Hawaiin Holiday

The Mitchells (the whole family) are enjoying a fun holiday vacation in Hawaii. They have done several touristy things, and they managed to get some great Family Photo Shots! Enjoy.

Courtney Vacation (that keeps going and going)

Today was "back to work day" for Mark, but he came home a bit early to watch a sunset with Courtney. After the sun dipped below the ocean, we headed to the Jerk House for some Jamaican food (SPICY)! Enjoy some scenic shots below.

Courtney Vacation (again)

Today was another good diving day. We teamed up with a couple other guys, and we dove from one beach to another. We stayed close to the shore. In fact, our maximum depth was only 15 feet! But, we saw lots of coral, fans, and fish. One guy saw an octopus, but the rest of us missed it. There were also jellyfish, and one guy got scraped across the face (no serious injuries). We didn't find any conch shells this time, but Mark snagged one souvenir (below). This was probably our last dive since Courtney has to leave on Wednesday. She is still in denial about that though.

Our shell collection

Courtney Vacation (Part 10)

Today was a great day of diving! We headed out on a boat with some friends and tied up to a buoy. We sank to find a sunken barge right beneath us. Surrounding the barge were great coral walls with all kinds of fish. We managed to find: a crab, a lobster, a watch, 2 stone fish, a blue shrimp, a trumpet fish, a turtle, a Triton's Trumpet shell, a barracuda, tons of fans and corals, and many different kinds of fish. It was our best dive yet.

We also picked up some of our shells we have had cleaned from previous dives. Looking good!


We ended the night with a nice dinner at a quaint Cuban restaurant. Quite nice.

Courtney Vacation (just keeps continuing)

Today was another adventurous day. Courtney and Mark woke up early and headed to the beach. We scoured the sand for pieces of colorful glass, and we found several nice treasures. Courtney has now decided to make a mosaic out of the collection. We originally planned on snorkeling, but it was too chilly.

In the afternoon, we went on a Marine tour of the fence separating us from Communist Cuba. We received a bit of a history lesson along the way, which was quite interesting. Unfortunately, the tour was called off a tad early when gunshots were heard. Enjoy the pic below, and check out more pics by clicking on the Taylor Photos link on the right.

Courtney Vacation (continued)

Today was another good day of relaxing and having fun. Mark and Courtney took to the beach for some scuba diving and snorkeling. Courtney made a great find while scuba diving -- a Triton's Trumpet (type of shell) -- but Mark made her put it back since he wasn't sure if those were keepers. However, we did snag a couple of conch shells. After we returned to the scuba shop, we learned Triton's Trumpets are hard to find and we should have snagged it. Thus, we headed back to the beach for some snorkeling. We tried to retrace our path, but after 40 minutes, we couldn't find it. Almost ready to give up, we made one more sweep, and Courtney found her shell again! We have a guy cleaning it now. In the meantime, enjoy a couple of pics from our last diving expedition.

Katelee steals the show at Silver Dollar City

Hello Santa!

The girls make their wishes known.

Courtney said Olivia visited a Santa at the mall and ran up to him, gave him a big hug, and told him, "I love you Santa" as they were leaving.

Courtney Vacation

Well, Courtney arrived safe and sound with Mark on Thursday. The girls are enjoying some one-on-one time with the grandparents. Courtney has already been introduced to Yoga, the galley meals (Friday night was steak & lobster night), and the beaches. Saturday, we headed to a couple of beaches, although it was quite cloudy and ready to rain. We did manage to snorkel at Windmill Beach though, and there were some great sights -- eel, fish, fans. We also saw a movie last night at the outdoor theater (Four Christmases). Today has it's own agenda: church, lunch, boating, and scuba diving! Should be fun. We are headed out the door now to buy snacks and such for the day.

Stay tuned for a few pics of the girls in MO.

Hi Daddy!

2008 Nov 235, originally uploaded by counsel14.

Thought I would share a rare one of me with you!

Arrived

We have arrived! And I am finally over jet-lag enough to take and post pics. Whew. The journey went off without a hitch, except for all of our luggage getting lost. But even that was delivered the next day. So far, we have hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Donner, hit up Chick-fil-A, Sonic, Gordmans and Walmart. Here are some pics of our weekend in the woods.

