Cramped Working Conditions

I just found this....I meant to post this a while ago. But this is my hubby working inside the engine of a Boeing 747-8....while he loves his work, this was a pretty cramped working condition....he really needed a good back massage after this job!

Prayers Please

Tonight Jason got news of a former MARINE friend and flight mechanic. Ameer Ali has been a pilot in Alaska and last night his plane crashed. His body and that of his copilot have yet to be found and the search has been suspended. Even if they survived the crash after all this time in the water, they have almost no chance of survival. Jason was stationed with him in NYC and they served many missions together, including their time in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was hoping to see some more of Ameer as he was going to start some work around the Seattle area. Please keep all of this in prayer...so hard to lose a friend and praying he can be found!
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/1105193.html
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/1105205.html

Sunflowers, anyone??

Hubby harvested (with Angelica's "help") last week all his sunflowers from the garden that had bloomed. As you can see, we obviously have more than we know what to do with, so anyone that has stopped by in the last week has left with some!! SO...if you are in need or want of some beautiful sunflowers, PLEASE stop by...he has even more to go pick! And to think he started these massive flowers all from seed!

Happy (belated) Birthday "Old" Man!

Saturday we celebrated my hubby's big 30th Birthday! I get to tease him for at least the next 4 months until it is my turn. While he didn't really enjoy seeing the black balloons and decorations and family members showing up in black attire....he was a good sport and wore his funny hat and button and took it all in stride. Thirty always sounded so old and now that we are reaching this milestone, I think it sounds really young! Happy Birthday babe, we love you!!!

Jason and his women

The Men

Daddy's Helpers

Our Garden Helpers

This year, Jason rented a 10x20 and 10x10 garden plots that our local community offers in a new garden patch they created. The dirt was not great so Jason spent a lot of time tilling it over, getting rocks out, and putting new garden soil and compost in it...and finally got all his vegetables that he had grown in the greenhouse in the dirt!! Angel and Emma have enjoyed helping go check on the garden and water it, plus there is a park they built for kids that they enjoy visiting as well. So we hope to have lots of produce starting in July...probably more than we know what to do with!!!!

Waiting for Papa

This past week we had several sunny (although cold) days and me and the girls enjoyed waiting outside for Papa to come home from work. He rides his bike to the ferry and then to work in Seattle and then back home. Last summer we made up a "Papa coming home" song to the tune of "She'll be coming 'round the mountain"....so we enjoyed singing and waiting to hear his bike bell ringing...and Angelica enjoyed picking up leaves and sticks in her one year Halloween costume she found...however, she was only able to get the top part of the Elephant costume to fit....from behind she looked like a little mouse!!! Looking forward to spring and lots of fresh air!!

Potatoes

Jason grew potatoes this year....first try...and last night we dumped the trash can out and while it wasn't nearly as many as he was hoping....we managed to get about a dozen good size potatoes...and he is determined to get more next year!! (the video is dark it was outside)

Ready to Ride

Jason loves all his new bike gear he got for his birthday, especially the weather gear for this time of year.

Happy Birthday Hon!

Today is Jason's 29th Birthday!!! We love you so much Jason and thank you for all the love, time and hard work you do to support and take care of our family. Can't believe you are almost 30!!! (I can tease you about that for a few months at least!) We hope you had a good birthday even though this year has been a tough one, I pray that God will bless you with a wonderful year ahead and continued health and happiness. We love you...as Angel says....bunches and bunches...up to the moon and back!! (Jason is a cheesecake man....so every year since we have been married I have made him a different cheesecake that he picks out. This year, it was a huge winner...click on picture to get the recipe for the Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake...and enjoy!!)

New Mode of Transportation

One of many reasons

There are many reasons why I love my hubby, but one of them is definitely is mister-fix-it and frugal spending, do-it-myself mentality and talent. We have so far (other than new tires) NEVER taken our cars to get fixed for anything. He has always said that places charge way too much and most of it is for labor costs, so why not just learn how and do it yourself? He has gotten books on our cars and when there is a problem he figures out what it is, shops around for the best part and learns how to do it. While sometimes these things take hours to remedy, he has saved us hundreds of dollars. Last Friday, he drove home and his car sounded like a truck or Harley pulling into the driveway. He thought his exhaust manifold had broken but it ended up being something with the muffler area (note how car savvy I am? I am probably getting all the details wrong!). Anyways, he started driving around to get estimates on parts etc....to only keep getting told that the part was between$100-200 bucks and with labor to fix would cost around $500!! He kept at it and finally found a place where he asked if his car really needed two catalytic converters...the answer was no. So Jason asked them if they would just cut out the bad one and weld a straight pipe on to fix the problem. The shop agreed and $40 bucks later the problem was fixed and he drove home, happy and quietly!! I am so thankful to have him around to fix these issues and determined to do it because I am afraid I would have gotten suckered into the $500 rip off deal!

Official Boeing Employee

Congrats to my hubby Jason...he just accepted a job as a Developmental Testing Mechanic with Boeing. The whole package sounded really good, but we were just debating the whole commute situation for awhile. So...while he will definitely have a long commute we are hoping that those hours will be able to help with studying or reading that he wants/needs to get done. He is very excited about the position and working with this great company...we will keep you posted!! Thanks for everyone's prayers!

Birthday pics and recipes

We had a fun time celebrating Jason's birthday. He loves his gift mom made him as you can see from the picture. Angel had lots of fun helping with the festivities. Jason had his annual birthday Mexican Casserole, Cornbread and I made a new White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake...SO GOOD!! (click on them to get recipes)

Happy Birthday Honey!! (& Papa)

Happy Birthday!! Wow....28!! We love you so very much and hope you have a great day and another wonderful and healthy year ahead. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.....Love, Your Honey, Your Angel and Your Baby Girl