Happy 4th of July

Today the squadron spouses got together at Heather's house for a cookout. We had a lot of fun and ate WAY too much food. I managed to take a couple of pictures, but mainly I was too busy catching up with the girls.

Andrew spent most of his time kicking beach balls across the yard.

Addi stopped by to give us a smile...
...followed by her "funny face" as requested by Julie.
See...Andrew thought it was funny!
It was a fun day! So Happy 4th of July to everyone...especially those who are serving our country. I love you honey! Come home SOON!

Missin' Daddy!

Andrew has really been missing his Daddy lately. Drew got to call a couple of days ago and while we were talking Andrew ran and found Daddy's floppy cover and put it on.

The next morning he wanted to watch some tv with all his favorite toys. Daddy Doll had to get in on the action.
(Yes, he's in his pj's in every single one of these pictures, but I promise we don't stay that way all day. It just so happens that these pictures were all taken first thing in the morning. And you can really tell in the next few.)

Since he's been missing Daddy so much lately, we decided to finally make our paper chain to count down the days til Daddy's return. Since we don't know the exact date, the paper chain fairy may have to add or take away a few chains as the time draws near.
Andrew tearing off the first day's chain.
He's very proud of his work. The chain doesn't look too long does it? GOOD! That means he'll be home SOON! We can't wait!!

Big Mission in Afghanistan

I'm sure most of you have been watching the news about the latest push in Afghanistan. If not you can read about it in THIS ARTICLE. Drew is working a shift from 4pm til 4 am so he was not flying in this particular mission, but others in his squadron were. One of our wives found these pictures scattered throughout the news. The 53's that you see below are all from Drew's squadron! It's pretty scary, yet exciting stuff. They're making history! And we're very proud!

After a couple of days of silence I heard from Drew this morning. He said they got a new camo tent to go over their office area and keep them a little bit "cooler." He is very tired of that place and is looking very much forward to the homecoming! (He's not the only one!)

Kim has posted several different articles and tidbits on her blog. You can read those HERE.

Check out these awesome "ugly" pictures.

Yard Work

Since returning to Hawaii, my yard has been in desperate need of some TLC. I spent the first 10 days back pulling weeds out of the front and back yards and chopping down a 10 ft. weed/tree that grew from the bottom tier of our retaining wall. If that wasn't enough I've decided that I'd rather have grass instead of this out of control vine with yellow flowers. So I took on the tedious task of getting rid of it. It's such a pain because there's a root every 2 inches or so. This is a before picture. This is after round-up and 4 hours spread over 3 days of pulling weeds. (You can tell I didn't get very far. The bottom right hand corner is where I started.)
Today I had a wild hair. I decided I was tired of my window boxes being empty so I took it upon myself to do some plumbing. I cut off the end caps on the PVC pipes running from our sprinkler system and added a few connectors and a drip hose. Once I had the window boxes hooked up to the water, it was time for flowers. Here is the finished product...
It looks so much better! Too bad I didn't have this done when the "Ugly" ladies came over for our monthly coffee! Andrew was such a great helper all day long. This kind of stuff is right up his alley. He held tools, handed them to me when I needed them, planted one of the flowers, and even swept up afterwards without me asking! I LOVE his help.
We worked outside until the light was almost gone. Since we had been outside all day we thought "why stop now?" and so we ate supper outside. I had to run in and get my camera because this is what we saw when we stepped out the back door.
It was a beautiful sunset painted by the hand of God! It was the perfect end to a perfect day and now if you'll excuse me...I need a bubble bath!

Banner Painting Party

Saturday we had a banner making party at the hangar. (That means the deployment is almost over!!) Andrew and I are going to make Drew's personal banner at our house, so we were going to help with squadron banners and ones for single marines. Andrew was all smiles before we left the house.His adorable helicopter shirt was my by my friend Jennifer at Polka Dots & Robots Check out her blog. She'd be happy to make something for your little one.
Andrew fell asleep in the car so he wasn't too happy when I woke him up. He wasn't in the mood for banner making so I just sat around and talked with some of the ladies. Later, we got all the kids together for a group photo to send to they guys as a Father's Day gift. A couple of the moms had to sing "If You're Happy And You Know It" to keep their attention.
And here they are....some of the adorable "Ugly" kids. *Please notice that Andrew Ladner is NOT present in this picture. He was the only child that refused to participate. (sigh)
At least he let me take a picture of him in front of a helo with beautiful Kaneohe Bay in the background. (it was super windy outside)
We're going to decorate the hangar with all the banners and signs. If you'd like to make one for Drew, you can mail it to:

Family Readiness Officer
(Attn: Troy Euclide/HMH-362)
Marine Aircraft Group 24
Box 63047
MCBH Kaneohe Bay, HI 96863-3047

Drew would love to see some banners from loved ones back home!

*We make our banners out of a bed sheet, but posters, pillowcases, or shower curtains work well too.  

Fun at Wet-N-Wild Hawaii

Today, Kim and the kids drove over to meet us at the water park, Wet-n-Wild Hawaii (formerly known as Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park). We have season passes so we're really trying to take advantage of those now that McKenzie is out of school for the summer! It's fun and it gets us out of the house. I didn't take any pictures of the kids in the water. I was too busy going up and down the stairs to ride the kiddie slides with Trevor and Andrew.

Here's Trevor drying off before we headed to the parking lot for our picnic lunch.

And he's sour Andrew refusing to have his picture taken!
The water park doesn't allow outside food or drinks in the park, so we packed a lunch and found a shade tree in the parking lot to enjoy some good 'ole PB & J!
McKenzie and her friend Kaitlyn (I probably misspelled that) ate one too!
Kim and Addi. (Look at that cute preggo belly!)
Addi enjoying a cheese cracker snack.
After lunch the girls went back inside, but Trevor and Andrew were having so much fun finding "acorns" that Kim and I decided we'd much rather sit and talk in the shade while they kids played, so that's what we did!
They ran after each other for about 3 hours!
And just before we left they all 3 laid down on the blanket. However, NONE of them fell asleep! But aren't they cute?
We had fun and I really enjoyed getting to catch up with Kim and have some good adult conversation. (Which is few and far between with just me and Andrew in the house) So thanks Kim! I hope you're at home resting now!

Remembering the Beauty!

This was the sunset on our second day back, taken from my balcony. All I have to say is...
...Ahhh!