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.