Beautiful Walk

Yesterday was a wonderful Sunday... but it was long.  We went to church early with Preston so that I could get Primary stuff done while he was in his meetings.  Then we had our usual 3 hours of Church.  Right after that there was a baptism and then we had our 5th Sunday potluck.  6+ hours later when we finally got home Preston left to make some visits.  By the time he got home I needed some beach relaxation.  So I informed everyone we would be heading out for one of our Sunday walks.  Apparently all of the kids approached dad (separately) to "tell on me" and tell him they didn't want to go.  But he agreed that we should go :)  And we always know that as much as they protest they LOVE it once we get there and they don't want to leave.  This Sunday evening was no exception.  And it was absolutely gorgeous out.  We walked and talked and collected things.

At one point PJ, Brynn and Dylan were out in the water collecting sand dollars and such and PJ discovered that they were in the presence of cool sting rays.  I SO wish I had had the video on PJ's phone out and ready because Brynn was definitely NOT as excited as her dad was :) I'm pretty sure she tried to climb on top of him but he wouldn't let her.  You can kind of tell in these pictures...

There are always neat things to discover...

There were lots of small fish that were fun to see which is why we think there were also so many sting rays...

We collected 16 sand dollars!... lucky night...

And we ended the evening with this fun guy who wanted to fight :)

We enjoyed the evening and were there almost two hours and ended up walking the boardwalk back in the dark.  Kate was convinced there was a bear out and about and wanted to stay on daddy's shoulders.  He told her she was much safer in the stroller because then they could run really fast and then the bear would end up getting mommy instead of any of them because mommy was the slowest - lovely :{ but sadly all too true :)

Have I ever mentioned how much I love it here??

Air Force Ball 2013

Preston and I have never really been "dancers".  Can't say that I can think of a time we've even danced together - other than maybe one slow song at my brothers wedding reception years ago.  We didn't even have dancing at our own reception.  I guess its just not really 'our thing'.  That's a little surprising seeing as we do love music and often have it playing while we are hanging out at home.  So when I heard the Air Force Ball was coming up and a few of our friends were going I decided it was high time we stepped out of our box and tried something a little different and new.  Only Preston wasn't exactly on board.  He had no desire to go.  I was forced to used my skills at nagging and peer pressure and whatever I could think of to convince him that he 'wanted' to take me this one time.  And it worked, eventually.  Then once he agreed I had to remind him a uh few times to actually buy the tickets and get out his mess dress that he hadn't seen in over 7 years (and only worn once at his Officer Training in Alabama) and try it on.  It needed to be tailored (because it was a little big) but he refused because he had no desire to spend money on something he didn't plan on wearing ever again.  But I was okay with all of this because he was going, and didn't have an attitude about it.  Then Saturday was the day... and it was a busy one with Dylan's birthday party that morning.  But we still had plenty of time to clean up and relax before getting ready.  And it was fun getting all dressed up and cleaned up to be going out to something we don't get to do all the time.  It was a neat experience.   

And guess what?!?... We had a great time :)      

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Yep, I said WE!  We were standing there in line to get our pictures taken... I told him that since this was our one time going to the Ball we were going to get pictures to remember it... and he looked back at me and said, "I get the feeling this won't be our only time."  :)

After we got our "prom" pictures taken ;) they had a photo booth for you to go in as well.  These turned out dumb but oh well...

We had such a good time because we had some good company.  We had several neighbors and parents of the kids friends there.  He introduced me to several commanders or coworkers I hadn't met yet.  We spent time with his nurse and her husband.  And from our Branch the Youngs and the Kemps were there...

Very early on in the evening I noticed that my husbands uniform seemed a little lacking in one area compared to others.  Not that we should compare but...

Apparently he actually should have had at least a couple of medals/ribbons (according to his nurse) but he couldn't think of where they would be or when he got them.  I teased him about it and he handled it well and wasn't embarrassed at all ;)

As the night was coming to a close he started to say that his legs and feet hurt... which made me laugh because my feet were KILLING me... but I had some gorgeous heels (or glass slippers as Kate called them) to blame that on...  apparently his work out earlier in the day was to blame but it was still funny to hear him be the one complaining of his feet hurting :P  Anyway, we still hadn't actually danced and I wanted at least one slow song.  So I had to tell him that he couldn't leave until he finally asked me to dance.  Geez, booger.  And so we danced... 

... and then we both hobbled back to the car after a long fun night.   

Boot Camp Birthday Party

For Dylans birthday he kept telling me he wanted to have a "fighting party".  Of course I wasn't loving or encouraging that idea.  But while I contemplated trying to figure out how to make that "work", I came across Kara's party that she threw for Jonathan and decided to steal it :)  So Boot Camp Birthday Party it was!!!!

The Invite:

The Agility Course:

The Grenade Toss/Fight:

The Cake:

Presents!

The War with Marshmallow Shooter Guns:

 Random:

Making & Flying Jets:

The Para Trooper Drop (trying to land on the target):

The Firing Range:

The Man Hunt - "Leave No Man Behind":  
We talked to them about camouflage and boy did those little army men blend into the grass and sand!  They had a lot of fun searching for all their troops.

Happy Birthday to our big 5 year old!  We love you Dylan!...