Last of the pics

The land that time forgot...Flying over this landscape I saw goats scattering as we flew overhead, children playing barefoot, boys splashing in a water hole. I can totally imagine the OT story of Jacob working 7 yrs for his uncle to marry Leah/Rebekkah, taking place right here in this time.

The reason I got to travel was a temporary gig as a note taker for the Commanding General's engagements - a great experience but glad its over so I can get back to my nice boring old routine.

more pics again

More pics

The trip was from Tikrit to Baqubah, these are the villages between.

My cool couple days travelling

I finally got to travel this week in a blackhawk. Here are some pics of the Iraqi countryside.

Update on the craziness of having kids

I couldn't find Eva a couple of weeks ago. It was quite and so I knew she was doing something she probably shouldn't be doing. I finally found her about 10 minutes and a heart attack later, in the dryer. She thought that was the coolest thing ever. She even tried to close the door while still in it. Whenever we go swimming, she'll climb in one of the available lockers and shut the door on herself. Then she'll peek her head out and say "peek-a-boo" and start to laugh histarically. At least we know she's not clausterfobic.

Gabe LOVES taking baths. He splashes Eva like crazy.


Eva didn't want me disturb them in the bath. She was saying "hey, no towel yet" when I took this picture.


Happy six months gabe! I'm pretty sure he's already crossed the 20 pound weight limit for the carseat. You can't tell by this picture, but his feet dangle off the end of it because he's so dang tall. Time for a new carseat.

The adventures of Gabe and Eva

Hi mom. I'm just chillin' and having fun in the johnny jumper.



Then comes Eva...Ok mom. I'm not sure about this. She's got that look in her eye.


Dude, this is SO not cool. Get this pink towel off my head. How could you let her do this to me mom?

Random picture updates

Eva has a new found love...her pink boots (thank you to the decarlos). She wanted to go outside and play dressed like this the other day. She has no diaper on either. Just a shirt and these boots. She walks all over the house in them, usually naked, just the boots.


Gabe loves his saucer.

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of all time. This was from a retreat we went on last month. This little boy didn't want to walk back to the hotel room because he was tired, so I told him he could catch a ride with Eva. I thought Eva would throw a fit and not let him, but it turned out, she had no problem letting him sit on her lap. He hated it, but she wrapped her arms around him and wouldn't let him go. It was hilarious. It had myself and this little boy's mother histerically laughing.


She loves when her friends have birthday parties because that means "CAKE!" She was begging for it the second we showed up.

Bummin' around on a boring Saturday

Eva loves to cuddle with Gabe. However, it requires definate supervision! :)

A day at the zoo with good friends

These are two of my very dearest friends. Brandee is sitting next to me with her little boy who was due two days before me but ended up being five weeks premature. He's definately making up for lost times. Gabe is sucking on his hand because he was teething. He already has two teeth and he's only four months old. Crazy! Anyway, the other lady is Alisha. Two very awesome women!

Eva enjoying one of the many playgrounds and this great zoo.

I love this picture. Notice the kids in the red shirts that say "thing 1, thing 2, thing 3, thing 4". All those kids belong to brandee. They didn't have a thing 5 at the store, so they had to buy another thing 1. I love these shirts!!! The other kids belong to Alisha except one random German boy. Cool tree trunk huh?

Gabriel's first food experience (at 4 months)

Isn't my little man adorable? Look at his cute blue eyes! I was hoping he'd have blue eyes. Anyway, the first pic is during his wonderful journey that is carrots. The second pic is the end of the journey. He obviously loved it. P.S. don't you just love the girly bib? I need some boy ones.

The 4th of July

If you look at this picture carefully, you can see the bubbles Eva was playing with. She LOVES bubbles.

My daughter the cheater!!! She kept stealing the football from a guy trying to throw it thru the holes. She would take the football and run up to the hole and toss it thru. She kept doing it for the longest time. The guy started to get pretty annoyed, but I just thought it was cute and funny.

Crazy, Weird Child!

Ok, Eva really likes to run around naked with only a hat on. She's such a nut. Well, the other day, this is how I caught her. She has this hat on inside out, she's naked, and in Gabe's saucer backwards. I wanted to take a picture of her butt because it looked so hilarious. Her buttcheeks were totally hanging out of one side of the leg holes. I spared everyone the view though.

Gabriel's first offical roll (from the back to the stomach) at 3 1/2 months

Mmm, that hand is tasting so good. I want to eat it but I can't reach it from this angle.


Oh no, I got a little carried away and now I'm stuck. Mommy, help me please.


Now I'm in trouble. How do I roll over from here? And where'd my fist go? I'm getting mad now.

Ah! Summer time!

Our favorite thing to do is enjoy the awesome german swimming pools. We went earlier this week with lots of friends. Eva and her friend Grace seemed to have more fun in the sand box however. P.S. sorry I don't know how to photoshop that discusting looking man in a speedo in the background.

.....after the sandbox. Eva's really not enjoying the taste of sand in her mouth.

Our Retreat in Willingen, Germany

This last weekend, the kids and I took a trip. The army was sponsoring a free retreat for women/men who have deployed spouses. Kids were welcome and free babysitting was provided during the classes. We had lots of free time too. On our time off from classes, the kids and I walked down to the center of town and found a fun park for Eva. The bridge was a great view on this very very steep hilly walk. I won't be doing that again with a double stoller!

When I saw this, I imidiately thought of you dad. This pigeon loft was across the street from the park. The pigeons were flying around the entire time we were down there and right when we left, they all landed on the roof of the loft. Eva really loved to watch them fly in circles. She kept saying "bird, bird, bird" over and over until it became extremely annoying.

It was a little chilly that day. I feel bad for Gabe. He gets the short end of the stick. He just has to watch while Eva gets to be mobile and run around like crazy. I think he has thoughts of jumping out of his carseat and going and tackling her to the ground. I actually can't wait for that day. :)

Ok, I just couldn't help myself. I saw this adorable hat and purse at H&M the other day. They were only 5 Euro combined, so I hoped on that deal imediately. Eva loves purses and hats. She's been roaming around the house these days with my big white floppy hat, so of course I saw this and knew I could finally keep her away from my hat if she had one of her own. She runs around everywhere with her new stuff now. I get lots of comments from people saying how much they love that hat. The outfit was one of the dresses that oma and opa sent her. We love it.

Can you see the total and complete happiness in her face? She's such a girl! Heaven help us all! She's already the world's biggest pre-madona.

Pictures for Daddy

I just started putting Gabe in his saucer and he seems to really like it. He's become really aware of things lately. It's been fun to watch him start to grab for toys. He's a great little boy.


A couple mornings ago, Eva woke up at 5:30 in the morning, found her floaties and a sun hat, walked into my bedroom and said, "pool". She then grabbed my hand, pulled me out of bed, and walked me to the patio where we have a little blow-up pool filled with water. Of course, I had to tell her no because it was too early and of course, she threw a fit, but she got over it. She did get to swim a few hours later. I thought it was hilarious to see her get herself all ready to go, pajamas and all. She's such a nut. She's even trying to grab my hand in this picture to take me over to the patio.