MCAS Yuma Air Show

Twilight in Forks

Snuggies!!!

It doesn't get much sillier than some one wearing a snuggie. We bought these in preparation of this weekend's house guest and good friend Rosie. Not only do these snuggly blankets keep you warm and allow you the use of your arms they are an instant mood booster because you cannot help but laugh when you put one on. If you come to visit our house be prepared to get your photo taken in a snuggie. It's a new silly tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate our first Thanksgiving in our home we hosted an Orphan Thanksgiving for all of our friends who were also unable to be with their families over the holiday. This year we are Thankful for our new home, the ability to host a Thanksgiving, our newly formed extended Marine/Navy family here in Yuma, good food and great wine!

We had 14 people around our table this year, each brought a delectable addition to the Thanksgiving feast. We ended the evening outside around a fire and an intense game of baggo.

USMC Ball 09

This is our third Marine Corps Birthday Ball and our first Marine Corps Ball here in Yuma. Our H&HS (Headquarters) ball was hosted at the newly built Quechan Casino & Resort. We were the last to leave the dance floor that evening and then headed to the Quechan's Sidewinder bar and closed that down with our group of friends. It was a a great way to kick off the holiday season!

Sedona!

Carmen & Dave flew into Yuma on a Thursday, the four of us piled into the Element and drove to Sedona on a Friday, celebrated Baby Kendall & Dylan's dedication on a Saturday, celebrated Kendall's first birthday on a Sunday, drove back to Yuma and visited the Dunes before the sun went down, grabbed breakfast and put Dave & Carmen back on the plane on a Monday. It was a wonderful whirlwind weekend with the family. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Gainfully Employed

Just as Jen was resigning to the idea of being unemployed for our entire duration in Yuma... Just when she gave up waiting for a job and started making plans.... just as we booked a 20 day vacation back to Washington.... she got a job! And not just any job, but a great job! Jen is the new Assistant Marketing Director and Commercial Sponsorhip Coordinator for Marine Corps Community Services. In this position she wears many hats, one as a manager of a graphic design team, one as an event planner, one as a sponsor coordinator for those events, and one as an advertising sales representative for all advertising on the MCAS base. Better yet Jen's new office is just three blocks away from Levi's and our hours are nearly identical! Our new routine has been to carpool to and from work, cool off in the pool while talking about our work days, grill out for dinner and head to bed early - it has become quite the domestic bliss.

Back in Action!

After 7 1/2 years of employment at the same company Jen has been officially unemployed for one year and four months, during this time she has been thouroughly entertained by various adventures. One month exploring Thailand's white beaches, clear waters and rich culture, followed by a cross country trip to the East Coast for a 6 month love affair with the city of Washington, D.C. a whirlwind and chilly seaside experience on the island of Newport, Rhode Island, yet another cross country trip to Yuma, Arizona for a solo house hunting venture, Christmas with the fam in Washington and then back to Yuma the ultimate adventure of home ownership and remodel projects.

We've been in Yuma for 7 months and while the home remodel project has been rewarding and enjoyable the project it is no longer sufficing as Jen's sole hobby. The demise of our last camera paired with Jen's growing anxiousness for variety, spawned her new plan of learning photography. Levi bought Jen her new Canon Rebel XSI DLSR for thier anniversary and her birthday. Jen has grand plans to take photography classes, and get good enough to volunteer with a local photographer, take free portraits for friends and maybe one day start shooting photos for a nominal fee using the military network to target families, deployed spouses and all of those quickie marriages. We'll see where this takes us, worst case scenario Jen will have a speedy camera and knowledge to capture great shots of our current adventures and future family.

Still without a camera

We have had a lot going on these last couple of weeks but without a camera to document it all there is little incentive to blog about it. Jen is excited about the opportunity to buy our new camera, we are taking the plunge and buying a more advanced digital SLR. Jen is planning on enrolling in a photography class to better understand the SLR and all of it's bells and wistles. After four years of dental work/braces/and a retainer Levi will see his oral surgeon for the last time be sporting a new movie star smile.

We are gearing up for a big 2 and a half week trip home. During this short time we have 5 weddings, 2 rehearsal dinners, a bridal shower and a bachelorette party. Also coming up is our three year wedding anniversary and Levi's 28th birthday.

The home improvements are coming along slow and steady. We are still working on our baseboard installation, caulking and painting, while also working on other small projects. We are in the details stage of our main living areas, still we need to hang pendant lighting over our island, hang curtains, mount our TV, and purchase/hang wall art.

Sweltering Heat

Today it is 110 degrees with 30% humidity. From what we hear the temps and humidity will continue to intensify through the end of August. We are spending our days inside and our evenings in the pool which has already reached 92 degrees. The cats are having a tough time adjusting to the high temps as well - they are avoiding the outdoors entirely and are more lethargic and sleepy than ever.

