Night out with Bekah

Anybody reading that knows me in real life would probably be pretty assured that I was firmly planted on my couch watching my Seahawks on Monday Night football. If you didn’t think I was watching the game, you probably assumed I was there at the game. Not tonight though.

So I try to do daddy-daughter dates with my girls for Christmas time for the last couple of years. This is the week we decided to do it. I want to say this is the week we had time to do it, but really I don’t. Sometimes you just have to forfeit the things you want to do or even those things you’re obligated to do for those rare, special times that you have the privilege of being dad. Daddy-daughter dates are a privilege and I will take them out on dates for as long as they’ll let me.

Tonight was Rebekah. I learned so much about my six-year-old kindergartner and how she sees the world. She told me that the third president was Thomas Jefferson and he lived in a house named Monticello and our president now named his house “The White House”. Bekah told me, “Presidents’ get to name houses. I want to be president so I can name a house.”

Then she asked if I was driving the speed limit. I told her we were going less than the speed limit because I was behind someone going slow. A second later, I sped up a bit.

“Are we going the speed limit now?”

“Yes,” I said, “Right on the speed limit.”

Bekah sighed, “Ahhh, the speed limit is sooo comfortable.”

We went to place in Lacey called Charlie’s Safari. It is a huge indoor play land with a dozen inflatables, a three-story jungle gym with slides, and an enormous arcade. Basically, it is heaven on earth for a six-year-old. We jumped and slid and climbed and did it again and again. I chased that girl all over the place as she constantly beckoned me, “C’mon!”, “Watch me!”, “Follow me!”. It was awesome. I nearly couldn’t stand by the end of it all.

As we were there, I noticed another couple that was chasing around their 2-year old daughter. Her dad was still in his Army uniform. That soldier was being very cuddly with his wife as well, not inappropriately, but noticeably. I asked him if he was going to be taking some leave for the holidays. He told me he just started his leave. He just got home. Literally just got home – they had just come from the airport and he was here until Dec 26, then back to Afganistan. He never stopped holding his wife’s hand the hold time. It was amazing. I did something I don’t normally do to people in tpublic; I asked if I could pray for their family. Sgt & Mrs Royal looked at each and said they would love that. There was not a dry eye in the place.

Bekah and I left and got dessert and chatted more about the important matters of the day like how much she loves kindergarten and how her school is the best school because they have a play toy, monkey bars, AND a music teacher.

Everything about tonight reminded me how blessed I am to be in the family that God gave me. I would miss 100 Seahawks games for another night like tonight.

Bekah and I before we left in front of the tree.

Climbing to the slide.

The Slide!

She loved this long orange slide from the top of the structure.

I can't believe she's nearly 4 feet tall

Bekah and Daddy at the top!

Zipline

Dad is pretty tuckered out.

What kinda date would it be without dessert?

Big Cooking Day Again

So, as I continue to do this once a month cooking thing I promise not to write a blog every single time, but I was so excited to complete another big cooking day today! I really can't wait to try out all the yummy recipes I made today. What's on the menu this month? Lots of good stuff. Gingerbread Waffles, Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes and Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls for breakfast; sweet potato chili, french dips, and turkey burgers for lunch; And stuffed pork roast, apple-cranberry pork chops, mandarin chicken, turkey stroganoff, spicy honey chicken, turkey shephards pie, chicken broccoli casserole and chicken with cumin and lime for dinners. I think I spent more time on this cooking day with the more detailed recipes, but I also think I spent LESS money, which definitely makes me happy. So, in the pictures you will see that I set out everything I needed out of my pantry the night before. It was definitely a huge help! You will also see the sweet potato chili cooking, the lemon poppyseed pancakes and the full freezer:-)

It was so nice to go throughout the month not having to wonder and worry about what to cook. We didn't love every recipe, but it was all good stuff and definitely worth the long day of work. Check out www.onceamonthmom.com. I am so glad I found it!

Another Enfield Outing

So last week as Doug and I were talking, we were discussing one of our favorite parts about the trip to Texas. While we were down there, we were able to go and explore so many different local treasures. This is such a great way to spend some family time while not spending a lot of money and learning more about the area around you. Well, since we have been back, life has gotten just as busy, if not busier than it was when we left. So, we haven't gotten very much family time, let alone time to explore. Well, this past Saturday we actually had a day off. *GASP* We hardly knew what to do with ourselves! So we decided to find something in Western Washington that was not too expensive yet fun at the same time. Doug found information on the Ballard Locks and fish ladder. So, we called up Aunt Angela, had her meet us in Seattle and we all went to explore this amazing engineering marvel. I don't know if I've seen locks since I was a kid in Germany. Our school would take us on a field trip down the Rhine river and the boat would have to go through locks. It is so interesting how they thought up a way to transfer boats from one body of water into another. The kids really enjoyed seeing the boat "locked" up and then released. The fish ladder was a little disappointing as there were no fish in there, but still interesting for Bethany who is studying the life cycle of Salmon right now in school. After that we headed out for a walk in the botanical gardens and then walked around Pike place market. All in all, it was a great family outing. I can't wait for another day off and another adventure!

Once a month cooking

So the last few weeks I've really been wanting to figure out how to meal plan a little bit better for our family. My search for good meal planning websites led me to onceamonthmom.com. This website was very intriguing to me and I have been looking forward to trying it. Well, today was the day. The BIG cooking day. The premise is that you cook a ton of meals in one day that should last you about a month. I went shopping on Thursday and got all the essentials (the website provides the list) and set aside the whole day today to cook. So, $191 and 10 hours of work later I have a freezer full of food. The recipes were ones that I have definitely not tried before. We have pumpkin chocolate muffins, coconut chocolate granola bars and harvest pancakes for breakfast; ham quesidillas, broccoli cheddar cups, taco soup and chicken wild rice soup for lunches; And chicken enchilada lasagna, chicken stuffing bake, stroganoff, turkey meat loaf, meatballs with gravy and salsa chicken for dinners. The only thing I think we don't have a months worth of is breakfast, but the lunches and dinners should last us. I can't wait to get into the month to see if this really saves me time and money! I will keep you updated. In the mean time, here are some pics from our day of cooking!

First and Last

Last May, I was asked to preach at my church. I just noticed that the audio is online. So... here it is. Matthew 20 - Thankfully Being Treated Unfairly.

It takes a moment to load.

Wow It Sure Is Quiet!!!

So....here we go. Another school year has begun, but this one is definitley different. For almost the last 10 years I have had a child at home or 2 or 3. My days were filled with playdates, trips to the park and childrens museums, driving to and from pre-schools and dealing with nap schedules. This year marks a new era in my life as my youngest has ventured off into the fun world of kindergarten. Since Doug and I were out of town the whole last week, I missed out on her first full week and this is really my first day with absolutely nothing I have to do. I got up, got the kids ready for school, walked them to school, did my morning run, got dinner in the crock pot, loaded dishes and started laundry.....now what? I think this is where I start redefining my days, start re-thinking my purpose and how to accomplish all I know that God has planned for me. It's interesting that our pastor spoke on purpose yesterday and made us think about being the salt and the light of the Earth. Definitely something for this mom of all school age children needs to be thinking about:-) As for the rest of today, I think I might sit back, read a book, take a nap and take on the world tomorrow. Enjoy your day everyone!

I loved Texas. It was awesome. 2 days till open house. 5TH GRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got off of the plane a long time ago. I will never drink bought hot chocolate again.I loved how many pics we took on our trip. Good back to school to all of you!!!*mwaa*

Adventures in Texas.....Heading Home

I still can't believe that 6 weeks have flown by so fast. We have experienced so much this summer and are so thankful for this opportunity. This last week has been full of "lasts". Our last tours of the area, last time out to eat down here (we tried to go once a week as a family date night), last time to the church we have been going to and after I write this we will have our last time at the pool.

