Andrew can swim!

(MP) - I am thrilled to announce that a summer of swim "team" practices paid off in a HUGE way just a couple days ago. Andrew (6) swam the entire length of the pool (25-meters) by himself! At the beginning of the summer he could not even swim on his own at all! I know Rachel is trying to post a video of this great feat, so stay tuned!

The joys of traveling

I am currently in Kapisa Province working on getting a project started. The trip was pretty short notice and I made it out here in good time. My goal is to be back at my "home" camp by my birthday, but there is no guarantee of that.


Traveling has its perks as well as costs. I get to see a lot of the country, but sometimes I get stuck places that I really don't need to spend a lot of time. For instance, on my last trip the other engineer I was travelling with and I got stuck for an extra six days at a pretty isolated location. It gave me a lot of time to read and watch movies but very little time to do work because I was almost completely disconnected. Additionally, it gave my coworkers back at my "home" camp plenty of time to figure out a great prank.


So, upon returning, I found the below image waiting for me!

I'm guessing I'll find something else exciting waiting for me after this trip, though I can't imagine how they'll top this!

Summer

The last few days I have felt like putting my hands on my hips and stamping my foot and saying to no one in particular, "Where is my lazy summer? Who took my summer? You'd better give back summer right now!"

It sure has flown and I feel I've been working so hard to enjoy it, I haven't enjoyed it as much. Does anybody else feel that way?

We're doing great! After our Chick-fil-A pictures in the Montgomery papers, our stardom (wink, nudge) has now faded into the everyday once again. This week, a dear friend took me out to eat and we went shopping, too. Nearly all of our closest AF friends have moved, and while we miss them, we are not without lots to do. Andrew built this great log cabin with the tiniest Lincoln Logs you could ever imagine. We go to the pool as much as we can and we're counting the days till we get to see Daddy again. This week has been extremely busy as we've been going to VBS at Taylor Road Baptist Church every morning this week. I have been teaching 26 second graders about following, worshipping, confessing, serving and obeying Jesus. I have never done this before and was asked to do so rather last minute, but it has gone well and I think they kidaroos have enjoyed it. I'm also keeping busy getting our family ready for my sister Julia's wedding August 15th, along with attending and throwing showers.

Oh, and we've been tending to the garden. I started to write "growing the garden" but of course it is God that makes all things grow and I do not want to make such an error that I think I have any greater role than watering, fertilzing and keeping the pests away, at least most of them. Please click on the "Garden" tab to see some great pictures and read about how it's going this year.

I actually had a friend say to me today that she wasn't going to speak to me until I updated our blog. She said she was tired of cows and guitars. I hope she'll speak to me now!

"Tractor, Tractor, harvesting the corn..."

...or something like that. Well, maybe no tractors, but we are bringing in and eating up some pretty good corn! And, boy, the grape tomatoes were without question the sweetest tomato I've ever eaten. Elizabeth kept "packing them in a suitcase" to take somewhere. It was actually a basket she put them in. Yesterday, before dinner she finished them off. Though she shouldn't have, I really could hardly fault her, they were so yummy!

I don't think I shared my worm battles, but I did find a few that survived and were just in the top of the ear, right under the silk. This is a picture of the biggest one. Don't worry! I got rid of them! We ate three for dinner tonight, ears of corn that is, and they were good. Not great, not terrible, just good! I'm positive that it is the fault of the grower (me) because I grewthis corn from Missourri corn kernels, and it's always been my favorite.

Hannah, by the way, loves getting her picture taken. She says "Cheese!" and then without really stopping, toddles up very quickly to the camera to look at the picture. She was on her way to doing this in this picture. Thankfully, I'm learning to be quick!

Cow Appreciation Day!

Chick-fil-A was having Cow Appreciation Day, today. "That's great," you say, "but what does that mean?" What it means, to answer your question, is that if you dress up like a cow you get free Chick-fil-A! So here we are. You can't see my ears, but I am wearing them!

Just getting everybody ready was no small chore! Then, we got to CFA and walked in, standing in line to order our food. It was like a herd of people in there! I was holding Hannah's hand, because if I held her, my spots would come off! I eventually had to hold her. We ordered our food and I went to find where the kids were sitting and find a high chair for Hannah, but it was still probably 10 minutes before I found one because the CFA employees wanted to take our picture and the Montgomery Advertiser wanted to take our pictures, and meanwhile the girl at the counter kept calling me and then I had to get the food. All the while, the kids are stuffing their little faces with cake the employees brought them and Hannah still doesn't have a high chair! It was crazy. I get the chair and we sit down to eat when Elizabeth has a near breakdown because Andrew got a "golden cow" in his kid's meal, which actually is pretty special and rare because it means that you get a free ice dream. She only got a regular black and white cow, and her eyes were green, with jealousy, over it. After we finished eating, with Hannah crying for more cake the whole time, and Elizabeth pouting over not getting the golden cow, we went outside and got her little face painted like a cow. And, then she happened to win the cake walk, and got another yummy little cupcake. So, she was happy and felt the world was somewhat fair again. Walking back to the car, we worked hard to not get hit by any of the many cars driving through the parking lot. Hannah fell asleep in the 7 minutes it takes to get back home. And here I am blogging. We had such a special time today, I just wanted to share it with all of you! Really, there's only a small touch of sarcasm there. We had a good time, just had some challenges which come with the territory!

Guitar!

I finally bit the bullet and shelled out some cash for a guitar. It only took me four months to realize that borrowing someone else's or using the severely substandard axe in the MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) room just wouldn't cut it. So, last week as I was coming back from a pre-construction meeting, I bought the pictured guitar at Camp Phoenix. It is a decent guitar made by an unknown company, but it serves its purpose well. The vendor said it was his last guitar and that it was for sale for $120. Of course, just about everything in this country is negotiable and I was able to walk away with this guitar for only $80 after making a few obvious observations devaluing the instrument. She may not be a Martin or a Taylor, but I am very thankful to finally have my own to bring a taste of home into my room.

Now if I could just find a way to get the rest of the church band over here. . . . .

In Him,

David

Check out the Garden!

Check out the "Garden" tab if you're curious to find out how our garden is growing this year!

Garden, year two

Well, I decided to go for a garden for another year! Gardens make you slow down and do the simple things. Many people who live extraordinarily long lives attribute gardening to their good health. Here's to that! Gardening is just one simple way to step out of the rat race and/or the busyness of life for just a few moments. Somehow, after planting or watering or pulling weeds, you somehow feel like you've really lived. It is a very rewarding way to spend a little time every day.

We are growing Better Boy tomatoes, grape tomatoes, red peppers, 12 stalks of corn, and finally 2 watermelon plants. I bought new watermelon seeds this year...and then I lost them...so I eventually planted the ones from last May ('08), but they did not sprout for the looooongest time. I had given up on them and was already thinking about where I would put the little peat greenhouse they were in until next year. Later that afternoon, after I had given up hope, I looked and to my shock there was a two inch sprout there! A few days later a second one sprouted. I planted three and went ahead and put all three in the ground; maybe, just maybe the third will sprout, too. Here's hoping for 4-6 melons this year!