Our camera is malfunctioning so it may be a while before our current house projects are debuted here.

Summer Fun

This last week both our social and remodeling schedules kept us busy. Our friend Chris visiting Yuma on his cross-country road trip from New York to California. We attended the Raddison Wine Bar's wine tasting and tapas night with friends Nicole, Monica and Sean - This might be our new favorite event in Yuma! Levi and our friend John discovered an inexpensive 9-hole golf course behind our community and have made a weekly plan to work on their game. Levi bought a set of clubs and is awfully excited about his new hobby. Jen made an overnight trip to Phoenix to go shopping with SIL Kristen and watch baby Kendall during her second swim lesson. On the remodelling front Jen fixed our irrigation system and Levi cleared our garage making a place for our Element to be parked. It's been a delightful and productive week!

The tree is gone!

Oh how we hate this tree! Let us count the ways- 1) The tree paired with Yuma's wild wind has been ripping off our shingles on the roof. 2) Our attempt at pruning resulted in not only an unsightly chop job but also a ridiculous growth spurt of branches forcing us and all of our guests to duck before entering our home 3) During Spring the tree blossomed thousands of lime green puff balls attracting thousands of bees who took up residence in our tree for a month. 4) Half of the puff ball blossoms dropped into our yard and rock bed making it look as if we littered our yard with thousands of tiny green marshmallows. 5) The other half of the puff ball blossoms attached to the tree sprouted a pea pod type appendage which are now also falling into our yard. 6) Come winter the green leaves will also litter our yard. It's too much! The tree had to come down! When a landscaper knocked on our door offering his tree pruning services Jen arranged for the tree to come down all together and the rock in the front to be removed. To some this is a huge travesty but the tree and all of it's issues have begun to affect Jen's daily sanity - it had to come down.

We have every intention of replanting something in it's place and landscaping the rock bed with drought tollerant plants but in the mean time the house is looking a little bare. So bare in fact Levi who was drove right pass our house on his way home from work.

Renovating again!

Alright it's time to get this blog back on track! At the brink of utter home renovation burnout paired with our newly connected cable we unofficially and unplanned took a hiatus from the whole thing! Now we're back! We're starting out steady and small. Levi's first project was to add the base molding to the island in the kitchen/family room as a test run for our big house wide base molding project. What do you think of the two toned molding? We're thinking it blends well with the island butcher block - thoughts? We're totally joking. The molding came primed but the corners were just raw wood, there will be a more cohesive look to follow :)

Jen's project was a photo project she had planned for the formal living room. We have some pretty amazing photos that we have collected over the years and we've been waiting for a showcase opportunity just like this! The photo project is still in progress, we have to buy a few more frames and then choose the photos to fill them. Also the couch that is there now will be exchanged for a corner sofa. To the right of the sofa we're planning to place a side table and a large (and unidentified) canvas painting above it.

More on the Washington trip! Jen was able to pack a lot into the additional week she stayed in Washington. She mostly spent a bulk of her time with her family with some great one on one time with baby Adrian. Jen, her sister Darlene, and Adrian spent a half day at one of Kalaloch's Ruby Beach playing in the waves and the tide pools. With not a cloud in the sky the temps were high and it was absolutely a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest!

Levi's youngest sister Annie and her fiance Dave just bought their first house and to much of Levi's envy, Jen was able to tour their new place (pre-renovations) and attend their first BBQ with the family and also visit their August wedding venue (see the big beautiful oak tree and behind that is a view of the snow capped Olympics) Congrats Annie and Dave on your new home we can't wait to see the renovations you have planned come to fruitition!

Before flying out Jen was able to reconnect with one of her best friends of 11 years and spend some quality time with the Bothell Larsons, her sister in law Kristen and baby Kendall. Some of the last photos are of Kristen and Jen's day trip to a waterpark with neices Emma, Avery and baby Kendall.

Beekeeping with Jen's Dad

This Spring Jen's dad, Don, took on the new hobby of beekeeping, he set up four hives on their property for a total of 160,000 bees! Levi's dad, Dave also adopted one hive this season and our two dads have bee working and learning together on how to properly raising their hives. On Jen's trip home she was able to tag along with her dad and his many bee adventures. Jen was there to watch Dave and Don catch their first wild swarm - it was quite the operation! The swarm was 25 feet up a tree, Dave hoisted Don up on pallete on a fork lift where he sedated the bees and then shook the cluster straight into an empty bee super. Amazing stuff!

Jen also had the opportunity to put the bee suit on and handle the bees herself. The photos here are of Jen at her dad's hive. Also there's a short video of a hive ready to swarm - it was a cloud of 60,000 bees flying in a vehicle sized cluster. The cute little voice in the background is Jen's two year old nephew, Adrian.