Michael's Trip to Atlanta/CNN Field Trip

Bonnie Schneider is a Meteorologist at CNN. That's the only part of that station that doesn't favor "The Left".
My Sister -in -Law and my Sister -in- Christ, Anna Banana Velez.
She took me around where she works at CNN International. It was awesome hanging out with her. Can't wait till they visit us soon...hint hint
Just some of the tornado damage we saw, I was in town for a big MonaVie meeting and they had to move the entire conference venue and 600 rooms in under three weeks. There were over 4000 people at the conference and it went off without a hitch... It was Awesome. . . . . . . .

My Flower Pictures

Peruvian lilies for my birthday from Michael.

The beautiful bouquet from my sisters in Okinawa. I miss you all.

Valentine's Day flowers from Michael after 8 days (how beautiful!)

Maddie and I planted tulips late last fall. We are so anxious to see them bloom. Hope to share them with you soon.

Casting Day-Part Two

Here is a picture of Maddie's X-Ray. She has an S-curved spine. Michael says she's as crooked as a politician. The next photo is her on the table where they pulled traction to get her spine as straight as possible before wrapping her in plaster. She was very brave and did not complain at all! The last photo shows the cast room techs holding her cast/mold which they will use to custom-fit her brace. The guys were so nice. Of course we took her out to lunch later that day. She started wearing her brace on April 1st. She will probably have to wear it for two years. She wears it 23 hours a day-only taking a break to shower and stretch. Praise God we have free medical care and Michael is usually able to take time off for her appointments.

Casting Day-Part One

Maddie in the waiting room, having a snack.

Yes, we have money to buy her new shoes. She won't get rid of these!

Father and daughter.

Daughter and mother.

OK, so once again the date-stamp on my camera is wrong. These were taken on March 14th at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. For those of you who didn't know (including us) Maddie has scoliosis. She will have to wear a brace until she finishes growing to keep her spine from worsening. She has a great attitude about the whole thing. These were taken on the day she got her cast/mold made so they could custom make her brace.

Awesome Date Night

We were super blessed by some friends :) with last-minute concert tickets. We made arrangements for the kids and attended the concert at George Mason University's Patriot Center. We also got "meet and greet" passes to meet Matthew West, Jeremy Camp and TobyMac. Our seats were so close-on the floor! Needless to say we went home with sore throats that night. At the end of the evening we ran into some sisters from CC Fredericksburg. We also got autographs for Maddie and a t-shirt for Tyler. Thank you to our very generous friends!

Our Niece Beija

My niece, Beija, traveled from Atlanta to D.C. for a week-long school field trip.



The dinner stop for the first day was in Fredericksburg so the kids and I met up with her.
I love how God works out these impromptu visits! We had the pleasure of meeting some
of her friends and teachers.

National Zoo-Spring Break 2008

We were blessed to have Karisa Kilgore stay with us during Spring Break. Many of you will remember her as our next door neighbor in Okinawa. We've known Karisa and her family since 1998 and have been stationed together three times! They are a great family and live only a short drive away.

Chinatown, D.C.

We went to Chinatown, D.C. on a Sunday afternoon. There wasn't much to do unless you want to eat Chinese, which we didn't feel like eating. The "Friendship Arch" is beautiful. Next, Maddie and Karisa Kilgore pose for us. I loved the way this little building in the last two pictures stood out. The only other eventful things were going to the Urban Outfitters store and walking by the Verizon Center. Urban Outfitters has clothing, shoes, home decor, hip people who work there and unfortunately (and much to our surprise) lots of items with profanity. Not cool :(
There was a Pistons/Wizards game (that's NBA for those of you who don't know basketball) at the Verizon Center and we had a few scalpers try and sell us tickets!

Little Miss Maria Torres

Here's sweet, sweet baby Maria. We had a fun time playing with her and getting our baby fix. Praise the Lord she is healthy now. Prayer works!

Torres Family Visit X 11

Maddie and Rafael

Rafael and Noah getting ready for bed

Brandon and Anthony (check out the long hair)

Mona's aunt (L) and mom staying warm

The Torres family stopped by for a visit on March 16th-17th. Mona's family was flying in from Okinawa and Dulles Airport was where they landed (45 mins. from our house). Larry rented a 12 (?!) passenger van to transport everyone back to North Carolina. Sorry not everyone is pictured; we were busy hanging out. The last picture makes me laugh~Mona's aunt and mom were cold even though it was 65F outside (warm for March) and so they made themselves comfy on the floor with the sunlight on their backs while they played with Maria. All the ladies, including Jun's mom had lunch while Larry, Jun and the boys slept or stayed upstairs. The fellowship was great and it was so nice to hear the beautiful Japanese language again. We hope to see them when we next visit North Carolina.