In Portland

Thats right! I made it home for Christmas after all. I flew out this morning at about 10 and got here around 1. I was able to have Christmas dinner with my mom and my mom and dad in law and James and Tara. Its nice to be home and hopefully I will be here for a short while and get to catch up with all my family and friends. Ada had a good Christmas. She got to open gifts which she enjoyed very much! The first couple she wasn't so sure about but once she got the hang of it, it was all over. She went from one present to the next just ripping off the paper! And she has more presents coming tomorrow. I will get some pics up as soon as I can. Its been a long day though. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Poor Scott was stuck in the sandbox and we missed him terribly. We are so excited that leave is coming up so quickly!

Stuck in Utah

Well the plan for Christmas was to spend it in Portland. Bug and I were gonna fly there and spend time with my mom and dad, Scott's parents, my brother, and of course with some friends. I was gonna have a night off of Ada and get to go out! But plans changed and I am stuck in Utah. Portland decided to dump a bunch of snow and of course portland isnt equipped for that so the airport shut down. Has been closed on and off for days. I still went this morning cause it said my flight was only delayed but after loading us all up, getting there, checking us in, making it through security and sitting there for two hours, they cancelled the flight. I'm bummed out but hey I guess its whats meant to be. They can't get us on any other flights till well after Christmas. Heres a pic of my mom playing in the beautiful snow that has me stuck here.

Our Adventures

Well Ada and I have had some pretty fun times in the last few days. The snow has been such a fun experience for her. I am really glad we came to spend some time here where she would get the opportunity to play in it. She is obsessed with snow boots now. She thinks wearing her boots is the funnest thing ever and she even loves to try and put on my boots sometimes.


We had to take Ada to the doctor this morning. She has been having a lot of medical problems and I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it all. She was suffering from a bad diaper rash, throwing up randomly but frequently and some very interesting diapers, won't go into to much detail there. So finally after a very bad night last night and the doctor not being able to see her till after the first of the year, I took her to the urgent care. Come to find out my poor girl has followed in mommy's footsteps and is lactose intolerant. Which explains everything thank goodness. But is a very drastic change in the way she eats. I never knew how much stuff had to be cut out for this allergy until checking labels and speaking with the doctor. Due to how bad her symptoms are the doctor wants to cut it completely out. Anything containing milk or whey can not be consumed. So sad! No ice cream, goldfish, chocolate, milk, pizza. But that's ok as long as we get a happy healthy baby. I still have to go online and figuring out some good things I can give her now. Most everything she eats contains something. Even all the gerber graduate foods have milk in them except one.

On a different note, we went up and spent some time with Scott's sister today and her three boys sledding! It was so much fun! We had a blast! Ada loves playing in the snow and she is such a little explorer. She just wanders around content to go look at new things. Though she did seem to love going down the hill when one of her cousins was nice enough to take her. She stayed out and played for quite a while and only decided she was down after a nice fall and a face full of snow. Watching the boys play was a lot of fun to. They were having a blast going up and down and piling on the sleds. I'm pretty sure they pushed the limits all day on how high they could climb up the hill, but their mom didnt have the heart to stop them they cause they are to cute and were having to much fun!

After playing in the snow we went back to Jens and warmed up a bit before we had to jet out the door for dinner at Will and Dianas for Jimmy's Birthday! It was nice to visit with family and Ada got to see the puppies. I also got to see my adorable nephew, but the poor guy was having a rough night. But before we left Ada decided to climb into the dogs kennel with her and it was so funny had to snap a picture.


She also climbed into Coltons little baby bouncer. Sadly enough, she is still in the weight limit to be allowed. She is barly 20lbs as of this morning.

SNOW!!

