He's finally asked

Isaiah and Mariel have been dating for a year and a half....FINALLY they will be getting married  on

 June 14, 2013, more pictures later.

Wishing to be in 2 places at 1 Time

Josiah received his Masters in Political Science from UTEP as the Graduate Student Marshall the same day 

Zach was  getting recognized at the state level for his achievements in the Duke TIP program. He qualified as a 7th grader to take the ACT test this spring and out of 29,000 he scored in the 92% percentile. 
Yeah Zach! Way to go!

Mother's Day

 

Isaiah and Josiah cook breakfast for me,  my favorite meal of the day.

I received some cute birds that tweet.

The only thing missing was my daughter, but she was at home being blessed by her kids.

Hooding Ceremony

The Hooding Ceremony is a special recognition ceremony for masters or doctoral degree candidates. During the ceremony, a faculty member, (Dr. Jose Villalobos) placed the hood over the head of Josiah the graduate, signifying his success in completing the graduate program.

Asarco Demolition

Saturday April 14 2013, Terry, Isaiah and I were up and ready to see the two smokestacks come down. The 1st stack that came down was 63 yrs old, 612 foot smokestack was the lead smelter. The second was 47 yrs old , 828 foot smokestack was used for copper smelter. Two landmarks gone in 35 seconds.

Gardening Season Again

This time we're planting a few more in containers, and of course our square foot vegetable garden: tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber,squash cantaloupe watermelon, squash and herbs... We didn't plant nearly as much as we did last year, , with Terry in and out of the country it makes it a bit more difficult.

    Nothing beats a fresh tomato out of the garden!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Josiah helping Avery fly her new kite.

Now it's Avery's turn.

  Both kites are up!!  

  Terry was helping Blake.

Josiah drove up to Dallas with us so he could check out the University in Denton, which isn't far from Melissa's home.The boys drove back home and Terry and I flew to England.

 

The best 6 hour lay over in Atlanta. Alberta picked us up from the airport and she showed us around OM and then went to her place and had lunch.

 

Thank you Alberta, it is only my pleasure when we spend time together.

Isaiah babysat his nephews and niece in Dallas while Melissa and Andrew went to Miami for the BCS National Championships.

 Josiah had a conference in Orlando presenting a Political Science paper at the University.

       

Terry heads to Brussels and Geneva and I tagged along.

Baby Blue

December 31st we went green: with a 2012 Hybrid Toyota Camry

Christmas Morning

Mom, Annie, Me and my Dad

Christmas Morning with Pat's side of the family. My sister and two of her children and a few of her grandchildren.

Annie & Leah

Terry & Josiah

Isaiah

Victoria & Ryan


In the afternoon we had dinner with Terry's side of the family.

Luxembourg

Flag Day - June 14

Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 844's had a ceremony 

"Retire by Fire"

They started by explanation of the ceremony, explanation of delayed salute, reading of  "I am the Flag",

The Flags were marched with Color Guards to approximately 20 ft to fire pit. the colors were posted as the National Anthem was played while they were repositioned at their post, while a reading of its history.

 The tri-folded flags moved to the pit by a few veterans, biography of preselected POW/MIA was read, followed by the playing of "Taps", hand salutes were executed.

 In full accordance with the US Flag Code, ashes of burned flags were buried, accompanied by hand salutes .

Christmas Holidays

Joining the Wheeler Family in Dallas

London with our Grandson, Zachary

For Christmas last year Terry gave me a gift certificate to get my Conceal Handgun License, so I have now redeemed it.

Isaiah and my friend Julie also took the class and
then the practice range.

Vancouver & Alaska

I spent 2 days in Vancouver before setting sail on the Zuiderdam to Alaska.In Vancouver I was able to visit a dear friend Sandy, her husband Aaron and their 3 kids. I met and worked with Sandy while on the Caribbean Mercy. It had been 8 years since I had seen her and her family so this time around I met the two youngest boys.
I was also able to visit Cindy Schoneit whom I worked with while in England working for Africa Mercy.

Our first stop -Juneau, Alaska (the capital of Alaska)
Nina, Joan and Lisa went off wandering on their own. Grandma and I took a tour -Glacier Garden and Mendenhall Glacier. Our guide escorted us to the atrium which was surrounded by the forest, then in a covered shuttle (golf cart)we enjoyed the rainforest which had frequent stops to enjoy the beauty of cascading streams with a stop at the top of the mountain overlooking down at Juneau.
Next we visited Mendenhall Glacier, strolled the walkways to the visiting center and within one mile we we could see the glacier, an excellent view.

Second Stop - Skagway, Alaska (Garden City of Alaska)
Skagway is now a restored gold rush town. We all took an unforgettable round trip journey aboard the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. We rode on a restored/replica vintage rail car, Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. This narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. My pictures don't do justice to the granite mountains, steep grades, cliff hanging turns all in the midst of the clouds and the crisp cold air while traveling and reaching the summit at 2865 feet, so check out the web page.

Glacier National Park: The video that you'll see is Margerie Glacier which is a 21-mile-long tide water glacier in Glacier Bay in Alaska and is part of the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

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Third Stop - Ketchikan, Alaska:

Daily Life

Isaiah and Josiah started UTEP in August.
Josiah is working as a TA in his field of Political Science.

Isaiah is working out at Horizon Airport. Here he's fueling
a Jet with another taxing in for fuel.
Terry is in and out, with his job taking him to Liberia, Zimbabwe and the Philippines the month of August and September.
I've been trying to take Saturday and Sunday off, and with Isaiah working at the airport, it's actually happening.

Jamaica in July

One of Terry's job took him to Jamaica, so I was able to go with him for two weeks. We went to Negril which is on the northwest part of the island. American hippies first started visiting what was then a virgin paradise in the 1970s, setting the tone for today's free-spirited attitude. It rained almost every evening we were there, and since he was working during the day we pretty much stayed at the resort. While Terry was working I took advantage of the spa, gym, and read a great book The Help. Even though we were moved back and forth 5 times within the resort, our views were lush and green.

We only had a half a day free to see the town:

Summer is Here!

The sun is out in all it's glory. We are hitting the 100 degree weather, now if we can make the wind stop it would be a typical summer in El Paso.

Thanks

Both Isaiah and Josiah are now out of the Army.
Josiah will be staying in El Paso as he pursues his Masters in Geo Politics at UTEP.
Isaiah is presently helping me out at the airport and
he will be pursing his Bachelors in Computer Engineering.