Happy Birthday Terry

Today was Scott's Dad's birthday. Most of you know that Terry passed back on Dec. 8th, 2004 and is no longer with us, but Scott & I still felt like we should celebrate it in some way. Terry, or as Brennen likes to call him, "Pop-pop", lived an amazing life that was cut a little too short. He lived a majority of his life here in Southern California, split between Los Angeles and San Diego. Some of the best times of his life was spent while attending UCLA in the '60's. We have heard many stories from Terry, family, and friends, of his college days and everything he was involved in over the 9 years he was there. He was the captain for the JV football team, the president of his fraternity, the president of the Interfraternity Council, the Head Yell Leader, the captain of the rugby team, and the president of a secret fraternity, The Kelps. One of my favorite stories of Terry was when he was the Head Yell Leader at UCLA. It was during one of the football games (I'm sure I'm going to find out from Uncle Wayne or Uncle John soon after I post this which one! ;) ) the Quarterback for the opposing team had the last name of Little. Terry came up with the chant "Pluck Chicken Little!", knowing what it would turn into...so in a stadium (the Rose Bowl?) full of thousands of fans, you could hear, "#@*! Chicken Little!!". Terry always knew how to liven things up!

Terry with us at our Sealing

We decided to celebrate Terry's birthday by driving up to UCLA and hanging out on the Intermural Field next to the John Wooden Fitness Center on campus. It use to be the UCLA Rugby Field, where Terry felt the most alive and experienced some of his fondest memories. This is also where Scott spread his ashes after he passed. It was a beautiful day and we felt so blessed to spend some time remembering Dad. He was a wonderful man with the kindest heart. We miss him dearly and look forward to seeing him again someday.

Brennen just had to push the stroller all by himself across the whole field.

The Boys and The Bruin

Terry's Fraternity House

And life returns to normal?

Normal. I've decided that our household will never be normal. Especially as long as Scott is active duty. It's been so great having Scott back home! The kids love playing with him and I love getting my hugs and kisses whenever I want, but it comes with considerable readjustment! Poor Scott has to deal with me, who has been making all the decisions, calling all the shots, handling all the finances, running the kids on a tight schedule, and being the sole parent. I want to give up some of this load (believe me I do!!) but I've learned that my Marine husband needs a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) manual and for me to do a thorough brief on it with him. And, if it's not accompanied with an Order written in LOI format or on a PowerPoint presentation, he won't get it anyway! Darn Marine Corps. It's been kinda hard to "train" him since he had to go straight back to work once he got home and they've kept him busy. He was made the XO (Executive Officer) for his company (1/5 Alpha) and he's been running around for the past three weeks working 70+ hours, which means I've barely seen him and when I do he's usually crashed out on the couch! I'm just thankful that he's at least home on our couch instead of on a coffin rack out at sea. :) So, now is when the fun starts...Scott started his three week leave today (if you count 4pm as "starting" leave)! I have already scheduled a bunch of things for us to go do, including the usual things like Sea World, Legoland, The San Diego County Fair, and hitting the beach. We're also heading out to Las Vegas for a week so I can attend IDEA World Fitness Conference! I'm soooo excited! It's a full week of classes and workout sessions and fitness demos and everything related to fitness and exercise! Now, while I'm in class all day re-engaging my brain, Scott is going to have both kids all to himself! I don't think Scott has ever even had to take care of Brennen longer then a couple of hours, and that was back when he was 10 months old. So it should be interesting to see how he does with a 9 mo old and a 2 yr old. ;) We're also planning on getting Brennen potty trained after we get back from Vegas. I've already stocked up on paper towels, rubber gloves, and sanitizer. It should be a very interesting month for us...

Since it's been awhile since I've gotten on here I thought I'd post a couple of pics from the past couple of weeks:

Scott's first time giving both kids a bath!

Playing with Daddy before bed.

Brennen loves to swordfight and makes Scott wear the whole getup to play.

Lindie wanted in on the action, too.

A beautiful (HOT) day at the beach.

Lindie walking (with help) for the first time!

Cheesy girl totally enjoyed Panera's.

SCOTT'S HOME!!!

Can you believe it? Scott is finally home and I'm still floating on cloud nine! Monday was a long day for the both of us. Scott was up at 2am to start the loading and transport process and had only gotten about an hour of shut-eye because he was so excited. The kids and I drove up to get Scott and we made it there by 8:30am. We had to wait around for an hour before we finally got to see him, but the wait was totally forgotten the second we saw Scott! Brennen was so excited to see his dad that he ran full speed to Scott and wouldn't let Scott put him down. Brennen just wanted to be with daddy everywhere he went. Even Lindie was super excited to see daddy and greeted him with a big toothy smile and giggles! I really think she did instantly recognize him and was happy to see him, too. Scott's mom and step-dad were also there to welcome Scott home (and help me out with the kids! Thanks!!). The amazing thing was that normally when a schedule is given out in the Marine Corps about how/when things are going to happen, it never really works that way, and everything is delayed by two hours. So, I was totally prepared to spend all day on base, standing around waiting for Scott to show up, thinking around 5-6pm Scott would be able to leave. But, for once, things actually went better then planned and Scott was off by 12:30pm!!! We were able to go home and relax and just be a family again. Scott was able to check out his new home and I made this sign to welcome him:Scott with his very happy children!
I finally got my hug & kiss!!
I love my Marine.
Brennen's pure happiness as expressed on his face!