+10:00

This morning a year ago, we were headed out to Nate's orphanage to go pick him up. This weekend, Nate received his Oregon birth certificate with his new name! We celebrated with friends and a Buzz cake denoting his name change!

Dragon Cake

2010-03-14T15:49:00.000+10:00

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2010-02-18T10:45:00.001+10:00

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2010-02-17T10:42:00.001+10:00

You seeing a theme here? Nate wants to be just like his daddy at all times!

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2010-02-16T10:38:00.001+10:00

Nate got a new carseat for Dave's car. He wasn't able to ride in it when we installed it and Dave promised him a ride later. Well, later didn't come on the same day. So when Dave was getting ready to leave for work, Nate was adimately telling Dave something. Dave asked me what he was saying. Nate was telling him that he was ready to ride in Daddy's car in his new carseat!! Dave kept his word and took him to work. I had to follow behind and pick him up :)

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2010-02-15T10:35:00.000+10:00

No photo today. Dave had the day off and so did our babysitter (Kenzie). So we took advantage and celebrated Valentine's Day with a movie (Dear John), dinner (California Pizza Kitchen) a walk on the beach and a massage!

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2010-02-14T10:33:00.000+10:00

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2010-02-12T10:30:00.000+10:00

Fun at Cheyenne's birthday party on the beach!

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2010-02-12T10:27:00.000+10:00

The big boy bed allows for a little mischief before nap without mommy knowing about it :)

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2010-02-11T10:26:00.000+10:00

Lots of Valentine's Day cookies!

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2010-02-10T20:45:00.000+10:00

Look!!! A Big Boy Bed!!!! Sniff Sniff :)

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2010-02-09T20:41:00.000+10:00

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2010-02-07T09:09:00.003+10:00

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2010-02-07T09:05:00.002+10:00

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2010-02-06T09:23:00.003+10:00

This is my life as a mom of a 3 year old! I put my purse down on the table after grocery shopping with Nate and it just caught me funny that there were GI Joe boots sticking out of the top with his 50 cal :)

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2010-02-02T22:30:00.001+10:00

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2010-02-02T21:44:00.004+10:00

Not a great photo, but there will be more opportunities soon. Kenzie had her first game!

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2010-01-31T21:49:00.000+10:00

Guam seal...I felt that I should do a cake for Dave's return. I did last time. I didn't want to do the work and make the mess. Last minute I decided that I had to. Well, I didn't end up finishing it in time for his welcome home luncheon at the chapel. I was going to take it to another function on Tuesday and when I checked it on Monday it was too dry! I had to make another for the function and we ate part and threw the rest out.

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2010-01-30T21:57:00.000+10:00

I scored some good mommy points! Miranda and I made cookies for her school bake sale. Their mascot happens to be the dolphins!

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2010-01-29T21:40:00.000+10:00

Finally got a little beach time! I didn't go the whole time Dave was gone. It's not too relaxing to take a 3 year old to the beach by yourself :)

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2010-01-28T21:29:00.000+10:00

We have a cheerleader for the Andersen Dragons!

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2010-01-27T22:07:00.000+10:00

No pics today either! What is happening to me? The morning consisted of purchasing Dave a new cell phone (he dropped it in Kuwait). In the evening Dave and I went out for a very nice dinner to Manhattan Steak House at the Marriott Resort. It was a great time together. I forgot the camera! After dinner we went to the USO and played a few games on the XBox 360.

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2010-01-26T22:06:00.000+10:00

No picture today....you wouldn't want one! We arrived home from Japan at 2 a.m. With the lack of sleep, dirty laundry, suitcases....you can imagine!

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2010-01-25T22:11:00.000+10:00

Hello Kitty Land....big waste of money, but they had almost everything Hello Kitty!

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2010-01-24T22:09:00.000+10:00

Arrrgh!

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2010-01-23T21:59:00.000+10:00

We seemed to be local celebrities while we were in Tokyo. You could tell most couldn't quite figure our family out. Whenever Nate wore his monkey, it brought even more looks. This lady was snapping photos :)

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2010-01-20T18:32:00.001+10:00

Nate watching the airplane. He was so excited!

Brrrrrr! We arrived in Tokyo!

First stop: Hard Rock!

