Swim meet

Saturday was a great day! Preston had a swim meet in Salt Lake at Cottonwood High School. I was amazed that at 7am he was up and ready for the day. So excited to go and race. He has really enjoyed being in a swim club.
A lot of the swim meet consists of sitting and waiting around. He competes in 3 strokes. Breast, back and freestyle. He does an amazing job. His coaches are surprised at how skilled he is at the breast stroke.



All three of the kids were such troopers. They were very well behaved for having to get up early on a Saturday.

















Preston is so ready for this.


He did a beautiful job. He was in 4th place at the wall. He then turned and kicked off and glided ahead of everyone.


He took 1st place for his heat. It was awesome! I am so proud of him and his accomplishments he has made.





Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and waiting with us. Mom thanks for the pics.

Disney!

We made it! Finally, after a year of feeling guilt, sadness and failure. I helped Abigail finally fullfill a dream. A week after Chris came home we went on our celebratory trip to California. Five days of parks, walking, sightseeing, climbing, riding, eating, shopping, and more walking. Very exhausting but very rewarding. And the very first thing we did was for Abigail. A year ago we missed her most favorite character at Disney. (Mom was in a rush to see everything and bypassed this place.) So here is to Abbie and her favorite cartoon.

The excitement is building. She can hardly stand it. For a year everytime we talked about our trip Abbie would remind me of who we didn't see.

Tinkerbell! That's right Abbie finally met her and loved every minute of it. That was the first time I have seen her this speechless. I don't think she even giggled.

She loved every minute of this precious moment. So here's to Abbie and her hero. Way to go girls.

Abigail also had the chance to duel with Darth Vader. She had the force. Again, all 4 kids were picked to train as Jedis. It was awesome. I so loved that they were all picked. Abbie, was picked as the the special Jedi in training to fight Vader and knock him down. The Master couldn't get her to stop giggling long enough to knock over the troopers. She had the whole crowd laughing. It was great. If you look at the pic above you can see the clone troopers falling back as she uses the force.

What great parents we are. One of my favorite rides is Splash Mountain. I love long log rides. We made all the kids go on this ride. If you know anything about our kids it is that Prest hates rides. IF it goes higher than about 15 feet he won't go near it. Well, our luck is that has rubbed off onto fearless Lukers. He was at one point fearless, and now with the great influence of big brother he has no desire to go on "BIG" rides. He squeezed the life out of my arms on this ride as he clung to me. At the end Chris got this great pic of him. I am sorry but it was well worth it.

This is the first family trip that I actually let Chris take pics of me and not erase them. I have thrown a few in. Finally getting over the feeling of ugly pics. Might as well enjoy life and have some proof for years to come.

The girls chillin' with Chris. They kept him busy. It was great to be with him.

Toontown is one of our favorite places to goof off! The only problem was they couldn't keep us in jail.

Mickey Mouse's house. It is so much fun. They have done an amazing job with his house. It is a neat place to explore.

No explanation needed. At least I hope.

Oh yeah! Who's the tough one?! Obviously me. Wait...

Preston cheated. You can't use fingers.

The girls are in Heaven!

Still the strongest. Sorry Chris.

Luke could not get enough of Mickey and his house. He was lovin' the place. I really think he would live there if he could and if they had nintendo.

Preston needs some practice.

I think that Luke got to see Mickey 3 times and was still asking to see him again. He had so much fun. So while the girls and Chris were riding big rides I took the boys to see him again, and again, and well anyways you get the picture. Actually you see the picture.

Disneyland really is the place where Dreams do Come TRUE! Madi is the one child that has had a hard time growing up. She would still play dress up if we could find outfits her sizes. So there we were at the princess shop and sure enough we found a Cinderella dress her size. She couldn't hardly stand it. Madi had it on before we could even pay for it. She could not stop smiling. She then was able to meet her favorite character. Perfect ending to a good day. Love ya Mads!

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes...

