Is there really anything better?

I'll take two, please. Scotts, that is.

Field Training Graduation

Earlier this month Scott graduated from a difficult and exhausting six weeks of specialized field training for his squadron.  On the day of the graduation, they flew in on a C-130, having finished a week out in the field that left them all dirty, smelly, and exhausted.  We (their families) were waiting for them on bleachers that were set up in the hangar.  

Getting a pep talk before the actual ceremony began.    

After the ceremony, they finally got to greet their families.  Yay!

Scott with a good friend of ours from church.  Jared completed this same training about six months ago so he especially appreciated what Scott had been through.  P.S. That's Bart in the background.  We love Bart.

The entire class looking tough.  I wouldn't mess with them.

Scott noticed I was zooming in on him and so he flashed me a smile.  Joe (next to him) did not.

Posing on the Huey

Congratulations, Scott!  I'm very proud of you!

To celebrate finishing the course we headed to the beach for the afternoon...

...where Scott promptly fell asleep and took a very long, well deserved nap.  Luckily, no major sunburn ensued.

It's a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it!

Scott came home from work the other day looking like this:

What on earth does he do all day?

Escaping the Minnesota cold

Scott's parents, Ian and Vicki, came down to visit us for a few days earlier this month.   We weren't very good about taking pictures but here are a few to document the trip.  I know Vicki took more on her camera.

Vicki trying on some of Scott's gear

The weather was beautiful long enough for us to enjoy one afternoon at the beach.  Only Scott and Ian were brave enough to venture out into the water, which was still a little cold.  Vicki and I were content to just sit in our chairs and read.  

Yes, Scott is wearing ranger panties.  He loves them and wears them all the time.

The next day we went to the Air Foce Armament Museum.

And one night we did a taste testing courtesy of Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink.  We did blind tastings of Coke, Pepsi, and Walmart brand cola to see if we could correctly identify each one.  This proved to be a much harder task than we anticipated.  We also did it with Sprite, 7Up, and Sierra Mist, as well as a variety of bottled waters.  P.S. Fuji is my new favorite water.  

My favorite part of the visit was that Ian and Vicki were able to come to church on Sunday and hear Scott sing an arrangement of "Abide With Me; 'Tis Eventide" in sacrament meeting.  It was beautiful and I'm glad he had more family than just me there to enjoy it.

Thanks for coming to see us in Florida!  We hope you had a good time!

Water, Water Everywhere

A little taste of Florida for you:

Weekend Warriors

Our guest bathroom was looking a little stale so we decided to take a weekend and freshen it up.  Step one: paint the walls.  Turning the ivory walls into light blue/gray walls made the room look bright and clean.

Step two: Add a fancy new curved shower rod to create more space in the shower.

Step three: add a new shower curtain and rings.

We also put some artwork up which you can barely see in the picture above but it's got a lot of blues, grays, and oranges in it.  We'll be adding some cool orange decorative items as soon as we find ones we like.  

Next up for this room: tiling the floor!

A couple months ago a friend of ours from the ward asked Krissy if she'd like to train for a 15K with her. Krissy in turn invited me and we set about preparing ourselves. Krissy had done a 5K before and technically I had too, but it had been about 19 years since my last race. Long story short, Krissy and I both went through the training regimen, and here we are after finishing. We both really enjoyed it and plan on doing the double bridge run again next year.

From the website:
The annual 15k run will start in historic downtown Pensacola, hug the waterfront, cross two bridges to the finish line at spectacular Pensacola Beach, the same location Spanish explorer Don Tristan DeLuna landed on August 15, 1559 establishing the first European settlement in America.

The weather was spectacularly good: low 60s and not a cloud in the sky. The views were excellent and you almost forgot you were running over 9 miles...