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2010-01-19T18:30:00.000+10:00

We decided that Meow had bitten our family members one too many times and that he would be better suited to a home with no children. He left with little fan fare....I guess if he was nicer, we may have missed him more.

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2010-01-18T18:29:00.000+10:00

The cat getting his last shot it at the tree before we take it down!

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2010-01-18T18:28:00.000+10:00

Being silly at Vitale's

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2010-01-18T18:26:00.000+10:00

Baba getting Nate up the first morning he was home!

Welcome Home Baba!

2010-01-18T14:28:00.000+10:00

As you can tell, Nate hasn't skipped a beat! He wants to be just like his Baba and is adjusting to Daddy being home. What a blessing to have Skype. God has really answered our prayers with his adjustment each time. There will be more pics to come....

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2010-01-17T20:47:00.003+10:00

Baba is home!!!!

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2010-01-17T20:44:00.002+10:00

The stockings are hung....3 weeks late! Daddy's coming home and we are going to have Christmas!

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2010-01-17T20:42:00.002+10:00

What d'l ya have? What d'l ya have? Nate taking the girls' orders!

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2010-01-17T20:40:00.002+10:00

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2010-01-12T10:17:00.002+10:00

If you've been around here long, you know that I like Cinnamon Bears and that they are hard to find. My best friend found me these and sent them!!!!! Thank you!!! Is it wrong to have eaten a whole bag the first day? :)

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2010-01-12T10:12:00.003+10:00

There's nothing more creative than painting in your underwear!

I went out to mow the lawn while the girls watched over the painting. When I returned Nate was in the bathtub and Miranda was cleaning up the table. I should have known there was a lot more than painting pictures going on while I was outside. At least they took pics :)

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2010-01-12T10:10:00.002+10:00

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2010-01-12T10:08:00.003+10:00

This was Chaplain George's last night on Guam. He was reading to Nate while I was cooking our Vietnamese dinner!

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2010-01-07T19:59:00.003+10:00

Here is part of our Guam family! These are the people that we hang with every Thursday night for dinner (I always jet before Bible study because Nate is too much of a distraction). My running partner, fellow cook, and deployed spouse is next to me. God knew that Lindsay and I needed each other while our husbands were gone!

This is Chaplain George's last night with us. He heads back to non-military life in Texas on Saturday. He has been an asset to our group and done such a phenomenal job. God knew that I needed a great chaplain here when Dave was gone!

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2010-01-07T19:55:00.002+10:00

I had a dentist appointment at 11:30 a.m. and Nate got to go visit with his "Ling" (Lindsay) He was asking to leave at 7:30 when the girls left for school. Throughout the morning he had packed a backpack and his "junch" just like the big girls!

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2010-01-07T19:49:00.003+10:00

Just bringing real life to ya here! I thought Nate ate his lunch so well. I was so proud. Miranda found his taquito in the vacuum when she got home from school :)

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2010-01-07T19:46:00.000+10:00

I need to get the photo here....but I am going to post my favorite trees. It is a group of three trees at to corner of Mango and Marianas. It is the stopping point at the end of my run. I love it when I see these three trees come into view!

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2010-01-07T19:43:00.002+10:00

I found this in Miranda's room as I was going to bed the night before school was resuming from Christmas break. A little girl after her mommy. She was all prepared with uniform all picked out and ready to go for the next morning. I {heart} this little girl!

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2010-01-07T19:35:00.002+10:00

Meow taking his throne. He has systematically un-decorated our tree. I'm not putting a rush on getting it fixed until I have a date of when Dave will be arriving to celebrate!

1:365

2010-01-07T19:28:00.002+10:00

I am going to try to post one photo from each day this year....let's see how long this lasts :) I know that posting everyday is not going to happen, but taking a photo and posting weekly is not too much. Here goes...

McKenzie testing hairspray for her science project....so much easier than making an electric guitar!

Winding Down

2010-01-04T20:35:00.002+10:00

I think I may be surfacing again. Dave is finishing up his deployment. He still doesn't have an itinerary or a date that he is coming home, but his replacement arrives today!!!!! It should be soon. It can't be soon enough. Granted, I always have the little ends that I want to tie up before he comes home, so I'll keep busy with all of these. I can't wait for the phone call from him letting me know that he is in the states!

Christmas in the Desert

2009-12-20T20:03:00.001+10:00

This is me and my deployed family as we get ready for Christmas.

Happy Birthday Nate!

2009-11-30T15:02:00.005+10:00

We were delighted to celebrate Nate's Third Birthday! We are sad that Dave couldn't be here, but Dave was able to Skype in and join in the fun of singing Happy Birthday and watching him open the special Nate sized uniform that Dave sent...complete with his name tape and chaplain cross and the fourwheeler!

Happy Birthday Nater Tater! We are so delighted to be able to finally celebrate a birthday with you here!!!!

Our Christmas Greeting

2009-11-21T04:21:00.003+10:00

We are kind of scattered this year, so instead of sending out cards, we wanted to share our new family portrait with you on the blog. I used a company called portrait2000.com They do the work cheap and well, but its kind of scary. They have gmail accounts and you have to trust them. I think it was worth the risk.

Checking in

2009-10-22T05:53:00.002+10:00

We are still alive. Just terribly busy. It is hard being the only parent on island. So we are making it...with the bare minimum requirements.....thus blogging is not happening. The kids are doing well, but miss Daddy. Nate told me yesterday while we were in the car. Daddy home airplane. I told him that Daddy wasn't home and that it wouldn't be today. He said, "No Daddy back home!" He is missing Dad and wanting him home. That's a great thing. We were concerned that he may be forgotten with the long separation. There is no forgetting Nathan's Baba!

Video for Ba Ba

2009-09-24T15:32:00.001+10:00

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

I'm a bad blogger!

2009-09-12T03:44:00.002+10:00

Sorry! I have been busy at my parents for the last 3 weeks. We are packing up and trying to head out to California in the morning and hoping for a nice direct flight back to Guam. I'm trying to get the re-adoption paperwork filed with the attorney before I leave. Hopefully I'll be a better blogger when I make it home :)

Meeting Papa Pat and Nanny Carol

2009-09-01T15:22:00.004+10:00

Updated Tattoo

2009-08-28T02:28:00.003+10:00

....Do you think Nate is liking his G&G?
Here is the updated tattoo. I added the dragonfly for Nathan.

Meeting Papa Sugar

2009-08-26T10:05:00.004+10:00

Unfortunately I can't find the video of meeting Grandma Sugar. I am sick over it. I guess it must be user error. The girls are delighted and making themeselves at home at G&G's. Nathan is loving having a Grandma and Grandpa. He is enjoying a new Uncle Brian, Aunt Krystal and cousins Kyndall (Timmie) and Bryson.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Life's Changing

2009-08-22T21:29:00.004+10:00

We are still busy, busy. Dave was supposed to leave early on Friday morning and the kids and I were going to try to leave as soon as we could after he did. Just 18 hrs before his flight, his itinerary changed. He was able to stay all weekend with us. It was a great birthday present. The kids and I will try to fly to CA in the morning and then drive up to Oregon. If we get out, we'll be leaving just a few hours before Dave, and if we don't get this flight, we wait until after he leaves and then we'll continue to try to get on a flight. Things are almost all packed. I'm trying to pack extra light knowing that I have three kids...one being a two year old and a carseat in tow.

Busy, Busy!

2009-08-09T22:32:00.002+10:00

I haven't slowed down to post in a while. It has been so long, that Dave posted! We are busy getting thing ready for Dave's deployment. He leaves in 11 days. I know I'm not ready, but never will be. I've been busy with making cakes...about one a week or so. The kiddos are as cute as ever. I'll try to get more pics up soon!

Homecoming

2009-08-01T12:37:00.003+10:00

Happy Anniversary Air Force Style

2009-07-10T11:00:00.002+10:00

Dave is in Australia for our 15th Annivesary. Thanks to the USAF for an all expense paid trip. However they forgot one thing....ME! I celebrated by cooking dinner for 20+ people (it's Thursday) The girls were very kind and thoughtful. They made me breakfast in bed and were extra helpful with Nathan. I received 3 new potholders (from Miranda's weaving loom) a pack of playing cards,a handpainted panda and handmade cards and no bake cookies! I have great kiddos. I'm sure he wasn't just relaxing on the beach in Australia. He is there working. He must have been busy because he called for only about 10 minutes. Dave and I will celebrate when he returns.

Happy Independance Day!

2009-07-05T08:04:00.002+10:00

We had a wonderful Independance Day. We are so blessed to live in a free country! We are even more blessed to have a new little citizen to enjoy it with this year.

Introducing Meow!

2009-07-05T07:40:00.004+10:00

Here is our newest addition to the Leonard Family!
As you may have guessed, Sunshine had surgery and was damaged badly enough by the car that he wasn't able to sustain life.
McKenzie has picked out this fun little white kitty that she has named "Meow" in Nathan's honor!

Sonshine is perking up

2009-06-26T18:26:00.002+10:00

We went for a visit last night and he wasn't happy to see us and turned away when we talked to him. He had a cone on, IV, catheder. He wasn't looking good.

We went in today and Sonshine had another x-ray and was so much more energetic. He was up and exploring a little on the table. The dr said that there are several possible scenarios. If the ureter is broken, his chance of survival is minimal. It may be that he is simply swollen and the swelling needs to go down so that he can go to the bathroom. Let's continue to pray that it is the latter scenario.

Pray for Sonshine

2009-06-24T18:13:00.002+10:00

Sonshine has been vomiting most of the night and had some screaming in pain episodes. I called the vet to see if this was normal. They made an appointment and I took him in at noon. They admitted him to "kitty hospital" and said he was dehydrated and a low body temperature. They will try to warm him up and put fluids in him and hopefully he will be back to himself in a couple of days. I have my doubts...I think the vet does too. Please pray for Sonshine and the Leonards!

Mommy ran over the cat!

2009-06-23T21:54:00.003+10:00

Yep...You can strip me of the award for Mom of the Year! The girls have threatened to revoke my license. The kitty ran out of the house and I didn't know that he wasn't inside. I backed out to run to the gas station. About 30 feet down the road it felt like I had hit something and I looked up and saw an orange kitty streak for the house. I thought there was no way that I really hit the cat. I didn't ever see him on the road, but thought that I should turn around just in case. I went back to the house and didn't see Sonshine hiding in his normal outside hiding spot and opened up the door and asked if Sonshine was in the house. Nope...Oh-No! I asked Dave as calmly as I could to come outside--NOW! I told him that I thought that I may have hit Sonshine and we needed to find him. Just a few moments later we heard him screeching/howling/suffering! Dave finally found him in between the neighbor's garbage cans. He immediately scooped him up and we hopped in the car. There was no visible bleeding. After hopping in the car and rushing out the gate, we realized that Dave had no shoes and no ID. We hadn't told the girls yet. We called our helpful neighbors and they called the vet and found one that was open and let them know that we were on our way. Sonshine climbed under the seat and I thought that he was not going to make it to the vet alive.

McKenzie called to tell us that Sonshine was outside and that it was raining and she couldn't find him. This is when we felt it necessary that she know that we had him. She began to cry. We knew we were going to have a mess on our hands. Kenzie is crying and she is supposed to be our babysitter. We called our good neighbors to come look in on the kiddos. We called the girls again to check in and they were all crying and Nathan was yelling "MEOW" over the top of all of them. The neighbors were able to calm them down.

Sonshine made it to the vet and had the exam and looks like he should be fine! O thank you Jesus! I didn't want to be the responsible party for killing the cat! He in on antibiotics, got a pain killer shot and his ears cleaned. We'll take him in for a follow up next week. We arrived home with a sore, drowsy kitty and three happy kiddos!

Dave wanted me to mark today on the calendar as the worst day on Guam. He had just returned home from a difficult memorial service. Being the amazing husband that he is, he purchased a half dozen roses for me on the way home (He listens to a little too much country music and a dozen roses were out of the budget). Dave and I decided that there would have to be a pre-set spending limit on the cat. We set our limit before we arrived at the vet and it didn't even come close!!!! The flowers that he purchased were more than the vet visit...even better!

