Still Alive in Hawaii

Hi all! I know I haven't written in months... hopefully you guys are still out there. =o) It's been a long time... since April I guess. Can't really catch up on all of that time... but I can start with recent news.

C was just home on his 2 week R&R from Iraq. We're home now from taking him to the airport for the return trip. It was a fantastic 2 weeks... and the pictures I'm sharing tonight are from that time. Maybe tomorrow I'll post some that are a bit older... from the summer months.

So C's been gone for over 9 months now, and unless there's a last minute extension, the unit will be home before Christmas. It's strange to see how much the kids have changed in 9 months' time... stranger even for C, I'm sure.

To start out the pictures......

I was able to get an oceanfront beach cabin for 3 days/2 nights of child-free time! This was our cabin:

And looking up the beach at more cabins:

C standing on the seawall off of our porch:

We made sure to be outdoors for the sunsets both nights, so here are some pics of them:

This guy was really cool! He paddled all over the bay (Pokai Bay)... and spent hours going thru the surf along with the surfers!

E received an early Christmas present; it was a huge surprise to her, but something she's been asking for:

His name is Bruiser and was almost or right at 2 pounds in these pictures when we got him. LOL!! He's 2.5 pounds now, and 9 weeks old. He's 3/4 Chihuahua, 1/4 fox terrier. His mom was 7 pounds, and dad was 4 pounds.

While C was gone for the first 9 months, I worked on designing my next tattoo... and once I was done, C really liked it and decided to get it done too! So I got mine done first, and two days later he went and got his.

The pictures aren't that great yet, because the flash made too much glare on mine, especially. The ointment made it all shiny. When it's all healed up, I'll get new pics taken.

These 3 were taken earlier today, before we left for the airport: