Fort Fun

Beautiful Smiles

Peek A Boo!

My Man

It is my turn to brag on Mark-and to share our news! Several months ago-April, I think, Mark put in a package (applied) for a fellowship in the world of operational and aviation psychology.

We learned today that he has been selected! (Congratulations, Babe, I never had a doubt!) If my understanding is correct, this fellowship will allow him to move out of the clinic and into more of the line-side operations of the military. Apparently, there is quite a difference between Med Group and the rest of the AF. He will focus more on prevention than on damage control.


We don't know many of the particulars, but one thing we do know is...watch out Florida! Here we come! The fellowship will take us to the panhandle sometime this summer/fall. It should make for an awesome opportunity for Mark, a good transition locale for us since we will still get our fill of sand and sun and be a great vacation spot for visitors-without them having to fly around the world!

In case you can't guess, I am super excited and super proud of my husband. Sometimes it seems he leads a charmed life, but get to know him a bit, and anyone would learn luck has nothing to do with it. He is hard working, responsible, generous, an amazing father and husband...I believe God blesses Mark because Mark blesses God. Does that make sense? It does to me.

Mark, you are my best friend, my greatest hero.

With All My Admiration...Court

Steppin' Out

On Sunday, October 26th, 2008, Katelee Sarah braved her first steps. She took one early in the day . Then, later in the evening, she took four steps right into my arms. I tried to get her on video, but that was a challenge. If any of them turned out, I will try to share. Liv and I were both hooping and hollering and Katelee was grinning from ear to ear!



For now, you will have to make do with one of the girls reading a Halloween book together.

Silly Girls

Yesterday, Saturday, was a fun day of hangin out all morning in our jammies and acting silly.

Then we had a yummy dessert of strawberries in whipped cream. Katelee found Liv's plate...

Sisterly Love

One of Katelee's new things is to open the cabinet doors and check out what is inside. While I was taking out the trash, she found a cool little nook-just her size! She just crawled in and out, in and out...you get the point. Liv thought it would be great fun to "help" her in and then shut the door. Luckily, all activities were closely supervised and no such instance occurred. For now, at least, Katelee is safe from a life of claustrophobia.

Playtime II

Watch out, Dad. Liv was having her own playtime. She looks pretty cozy with her friend, Drew. They are buddies! Although, she is still going to marry Nolan...Drew hasn't asked her yet! Lorri, I think Nolan is safe-Drew doesn't strike me as the marrying type.

Playtime

This is a classic Katelee expression right now...the scrunched up nose.

Is it a cookie? Chocolate? No. It's a rock with a side of dirt. Yummy!

(where is this girl's Mama?)

Time to wash our face!

Little Piggy

Our dainty little girl has taken to eating an entire waffle for breakfast in the morning. Keep in mind, this is following her morning nursing and is accompanied by yogurt and/or milk!

Going...

Going...

Gone!

Road Trip!

Here on the island, the concept of a road trip has been lost, unless you want to drive around the whole thing and end up where you started! The Guam version is to recruit as many other mom friends as possible and actually drive off the base! You can't really tell from the pic, but there are five cars making up our Mommy Parade.

Olivia and her friend, Drew, chillin' in the back of the van

Our big outing was to venture down south, have lunch at Jeff's and then play on the beach for a while. Sounds simlpe, but now consider 8 moms and 10+ kids between the ages of 2 months and 4 years! It was chaos-lots of fun!

Happy Birthday (already?)

Since Mark will be gone during Katelee's first birthday in a couple of weeks, we decided to go ahead and have a small celebration today! We had a few friends over to help celebrate, watch the Mizzou-Texas football game (Mizzou got trounced), eat some pizza and cake, and watch Katelee open her gifts. She was a little hesitant about diving into the cake, but that didn't last long. And, she seemed to get into the gift-opening spirit quickly too. She completely enjoyed the blue ball her big sister bought her (with her own money). Despite Mizzou losing, it was fun. Enjoy the pics!

Angels

Guess what the girls will be for Halloween this year!

Tombstone

One of Mark's favorite movies is Tombstone. So, while in Sierra Vista, it provided a great opportunity to head over to the town of Tombstone. He was able to wander around the town and look at the old western stuff. Then, he headed to a reenactment of the OK Coral shootout. It was fun.

