The Birthday Boy!!

So hard to believe that 3 years have passed since this little guy came into our lives. I can still remember very well that very cold snowy day in Cheyenne. He has grown into quite a little star...he certainly lights up most of my mornings, and afternoons - although by evening he isn't quite as shiney...but still a sweetie! Here are a couple of shots of our birthday breakfast...We started our little low key bash (those are the best!) at 7:45 a.m., and invited our other friends who are also up as early as we are. After we ate and opened presents we hopped in the car and headed up to Cheyenne for the better part of the week.


His first look when he saw his presents on the coffee table...!! Pretty excited!


Taking his first shot at the basket. Pretty cute matching outfit eh?


Taking a break from basketball to itch...needless to say this birthday week has been marked by this. Hopefully the Dr. can help us out tomorrow. His skin looks great in this picture - he looks like a blotchy tomato tonight!



Our Friends here to help us celebrate over Lego waffles, hashbrowns, and OJ!


Cupcakes are especially yummy at 8:00 a.m.!




It only took him 3 or 4 blows to get the candles out!

Justin's Friday

I have had a survey team in doing some work with frequency interference. The team has done a wonderful job and today the Minister of Telecommunications (fourth from left) who works directly for the Prime Minister came to visit and see their operations. He also tried to get me to hand over $1.5M or something like that...good thing I don't have a checkbook, because he is a pretty smooth negotiator!

In the evening I went to the Mount Gay Rum party at Pigeon Beach...it was the way they kick off Sailing week...it was fun, the music was good, and the company was nice. I went with John and Patricia and John's sister Jane and boyfriend.
Then the taxi took us over to the Dockyard area to meet Dennis, Sally, and Nicole for dinner...it was a very nice meal. The taxi then took us back over to the party at Pigeon Beach where I saw some friends from the Air Station who needed a ride home. They could have hopped in our taxi and rode home with us, but I had only 1 drink so I was okay to take them home. And that way I didn't have to figure out how to retrieve my van from the other side of the island this morning...


Wish you were here Vonnie...note the red hat on the table, that was my race week souvenir. I love and miss you baby!

A Little Picasso...

The time crunch has begun...so many things around the house to get done before we list it as a rental property. While Seth and Eli were sleeping, Zach and I decided to paint. I drew a big circle on the opposite wall from where I was working and told him it was his job to paint the circle...

He used the brush while I was using the roller...

And he used the roller while I needed to paint trim with the brush. We made quite a team! I didn't get quite as much done as I could have alone, but somethings are worth the sacrifice.

Game Day...

Seth's day started pretty early...nothing abnormal there. What was crazy is that Zach slept in until 9a.m. which gave Seth and I a lot of time to do all sorts of things...including games! With Seth there are no rules...no such things as taking turns...or spinning just once. With Seth all bets are off, and if you don't watch out, your player is sure to end up on the other side of the room!

On a side note - we were able to get Seth in to see and allergist today - it was a last minute appointment so not only was he absolutely filthy from just being a boy, but both of us were unprepared and thus a BIG stinker. I am pretty sure the Doctor thought I was an inept Mom...and that Seth was a obnoxious little filthy boy who never got a bath and did not know how to speak...what she didn't know is that at Seth's yearly check up 2 days ago he was an absolutely articulate angel (maybe it says something about her not about me :) Needless to say, he will have some allergy testing next week - We'll keep you posted...

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Quote of the Day (with a little background):

After Seth pooped on the potty, I was so excited I wanted to call someone special to tell them the good news...

Zach says: "Mom, are you calling Jesus?"

Visit with Grandma Shirley

Mom had a layover in Denver today...the boys and I couldn't miss the opportunity to stop and see her. The time was too short, and the boys didn't want to say good bye. The last time we saw Grandma Shirley was about 6 months ago and she treated the boys to some marshmellow cereal at her house - of course the boys only picked out and ate the marshmellows - Zach has very fond memories of that cereal. Once we were in the car Zach said "Mom, I really wanted my Grandma with the special cereal to stay at our home."

