Tiny Town

On Monday my mom, my brother Mikey, my sister Ana and I took Abby to Tiny Town. For those of you who don't know, Tiny Town is exactly what it sounds like...a tiny town. It is right in the foothills of the mountains and there are over 100 colorful buildings that are scaled to one-sixth the size of a normal building. Some of the buildings are open and the little kids can climb inside and play around. The buildings that are closed off are decorated on the inside, just like a dollhouse. They had all kinds of buildings....schools, houses, a beauty parlor, post office, saloon, ect. You name it and they probably had it. Abby loved going inside the buildings and would run from one to the next saying " in there, in there".

Who's that peeking out at us?

There's Mikey peeking in at Abby!

They also have a train that circles the property and you can see all of the buildings in the town from it. Abby absolutely LOVED riding the train....she was very upset when the train ride was over so I had to distract her with the promise of a picnic lunch. We had a lot of fun in Tiny Town, its Wednesday now and Abby is still talking about the train and the houses!!

Here we are on the train

Picnic Lunch

Me and my mom

Carnival- La Ceiba!

Soto Cano was graced with a four day weekend for Memorial Day, so a group of us decided to head up north to the city of La Ceiba, right on the Caribbean Sea. The city also borders one of the largest national parks in Honduras-Pico Bonito. It covers over 100,000 acres of unspoiled rainforest and mountains. Our time was split between Pico Bonito and La Ceiba. Over 300,000 people were in La Ceiba that weekend to celebrate Carnival. Wild!!!



Cooling off in the river after a day of rock climbing and whitewater rafting

A Honduran Badger fan...Very Nice (Thanks for the shirt Jane!)

Saturday was the big parade, lot's of floats and music

This performer begged me for a picture of her with my Borat shirt

Sunday was spent in Pico Bonito, on a zip line canopy tour.


Matt, Paul, Me, and Kelly after the zip-line at Jungle River Lodge. Matt was one of my freshmen in Mach One back at USAFA. Kelly is an 03'er Check out the website at jungleriverlodge.com

A trip down memory lane

Last Friday was finally a nice day here in Colorado....the past couple of days have been cold, rainy, and grey!! Abby and I even had to buy some more clothes due to the fact that is was 38 degrees. Today was gorgeous though, sunny and in the mid 60's. We decided to visit Daddy's alma mater and took a little road trip to Colorado Springs to see the Air Force Academy. My Dad (or as Abby calls him, Papi) joined us and we stopped for breakfast in Castle Rock on the way down. I can't believe how much the area has grown! We drove right by the first apartment that Andrew and I had together. I can't believe I used to drive from Castle Rock to Boulder everyday!!! It is crazy what you will do for love!!! Anyway, after breakfast we headed down to the academy. It was sort of surreal being there, and a ton of wonderful memories came flooding back to me. I spent quite a lot of time with Andrew there while he was going to school, and we got married at the chapel (pictured below). I was bummed Andrew wasn't there to share the day with me but we took a few pictures so he could see his girls at his old stomping grounds!! We hit up the class six, the visitors center, and stopped by the chapel. It was a great way to spend the day and I can't wait to bring Abby back when Andrew can join us and she can understand the significance behind the trip!

Class of 2007

Wow!! I can't believe it, my little sister graduated from high school on Thursday! I am so proud of her, she is wonderful young woman and I am proud to be her sister. Greta got a wonderful day for graduation. It was cool, but not too cold and sunny....just perfect for a little hike up red rocks!! Abby was a trooper, the graduation started at 2pm so she wasn't able to get a nap in. We stayed for most of the ceremony...we left after Greta's name was called and she received her diploma. After the graduation was over, Greta and my Dad and Jane met up with Abby and I and we all went out to dinner at Johnny Carino's. It was a great day and it brought back some memories for me as well. I graduated from the same place nine years ago...wow, I feel old!!! Way to go Greta! We love you so much and we are very proud of you!!!

Abigail at the ceremony at Red Rocks


The Graduate:

A whirlwind trip to DC

Last Thursday, Abby and I boarded a plane for DC. We met my Dad, Jane, Greta and Duke at the Dulles airport and headed out to Leesburg, VA. for my cousins wedding. Abby did really well on the flights considering she is sick and she didn't have a nap at all! I know I have said it before, but this is the last time I travel with her without buying her a seat! Anyway, the hotel we booked was a suite but it didn't have an extra room for Abby and after the first night of having her in the same room as me, she ended up sleeping in the pack-n-play in the bathroom!! This was after having her up from 11:30-3:00am and then again from 4:30-5:30am. She just doesn't want to sleep if she can see me. I tried having her sleep in bed with me and she just wanted to play. After I moved her to the bathroom (which was huge by the way) she slept all night without a peep!

Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner which was beautiful. It was nice to see all of my extended family. We did miss my Grandma and Grandpa who were unable to come due to health issues. Abby was a bit overwhelmed by all the people, but she had a really good time after she warmed up a bit.

My cousin Lyndsay and my sister Greta





The wedding on Saturday was very nice, at least what I saw of it! Abby was good, but now that she talks she does so whenever she feels like it. She has yet to learn that there are certain times when you have to be quiet. We went outside for most of the ceremony so we didn't interrupt! The reception was beautiful, probably the prettiest I have ever been to. It was held in a mansion right on a golf course. There were tons of flowers in bloom and there was a gorgeous view from anywhere you looked. Abby had a BLAST dancing to the music! She was so cute and very entertaining. She had on her Easter dress and was a bit disappointed because her dress wasn't long enough to touch the ground like some of the other girls but, she improvised. She would dance with her knees bent so her dress would touch the ground too, it was too cute. She stayed up dancing WAY past her bedtime, but she had so much fun!!