Monday the kids and I headed out to tour the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. This was an amazing adventure back in time. The missions were built in the early 1700's by Spanish missionaries. They took in the local natives to convert them to Catholicism. We were able to see their churches, which are still active parishes, get a sense of their living quarters and imagine what it would have been like living in these little self sustaining communities. I was very impressed by how the kids took in and were interested in all the history "stuff".

The middle of the week was actually a lazy week for us. Lots of time by the pool and getting ready to start packing. I did decide to go ahead and do school clothes shopping down here to alleviate some of the stress that will come next week with trying to get settled back in before school starts. So the kids and I went shopping.....ALL DAY on Friday. It was quite an adventure, but I feel good about the clothes we got.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Natural Bridge Caverns. These are caverns about 15 minutes from where we have been staying. They were found in the 1960's and are the largest caverns in Texas. They were absolutely amazing. The pictures don't even do them justice. Saturday night we headed to the rodeo. Rebekah had been talking for the last 2 weeks about doing Mutton Bustin, so we got ready, went out there, signed her up, watched her walk into the arena and then watched her freak out. She was so upset that she didn't do it. I'm glad she tried, though.

As I write this, I am less than 15 hours away from boarding a plane with the kiddos. We have made some wonderful memories down here. I am hoping to take back with us the wonderful relationship the kids have formed together and the ideas for such great family adventures and outings. We don't need to be on vacation to explore together, we can do that right in our own area in Washington. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us. We could not have done this without you.

TLC - The (Un)Learning Channel

Sitting around watching “Outrageous Kid Parties” on TLC.


What in the world happened to TLC?


It used to be “Wedding” and “Baby” story shows and slice-of-life documentary type television. Now it completely horrible television that for some terrible reason we can’t seem to stop watching. Like a train wreck or a knocked over ant hill, you can’t look away.


Toddlers and Tiaras. Stage Moms and Dads. Kate Plus 8.


It is just outrageous people doing bad things. My patience is wearing thin and my decision to cancel cable at home is affirmed every moment that a screaming child is on my screen.


Gotta go - It's time for a three year old pageant queen to have her photo shoot.

Wrapping Up the Assignment

It’s been a little while since my last note – 11 days. This is good, because I am busy and things are getting done.

A little over a week ago I was finally given access to the web server to make content updates. Up to this point I am been working to gather information and create a process that will help HQ update their website on a regular basis. Now I can start making those updates. The technology is not the easiest to work with but it is rewarding to see the labor of the last six weeks come to fruition. The customers that are getting their pages updated are pretty happy well, which makes it that much better.

The web owners have decided to hold off on the content management system migration for few months. Right now there is a workload and manpower issue that would not help the success of the migration. I successfully created a migration package for the current website to the new server, but it came across static. The template couldn’t be edited dynamically. I am working to create a migration process that will migrate current content onto a custom template in the new CMS. It was already suggested to me that they “may” need some help in November when it comes time to actually do the migration. I quickly changed the subject.

My fun side project has been working with a separate team on a possible mobile solution for our larger enterprise. There is a company that claims to be able to do secure smart card authentication via web browser and/with third party software to a iPhone/iPad or Android. I will be participating in a conference call with the company tomorrow.

Finally, I have about one week left and I am completing my assigned tasks. Lots to do!

It has been a good trip both professionally and personally. My family and I have had a great time doing all kinds of Texas stuff – rodeo, barbeque, riverwalk, swimming in lakes and rivers. Last weekend we went to the beach or as my 5 year old called it, “The Mexican Golf Course” (instead of the Gulf of Mexico).

