Well I am on my last week here in Colombia and can't wait to get home. The work has been fun, but the hours are a killer. I have been getting up at 1:30 ever morning to launch the aircraft and then fall back asleep around 6:30. I get back up around 10:00 o'clock to go meet the plane for refuel and then 2 hours latter I go meet the plane for recovery. I then spend the next few hours fixing any problems that raised during the flight. I then come and FaceTime with Ang and the kids till around 10:30 or 11. Then off to bed for a couple of hours to do it again. We only have one down day a week when the plane is not flying. I have been restricted to the base, so I haven't gotten to see much of colombia. Tomorrow we are going to the other side of the base where they have monkeys and crocodiles living on base. I have seen a lot of iguanas on base. There is a big 6 ft long one that is often in the trees by our building. There are also a lot of trianchilias running around outside our rooms.
On my way home we are stopping in Panama and they will be taking groups of people to see the canal. That will be something new and exciting. Well I love you all and look forward to being home.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Oregon vacation
Our little family is tearing it up on the Oregon Coast. We have rented a house on the beach with my in-laws. We literally walk out the back door and down to the beach. The kids love it. In fact Lexi was having a blast running towards the ocean and then letting the tide come up around her feet. During one particular wave she got a little to far out and the wave knocked her to the ground. Hilarious. I recorded it on my iPod, and I'll try to post it on here. Another time Jessie was running towards the waves and then running from them as the tide would come in. As she was running she lost her flip flop and it got washed away to sea. She came back to the house with her poor lonely thong. A little while later I went to the beach with Lexi and the flip flop had washed up on shore, so we were able to rescue the size eight run away. It has been a blast.
P.S. thanks to everyone for her prayers, love, and concern over Jessie's miscarriage. It has been a hard year for her and really appreciate you all.
P.S. thanks to everyone for her prayers, love, and concern over Jessie's miscarriage. It has been a hard year for her and really appreciate you all.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Father's Day/Anniversary
FAMILY VISIT
We had a great visit 2 weeks ago from John, Ruby, Angel, Miles, Johnita, Colin, Jenny, Maddy, Abby (6 nights), Carl (4 nights), and Colin's sister Becca and her husband Max (2 nights). So we can sleep 12 plus the three of us in this house. Most of us went to Ober Gatlinburg, biked the Virginia Creeper, and hiked to Clingman's Dome in the Smokey Mnts. It was great to have our family here in Tennessee for a few days. It went much to fast. Lincoln is glad that everyone that could, came to see him. It was wonderful visit.
FATHER'S DAY
Because I worked Saturday night, I slept in until about 2 pm on Sunday. Not a bad way to spend part of the day. I was kinda tired. Sheila cooked a great dinner for us. She made a fabulous meatloaf with a bunch of stuff in it, grilled asparagus, and a wonderful homemade cheesecake with a sweet cream cheese topping and fresh raspberry puree. I gained 2 pounds for sure.Happy belated Father's Day to all the dad's out there.
ANNIVERSARY June 18
Yes, it has been a year already. Let's see, in the last year and a few weeks, I left my 17 year job and home in WV, moved into our house in Greeneville, flew to Utah and got married to my sweetie, visited Peru, had a beautiful baby boy, and a bunch of other stuff. I am extremely happy things worked out the way they did. Sheila, Lincoln, and I went back to Gatlinburg to the Melting Pot for out anniversary dinner. It is a fondue restaurant. We had a 4 course meal. The first course was a cheddar cheese/bacon pot with apples, bread, and veggies to dip. Sheila said it was her favorite. The second course was a salad course. We had a California salad with a raspberry vinegrette. It was very good. The third course was the main course. We had a Coq au vin (Chicken broth and wine) pot to cook the meat in. Our meal was 4 portions of sirloin, pork, chicken, shrimp, lobster tail, and a little wrapped thing that had seafood in it. In addition we had mushroom caps, potatoes, and vegetables. There were 6 sauces for the cooked food as well. It was very good. I liked all of it. The last course was a chocolate/peanut butter/raspberry pot with marshmellows, brownies, cheesecake, pound cake, bananas, and strawberrys. Good stuff!
You spend more time cooking your food than eating but I was full when we left. It was expensive but we had a great time.
It was a year worth celebrating!
We had a great visit 2 weeks ago from John, Ruby, Angel, Miles, Johnita, Colin, Jenny, Maddy, Abby (6 nights), Carl (4 nights), and Colin's sister Becca and her husband Max (2 nights). So we can sleep 12 plus the three of us in this house. Most of us went to Ober Gatlinburg, biked the Virginia Creeper, and hiked to Clingman's Dome in the Smokey Mnts. It was great to have our family here in Tennessee for a few days. It went much to fast. Lincoln is glad that everyone that could, came to see him. It was wonderful visit.
FATHER'S DAY
Because I worked Saturday night, I slept in until about 2 pm on Sunday. Not a bad way to spend part of the day. I was kinda tired. Sheila cooked a great dinner for us. She made a fabulous meatloaf with a bunch of stuff in it, grilled asparagus, and a wonderful homemade cheesecake with a sweet cream cheese topping and fresh raspberry puree. I gained 2 pounds for sure.Happy belated Father's Day to all the dad's out there.
ANNIVERSARY June 18
Yes, it has been a year already. Let's see, in the last year and a few weeks, I left my 17 year job and home in WV, moved into our house in Greeneville, flew to Utah and got married to my sweetie, visited Peru, had a beautiful baby boy, and a bunch of other stuff. I am extremely happy things worked out the way they did. Sheila, Lincoln, and I went back to Gatlinburg to the Melting Pot for out anniversary dinner. It is a fondue restaurant. We had a 4 course meal. The first course was a cheddar cheese/bacon pot with apples, bread, and veggies to dip. Sheila said it was her favorite. The second course was a salad course. We had a California salad with a raspberry vinegrette. It was very good. The third course was the main course. We had a Coq au vin (Chicken broth and wine) pot to cook the meat in. Our meal was 4 portions of sirloin, pork, chicken, shrimp, lobster tail, and a little wrapped thing that had seafood in it. In addition we had mushroom caps, potatoes, and vegetables. There were 6 sauces for the cooked food as well. It was very good. I liked all of it. The last course was a chocolate/peanut butter/raspberry pot with marshmellows, brownies, cheesecake, pound cake, bananas, and strawberrys. Good stuff!
You spend more time cooking your food than eating but I was full when we left. It was expensive but we had a great time.
It was a year worth celebrating!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
We're having a baby!
So, it looks like Monday is the day!
For those of you who don't know, we found out about a month ago that Lincoln has only two vessels in his umbilical cord. Normally, babies have three--two that deliver nutrients and oxygen and one that carries away waste. Well, Lincoln has only one of each. There are several possible reasons for this. In about 25% of cases of a two-vessel cord, it means that the baby has some kind of chromosomal abnormality like Downs Syndrome or Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18). Getting this news was, once again, fairly devastating as we've already had several indicators of chromosomal abnormalities. So we went into the University of Tennessee for yet another scan, but once again, baby looks healthy and normal, all except for his umbilical cord. So we then had to consider other culprits--his abnormal cord, coupled with my low HcG levels early on could mean placental development problems. Except that on all of the scans, my placenta looks healthy and Lincoln is right on track in growth and development. So really, the doctors don't know what happened. It could just be a fluke. However, as Lincoln gets bigger, the risk that he will not be able to get enough of what he needs from his two-vessel cord increases, as does the possibility, if it is a placental problem, that we could have placenta complications. So we've been going in twice a week for non-stress tests for the last three weeks. All has been well so far, though, and Lincoln seems active and healthy.
Well, today we went in for what I thought was just a regular NST. After the doctor checked Lincoln's read-out, and then checked my cervix (still just dilated to a 2--no change from last week), she said, "So, do you want to have this baby on Monday or Wednesday?" I just looked at her. Blink, blink. Finally, I stuttered out, "Of next week? As in four days from now?" "Yep!" she said cheerily. And then seeing that I was still a bit stunned, she said, "With his two vessel cord, I don't want this baby to go past his due date. He's full term now, so he'll be fine, but the longer we wait, the greater the risk to him." So I said, "Oh, OK, then how about Monday, I guess."