When you are fast asleep.
So after a year of doing laundry alone, eating dinner alone, laying in bed alone, running kids all over kingdom come alone, going to church alone and so much more I have finally woken up to a wonderful morning. Chris arrived home October 30 at 11:45ish pm. We missed trick-or-treating with him but the kids could have cared less.
One week later Chris was able to baptize Abbie. She was so excited that she literally came out of the water giggling. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen or heard. She made everyone in the room laugh. What a sweet spirit she is. Thanks to all the family who participated and helped make her day. Thank you, Oma for coming down just for the occasion. I know it was a quick trip but I am so glad you came. Amy, thank you for the gift. I know you wanted to be there and you were in spirit. Thank you D. and Mom for participating in her program.
The next morning we left for our family vacation. What a fun trip it has been. Pictures are to come but we brought the wrong cables and unfortunately are unable to download any right now. We left Sunday trying to miss the snow storm Utah was to recieve and I am glad we did leave when we did. Monday we went to Disneyland and what a time we had. First thing we did was see Tinkerbell. For a year all Abbie could talk about was how we missed her and she never got to see her. For once, she didn't know what to say. It was the best. We could have ended the trip there for her and she wouldn't have minded. We then went to the Jedi training where again all 4 kids were picked. More to come on that. Tuesday we went to California Adventure. All I have to say is fun and again no crowds; although there are a couple of rides where the lines were long due to popularity. We still had a wonderful time. Wednesday we did a mix of both parks and what a time we had. Crowds were thicker in Disney that day but for the most part we still didn't have to wait too long. Luke was even able to see Mickey for the 3rd time and not wait long. He was lovin' life.
Today was the most exhausting. After 3 days of Disney we went to legoland. It was crazy. The park was packed. Lines for some rides were 2 hours long. (We skipped those rides.) The kids had a great time but waiting in line was hard, especially after not having to earlier in the week. Apparently California celebrates Veterans Day. No school=Legoland for those kids. The kids had a good time. They have been troopers and it has been great. Tomorrow Sea World. Can't wait to see Shamu. It is a fun place.
We have had a great time and are enjoying our time with Chris and just being able to get reacquainted with him.
And for all those who have or will serve this great country of ours THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!

Happy Birthday Wacky Luke

Today is Luke's 6th Birthday. He has been counting down for days. He may not know the date but he knows today is important. He is so excited.


Luke looks at life through imaginery glasses. He is always on an adventure. Finding something new to experience.

Luke always has the biggest grin on his face.

Luke loves to play. He will always find something to entertain him. His goal is to make everyone around him laugh and feel loved. He is happy, excited, kind, loving, caring, and anything else positive. He has been my bud and a great trooper through life. If it's not fun he is not interested. Just ask him what he does at school. His reply, "we sat, we just sat, we just sat some more." He makes life interesting and fun.

Today was "wacky hat" day at school. He was so excited because he could wear the "Birthday" hat.

Happy Birthday Luke! We love you.

Coming Soon...

It's October and you know what that means. Less than a month for my wonderful husband to be home. Can't wait and can't last much longer without him. It has been a wonderfully long year of highs, lows and many-in-betweens. Life has been good. We have accomplished a lot this year. I would not have been able to do it without the help of Heavenly Father and awesome family and friends. THANK YOU! You know who you are. Love you all.

I never thought...

I never thought that I would have four kids. I never thought I would not be a nurse by now. I never thought that life could get any busier. I never thought that I would cherish my Saturdays so much. And I certainly never thought I would be a soccer mom, let alone coach two teams. That's right not only have we dived into soccer this fall, but I am coaching Luke and Abigail's teams. It has been a crazy whirlwind of running around, driving all over, and running some more. I have no clue as to what I am doing. Things are crazy. Not only are Luke and Abigail playing, but Madison watched their first game and decided she wanted to play. All three play at three different fields on different sides of town. I would not be able to do it without the help of my family. Mike who lives, and breathes soccer is the true coach. When Luke found out I was coaching he called Mike and asked him if he would help. It has been great to spend Saturdays with the Coil Fam.

