PORTLAND!

Beer sampler tray.

Eating at Laurelwood Brewpub.
Dad, Dustin, and Sean each got a beer sampler tray.

Uncle D and Finn-Finn.

Skinny kid couldn't keep his trunks up.

Going underwater with Daddy.

Cullen had a ball jumping in... over and over...

We flew into Portland, Oregon on Wednesday. Hello, humidity... guess we forget other places have that, living in Colorado. Sean and I figured up on the plane, this was Cullen's 6th airplane trip and Finn's 3rd... BUT this is the first time Sean has ever flown with either boy! They both did really well on the plane, Finn got kind of cranky, but overall they were champs. Cullen took the window seat and about 5 minutes after take-off asked me, "Mom, which door do we jump out of?" He was as serious as a heart attack... the kid thought we were really going to jump out of the plane! I cleared that right up for him. Ha! Guess he is his Daddy's son. :)

After arriving in Portland we ate dinner at a local brewery. Teresa told us that Oregon has more breweries per capita than any other state, so it was a fun "local" thing to do. We all (minus the young ones) enjoyed some cold beer and GREAT food! Then we headed to the hotel to check-in and let the boys swim themselves to sleep. :)

1st t-ball game of the year

Our little Oriole.

Finn watching the game.

Cullen (#1) playing catcher

Finn playing with rocks.

Almost Cullen's turn to bat!

Cullen had his first t-ball game Monday night. He did a great job. It's so interesting to see Cullen in a sports environment. At home he's really aggressive and not reserved at ALL, but on a team he is the total opposite on all fronts. That competitive nature is there, and I'm sure it will show itself the older he gets. :)

News Channel 13 was there to cover the game. You see Cullen twice (both times he's playing catcher). The first time is when a Ranger player threw his bat a few times, Cullen is in the ready position behind the plate with Isabel (another catcher)... you may notice the blue on his glove. The second time is when a Ranger scores, you see the coach walking Cullen up towards 1st base. His hands are up and again, you'll see the blue on his glove. To watch click here. You may need to select the video titled "the game of the week".

work

Out of all the jobs Sean has had in the Army, HSC Commander is by far, without any doubt, the craziest of them all! He works insane hours, has to deal with Soldiers' strange personal/family issues, and so on... Furthermore, because of his job I'm the FRG Leader... A volunteer position that no one, short of having a masters degree in social work, is qualified for. Lord have mercy. Nine more months to go!

Funny thing is, all of my other FRG Leader friends, say that command time in the company is much easier. That the Special Forces Soldiers have their stuff together, or more together anyway. So tell me why you command HSC before ODA's again?!? I know that Sean's job is an honor and much sought after, but wow. Sean and I cannot get over what an eye-opener this job has been!

more Mali articles

This article was in our Sunday paper yesterday: Flintlock I also came across this one: Gazette
It's so interesting to see news articles about what my husband is doing around the world!

Daddy's home!!!

People welcoming them home.
Very nice!

The plane that brought them back.

Iceland

The boys watching TV with daddy.

Finn-Finn giving Daddy a kiss.

A hand-carved mask made from ebony wood.

Gifts for the boys- a tiger, turtle,
and elephant carved from ebony wood.

Little hear no, see no, speak no evil monkeys.

A larger version.

African jumpwings
The foreign jumpwings Sean earned.

Yay! We are so glad daddy is home!! It's been a long month...

more Africa pics

Not sure what they are doing here, but Sean is in the last three pictures. (He's on the left in all of them.)

Africa jump

I believe one of these guys is the president of Mali.

Landing in a nice lava rock field.
Optimal jump zone, no doubt...

General Haas, the Special Operations Commander
in charge of Africa.

African Soldiers

I'll do my best describing these pictures, I'll know more when Sean gets home...

Here are some pictures of the closing jump ceremony in Africa. Sean was in charge of putting this on. Sean was a jumpmaster for the ceremony and spotted a mistake BG Haas made while hooking in his static line before his jump. Sean said the BG had a great time and gave him a coin, he also told Sean that it was one of the most professionally run jumps he had been on. Luckily no one got hurt on the jump, Sean was worried about this jump because they were jumping into either an iron ore or lava rock jump zone. Sean did bump his head pretty hard, they were concerned about a mild concussion, and got a bad bruise on his hip from the jump.

Overall, it sounds like he rocked it!