So Monday it is. We will check into the hospital on Sunday night when they will put this balloon thing in my cervix and begin expanding it. By Monday morning, we should have reached 5cm, at which time, my doctor will come and break my water. Hopefully, that will get things going and we could have a baby by noon, she said (though it's more likely by evening). So, watch for phone calls on Monday--we'll keep you all posted. We can't wait to meet our little guy, and to introduce him to you all. Love you much!
Sheila & Charlie
For those of you who don't know, we found out about a month ago that Lincoln has only two vessels in his umbilical cord. Normally, babies have three--two that deliver nutrients and oxygen and one that carries away waste. Well, Lincoln has only one of each. There are several possible reasons for this. In about 25% of cases of a two-vessel cord, it means that the baby has some kind of chromosomal abnormality like Downs Syndrome or Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18). Getting this news was, once again, fairly devastating as we've already had several indicators of chromosomal abnormalities. So we went into the University of Tennessee for yet another scan, but once again, baby looks healthy and normal, all except for his umbilical cord. So we then had to consider other culprits--his abnormal cord, coupled with my low HcG levels early on could mean placental development problems. Except that on all of the scans, my placenta looks healthy and Lincoln is right on track in growth and development. So really, the doctors don't know what happened. It could just be a fluke. However, as Lincoln gets bigger, the risk that he will not be able to get enough of what he needs from his two-vessel cord increases, as does the possibility, if it is a placental problem, that we could have placenta complications. So we've been going in twice a week for non-stress tests for the last three weeks. All has been well so far, though, and Lincoln seems active and healthy.
Well, today we went in for what I thought was just a regular NST. After the doctor checked Lincoln's read-out, and then checked my cervix (still just dilated to a 2--no change from last week), she said, "So, do you want to have this baby on Monday or Wednesday?" I just looked at her. Blink, blink. Finally, I stuttered out, "Of next week? As in four days from now?" "Yep!" she said cheerily. And then seeing that I was still a bit stunned, she said, "With his two vessel cord, I don't want this baby to go past his due date. He's full term now, so he'll be fine, but the longer we wait, the greater the risk to him." So I said, "Oh, OK, then how about Monday, I guess."
So Monday it is. We will check into the hospital on Sunday night when they will put this balloon thing in my cervix and begin expanding it. By Monday morning, we should have reached 5cm, at which time, my doctor will come and break my water. Hopefully, that will get things going and we could have a baby by noon, she said (though it's more likely by evening). So, watch for phone calls on Monday--we'll keep you all posted. We can't wait to meet our little guy, and to introduce him to you all. Love you much!
Sheila & Charlie
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Start saving money for your retirement.
First, Sheila made some blocks for Lincoln. They turned out great.Second, with Lincoln on the way and after hearing one side of a phone conversation between Sean and Sheila, I want to suggest something to all of the families. Putting money away for your retirement should be started immediately. I know all of you have different incomes and expenses and I am not telling you what to do with your money. However, starting a retirement account when you are young(ish) is smart because you will save a lot more money in the long run. You can save a lot of tax money by using a pre-tax IRA and not even miss the money from your check!
I have been working with a financial adviser for about 10 years. The first year he charged me $400 and invested some money in pre-tax accounts, thus saving me close to $600 in taxes, saved money on my car insurance, gave me 2 free tickets to the Saturday round of the Memorial golf tournament plus hospitality suite (worth roughly $250), and invested my tiny savings into a much better mutual fund that had a higher return. I know the golf tickets were a fluke and my situation was not typical but he saved me money. He now talks to Sheila and I about 3 times a year and is available other times, if we need him. His name is Marc D. Arnold and he works for Ameriprise Financial in West Virginia. His number is 304-352-8200. Call him and tell him I sent you. If you don't want to talk to him go to your local bank or find another financial adviser to talk to. The first contact is free and they can tell you if they can help you or not. You may be surprised at how easy it is to save some money FOR YOU OR YOUR KIDS. Best of luck everyone.
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