Photos from afar

The above picture is Javier's unit in Afghanistan. I know it's hard to tell, but Javier is there. The guy in the center front of the red sign is the commanding officer. To his left, but on the right as you are viewing the picture, and slightly behind him.....is Javier. And all those people standing at attention makes up the rest of the unit. MALS 40.

He has been able to send me a few photos.

I believe this is right outside of Javier's work trailer. He is to the far right.

These photos are of the Marine Corps Birthday cake ceremony they held. Marines always celebrate the birthday of the Corps. Although they did not have a ball, at least they had a cake. In the photo directly below, Javier is the man in the very front, facing the left. He was part of the ceremony.

This photo is neat because you can see the helicopter flying in the distance. It may have been the Marine Corps birthday, but the missions continued.

Halloween 2011

It came, it went, and now I'm so glad it's over. Some friends of our who have a little girl the same age as Jacob and Joaquin, came over to go trick or treating with us. They also came to help me because I don't know that I would have attempted to take my 3 critters out by myself. When they arrived, I started getting the boys dressed. That alone was a huge undertaking.

And then we hit the streets. At first, the boys were hesitant, but after they realized that people were giving them candy, they became pros.

I pushed Sebi around in the stroller while the big boys walked around collecting candy. Sebi was not very happy about this arrangement. The only time he didn't cry was when the stroller was moving, so I had to keep his stroller moving constantly to keep him quiet.

So in case it's hard for some people to tell, Jacob was a pirate, Joaquin was a little Native American boy, Sebi was a monkey and I was a Native American momma. It was quite a chilly night so Sebi's costume was perfectly warm. Myself and the big boys had to wear a few layers of clothing underneath our costumes to stay warm and avoid needing jackets. We only walked down about 6 houses and turned back. It was a good distance for the boys to be able to walk themselves and because it was so chilly, I didn't want to have the boys out too long. And we made good time because it started to rain hard about 15 minutes after we returned home. Immediately, the boys started digging through their sugar loot and found lollipops to suck on. Somehow, we were able to wrangle everyone together for a group picture. Here is the best shot I could manage.

The boys had fun, but I think I'll leave the trick or treating to Javier. He can take them out to hit the streets while I stay at home and pass out candy. Sounds like a good plan to me.

~Latrice