Adventures in Texas... Part 5

As I sit down to write this, we have officially started the countdown to coming home. One week from right now I will be in the Phoenix Airport heading to Seattle. It is so crazy how going into this the idea of spending 6 weeks seemed like such a long time. Now that it is coming to a close I wish we had more time. This whole experience has been such a blessing for our family. We have been able to spend so much quality time together and do things that we definitely wouldn't have done in Washington.

I feel like there is still so much I want to do that we haven't done and want to do again that we have done. We won't fit all of it in, but we can try:-) I still have several ideas for outings with the kids and we'll have one more fun Texas weekend this weekend. The only thing I don't think I will get to experience is a good thunderstorm. I know that sounds crazy, but I was looking forward to a good thunderstorm. The weather in WA is so mild that we never have one. Well....we have been here about 5 weeks and haven't seen a drop of rain. The temp has hit 100 every day we have been here. They are saying this is one of the hottest, driest summers ever.

As for our adventures this past week.....I took the kids up to San Marcos to enjoy a glass bottom boat tour. This was such a fun experience. Unlike WA where our lakes are fed by glaciers up in the mountains, these lakes down here are spring fed, so the water comes up from under the earth. The glass bottom boat allows you to see some of these springs as well as fish, turtles and the occasional diver.

This kids and I enjoyed our last day at Six Flags this week also. It was a very long day as we decided since it was our last day we would ride every ride they wanted to. Well.....we made it through the whole park and water park. There was however a little disappointment when we got out of the waterpark. I told the kids they could each pick out one last ride, not knowing that the park closed at 7pm that night. Well....we got out of the waterpark and all the rides were closed. The kids were a little sad, but still thankful for their fun day. I felt bad, so I surprised them with another last visit Friday morning on our way to the beach. They were so surprised but had a fun couple of hours riding their favorite rides. In total I think we went 6 times this summer. It sure was a good time.

The best adventure this week was going to Port Aransas on the Gulf of Mexico. We went down Friday and Saturday nights. It was such a great beach town and wasn't too crowded, which is probably due to the fact that all the kids down here are starting school today. We found a great small town hotel and enjoyed swimming in the ocean, laying in the sun and walking along the beach.

I am going to try to enjoy our last week of vacation while we are here. I'm already starting to think of the crazy whirwind that is going to happen when we get home. I need to do grocery shopping (there is NO food in the house), school supply shopping, school clothes shopping, pick up Doug from the airport, pick up Sage, kids open house at school.........I guess it's back to the craziness of life:-) See you all soon!

Adventures in Texas... Part 4

I can't even believe that we have been here almost 4 weeks. It seems like just yesterday and at the same time it feels like we have been here forever. We are so comfortable and having such a great time. 2 weeks from right now the kiddos and I will be on a plane headed back home. There is still so much we want to do in that time. I hope we can get it all in!

This last week has of course been so fun, just like the ones before it. Tuesday night we decided to do Six Flags in the evening because over the summer they have a laser lights and fireworks celebration at 9pm. So, we got there around 6, rode some rides and then enjoyed the fireworks. They do an awesome celebration of Texas show which is projected up on a big rock wall. It was very cool!

The kids and I enjoyed a day at the San Antonio Zoo this week. They had so many fun exhibits. The kids loved the flamingos, the butterfly house and Lory Landing. Lory Landing is a bird house full of these exotic birds called lories. The lories are flying around and you can actually feed them. If you look back at the pictures, Bethany had one hopping all over her. It was pretty funny.

Saturday we went to experience a real Texas gem.....a rodeo! It was so cool. It is just like you see on TV and in the movies. These crazy guys get out there and ride these huge crazy bulls. It is so fun to watch. They also had barrell racing, calf roping and "muttin bustin". Rebekah has decided if we go back she wants to try muttin bustin. They take these little kids and put them on sheep. The kids have pads and helmets on and ride out holding on to the sheep as long as they can. We'll have to see if she actually goes through with it:-)

Sunday was a very fun day. After church we went to El Mercato, which is a huge Mexican market in San antonio. There are so many shops of beautiful pottery, clothes, and other trinkets. We definitely enjoyed walking around there. After that we headed out to visit with the pastor & his wife from down here. They were so nice to invite us over for the evening. They live right on an area off the Guadalupe River and have a boat where Wil tried to teach Doug how to wakeboard and the kids enjoyed swimming and riding on the tube. We enjoyed a lovely dinner outside where we were able to talk about ministry ideas! Such a fun night!

