Farewell: The Henning Family

May 10-11, 2012

There are not a lot of farewells at the legal office--few and far between. Well the goodbye season has begun. The Henning family started us off with a goodbye bbq at the park area on base. It was a long day for the boys. We started off at the spouse club breakfast where they played for 2 hours, I drove around so they would sleep for an hour in the car, and then we went to the bbq at 1 p.m. Despite the circumstances, they did great--just played, played, and played!

Playing with Mrs. Linda.
Porter loves Brett.Erin bought "Guido" and is shipping him back to the states. Everyone had a good time honking the horn--especially all the kids.

I remember watching Caden throw the baseball with Sean when the guys and Erin had softball games. He was a tiny little person just about the boy's size. Now he's super-tall and all grown up. The Hennings live past us in Sacile and have always been so helpful to us--Sean with our cars, Erin having us over for American night (she's a fabulous cook), and Kaden for entertaining the boys when we have office functions. They will be missed!Friday night we went over to the Davis' house for an impromptu grill night. We were not quite packed for Switzerland, but you have to eat right? Porter and Eli had fun running around, kicking the ball, and throwing their water bottles into the well near the front door.
My little Italian man standing and watching with his hands behind his back.This is very Porter-like. So observant.

Egg Hunt with Friends

My friend Amy Niebuhr invited us over for an egg hunt at her house this year. I was really looking forward to it since the base did not have one this year and this would probably be our only one. Evan left for a week long course in Alabama the day before so it was just me and my boys.
I was tough to keep my eyes on both of them and snap photos but the older kids and adults took over and helped them find eggs. They sort of have the hang of the whole "collect the eggs" idea. This next series of pictures is what Porter likes to do best--collect, take out, then collect again.Cade Niebuhr helped them sort through their eggs. He was sitting down and they both just joined him and did what he was doing--sorting his eggs and candy.
Brett and Evan were together in Alabama eating hamburgers but all their kiddos were scavenging for eggs and chocolate! I'm so thankful to have Missy as such a good friend.
Amy's yard is massive and perfect for running around. Cade and Lily have all kinds of scooters, cars, and bikes to ride so Porter and Eli tried a lot of them.
The day before Easter was sunny, warm, and starting to feel like spring. Easter began the month-long cold and rainy April--we went from short-sleeves the week before Easter to coats the week after.

Happy Halloween 2011

Through my friend Shannon, we were invited to a Halloween party this year. Porter and Eli wore their German lederhosen tees and enjoyed grabbing all the food and candy off the tables.
Exhibit A. Porter snatched an entire piece of pizza and is running with it.
Callum Bear was a true Bear for Halloween. I like this picture because Porter and Eli have mouths full of food.

Swimming in Slovenia

August 26-28, 2011
Friday was a Family Day on base so we drove up to Slovenia to a waterpark to spend the weekend swimming and spending time with the Robinson family. The resort was all-inclusive and we had perfect weather--except for one afternoon of rain. But that's what the indoor pool is for! Porter and Eli loved the water and splashing around and being entertained by Ella and Andrew.On our way to breakfast, we watched this gentleman fill up his watering can a lot. He filled it up at the fire hydrant and watered all the flowers in the area along the walkways.
Drinking our milk before heading to the pool!
Henry has just started cooing and making small, sweet little sounds.
Andrew and Ella before they left to tour Lake Bled.The water park area of the resort. Whoever thought of this idea is/was a genius. Out in the middle of nowhere, nestled in the mountains, is a fantastic water park for the summertime. During the winter, the indoor pool is just as satisfying with fountains and an indoor kiddie pool.
Brett and Porter have always had a good relationship. Porter saw no reason why Brett shouldn't be able to hold Henry in the carrier and hold him at the same time.
The boys in their solid color BX tees. Missy and I always chit-chat that the BX doesn't carry solid color t-shirts for boys. Well they did this summer and these were the 3 available colors.
Do you see what I see?We swam in the morning while the Robinson family toured Lake Bled. We met up at a pizza place recommended to us. It was delicious and it was a perfect day to eat outside. On our way back to the resort, we passed this church with a red steeple and bell tower.
One of the perks of the late afternoon rain shower was having the pool all to ourselves after a lot of the locals left. You can pay per day so when it started raining, there weren't a lot of people left to wait in line at the water slides. We had the kiddie pool and slide to ourselves where the boys literally wore themselves out. And we went on countless trips up the stairs to come down the big blue water slide. It was so much fun!Ready for bed huh? Sweet little boys in their pjs ready for night-night. It was such a great weekend of relaxing and doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the company, weather, and all the swimming!