Zwemmen Lessen!

Cody had his first swimming lesson last night!  He is much further along than everyone else in his class (they start when they are 4) so next week he will be moved into a class that is about 8 more weeks ahead.  The instuctro said after a couple of weeks he will probably be moved ahead again. It normally takes a year to complete the first diploma but the instructor thinks it will take Cody much less time!  Being at the pool all summer paid off, so thank you Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Vickie! 

This picture makes him look super small, but this is the swim uniform that everyone wears. He wasn't so sure about changing in the room with everyone but that's how it goes here so I told to just get used to it. He's definitetly not a nudist like me :)

Madrid Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Madrid.  Finally!  It was a fun couple of days!!

Brice and his new best friend Ely. 
He has to see her all the time at work now!!

The bear and the strawberry tree

This place had intense security.
And the guards wouldn't let us take their pictures!

The Crystal Palace

Watching the water

Last day, went to the zoo.
 All the pics are on Brandon's computer :(

Madrid

Today we are trying to recover from 5 fast days in Madrid, Spain!  The purpose of the trip was so I could run a marathon with two of my friends but my knee is messed up so I stood at the finish line cheering instead!  It was neat seeing all of the TNT (teamintraining.org) runners so I yelled their names and they looked at me crazy, just like I'm sure I looked at people in San Diego. 

I have yet to go through the pictures, I will do that tonight and put more up and more details of the trip.  Let's just say I REALLY want to get my knee fixed so I can run!!  I hate running but I was so sad I wasn't able to and get the race medal.  And it's such a great excuse to travel around Europe.....

Crayon Art

I finally had some time to try my own crayon art today.  Here is a step by step of how it was done!

I already had a blank canvas that was covered in fabric, so I took the fabric off.  It's pretty large, I do not recommend starting with such a big one the first time.

Taking the wrappers off of the crayons took a lot longer than I thought. I tried keeping similar colors together.  Originally I was going to try and do some sort of wave pattern, but I didn't have enough blue. So here's what I came up with:

Broken Crayons

Hoping it turns out ok.......

Next I put parchment paper over the whole thing and melted the crayons. I just used my iron set on the highest dry setting. Some spots melted quickly and other I had to keep hold it on for awhile.  I spread them out (with the iron) as they melted to fill in most of the white space. There were some parts I had to go back over again that were not melted enough.

And this is the final product:

Crayon Art

The lower corner is a little too grey, but it is growing on me.  It's a little dark but I do love the color in the middle.  Hopefully I can take down the mirror in the living room and hang it up.

Update on Pictures....in no particular order

Pop culture party

Britney Spears Concert

Britney Spears Concert

Friends Halloween Party.  Zombies in front of the meat table.

School Halloween Party. Cody and Titus

Adult party at the club

Baby Kirsten and I.

Brice spent a day with Shauntai and she painted him like a puppy!!

Brice at the park

Field Trip to the History Museum on base

The boys at the park. Kari and I left them with some friends so we could go to Schinnen

Titus and Cody at the Valentine Party

Learning at Summer's house

Coming down the water slide at Micah's birthday party

The boys at the pool!

Running

Today I attempted a 13 or 14 mile run, and started out amazing!  I finished 7 miles in an hour and 17 minutes, stopped at my friend Samantha's house to use the bathroom and refill my water bottles, and started back out to go home. I made it one more mile and it started to HAIL. Freezing. Cold. Hail. Of course I had no minutes on my phone so I was sending Brandon thoughts to please call me and pick me up!  By the time the hail reached Odiliapeel and he did call (YAY!!) I had gone two more miles. It was so nice out when I left the house that I was only wearing one long sleeve shirt and my short running pants. Needless to say I was freezing. When he found me I had gone 10.81 miles. When we got home he ran a warm bath for me and I sat in there slowly warming up. I wasn't completely warm until I put my sweats on, crouched by the heater, and then curled up in bed.

I am so bummed I had to give up today because I was doing so well.  And tomorrow I will be going to T-Mobile to get a contract phone so I don't have to worry about minutes anymore!! 

Congratulations are in order

Brandon was promoted February 1st!  He is now a Technical Sargeant.

Brandon and The Commander

The 1st Sargeant and the Chief pinning him on

We also attended the Annual Awards Banquet where I received Volunteer of the Year. 

Look at those big smiles and big stripes!! 
The medal around my neck is the nominee medal

My dagger