Graduation for mom and dad

Joey and I graduated today from Attache training... someone took photo but I can't seem to find it. It is not important that I have a picture but to note the graduation is nice! We had alot of fun going to school together and feel much better prepared for our next assignment. I wasn't able to attend all the course but got the majority and will continue to make up classes as we are here for a little more time going to language training! Joey will go 5 days a week and I will go twice a week. We both look forward to it and are glad the regular trips all the way out to Bolling Air Force Base are basically done!

Christmas in July

Christmas in July (18 crates! so this is only half)boxes boxes everywhere....

long long day which our Natasha will never forget....

Hiding in the bathroom eating pizza

... didn't want to feed the crew dinner because they didn't show up until noon for a 12 hr job!!!!

(and this was after not showing up at all 3 days earlier! I was not a happy camper!)

and now to unpack before we leave for the beach....

Vacation Bible School "Bringing It"

M and N working on hotdogs for the carnival Friday night.
S and R working on cotton candy!
C and J with Mitch O'Nary (Missionary)
We were excited this year to be a part of VBS at our new church here in Reston! N, M and S volunteered while R, C and J enjoyed songs, stories, crafts and games (and I got to go to school with Joey). Here are a few photos! I don't think we overwhelmed Natasha. (Seth's shirt if off in the picture above because it was wet... he was wet all week helping with games... filling water balloons and all sorts of fun stuff.) The weather was beautiful, fun was had and friends were made. We all had a wonderful week!

I have to say Natasha is doing a wonderful job! She has so quickly acclimated to juggling lots of things at the same time. After her first few days here she asked me "... how do you do it?... how to you remember everything?"... then the next day she told me she believed I must have a "special chip" implanted in my brain...and that she wanted one!!! She really is doing an amazing job of adjusting to the demands of this house and keeping things light and fun along the way! I can't explain the relief I feel with her here. She made us Ukranian Stuffed Peppers tonight for dinner. The older ones and I liked them but the younger ones of course picked a little. We share and learn something everyday... and John is counting to 10 in Russian. All this in just over a week! Some very good times are ahead.

Saying Hello!!

There is a new face in our home! She is from Ukraine and is here for this year to help out. Help out with the kids and with cleaning and cooking and to help us with our Russian. We welcome her with open arms and look forward to a great year! We broke her in real quick with another trip to the Reston ER on Sunday. Welcome to the chaos Natasha. She was a trooper and stayed here keeping lunch and everything under control while Joey and I took S with severe abdominal pain to hospital. Turned out he was probably just very dehydrated and is doing much better today. Anyway, the extra hands are welcome this year as we have alot of ahead of us! ... and I think she is excited to be part of a real American family...

Saying Goodbye!

It wasn't easy saying goodbye... but bringing out Granny's tricyle helped.

Both C and J got to give it a try right before we left.

Happy 4th!!!!

It rained during the day but stopped in time for fireworks. We all had a great time celebrating Independance Day! Happy 4th!!

Another day on the boat.

Papa Nick took us out one last time.

Rock the boat... don't rock the baby...

rock the boat... don't tip the boat over...
beautiful sisters

and some pool time...

We swam alot at the neighbors pool.

This day Uncle Brian brought out his scuba gear and gave us all a try!!

It's Puzzle Time

"....and we puzzled and puzzed until our puzzlers were sore...." as Dr Suess would say.
We actually did four puzzles in those 2 wks in Indiana. The first was a 500 piece of hot air balloons which we finished in one day. It was 3D and so kinda had a plastic layer and the pieces snapped together like we had never had snapped before. I forgot to take a picture of that one. The second was the windmill which the Dagenhardts gave us as a going away gift knowing our love for puzzles. It was 1000 pieces so took us a few more days but was really really fun! The third was the round one which was actually Aunt Clara's from back in the 60's (if I remember correctly). The number of pieces was not listed on the box... so we counted them... there were 500. The shapes of them were really interesting giving it a different kind of challenge. The last was 1000 pieces and of New York. The city buildings and reflection went together nicely and fun. The blue sky was awful... we plugged away... but it was painful!! Mom is going to sell it on Ebay as it is a keepsake with the "Twin Towers"... but not one we wanted to keep with that terrible terrible blue sky!!