As you can see the Tyler kids with the Great Coach.

Mike showing the girls what to do and how to play. Me trying to look like I know what I am doing.

Abigail looking hot in Lemon.

She had to leave the middle of the game and run over to give Grandma a big hug.

I love this shot. It reminds me of Lala and her soccer days. I always had fun going and watching her play, whether it was in Logan or south of Salt Lake. Thanks for the memories.

Abigail hustling for the ball.

Listening to the expert.

She was not afraid.

She has a great leg on her. She had some wonderful kicks. I have not seen her more excited to participate in anything else. It has been so much fun.

Thanks for the shot Erin. Next time crop out the wanna be coach. Love ya!

Luke was all about bunch ball and running with boys.

He was taking it all in.

Those boys were so much fun. They are a great joy to watch.

There I am again trying to look like I know what I am doing. Thank goodness Mike is there to save my hide.

Overall, it has been a blast. My family has been there from the beginning. Mike has been great to help with practices, and games. Erin and the girls have sacrificed their precious saturday time with Mike so he can help his big sis. Lauren has been awesome to help with games when Mike can't, and my parents who thought their days of driving kids to and from games were over have just begun again. Thank you all of you for your love, support and cheering. I never thought I would love being a SOCCER MOM!

GO BLUE LIGHTNING!

GO LEMONATORS!

What a blast!

So, the other day Lieutenant Danek and I went to the otherside of the airfield to check on the progress of our new mail processing facility, the Regional Mail Distribution Center (RMDC), and also to check on the guys sorting mail at the temporary RMDC. This is nothing new, we go out there nearly every day. This particular day there had been a number of what are called "controlled detonations". This is when the demolition guys blow stuff up in a controlled situation. On our way back there was an announcement of a "controlled detonation (det) in one minute." Okay, no big deal they'd been doing them all day long. We had just gone over a speed bump (there's a speed bump every 50 yards or so, but that's a different story all together) and were approaching the rifle and pistol range, where we practice shooting our weapons, when the controlled det went off. BOOM! Apparently, and we did not know this before, the detonation area is right next to the range. We were less than fifty meters away from the explosion. HOLY CRAP! Next thing I know there are rocks raining down around us and our hearts our pounding in our chests. That was a little too close for comfort. Fortunately, the detonation area is surrounded by 20 foot walls so the blast concussion is channelled upward instead of out. Now we know where not to be when they announce controlled dets in the future.

When Uncle Caleb is bored...

Chris and I went to the temple one night while he was visiting. The kids went to my parents house. Caleb was there and he was bored and decided to do a little art project. And this is what we came home to...

Luke loved it. He was Ang the Last Airbender. It was a hit. Thanks Caleb for making great memories with the kids. We love and cherish you very much.

The Back and Forth of it all...

In early August I was assigned to travel to another FOB to fix the problems they were having. I was anticipating only staying on ground for two or three weeks, but was later directed to stay longer. No problem, however, I have been back and forth to Bagram because of issues there that had to be resolved as well.

I am pleased to say that for the most part the problems that needed fixing are mostly fixed. I can't take too much of the credit, even though I had a hand in it, it wasn't really all that hard to fix. It simply took a little effort to go out and talk to the right people. Amazing what a little communication, friendly communication, can do to fix things. My thanks and appreciation go out to the soldiers who work for me that were able to take what we were given and make it successful. We came up with a plan and they put it into play and everything is running so much smoother than before. The Lord has blessed to be successful.

Soon I will be heading home, not just back to Bagram, but home to Utah to be with my wonderful family who have loved and supported me. They give me hope and joy and Aubrey is truly an inspiration. She has rarely complained and has shown tremendous strength during this challenging time. I am blessed to have her as my eternal companion.