Eli - getting reaquainted with Grandma. The other boys were too busy messing around to sit for a picture.

The boys came away with a few special goodies...their first real remote control cars. The played most of the afternoon in the garage with them. But after baths I didn't want them to get all dirty in the garage, so the kitchen was the race track of choice.

We wish visits from all our Grandmas and Grandpas were easier and could happen more often...family is so very special! We miss you all!!

Cause and Effect...plus more!

Justin mentioned that he was a believer in cause and effect in his last post...so am I! The boys took turns cutting eachother's hair last night, so this morning I had to "fix it." They got to eat granola bars during their turn in the barber chair, so please excuse the messy faces (boys never have messy faces right??)

Seth's cut wasn't so bad. I had to take it about 2 notches shorter on the clippers then what I usually do, and was still able to cover up the chunks that Zach cut out. His hair being this short and parts of it being blond from our island adventures make for an interesting hair do to say the least.

Zach on the other hand wasn't quite so lucky. I used one notch up from shaving the sides and back of his head and still there is 4 spots that you can see the evidence of an inexperienced barber...brings out his beautiful eyes don't you think!!

The boys are working hard on some artwork to send in Daddy's weekly care package. Last week when I mailed his package I said "documents" when the postal worker asked me what the contents of the package were.

My shirt is about as green as my nose has been today, yet I am still smiling! Look Daddy at how strong I have gotten. I can sit up...pull over the full basket of toys and not loose my balance! Now that is talent!!

Carlisle Bay with Friends

Mr. John in a serious discussion with someone...not sure what he was talking about, but he was definitely relaxed after the first dip in the water and before the lunch and the second dip...

The guys checking out their haul from the first dip...I think Dennis had picked up a "1800's" piece of fine China, that actually had a stamp on the bottom "Made in Taiwan"...I am guessing it wasn't actually 200+ years old!

Zach and Seth's Buddies...Bethan (in Pink), Sebastian (Standing) and Brawnyne...They were all getting ready to jump off the top of Prudent...Sebastian hadn't done it since last week, and Bethan did if for the first time today...pretty cool!

The Sun on the way home from Carlisle Bay...BEAUTIFUL!

Me in my wet shirt after snorkeling with it on just before we headed home. I was pretty worn out...not sure how far I swam, but it was quite a distance...

I am a believer in "Cause and Effect"...not Bethan handing out the marshmellows....Now the effect...Brawnyne has a stomach ache and needs some cuddling with mom (Helen)

I wanted a picture with John (UK) and I after a nice day out on the water...and it turns out we just missed Dennis (French) giving us a moom, and Paul (UK) stabbing John in the top of the head! And I thought I was much safer here in Antigua with a bunch of allies than my buddies who are over in Iraq...but maybe that isn't really the case! :) Here is my "FIND OF THE DAY"...last week John and Paul both found there "Titan's Trumpet" shells. I was jealous and really wanted to have one...I dug this guy up within about 10 minutes of being on the anchor...He was eating a starfish with his huge "Jaws"...actually a pretty mean animal. I found another one later in the day, but I kept this guy as his color was better...it will look nice on the shelf next to the Conch shell i got my first week here.

My Hunch was Right.

I was pretty sure that Seth would get some bright ideas from reading this book the other night...I was right!

The boys filled their pants pockets with rocks...I didn't notice when I threw them into the wash, I ended up with a washer full of little pebbles...lovely...later on in the evening they found their preschool, completely dull scissors and gave eachother haircuts while I was putting Eli to bed. Seth's isn't too crazy, Zach however has about 4 large bald spots on the back of his head!!

I didn't want to leave Eli out. He has been struggling with a cold this week, therefore, waking up more often at night then a newborn does! He is still pretty happy...mom, on the other hand is pretty wore out and starting to catch his cold! At least he is a cute stinker.

