I met a star from the "Lost" TV series!

While on my trip to Hawaii, I went to the Honalulu Marathon expo and met Evangeline Lilly, one of the stars of the TV show "Lost." We're big fans of the show, so it was fun to actually meet one of the actors in person. Evangeline Lilly was very nice to talk to. She talked a little about the show with me, and commented on my "Old Rugged Cross" christian t-shirt. (She added 'God Bless' to her picture she signed for me.)

While we were waiting in line for autographs, I moved a little closer to the table to get some more pics:

Since she had been talking for so long, she was putting on some lip balm. She even offered some to the person she was signing for at the time. Pretty funny!

MO ANG Exercise in Hawaii

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it... :O) I was selected to participate in a major exercise at Hickham AFB, Hawaii for a couple weeks in December 2005. My guard unit, the 157 AOG, stayed on base most of the time, but a guy I worked with rented a car and took me with him to see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona memorial, as well as North Shore to see some surfing. It was a great trip, and I learned a lot about how we command and direct the air war. Here are some pics from the trip:

This was the view from where I stayed in billeting. Each day, I walked just a short distance to where I worked (in the center hanger in this picture):

The following pictures are from the USS Arizona memorial. It was a couple days before the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was a very somber and emotional tour of the memorial.

One afternoon, we drove up to the North Shore of Oahu to watch a surfing competition. Earlier in the week, a surfer died as a result of the monster waves out there... Maybe I'll try that "next" year. Maybe not...

Visit to the Youngski's house

Continuing on with updating past trips...

While we were in Nebraska, we got to visit the Youngski's beautiful new house in the middle of nowhere. It was great to see them again--seems like a LONG time since we visited them when they were stationed at Scott AFB. As always, they were marvelous hosts and made us feel right at home.



Ryan and Logan even got to try on Jerry's flight helmet and mug for the camera.



Wish they didn't live so far away--they are just like a part of our family. Thanks for the visit!

Thanksgiving 2005

We did the "family road trip" up NORTH for Thanksgiving and had a blast! We actually had to wear coats, too!! Our first stop was at my brother's house to visit. It was great to see him and his family. They've remodeled since our last visit, and their gameroom was awesome. We played foosball,

ate wonderful meals, and even attended a Bear wedding... (You just had to be there!)

We also got to spend time with my sister, who was in from Colorado. We don't get to see her very often, so it was great to see her.

It was very relaxing and we had a great time. It was over way too soon, and once again we were off further north...
We met up with Myetti's folks at her brother's house in Nebraska. Brrrr. It's pretty cold there! :O) Once again, we played,

and ate,

and had another wonderful time. It was a trip we will always remember, and were blessed to have spent it with family.

Where do I begin?

I really need to catch up on current events... Since Thanksgiving, we've been to Missouri, Nebraska, and Hawaii. Over the next few nights, I'll put in a few pics and comments from those events, and try to keep up with more current activities. Here we go!

Too Busy to Blog

I'm bad, I know. These blogs are supposed to be updated every day... Seems like I haven't written in several weeks. I have good excuses--really! I went to ...um... Nebraska... um... I flew to Hawaii, yeah, that's it... yeah... ...um...then I went to my in-law's house... ...hmmm. :o/ Guess what? It's all true. For Thanksgiving week, we went to visit my side of the family in Missouri on our way to my wife's bro's house in Nebraska. Then, right when we got back from that trip, I had to report for duty with the Missouri Air National Guard for two weeks of training at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. I rarely got on the web during those three weeks, hence the lack of updates. I do have pictures. Really. I promise to back-date some entries and post some pics just to prove it. Anyway, after a week at work, I'm off for a couple weeks until next year! Sweet! We've been playing at my in-law's house, getting ready for Christmas. It has been very relaxing and it's quite peaceful here in the "country" in east Texas. Anyway, guess I'd better sign off for tonight, with hopefull expectation of adding many more entries and pics tomorrow. Good night; sleep tight; don't let the bed bugs bite, as our baby B likes to say! Ciao.

I should be sleeping...

Just trying to catch up on my blogs--instead of sleeping like I should be... We're off to see the wizard (ala Kansas, Toto), and will end up in Missouri tomorrow night. After a few days of long-overdue family time with my bro and his family, and my sister, we're off to Nebraska to celebrate Thanksgiving day with my wife's folks, and her bro and his family. ...Now if there was just some way to warp there... Pics of the trip to follow!

Dinner at El Chico with the Simillers

One of our favorite things to do is to get together with the Simillers. Tonight we met at El Chico for $0.99 kid's meals--gotta like that! We used to go to Jason's Deli (or as our baby called it, "Jason's Jelly!" Anyway, we had a great time talking while all the kiddos ate and played together. They all did great, and we appreciated the "adult time" without many interruptions.

Shark Attack!

Logan has had two games since his first game got canceled. He's having a great time, and the Sharks scored three goals tonight! Logan is still excited about playing, and doesn't mind (too much) if they don't win. Keep up the good attitude, Sharks!

Trick or Treat, smell my feet...

We had a great time this year attending two fall festivals, and for the first time, going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood! The kiddos had fun riding all the rides and playing in all the different bouncehouses at the festivals. Ry and Logie got to shoot a paint gun, and the girls both won prizes on the cake walk. They even had time to collect a bunch of candy. Mommy helped them "sort" it, in case she saw something she liked! We went to both festivals with our good friends, the Simillers, from our Sunday School class. They're a hoot and we always have fun together!

Our neighborhood had a bunch of kiddos out on Halloween, and we joined right in. We only went on our street this year, but next year--look out! We drove over to another friend's house--she hasn't seen the kiddos in quite a while so she was excited to see us! It was great seeing her, too. ...Oh, yeah--the kiddos brought home...more candy...! Yum!

Here are a few pics of the gang, including a couple of the Similler's kiddos. Enjoy!


Everyone's ready to go!


This "old" lady has quite a swing! Fore!


Great homemade Lego costume!


Going "candy gathering" in the neighborhood!

To soccer or not to soccer...

Logie was sure looking forward to his first indoor soccer game tonight. Unfortunately, they double-scheduled the field, and didn't let anyone know. He was kinda bummed, but cheered up when I reminded him about his next game. It's his first try at indoor, and he's pumped. His team name is the Sharks, and it looks like his coach has a great attitude about teaching them the right skills. We'll keep ya updated with more soccer news!