So its been snowing here the last two days and its the best! I have missed the snow. I have been moving around so much the last few years, that we have hardly had the opportunity to play in the snow. So first thing this morning when I saw how much it was snowing outside and how fluffy it was I got Ada all bundled up and out we went. SHE LOVED IT! This was her first time really playing in the snow. We took her in it back in March, but she was to small to play in it or really appreciate it. She was barreling through it, picking it up...eating it, kissing it. It was so much fun to watch her explore. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Soccer

So I don't know how many people actually know that I am playing soccer now, but I am and I am loving every minute of it. I play twice a week on two different teams. I play on a women's league as well as a co ed league. It has been amazing for me to get back on the field and have the opportunity to play again. I had a game tonight and I scored 4 goals! I was way jazzed. We spanked the other team 7 to 2! My women's team is ranked 1st in our league, and my co ed team is ranked 3rd. I play on the top division co ed which is very intense and very competitive. I LOVE IT! Well that's pretty much it. Just wanted everyone to know that I am playing soccer again and loving it. I forgot how much fun it was and the more I play the more the rust falls off and I am beginning to be able to do things I forgot I even knew how. I defiantly plan on continuing this in Texas and Colorado!

Update from Scott

Hi everyone!

Well, I have some down time, and just wanted to give everyone a little update about how things are going for me here in the sand box. Life is typically slow and easy for the most part. If you watch the news much, activity is at an all time low. I don't get out of the compound as much as I used to, so it really makes the time drag on most days. I must say the first few months of the deployment were quite a bit more hectic, and involved. I was moved around a bunch, but found my way back here at my company head quarters again. I take it both as a blessing and a curse, a blessing, because the living conditions are much better here, but a curse because of the issues of living on a much larger base. There are a lot more rules to abide by, and a lot more brass to watch out for.

I am trying to make it a habit to improve my personal fitness, I am not going to lie, it is rough trying to run in this smoggy and polluted country, def different, and far more difficult. I am improving slowly, but surely though. Also, I have lost about 10Lbs. over the last few months, and am only 10 more from my target weight for redeployment. Alisha has been devoting a lot of time to fitness, and I am trying to follow her example by doing the same. She is a long ways ahead of me though, and I don't know if I will ever catch up with her!

We are in to month number eight now, and time is not passing quickly enough. I still have another month till leave, it's all i really think about. This place is enough to drive anybody nuts! It will e so strange to get out and see the world again, the only time we go out in public is on our missions, and we wear our body armor, carry our weapons, and drive in heavily armored vehicles. You are always on your guard here, so I will be so curious to see how i react to moving right back into the population, as a civilian. You have habits at war, habits of not letting others get to close, driving slow, being cautious of things you don't think twice about at home. This place is a whole different ball game, I really look forward to coming home, and getting back into a normal routine, and spending time with my babies.

I am at that point where home sickness is almost always a constant. I long to hold Alisha, to feel her touch, to hold her. I miss my daughter, she really is a completely different child now! She is so big, she walks and talks, and is just a huge bundle of energy! A lot of her teeth are breaking through, and her smile is so adorable! I can't wait for leave, so we can play and re-familiarize with each other. I know she was little when I left, but I am quite sure, that there is still a part of her, that remembers her daddy! I just know that the three of us are gonna have the best time!

Well, you see a lot, and hear a lot from Ally and the stinker, but you haven't heard much from my neck of the woods. Just wanted everyone to know that that is where I am at right now. I miss you all, and if your reading this, pray for your troops, we need you support!

Love, Scotty

Scrappin

Here are a couple of the scrapbook pages I have finished lately. I finally sent off a few to the printers to see how they come back. Hopefully as good as I am hoping! I am very excited to see! Other than that just doing life one day at a time here.

A couple fun days

Well Ada and I have had a few fun days lately. On Saturday we went to an EOD air force Christmas party with our friends Jen and Paul. It was so nice to see them since it has been a while. We also got to meet there little boy Kenneth who is two months younger than Ada. The party was a lot of fun with cookies and food and activities. Plus Santa came in on a firetruck along with Sparky the fire dog and handed out presents to all the kids. Ada didn't care much about Santa but she loved sparky!

Then yesterday we went and played at a big indoor play area. She got to climb and run and jump and really enjoy herself. It was a huge eye opener for me because I didnt realize how big she is getting. The areas I thought I would have to help her climb she had no trouble at all. She is my little monkey girl! Well thats all for now! Hope everyone had a good weekend!