Vacation to the States

Hello!

Well friends, it's been an eventful summer! About a month after Mark returned from Alaska, I flew out to the cornhusker state of Nebraska to witness the birth of my best friend Brianna's first baby. It was a healthy baby girl! Her name is Rebekah Grace Kruhmin and she is BEAUTIFUL!



Mark came to see Rebekah shortly after she was born. Of course it didn't feel like our time with our favorite Kruhmins was enough, but eventually we said our sad goodbyes and headed to Colorado. When we got there, we were greeted with loads of family and lots of fun times planned!







It was a packed 3 weeks full of Rockies games, comedy shows, birthday parties, baby showers, and LOTS of Chipotle. Thanks for all of our friends and family who made our stay comfortable and exciting! We miss you alrady and wish the time could have been longer... but for now, we're back in Oki!

Mark & Laura

Hello!

Mark and I have been beaching it up since it started getting warmer here. We went snorkeling just before he left for Alaska and the water was still pretty cold, but we were able to see lots of fun sea life. He's really excited to make a sport of snorkeling, so I'm sure we'll be doing lots of that when he gets home :). Perhaps we should buy an underwater camera so that you can see what we see...

As I mentioned above, Mark went TDY and is in Alaska for a month or so. Even though I'm really busy with school and work, those things aren't proving to be very good distractions. I really miss him. So... let's focus on the rugrats I work with everyday. I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to introduce you to some of them, and so - meet some more of my favorites!

This is Tiara! She's got a firecracker personality and a lot of energy. Our hair is almost the same color and on Fridays we were the same t-shirt, so we like to pretend we're twins on Fridays ;).



This is Will. He's got a thing for long hair and is really excited about it. He loves Power Rangers and is very curious about a lot of things. Not a week goes by when I don't have to focus on being intently serious about what he's saying instead of smiling at his innocent facial expressions :).



AND... this is Damon! He's very smart and very stubborn. But, at the end of the day, he and I have a bond and are able to laugh together. That's all that matters :).



Well, that's all for now! The kids get out of school soon and I'll be working full days. I don't know if I'm going to make it! Pray for me! :). Mark should be home around the first week of July and I'm sure we'll have more to report then. Thanks for caring!

LJ

Hello Friends,

I apologize for not blogging in a while. Mark and I have been ever so busy with life, as I'm sure you have, too. March went by really fast! A few exciting things happened that I'd like to tell you about. First, Mark made rank! For all you civilians who aren't familiar with that term, it means that he got promoted. But the coolest part, is that he got promoted six months earlier than he was eligible. They call this 'Below the Zone'. So, Mark got BTZ and was promoted to Senior Airman/E-4. I'm very, very proud of him! He has worked so hard and has displayed more integrity than anyone I've ever met. Also, he had his big training exam a few days ago that he has spent the last eight months studying for and he made it out with a 93%! I can't tell you how proud I am. He is exceptional!



In addition to that exciting news, we also had our one year anniversary. Wow! It seems like just last week I was running around planning our Crested Butte wedding, and a whole year has gone by! Mark booked us a little trip to celebrate. So, on Sunday the 29th, we drove up north about an hour and then boarded a ferry that took us to the little island of IE. This little island is mostly flat, except for a peak that stands in the very center at roughly 1,000 feet high. Once we arrived, we were picked up and taken to the resort where we found a lovely room ready for us. It was very Japanese in the way of size. Small couch, small coffee table, teeny tiny bathroom. It was perfect. We relaxed for a couple hours and then decided to rent ourselves some bikes and ride to the top of that peak. We rode as far as the road would take us, and then we had to hop off our bikes and hike the rest of the way. God gave me a little of Colorado in that hike, it was a fabulous experience. I took some pictures, so pretend you were there with us and enjoy!



This was the view from our balcony:


Hiking our way to the top:


Our 360 degree view of the whole island and the ocean: (The land across the water is Okinawa!)