Happy 13th Birthday McKenzie

2009-06-04T14:42:00.004+10:00

Happy Birthday Kenzie! What a wonderful and amazing young woman you are. I have no reservation about having a teenager, knowing that you are a God-loving teen! I enjoy every day with you. It only makes me sad that you are another year closer to moving out. Let's not think about that...on to the fun part...the party!
McKenzie misses the snow SO much! She decided to have a WinterWonderland in Guam.
her igloo cake...
penguins in attendance....
snocones from Dad....
Mom and Dad with their scarves
The introduction of the kitty!

Is that really for me???

McKenzie is thrilled with her new kitty. He has done well. You'll be happy to know that he has not maliciously bitten anybody yet :) I'm not quite sure what to do with a normal kitty!

Can you tell I have a 2 year old? It has been over a week since McKenzie's party and I am just getting the photos up. I don't have nearly the amount of time that I used to!

Village Outreach

2009-05-20T22:52:00.004+10:00

This is a short video I put together for church on Sunday. This is a glimpse of our village outreach just outside of the AF base gates. Some of the homes do not have electricity or running water. The community got together by word of mouth and donated LOTS of food and TONS of clothing. Oh, how we are blessed and what an honor to be a blessing to others. At the end, you can see Dave's 40th birthday present. This is what he asked for....a new basketball hoop for the village. He is not going to be here. He will be in Kuwait for his 40th birthday :( God is working on me right now. If you have leftover PowerLab supplies from last year's VBS, please let me know ASAP....I think He's calling me to use it with this village.

Nathan's Dedication

2009-05-10T21:38:00.004+10:00

We had Nathan dedicated at church today. It made for an extra special Mother's Day! The kiddos and Dave were extra good to me as well. Dave purchased a new jewelry box for me and lots of fun hand-made gifts from the kids! The one thing that I have been asking for, we still haven't done. I want to have nice photos of all of us together at the beach. The girls moan and complain about the thought of it and Nathan still doesn't look and smile at the camera on command and Dave is just too darn busy with his job. Hopefully next week we can get this done! I want to have a really nice one for Dave to take and have it painted on canvas!

Lots to catch up on

2009-05-06T12:37:00.005+10:00

Nathan continues to be a wonderful addition and blessing to the Leonard Family! The girls are still enthralled with him! We all need a break from each other at times, just like a normal happy family :) He is understanding so much and saying new words daily. I think the best example of this is when he says yucky and uses it in the right context...who knew? That's a hard concept to explain to a little kid and he uses the word appropriately each time. However it sounds like yuck-eye.

Today I was driving up to Dave's office and we got out and he shouted "BaBa!" He knows this is his Daddy's office! When asked who his best friend is, he'll proclaim "BaBa!" Last night one of the children was being reprimanded by Dad and Nathan snuck right up beside him and placed his hands on his hips; just like dad was and continued to "help." I quickly removed him and the guilty party was not aware :) It was REALLY funny!

The biggest news weighing on our family is that Dave will be deploying in August for 4 months. It could be much worse and I am reminding myself that if Dave doesn't go, it means somebody else will and my situation isn't any different than many other families who have to be separated from new babies and leaving new mommies behind. We'll do just fine. God will be right here with us. He knew long before we did. I was just hoping that it would come after Nathan had been with us for a little longer. Dave will miss his first birthday with us, his first Christmas with us and Dave's 40th birthday will be while he is in Kuwait. We'll make adjustments and probably postpone Christmas and use the web cam a lot!

We are also getting a free little get-away. Our bathroom tub has never drained good and it has become a problem. The girls can't finish a quick shower without the water almost overflowing. We learned that the tub will have to be replaced and then last night were told that we would be moved out for 4 days to have the pipe jack-hammered out. So, we called and were able to get a room at the PIC (water park resort on island) at the expense of the AF! I think God was giving us a little break from the news that we had just received. What a great diversion! I can't wait to go pick up the girls from school so we can go play!

Here's proof....we were all greased up with sunscreen and ready to go. Nathan still doesn't have a grasp on looking at the camera and smiling. Hopefully soon!

Here are a few pics from our visit with Lily. I have many more from the last few days, but the internet is fighting me. I'll have to do it later, as the little man is now awake and hungry!

Has it already been a week?