1882 City Hall

Tombstone Mainstreet

Doc Holiday

The reenactment was good, and a video of it can be found by clicking on the Video link on the right. Enjoy!

Coronado National Memorial

I was able to get out again this afternoon and take a few more pictures. I made it to an elevation of 6575 feet. There is a great view from that point!

Coronado National Memorial

The Great Southwest

I was able to get out and explore the area a little bit today. I saw deer, a road runner, and rabbits, as well as all kinds of flowers and trees. Of course, I took pictures! Enjoy.

Coronado National Forest

Underwater World

Prior to Mark heading out for some training, we all got to enjoy some family time at Underwater World. Enjoy the fun pics!

Jellyfish

Olivia & Jaws

Relaxed Katelee

Killer Big Bird

Today ended the hospital's inspection, so Mark came home a little early. He arrived just in time for the weekly Play Group. So, he snapped a couple pictures, including Katelee giving her mother some good kisses. She is increasing her babbling, and she has started to stand for a few seconds on her own.


Katelee may end up with nightmares tonight about a huge, yellow bird attacking her. When the toy first started singing, she enjoyed it. However, it went through another round, and she began to get a little freaked out. The toy sings "If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands" for the first verse. Then, it goes into "If you are happy and you know it, stomp your feet." At this point, the bird jumps in the air. Finally, it goes into a third verse of "If you are happy and you know it, nod your head." At this point, the bird starts jumping up and down and moves forward. Katelee wasn't too thrilled at this point, and she actually started crying.


We were able to snap a good Girls Pic before bedtime. Does Katelee look traumatized? Thanks to whoever gave us this great toy! :)

To view the video of the Killer Big Bird, you can click on the Taylor Videos link (on the right). The video is about 10MB though. Enjoy!

Weekend Activities

It has been a busy week preparing for a hospital inspection occurring next week. We have been preparing for nearly 6 months, and it is finally all coming to an end. Woo hoo!

Mark has been busy reading all week, preparing for a conference today -- Lay Leadership Conference for the Chapel. He taught the book: Jesus on Leadership. Courtney was able to attend also, and she gave two thumbs up. After his one hour talk to about 30 people, they headed to the next conference -- the Guam Guard (Air & Army). Mark spoke for an hour on Love & Respect.

Most importantly, Mark & Courtney took advantage of the babysitting and headed for a lunch date. We actually ate until stuffed! Now, it is time to head to bed (early) and get some rest.

Speed Racer

Guam Critter

Is that a Clicking Sound?

Monday night: Wake up and take Olivia potty at midnight. Go back to sleep. Let her sleep until morning. Dry bed!

Tuesday night: Take Olivia potty at midnight. Go to sleep. Let her sleep until morning. Dry bed!

Is it clicking? Is she getting it? Hopefully!

Mark got a new camera and has been playing with it the last couple of days. Enjoy the pictures! Believe it or not, none of them have been enhanced yet!

Life (or TV) on Guam

Last night was a long night. Mark went to bed a little late after completing some homework. Then, he woke up around 2 to take Olivia to the potty (yes, still doing that). Then, electricity went out around 3:30 (we think). So, since we had hooked up our generator on Saturday to test it, the thought went through Mark's head: "what if I forgot to flip the switch back?" So, he went outside to check it out. Fortunately, everyone's electricity was out; not just ours. Then, Mark thought: "what if I forgot to switch something off that made EVERYONE'S electricity go off?!!" Well, since Mark was up, might as well take Olivia to the potty again.

The electricity came back on around 5:30. Then, Courtney got up a bit after 6 to get ready for church. Mark got the girls ready, and we headed to church around 9:00. After church, we did some grocery shopping before coming home. Mark was excited to see Mizzou football playing Illinios. He turned on the TV, watched two great plays (MU scored), and then the electricity went out again! No worries! We hooked up the generator and turned on the TV again. Do'oh! The cable was out!!!

Fortunately, in Guam, television programs get repeated often. The MU vs. Illinois game was replayed that day, and Mark was able to watch the Tigers beat up on Illinois! Hopefully, it will be a great year for Tiger football!