I continue to thoroughly enjoy Texas. The heat really doesn't bother me too much, although I am finding it pointless to wear makeup almost anywhere. It drips right off the minute you step outside:-) I also love the trees and landscaping. There are several houses near us that I always admire the landscaping on, but Doug is quick to remind me that if it grows here, it probably won't grow in Washington:-)

We love and miss all of you and hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!!

The excitement is hardly containable.

Another exciting week deep in the heart of Texas.

This week I was focusing more on the content management system that HQ is migrating to in September. I have figured out a way to edit the web site and CSS in a web design product then update the public website using a automated tool. The web admins and the server admins seem to be are still debating if the solution will work, so I have a meeting on Monday morning with the key players where I will be laying out the groundwork for a new process of managing their public website.

The buzz around HQ right now is another restructuring and the open house for this new building. The HQ building I am in opened just a couple days before I got here. Next Friday, they are going to have a media open house and ribbon cutting. There is supposed to be all kinds of media outlets present along with lots of high ranking Army and Air Force people here. No has said that I have any duties during the open house, so I will continue to keep my head down and work on my two projects.

I am getting to know the a few teams really well here in HQ. I am working with them on web content as well as bird-dogging some issues from my regular job. The longer I’m here I am learning that a rumor is just that – a rumor. You can hear that something is “definitely” going to happen then later the same day, you’ll hear how it is completely not possible. I don’t think it is due as much to bad information as it is due to the changing nature of the organization. I am winding down my original project (update web content for IMCOM HQ), looking forward to being home in a few weeks for a whirlwind month of September!

Adventures in Texas... Part 3

I don't even know where to begin today. We have done so much in the past week. I think I will start off with saying that I am absolutely loving it down here. I don't know if it's all the family time; or the sunshine every day; or the cool culture; or the fact that all the freeways are 70mph; I just know that we will definitely miss it.

I think one of our first adventures since I last wrote was going to The Alamo and the riverwalk with the kids. It has definitely been one of our favorite nights here. The Alamo was definitely way more than we even expected. There is so much history there and they have paid tribute to all of it. The kids were very respectful while there and tried to read as much of the displays as they could. From there we went down to The Riverwalk. Everyone told us that the riverwalk was the place to go in San Antonio. They were definitely right! It is so beautiful with lots of yummy restaurants and cute stores to walk through. We also did the Ripley's believe it or not and the wax museum that night. Super fun stuff!!

On Friday I took the kids into Austin to see Zilker Metro Park. It's an amazing park run by the Austin Parks & Rec department. So much cool free stuff to do. There is an amazing Botanical Gardens. There is also a very cool Nature & Science Center. The kids had fun digging up fossils in the dino pit and there are a lot of animals there that are injured and can't be returned to nature to see. It was like a free zoo. After that we swam in the Barton Springs Pool, which is a natural spring fed pool. It was a chilly 68 degrees, so very cold compared to the 105 degree temps outside.

Saturday we went to Sequin, TX. It is such an awesome little town. I love seeing all these old towns with the old plantation style houses and all the old buildings. They are all trying to hold on to their history. After Sequin, we went to Luling, which is the watermelon capital of Texas, and has some of the best BBQ in Texas. We enjoyed some awesome ribs and brisket then headed to the Zedler Mill, which is an amazing old cotton mill right on the San Marcos river. You can get right into the river on the mill property. It was definitely a very fun day!

