San Marco Square

This is us at San Marco Square in Venice. The kids had a great time with the pigeons. The cathedral is in the background. It is an amazing piece of architecture.

Gavin in his new Gondolier hat.

The girls got new fans to remember the day.

Jessie was trying to coax the pigeons closer so that she could chase them away.

Charlie was nervous with the birds but when this one landed on her backpack she thought that was funny.

Gavin was trying to get the birds to like him. He wanted them to come closer but not to close.

Taylor is our own bird whisperer.

He is still working on making friends.

Charlie really wanted to birds to feed from her hand but she would only do it with help from the bird whisperer.

Jessie finally let the birds come to her. With the help of the bird whisperer.

Charlie is still working on the courage thing but Gavin finally got his little entourage.

Here they are trying to work as a team.

At the Bridge of Sighs.

GI Sean

This is Seans room. He wanted the kids to know that he hung up the pictures that they sent to him. He also wanted Charlie to know that he is using the pillow case that she made for him at school. It was a great idea. The kids loved sending something to their dads and moms downrange.

Sean and CPT Paloma
This is who he spends all his quality time with now.

Sean and Fawad
their interpreter

This is some Afgan boys who came out to get there pictures taken. Sean said that they weren't shy at all.

But he only got a picture of the girls when they were moving from one building to another. I wish that I could see there dresses better. They look really interesting.

Winter Sports Banquet

This is Taylors winter banquet. The food was so-so but the look on her face when she got her letter was priceless. I'm proud of all her hard work and glad that I got to be there for her.

This is our friend Kyle. I think that he may have been the star of the banquet. He definately got the most prizes.

My New Kitchen

I forgot to get a picture of this kitchen before they came and gutted it to give me this new glorious one. Okay, so I know that it doesn't look like much but if you had seen it before then you would have to agree that this is soooo much better.

Happy Birthday Charlie

One of the things that we like to do on our birthdays is have cupcakes instead of a cake. I started this a few years ago so that the kids could decorate their own cupcakes. They liked it so much that we have been doing it ever since. Some of the cupcakes are very creative.

We had corn dogs, pasta and breaded cheese sticks for dinner.

Charlie opened her presents. She got some makeup and girly stuff, jewely and some clothes.

I bought candles but then we couldn't find them. So we used stick matches instead. It was interesting. We had to sing really fast before they burned out.

This is Lauren Gardner she comes to help with the kids and Charlie made sure that she would be there for the party. Also pictured are Julie, Taylor, Jessie and Charlie.

Charlies Song

Charlie and Jessie were making videos on Easter Sunday. This happens at my house all the time.

Taylors Trip to Paris

Taylor had to chance to go to Paris last weekend. We have some friends that always wanted to go to EuroDisney in Paris. So they just decided on Tuesday or Wednesday that they were going to go on Thursday. Taylor does some babysitting for them so they asked if she could go with them. I said of course. How many chances do 16 year old girls get to go to Disneyland without their parents and in Paris no less? So here are some pictures that she brought home. Okay I said some, she brought home over 600 pictures. I'm not joking.

This is Dave and Lexi and Trent and Haylee. They have two more kids but lucky for me they got to visit us over the weekend. Taylor took my camera so I didn't get any pics of us but their other two kids are 1 year old twins. Laycee and Logan. Gavin, Jessie and Charlie all had a blast playing with the babies. And they were really good.

Haylee and Taylor. Just so you know Haylee thinks that the sun, the moon and the stars all raise because Charlie says so. I think that she even had a good time even though it was "just" Taylor there and not Charlie. LOL

This is Trent and Taylor. I don't know what to say about Trent except that he might have the best smile I have ever seen. Every time I see it, I smile.

I think that the little green guy is trying to whisper sweet nothings in to my girls ear. Yuck.

This is Taylor at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It's amazing. She said it was cold and windy and that it started to rain but I think that she will always remember it.

Taylor took this as they were driving away. Everyone that I talked to said that if you are going to see the Eiffel Tower that you make sure that you see it at night. Amazing.

I'm happy we have such good friends in Dave and Lexi that they would let her go with them. She had such a great time. Every time I wonder what the heck I'm doing so far from home I think about these wonderful chances that my kids are getting to see these incredible places. Next time the rest of us are going with them.