Maybe Santa will find our house

All set for Christmas. Here are the lights we bought last month to replace our other lights that were 6 years old. Nothing to big but very nice according to the experts (kids).
Our very first "real" tree. We were going to wait till next year when we move to get our first real tree, but we seen a clip on the news about a place on the island that grows trees and it is very nice.

Norfolk Pine tree is originally from Australia's Norfolk Island, the Norfolk pine tree came to Hawaii in the 19th Century. Some Norfolks are more than 100 feet tall. Once cut down, Norfolks will stay green, healthy and gorgeous for over a month.

They also had these very nice wreaths that matches the tree.

Only 25 days till Christmas, are you ready?

Stranded on "Black Friday"

This morning a couple of bud's decided to brave "black Friday" and go shopping. They headed out early (03:30) with a good game plan and hit the streets and was ready to go when the doors opened at 5 a:m.
Everything was going as planned until they came out of a store only to find their car being towed. Not because they were illegally parked, not because the time had expired, but because they walked across the street and left the premises of the restaurant where they parked. What a scam!

This is for you guy's.

Family and Friends is what it's all about!!!

Today was an exciting action packed day right from the start. I decided I would get back into running. No my foot hasn't got any better but I've decided I would run anyway and try to force it to heal (not the best thing to do but we'll see what happens). So @ 0630 Ben, Dev & I met for a slow 5 mile run. I could tell it had been awhile since I ran but was able to complete 4.6m in 42 mins avg. 9:15 pace. HR was higher than normal but that will come down after a couple weeks of running again. I came home to find the kids up and ready to go. They were so excited this morning being it was thanksgiving day. So Lynn and I decided we would give them their Christmas gift from us early and let them have a little fun. Yes they got a Nintendo Wii bundle pack with the Wii Fit board.

We opened the game at 9:00 and started playing by 9:30 and we didn't stop till almost 6:00. It's a amazing game and even Jake can play several of the games. We played baseball, bowling, fishing, boxing, tennis, ping-pong, laser hockey, billiards, shooting range, tanks and cow racing. We also played a couple of the Wii Fit games which are pretty neat.

Jake is fast asleep and Amanda is almost out. (I would be sleeping if I could). It was soo funny watching these guys play with each other trying to beat the computer.
Then before we knew it, it was dinner time. Lynn out did herself this year with a very nice honey baked ham.

But the best part of today's meal was this incredible turkey. The juiciest turkey I've ever ate. It was incredible. Must be a Hawaiian Paradise turkey (just kidding).

We also had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, stuffing and pumpkin pie. I'm stuffed.

I better get a good bike ride in tomorrow to work off some of today's calories.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone and I hope everyone had as much fun as we did with family and friends today, cause that is what's really important.

Lunch with co-workers

Today we had our annual thanksgiving lunch with the entire section (over 100 people). Of the 3 I've attended this was by far the best one. We had plenty of room for everyone and the food was incredible. They started almost on time and the line went very fast so no one had to wait too long for their turn.
Since Amanda was in school, Jake and I attended and had a really good time. He is such a good boy.

This is BGen Litchfield speaking to everyone before we ate. He will be leaving PACAF to go to Oklahoma for his next assignment by the end of the year.

A little wet

As you can see from the radar picture it is a little wet and doesn't look like it is going to clear up anytime soon. So far we haven't got heavy rain which is a good thing, however there is a flash flood watch for the entire state.

Hawaii sunrise, sleep over

What a nice Hawaii sunrise this morning on the way to work.
Tonight Amanda got to have a sleep over with a school friend Rachel. She is staying over with us tonight so her mom and dad can stay at the Army medical center during birth of her little brother or sister. So this is how they wanted to watch a movie together in bed.

Tomorrow night is Amanda's school Fall Festival which should be a ton of fun.

Windy but fun

Yesterday we were able to dodge the rain for a good lunch time ride with 13 other riders at lunch time. Wasn't the fastest ride of all time due to some extreme head wind but made for an overall good ride and some mental toughness.
The winds were 10-20 mph with gusts above 25 mph

Lynn got her replacement blackberry in the mail yesterday afternoon and I was able to recover all of her previous phone information and get her back up and running.

Little Angels, broken blackberry, rainy weekend in paradise

Here is a picture we had made with the latest edition to the Soots family (Madison, Nathan & Mary's 6 month old girl) when they were here visiting a couple of weeks ago.
Upon returning home from Korea, Lynn was having problems with her blackberry. Basically it will not come on, tried different battery, sim card, media card, still broken. Took back to At&t and they said it was a fatal operating system failure and the phone would require replacement. Luckily it's still under warranty.

Not your typically weekend in paradise with heavy rain since Friday with more in the forecast. Hopefully the sun will return soon.

Mission Complete

Wow! what a week it has been at Kunsan AB Korea. A 5 person team arrived a few days ago with very clear guidance to go to Kunsan and ensure they are preforming safe and effective maintenance on F-16 aircraft.
Needless to say, Mission Complete and it was an incredible opportunity to make a difference that will effect those I had the opportunity to inspect. I was able to recognize 1 individual (out of 1100 assigned) on his performance and enthusiasm. His Commander was shocked with my insight to what was truly important and stated I personally affected that individual as well as him.

Now I'm setting at Incheon airport heading back to Honolulu to have lunch with Amanda tomorrow.

From Hawaii to Korea

Late last week I was informed I would need to go to Kunsan AFB Korea to inspect the maintenance to ensure they had "safe and effective" maintenance practices. So quickly I had reservations and was on an airplane to Korea. Upon arrival to Osan AFB for a one night layover the team was informed Kunsan's Commander (see link)had been relieved of duty.

Now it's off to Kunsan for a few days of inspecting and ensuring maintenance preformed is nothing short of PACAF's standard in the Maintenance Pursuit of Excellence.

Fun day at the carnival

This morning we decided we better get a good breakfast since it was going to be a long day at the Hickam Carnival (50th Anniversary edition). We went to the Wright Brothers Cafe on base which is next to the entrance to Pearl Harbor (we also got a quick glimpse of a submarine leaving the harbor). Today is Nathan and Mary's last full day before they leave tomorrow for Maui for a week.
As soon as Lynn returned home from teaching this morning it was off to the carnival

But first we had to ensure Madison was ready to go, and Jake was the first to volunteer to feed her.

Then it was Amanda's turn

Now we are at the carnival and we rode just about every ride and Jake and Amanda loved them all.

Amanda seen a lot of her friends and got to share a ride with most of them

Another one of Amanda's classmates

Amanda and I on the Ferris wheel

Amanda's face painting

Of course Jake had to get in on the face painting action. He wanted a green race car painted on his face

The view from atop the Ferris wheel

The crowds weren't bad at all and we only waited a few minutes for most of the rides. Overall it was a great time and you can view all the pictures taken from the slide show on the top right hand side of the page.

Here is a quick video of Jake and I going down the slide.

Enjoy