Doug and I had an awesome time celebrating our 12th anniversary here in Texas. There was a lot we wanted to do in Gruene that we didn't do when we went with the kids, so back to Gruene we went. They have a great shop called The Grapevine that you can taste Texas wines in. After tasting, you can buy some and sit outside in the rustic setting. It was awesome. We toured shops, ate yummy fajitas, and listened to some fun live music at the Gruene Dance Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas.

We continue to enjoy our church down here. The kids are so excited to go and are making friends. I think it will be hard for them to leave:-( We are also continuing to enjoy the pool here at the apartments. There hasn't been a single day we have been here that we haven't gone swimming. We have lots more plans to finish out the next 3 weeks. We love and miss all of you! See those of you in Yelm soon!

Techie Stuff

I continue to struggle with the content management system. It is clunky, complicated, antiquated, proprietary, and lots of other techie buzzwords. It has been in use for over 10 years and it is clearly time for a change. The owners of the website are looking for a new CMS. The problem is finding the right product.

We talked to the web administrator. We found out the platform and how many servers are used for the website. So the web designer asked me to evaluate the available CMSs - there are only 2 that can be used in the government. So I did the trials from the websites and built some content and wrote a report.

From all that, I have deciphered that it is the plan for headquarters to migrate all the organizations below conform to the same format for public websites.

Adventures in Texas... Part 2

Here we are into our 2nd week here. We are getting quite settled and feel like we've been here a while! The apartment is so comfortable. The kids and I are enjoying our routine of lounging around and going to the pool every day. Rebekah is really becoming a great swimmer.

One of the funny parts of being down here is seeing people that we know and have known from Washington. We were able to visit with our good friends, the Dinsmoors, as Holly is moving down to Houston and they stopped in San Antonio. We had dinner this past week with someone that Doug went to high school with and the kids and I can't wait to hang out with them this summer. We also have been hanging out with the Holders, who we knew from Fort Lewis and tomorrow I get to see our friend Jen VanderWerff with her daughter and mom. So crazy:-)

One thing we have decided is that we want to experience and see as much of Texas as we can while we are down here. After all, we may never get down here again. With that in mind, Doug found a great little town for us to visit this past Saturday. We went to Gruene, TX (pronounced Green). It is a great old cotton farming town that was started back in the 1870's. A lot of the original buildings are there. We enjoyed touring the shops and walking along the Guadalupe River. I don't know where this week will take us, but I am looking forward to it.

Again we miss all of you and hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

San Antonio Summer Camp

We’ve been consistently over 100 degrees every day here in San Antonio, but now it’s starting to get hot.

The main part of this last week for me has been about gathering content from the different sources. I am going to each area and sitting down with them about what is on their website currently, what is not on their website currently, and what should be on their website in the future. I’m getting a good overview of how all these headquarters pieces work together to form one unit. There’s a lot of responsibility shifting between the directorates that comes out as they define their mission/vision to be published on a website. To a certain extent I feel like a referee in a cage match – I didn’t start the fight nor am I a part of it, but I do need to bring both parties to a decision.

From a technical standpoint, the web content manager they are using could be better. You can only create/edit the web pages in a proprietary editor that runs inside a browser. The only options are notepad-style HTML editing or a WYSIWYG editor that isn’t always what you saw in the editor. I have brushed off the dust off the old HTML skillset and I am editing that way. Also, the cascading style sheets (CSS) don’t seem to inherit down correctly, thus completely defeating the idea of “cascading” style sheets.

My family got down here last week and my work days have settled into a nice 0700-1530 schedule. The traffic getting into work is horrendous. My commute in Washington is in much better shape traffic wise than here in Texas. I’m working inside the San Antonio city limits close to downtown. Without traffic, I can be at my office building in less than 20 minutes. Every morning, I leave by 0610 to be here by 0700. Next week, I’m playing in the HQ Golf Tournament!

When we got to work yesterday, the AC had gone off again over the weekend – second time in 3 weeks. It was 85 in the office. The AC repair guys were called every name in the book around here til lunchtime.