Sprinkler Fun.

I will save you all the detailed saga (mainly because I am too tired to remember it all), except to say $150 in sprinkler repairs were worth it last night! I was testing the system...it was not quite 50 degrees...and the boys had a blast, church clothes and all!

On a side not, any time I put a shirt on Seth that has buttons in the front, he insists on wearing a tie! Quite a handsome little fellow in it too!

Justin at Carlisle Bay while it is snowing in Colorado Springs!!!

A Some good friends from the Royal Navy (John, UK and his wife Patricia Canadian) had me over for a Flag night dinner. He asked me to bring a US Flag. I brought this one, and he got quite a kick out of how we Americans have to go BIG or don't go at all!

Here is a picture of me atop John's boat as we are anchored in Carlisle Bay.

We were the first boat of the morning to anchor in Carlisle bay, but as you can see it got popular pretty quickly...

This is Sebastian (1/2 UK, 1/2 French, and Antiguan by birth) a friend of the boys saying hi to Zachary and Seth.

Paul Foster, Me, and John Whitlam saying HI VONNIE!...enjoying our time on the boat...after a swim, and before another round of swimming. We got on the boat at 10 AM and we didn't get off the boat until 7 PM. A nice long day in the sun and with friends.


This is Dennis Gobinet racing us back to the port in his boat...Sally his wife was mortified that he was surfing down our wake, as he had Sebastian with her...she wasn't worried about Dennis being a little crazy...it was her son!
This is Meghan and her boyfriend Ashley as we crossed in front of Darkwood beach...and again Dennis is behind us, but he was at a little safer distance!

Bonnie and Sally saying hi to Vonnie...a little tired after a long day on the water!
Sally (UK) and Dennis (French) saying HI VONNIE AND BOYS!
Not very often you get to watch the sunset into the water, from the water...ecspecially while you are "racing" a friends boat!

Tis the Season...

Tis the season for garage saling...hard to believe that the time is upon us again (especially with snow in the air). We hit our first garage sale today. I guess techinically not a garage sale since it was in a church...we'll call it a bargain sale! Grandma Shirley, you would have loved it! We were out the door at 7:30a.m. (when you are up at 5:30a.m. it really isn't hard to do). The boys had their little baggies of quarters and were raring to go! What fun!! They each purchased a big ziploc bag full of goodies (junk) with the quarters they have been earning, and Seth found his big catch of the day...Superman Slippers!

I am a sucker for books - especially the Little Golden Books - we came home with a stack of them and have read each of them at least 2 times today!

The boys have already asked if there is a sale we can go to tomorrow...we'll see!

Funny faces for Daddy!

Please excuse the horrible pictures...I'm not sure what happened I'm sure it was the camera's fault and not the photographer :) However the subjects were excited to show Daddy their new looks!!

I stuck my finger in the light socket...my hair didn't get curly, it just stood straight on end!

Daddy...we just wanted you to to have a good laugh tonight! Mom keeps promising us hair cuts, but she says she wants to wait until the weather is better so we can cut it outside...hmmm...hopefully that will be coming soon!!!

All Aboard!!

One of Zach's little friends has out grown his toys and his Mom passed this entire Geotrax set on to us! Wow!! It entertained ALL 3 boys for quite a while.

Seth is the train conductor; and feeling quite proud of himself! Fittingly he has his Thomas the Train pj's on too!

Eli didn't even move! No reaching, no grabbing, and no eating...he just sat and watched the train go around and around!

Zach is the Air Traffic Controller. It came with an airplane section, wich a plane that flies around the airport and lands...it has a baggage department and everything!

It's always nice to have something new to entertain...especially when it literally captivated all of them!

On a side note: to all of you Colorado Springs Moms out there! I added a link to my site called "My Kid's Week." It is a great free site put together by a friend of mine with all sorts of information, activities, and upcoming local events for your kids! Check it out!