Smores in the fireplace

Snuggles with Lucy

Snuggles with Ferbie

Saying Goodbye

Right before we left, we learned our babysitter extraordinaire is leaving us for a cush deployment before we return. As you can see, the girls hated saying goodbye!

Tear-jerker

2008 Oct 009, originally uploaded by counsel14.

Saying Nigh'-Night: Captured the night before Mark left.

Playing Catch'Up

We went to a Pampered Chef party at a friend's house today-while I learned to bake a chocolate cake in the microwave, Liv dressed her sister like a hula girl. The funniest part this that Katelee left the lais on for 15 minutes or more! Aloha!

Liv talking to her Daddy.

Crazy Hair Night


Our new tansu step from Hong Kong!

We're Back!

Hey All! It has been several days because our modem went down, so here is a picture just for kicks-it is Katelee trying with all her might to lift Doggy while trying to stay balanced. Check out that belly!!!

Salvaged Photos

Here are a few of the pics that we got before my camera went dead. Will

Well Baby

Katelee had her 12 month well-baby check today and the biggest news is that she is back on the growth chart! She went from 16 lbs to 17lbs 12 oz in just one month! She is doing great and is even ahead of schedule in some areas, like speech. Apparently, we have another verbal girl on our hands. Is anyone surprised? That girl would talk herself to sleep at 2 months old. Some of her words include mama, daddy, doggy, stuck, cow, moo, quack, that and uh-oh. In this photo she is snuggling her doggy daddy got her for her birhtday-it is her favorite. She flops herself down on him and just snuggles in. Too funny!

Birthday Box

Here are some pics of the girls opening a package sent from Grandma Donner for Katelee's birthday. She had an outfit and several cool toys for the Birthday Girl and somehow managed to find a Little Red Riding Hood doll for Olivia that sings "Grandma is waiting for me in the woods." Couldn't be more appropriate!

Unfortunately, my camera died so all the pictures of the party for Will and Katelee are on a friend's camera. Sorry, you all have to just wait! It was a lot of fun for everyone and the new patio makes a nice area to hang out. It is, however, really rough, so not good for bare feet or knees. I guess they made it rough so that it will not be slippery when wet. Makes sense. There is a lot of exposed red dirt for lots of mud and fun! Hopefully, they will come fill some of that in before it is declared officially finished.

Bummer!

So, the cool hand and foot prints we made will only be documented by the photo I last posted. Workers came and wiped them out when they did the finishing work on the patio. Bummer. By the time they were done and gone, the cement had set. It was too late. Oh well, at least we have the picture!
I included some pictures from while Daddy was home. Today was Katelee's First Birthday and to celebrate I took the girls for ice cream with a friend, but I forgot my camera. However, don't be too bummed, because tomorrow we are have a party with her friend, Will, who turned one on Sunday. I should get some great photo ops there. Stay tuned...

Finished Product

The hard part is finished-now it just needs time to dry and then clean up. The girls each left handprints and footprints for posterity's sake. It seemed appropriate being Katelee's 1st Birthday!

Olivia's are on top, Katelee's are on bottom

Men At Work

Yesterday, work began in our back yard to add a patio. Liv and Katelee have both been fascinated watching the men working to tear up the yard and fill the space with concrete. Liv perches on the cabinet to watch.

Hangin' Out

Smilin' Eyes

Ring Around the Rosie

Katelee snugglin' Do-ggy (taken by Olivia)

Kisses for Daddy

Yesterday was a Monday, through and through. One bittersweet moment I tried to catch on camera. After I got Katelee up from her nap she spied the picture of Mark and Liv on the wall in the hallway. From that moment on all I heard was "Da-dy, Da-dy, Da-dy". So, taking the photo from the wall, I handed it to her.

Giving Kisses

She clung to it, patting Daddy's face, hugging the photo to her, giving kisses and just snuggling. I guess when you can't have the real thing, you just have to make do. All I could do was smile through my tears.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

This afternoon, the girls played and explored while I cleaned up the yard and the porch in preparation for a new patio they are going to add on to our backyard. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside. Liv jumped in the pool with all her clothes on. Katelee got brave with the swing. Enjoy the pictures!

Halloween II

Thanks to my friend, Shelby, we have one pic of the girls trick or treating.