2009-05-01T11:51:00.002+10:00

I was hoping to stay more caught up on posting to the blog, but it looks like a week has slipped by and I didn't post! Nathan has been home three weeks and he is doing great! I took him out to Navy on Tuesday to have his other impacted ear dug out and my fancy work (along with the ear drops) has cleared up his ear and he didn't have to go through the cleaning out process! Yeah!!!! We are scheduled on Monday to get his eyes and hearing tested at Navy. Thursday we went in to get his first round of immunizations. The Dr gave us the go ahead when I took McKenzie in. She has had the flu the last couple of days. She is feeling better and back to school today.

Nathan is a brave little cookie! He was stuck 5 times! I was almost in tears. He did cry, and was grouchy the rest of the day, but I would have been too! We don't have to go back for more until the end of June.

McKenzie is entering her science project in the all island fair next weekend. The grand prize is a fully paid trip to the NASA space camp! She would LOVE to go! That means that I better get in gear and get her passport! I need to have the girls get theirs before this summer, just in case we do try to come home. If I do, we are going to take the "less traveled road" through Japan. There is a flight every Thursday from Japan to Seattle. It would make scheduling our trip a little easier. The details are only in my head. Dave needs more leave, is crazy busy with work and I don't want to bring Nathan home without him.....so it's just a wait and see kind of thing.

Nathan is doing a little better with eating, but YO-Gurt is still his favorite. He is starting to branch out a little and try new things. He has to be in a good mood to do it though. Dave and I took him to Vietnamese food after his appointment on Tuesday. He LOVED it! It was really funny to watch him. He didn't over eat, but you could tell that he was delighted with the familiar tastes and smells of his younger years :) I try...I just don't seem to get it right!

Nathan and I are settling into a good routine at home. I am finally getting showered and out the door before noon. It is so much like having a newborn home. It really surprised me that adoption and birth were so similar. He is getting more used to us and understanding a LOT of what we say. He isn't picking up too many more words, but we are getting along pretty good with the communication. We get frustrated with each other at times when we don't understand. If we don't understand he just whines....that makes it difficult. We'll get through this phase soon.

We had our friends over for dessert on Monday. They have an adopted daughter from China and have been home for 9 months. I see how well she is doing and how much she says and know that Nathan will be well on his way to 2 year old communication very soon!!!!

I'll try to get photos up here soon, but they are still in the camera and he is sleeping....that means I need to be sleeping!

Picking up more words!

2009-04-23T21:39:00.002+10:00

Last night I took McKenzie to church and needed to go hang out somewhere with Nathan for a little bit, so we headed to Wendy's. I ordered some french fries and a frosty. He wouldn't touch the frosty...he still doesn't like anything cold except for an occasional drink of dad's smoothies or yogurt. He does eat french fries....with a spoon. We did resort to our hands; he's a funny kid. He poured out his french fries on the tray, looked in the box and without any prodding announced "all gone!" That's right...he's picking this English thing up! Miranda taught him "jump" today and I'm sure there are other words...I am just too tired to remember.

Bees and Wax

2009-04-21T22:28:00.002+10:00

Nathan had an appointment at the audiologist today at the Navy Hospital. The pediatrician wanted him to have his ears, eyes and teeth checked by specialists. I knew that he had ear wax. We had drops to clear it out and even syringed it the bathtub last week. The audiologist took a look and said that he wasn't hearing us, except at a whisper tone because of all of the wax and that she couldn't do the test until he had this cleaned out by the ENT. So the ENT agreed to see us immediately....so nice! We trekked upstairs and Nathan was not too thrilled with the "straight jacket" sheet. He did allow the doctor to finish the left ear. We have to go back for the right ear next week. Unfortunately, this isn't enough time for Nathan to forget the experience!

So, not that getting ear wax dug out was enough for one day...We took Miranda to her Karate lesson and Dave picked up Nathan for a hug and Nathan began to scream and clutched his arm. I took a look and saw a small red spot. I looked at Dave's back and he had a bee on his shirt. He was stung by a bee! Luckily, it was a honey bee and not a boonie bee...they're B A D. So in a week's time he has had 5 viles of blood drawn, strapped down for ear wax removal a bee sting and will start immunizations when the blood work returns. It's pretty traumatic for these little guys coming home. He is such a trooper. The great news about all of this is that we can tell his hearing is better (we didn't know that it was bad) and he has repeated 5 new words today! Randa, Kenzie, yogurt, cracker and be nice!