Hey Boy's and Mommy and Lil Emma, 

Today, we went for a hike up a big mountain called 3 Peaks.  It took us about 45 minutes to get there and then about an hour just to climb up to the top.  We had a lot of fun while we were up there and it snowed on us while we were hiking.  These are some of the pictures that I took while I was up there…I hope you enjoy them.  I really wish I could take you up there someday as it would be a fun hike for us to make.  Emma will have to be a little older for her to enjoy it, but I could carry her in the back-pack since she is still little.  Love and miss you guys, I think of you often…most of the time when i am hiking like this as it reminds me of the fun times we have had out-doors together.  Love you!  Dad.

We hiked up to the top of all three of those peaks.

I climbed a tree at the top of the hill so I could see further. 

Sometimes it was easier to get down the mountain by sliding on your bottom...

This is my own personal chair…hanging over a ravine.

I decided that if it got too cold and the snow got really bad that I was going to sleep in there with the bears and mountain lions…oh my!

Pictures from Jake

 Guess what came in the mail today? Yep, the movie finally came. I had forgotten all about it. The boys were very excited and immediately wanted to watch it! I made them play outside for 20 minutes first. :)


The pigs in the last picture are piggy banks. Sarah bought them for the boys for a quarter each. Boy, were they excited! They are the ugliest things - gold and sparkly. Some bling for their bling! :) But, for 25 cents, I can't really complain. Now I no longer have any coins in my purse cause they have cleaned me out to fill them up! Oh, and Jake wanted me to be sure to tell you that Emma burped loudly right when he took that picture. :)

Thats all we've got for today. Check back again. The picture taking has become more sporatic, but I try to remind them when I see some kodak moments.

Love you and miss you!

Wake Island and Japan

Boys; the answer to the last question is this:  You call seagulls that live in the bay…Bagels!!

This is the front of the airplane…I spent about 20 hours staring into nothing but open sky and clouds.

This is Wake Island.  We stop here for gas so we don't spend too much time in the airplanes.  It was the place of a huge battle between us and the Japanese in WWII…lot's of good men died here during that time.  Remember the Blue Planet where they talk about the reefs with all the sharks and stuff getting washed up from the really deep part of the ocean?  Well, that is what this place is…a huge mountain that just barely pokes its head above the water.

You can see by the different color of water and the waves where the start of the mountain is.  The water is really blue cause the floor of the ocean is really deep right around there.  The lagoon is a lighter color of blue, almost green cause you can see the bottom about 20 feet beneath the surface.

Some of the wild-life that is there is some sweet birds, possibly frigates, that fly around and yell at you.

Here is a friendly Hermit Crab.  He doesn't like being bothered so he spend most of his time in his shell…i had to sit quietly for about 3 minutes before he popped out and started walking again.

It is winter here but the weather was about 80 degrees, warmer than it is in Beaufort.  The storms bring some good waves in the winter time, that is pretty far away from where I am at, but it still is pretty cool to see that much water crashing into the rocks.

We had to leave the very next day, I wanted to stick around for a couple more days...

that on the runway, ready to take-off

More tanking...

That is me in the basket getting the gas…

this is what Japan looks like from the air…a bunch of islands...

This is right before we landed in Iwakuni, Japan where we are going to be staying for the next couple of months.  I will send you boy's more pictures of my room and the base and some people when I get a chance.  I love you boy's and be good for mommy!

Love, Dad.

Emma

 Since the boys are busy playing Mario Brothers, I thought I would throw some pictures of Emma up here. She is getting more and more expressive everyday, and she's working on getting that big noggin up! :)
  She almost always sucks her thumb now when she naps. She fusses when I put her down and then just finds her thumb, sticks it in and drifts right off to sleep.
  Such a cutie she is. I just love her smile in the last picture, I thought you would like it too. You can't tell, but her shirt today says "I love Daddy". She does.
  I love you too and I miss you.

First 5 days

Boy's, Question:  Why don't Seagulls live in the Bay?

This is us leaving California.  The big airplane gives us gas so we can fly further than if we just had our own gas.  there are no places to land and get gas on our way to Hawaii.

I thought of you crazy's while I was up flying across the water…it took us 6 hours just to get to the Hawaiian Islands.

You know that I couldn't go to an Island without showing you some pictures of fish…so here is Hanuama Bay…we went snorkeling for about 2 hours.

 Yup, thats me...

I wanted to keep him cause he seemed colorful and friendly…But...he didn't want to go Japan with me.

This guy likes to swim sideways…who wouldn't, right?

Gill, again.

This is a bad picture, but that is an Eel on the bottom of the picture.  I didn't want to get too close cause he is huge…about 3-4 feet long…and not really all that friendly!

This is the guy's I went snorkeling with…Phil and Aaron.  Phil's wife is Jaime, you might remember her cause she is really friendly.  Aaron's has 3 kids, you play with them sometimes…Allie and two others but I can't remember their names right now.

We also saw some whales in the distance and went down to the shore to see the great surf pounding the rocks…it was a blast!

Sorry that this picture is sideways, I will get better at this "blog" stuff…

We went to get some food after snorkeling and a Duck walked into the restaurant and grabbed some food from that lady before the waitress shooed him out of the place…apparently he is a regular customer at this establishment, but he doesn't leave very good tips!

Miss you boy's.  Take good care of Mom and lil Emma and throw some pictures of what you guys are doing onto the computer and have Mom put them on the blog so I can see what you are doing other than playing Mario Brothers Wii!  I LOVE YOU!

P.S.  Don't feed the seagulls animal crackers…it makes them go crazy!