Finally Another Post

Yeah! Finally we post some more pictures of our adorable Abigail. We're sorry that we've been so terrible. We're starting to get into the groove of the extra stress that homework brings into the house. When I'm not working or doing homework I try to spend time with Abby and Sarah. Abigail is starting to learn how to ride her tricycle but it's still a little too big for her. I need to get a welder and make some mods so that she'll have the coolest chopped tricycle on the block. How about some ape hanger handlebars?

Here she is helping me change over my uniform (everything is velcroed on nowadays, no more sewing) :


Heading to the pool with our 'cool' kid:


She's now swimming by herself in her floating swimsuit:

Trying to teach her to use her arms and not just to kick (sometimes she starts to swim in tight circles):

The pool has a nice little water area to play in:

Abby loves the water and she keeps getting braver and braver. She starting to learn how to blow bubbles in the water and doesn't mind getting dunked once in awhile. At home she has learned how to turn the shower nozzle on and will stand underneath it on her own.

Busy Little Bees

Wow!! I think that I'm getting too old for school work. My unit decided that 11 of us needed to attend a two week, 80 hour HAZMAT class. We're there from 9am to 5pm with an hour for lunch poring over books of codes and regulations used in the transportation of Hazardous material. If you think that reading your refrigerator manual is boring, try reading some of this stuff. Luckily, for the most part, they just cover codes that you most likely would use and you highlight and tab them for later reference. The tabs come in handy for the test.

I scored a 93% on the two part test that we took this week so I guess I didn't miss too much during those times that I spaced out. Not to brag but us EOD guys finish first on the tests and practicals. (And no, we don't cheat.) I guess after seven months of EOD school we're use to taking tests.

Oh, and did I tell you that my online college courses started this week too? Yes, after 10 years since the last college course I took, I've decided to further my education. I probably didn't pick a good time since we're also moving to Missouri in October. I just finished one of my online exams and scored a 95% and we're having a pretty good discussion in the Religion 101 class. (Ask me sometime about Joe and his volcano named Ed.) I'm feeling a little better after taking these tests this week. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Sarah and Abigail took off to Ft Leonard Wood to scout out houses. We might have found one, cross your fingers, but we're not 100% yet. House hunting has been quite a chore and a stressor for us.

So, if you're looking for new pictures or something funny you'll have to wait until Monday. Tomorrow I'm going on a bike ride and then I have to set up an EOD display in the afternoon for families to see. (I'll have a robot, a bomb suit, and a Barrett .50 cal rifle on display.)

Back From Detroit

My job sent two of us to Detroit for a few days and we were lucky enough to be able to explore quite a bit in walking distance. This was my first time going there and we had a great time. We were put up in the Marriot which is the next tower over from the GM tower. 72 floors of hotel rooms, conference rooms, ballrooms, restaurants, and shops kept us trying hard to not get lost (which happened a few times). At the bottom of these towers there's even a Chevy car dealership sporting all of the new cars. Here's some pictures of the area:

From my hotel window on the 12th floor:

From the ground floor looking up at one of the towers:

Canada: (I forgot that Detroit was so close to Canada. Too bad we forgot to bring our passports.)

An old church: (They had several from different denominations that were built in the 1800's.)

Why were we sent to Detroit? To scout out the competition for the Red Soxs:

Actually, part of our job is to support the U.S. Secret Service. VP Biden was in Detroit for a conference about renewable energy cars so we were tasked to help out with his security. They did send us up there a day early so we were able to sightsee and take in a baseball game. There were so many small deli's and restaurants it was hard to choose where to eat each meal. I would defiantly have to work out harder there. Alas, we had to go home and back to the office. There's some great history in that old city and it was fun to experience some of it.

Sunday Pics

I was able to put pig tails in Abigail's hair today. By the time that we came home from church one came out. She's wearing a dress that Aunt Emily bought her.

Thank you Aunt Emily!