Sunday, we went to the airport once again and headed out to Colorado to stay with my parents for a few weeks. The plane ride was almost 4 hours long and it was overbooked, so needless to say there were no empty seats. Again, Abby did wonderful but I was very uncomfortable the whole time and I am dreading the plane ride back to Florida already!!! Overall, our short trip to Virgina was a lot of fun! It was great to see my family and weddings are always such a happy event!!

Hootchy-Cootchy

It's not what you think. In this installment I thought I'd give you all a little insight on my living quarters. It is a small step down from the lovely Double-Wide we owned in Boston. It is called a "Hootch"- I have half of one. There is no running water, thus no toilet. I do have a television, DVD player, microwave, and a full size fridge. Currently the only contents in fridge is beer and water. You have to hydrate when in Central America! The bed has about the same comfort level as the cots in Haiti; thus the beer in the fridge. I get all the Denver TV stations, to include HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax :). One may ask, just how does Andrew find the time to keep such a big place in a good clean condition? The answer is simple-hire a hootch maid. I have enlisted the support of Maria, my hootch maid, to clean my Hootch 3 times per week, as well do my laundry, take my uniforms to the dry cleaner, and shine my boots. The cost of said services runs me 600 Lempira/month-or $30. Yes Cheyna, I will start paying you $30 a month when I get back.

Location wise, I am about 75ft to the showers and latrine, 80 ft away from one of Soto Cano's 6 bars, and 100 ft from my office.

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this installment of "Operation Banana Republic"

I am open to requests for the topic of the next installment. Let me know what you want to hear about!

Love to All,

Andrew


Maria, My Hootch Maid


Abigail hid some of her beads in my bag!

Andrew here...I made it!

Hello friends and family!

I just want to let everyone know I made it safely down to Honduras this weekend. I flew into Teguc on Saturday. I was met at the airport by the Lt that I am replacing down here. He was with a bunch of other CGO's, and we stayed Sat night at the Marriott. It was a really beutiful hotel. Here is a pic of the hotel pool.



That night we all went out to eat at a Sushi bar, then headed to the casino. Sunday morning we drove to Soto Cano in our big van. Talk about a scary drive. There are no traffic rules here, and the locals take full advantage. Cars passing logging trucks around blind curves while going up a mountain pass. Quite freaky!

Today I started my improcessing. Things move here at a different pace, so needless to say, I continue my improcessing tomorrow. I'm still clueless on where almost everything is on base, but I'm sure I will figure it out soon enough. My "hooch" I move into tomorrow is pretty nice. It has A/C, a fridge, microwave, and a TV. For whatever reason, I have all the Denver tv stations, so I will have a little insight into the weather when Chey goes there next week. The base is covered with mango trees-one right outside my door. Four steps outside and I have my breakfast for the next four months.


I hope to post updates as much as I can. I miss you all and look forward to seeing you when I get back.



Chey, Abigail, and Bucky- I miss you all and love you dearly!

Adios!

Because I am your Mom

Ok, I stole this idea from a friend, who stole it from one of her friends...it MUST be a good idea!! They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery ;)

Because I am your mom, I get to snuggle you in the morning and just after your nap.
Because I am your mom, I get to comfort you when you are sad or hurt.
Because I am your mom, I get to hear you say Mommy over and over just so you can make sure I am still close enough to you to be heard.
Because I am your mom, I get to let my hair down (literally) so you can play with it use it for comfort.
Because I am your mom, I no longer know or care what the latest fashions are for me, but you better believe you look cute!
Because I am your mom, I have grown to love the Wiggles, Elmo, and Laurie Berkner and I know the words to their songs better than I know my own phone number.
Because I am your mom, I love to splash in the water.
Because I am your mom, I love to draw and color with you.
Because I am your mom, I get to hear your laughter everyday!
Because I am your mom, I am a little more cautious with my words and my actions because I know your are watching my every move and listening to every word .
Because I am your mom, I can kiss away the pain of a boo-boo.
Because I am your mom, I have found joy in the little things like reading you books and singing silly songs.
Because I am your mom, I am always on the lookout for trains, diggers, trucks, airplanes, clouds and birds!
Because I am your mom, I can put off the house work just a little bit longer to push you on the swing or go for a walk.
Because I am your mom, I have am reminded daily while we are dancing together that I have no rhythm!
Because I am your mom, I now remember how much fun bubbles are!
Because I am your mom, I have learned what a hard job this really is but that the rewards are priceless.
Because I am your mom, I have begun to love in a whole new way and I have learned things about myself I would never have known.
Because I am your mom, I am the luckiest woman in the world!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to all the mommies out there. I hope eveyone had a wonderful day. Abby and I woke up early and went to church which was very nice. We haven't been in a long time and I was worried about how Abby would do in the nursery. She screamed when I left but the lady told me she calmed down and did just fine, much to my relief! After church we headed over to the base and had Mother's Day brunch at the officers club. We went with Sam, Brian and Nolan and Nadia and Tristan. The kids had a good time and I stuffed myself silly! Brian even bought us girls a glass of champagne which was very nice. After brunch we headed outside and took some pictures by the water. Since Brian was the only guy with us, he turned into out photogapher for the day!! Abby and I had a good time, it would have been just perfect if Andrew could have been there with us....maybe next year!!!

P.S. Even though Andrew couldn't be with us, he still managed to get me a card from himself, one from Bucky and one from Abgail and I got a gift certificate for Merry Maids.....YAY! Thank you!!!!!

Me and Abby at brunch


All the kiddos. Look, they are holding hands, too cute!!


Abby and Mommy


The Mommies!!!


The mommies laughing because Nolans pants kept falling down!