King's College London Graduation

The atrium of the Defence Academy is stunning with all the flags from the countries which have been represented on their military courses.
Me with friends, Mandi, and Shawna from Canada.
Other friends, Monica from Norway, and Andrea & Tam, from Germany.
Some of the graduands (as they called them) all three from Norway.
The graduating class from King's College London.

Royal Ascot

A friend and I organized a group of 17 ladies to attend the Royal Ascot horse races. This is one of the big social events on the British social calendar, so we were thrilled to get the chance to do something so traditionally English. We left very early to get good parking spots to set up our picnic near our cars - tailgating, English style! Everyone brought such great food, and we had our wineglasses, tableclothes & centerpieces. Alas, they were paper & plastic, and all our picniking neighbors had crystal wineglasses, linen tableclothes & candelabras! Oh well. Next year. In our group, we mostly had Americans, 1 from Germany, 2 from Israel, and 2 from Japan, so we were very International. Mandi Gable and I relaxing between the horse races on the grass. We had great views of the races and all the people in their very fashionable hats! We could even see the Royal box with the Royal Family clearly from where we sat.
At the very beginning of the races, the Royal Family arrives in horse-drawn carriages coming from Windsor Castle which is very close to the Ascot Race Course. We had a perfect view of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip with Prince Andrew & a cousin.
The next carriage had Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Sadly, no Prince William or Harry, as they are both serving in the British Military and had other duties.
Our wonderful picnic before the races. Such a fun day, and I was quite sad when it was over. (Even though it was a lot of work to organize!) Next year, I want to attend the Royal Regatta sailing races...anyone want to come?!!

Baseball in England...

Blake & Wade played on the same team for the London Baseball League this spring. Although they lost every game but one, they had fun and got to be good players. I am so proud of them!
Blake played catcher, 1st base and shortstop. He was a strong player & had lots of great plays.
Wade played 3rd base and outfield, and did really well catching & getting some outs.
Wade on the bench waiting for his turn at bat.
The roses outside our front door started blooming, and they are really pretty.

Finally....snow!!!

We said our goodbyes to Stan before he deployed for 3 months. It was hard because we haven't had a long deployment for several years. We really miss him, but we have settled into a good routine & life has to go on. Our weekends are full (over-full sometimes!) with baseball and Cub Scouts and playdates. Blake has tennis during the week and Wade has multi-cultural club. Poor Kathryn doesn't have anything right now, but lots of Mommy time! I am busy with Bible Study, hiking, scrapbooking, volunteering at the school, and now I'm on the board for the American Women's Club. And I thought I was going to be bored! The snow was perfect for building a snowman...alas, it melted by the afternoon!
Kathryn making a little, tiny snowman...
We got snow in April after having no snow all winter! We woke up to the white snow in the morning not really expecting it. The kids were just thrilled to play in the snow, and it gave us something to do to keep from being sad about Daddy leaving. This is our "garden".

Part II of our Easter Holiday

Kathryn & Judson had a joint birthday party at Judd & Wendy's house. It was a beach theme, and it was fun that Kathryn could share her birthday with both families in 2 different states!
Lots of cousins to celebrate with!!
Uncle Joe entertained the kids (who were jumping on Grandma & Grandpa's bed!) with a few silly songs. It's always fun, craziness there!
There are 16 Lawrie cousins all under the age of 11 (and that's just the first cousins!).

Kathryn & cousins, Josie, Maya & Addison in their matching jammies.
Stan & brother Joe with little Addie. Joe & Stephanie had a chef come into their house to make all of us an amazing Chinese meal. It was a fun time!

Stan's immediate family with their spouses.
Saying goodbye to Aunt Toni, who lives in Florida. We used to see her every week when we lived there, and we really miss her! We had a great time visiting family & friends! It was wonderful and thank you all.

Part I of our Easter Holiday

Our first trip back to the U.S. in almost 2 years was during the Easter Holidays in March. We arrived in Phoenix, and the next morning all of my family drove down to vacation at a beach house in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico.
We stopped to take photos of the desert in bloom at the Organ Pipe Cactus Nat'l Monument. Our children had a hard time keeping their eyes open in the bright sunlight. They just aren't used to the sun anymore! Here are our 3 kids with some of their cousins.
My sisters Melanie and Lisa and I. My other sister, Becky and I on the beach.
The courtyard of the casita that we stayed in owned by my sister's in-laws. It was wonderful!
The view of the house from the beach.

The kids found eggs hid by the Easter Bunny on Easter morning.
All 12 cousins on my side of the family (plus one boyfriend!).

Kathryn on the porch overlooking the beach at sunset.

The kids dug in the sand for hours, making massive holes, castles, and villages.

Kathryn & Anthony showing off their temporary henna tattoos that they got on the beach.

Kathryn's School Music Performance

Kathryn's Pre-K class at school had a music performance today called, "The Best Band in the Land". They were absolutely adorable and played & sang well!
To start with, they played an imaginary instrument. Kathryn played a flute she says, hmmm...
Rohan, Kathryn & Ethan were picked to be the rainmakers....
Best friends, Martina, Kat, Rachel & Brigid. They have a sweet group in their class! Kathryn loves her school, and has such a fun time everyday.

Skiing in Germany

We went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for the February half-term school break, and stayed in a wonderful military recreation resort. The kids did a ski school for 4 days, and learned a lot. Wade was SO excited to ski - he was very determined to do well. The rope tow the first day was a challenge - he wouldn't let go even when he fell & it drug him up the hill! He kept falling & looked like a snowball, but the hard work paid off & he skiied well in the end.
Wade falling again! Kathryn had a great time too. She made lots of friends (of course!) & charmed her teachers.
Blake already knew how to ski from his ski trip last year with Stan, but had a slight mishap with his ski pole! Halfway through the week, the instructors gave the kids poles to use, and Blake wasn't used to using them. We were just happy he didn't break his nose or take out an eye!

Okay...it is humbling to put this photo in of me with no skiing form whatsoever! I do have to say that I haven't skiied in 15 years - 5 pregnancies later! Every muscle ached that night...

Stan was in much better shape than I was! He skiied every day while I only skiied twice.

This is the lobby of the resort we stayed in, very nice. They even had a little movie watching place for the kids and (Kathryn's favorite) a large hot tub and swimming pool. We can't wait to go back next year!

More Christmas & Wade's Birthday

oops...I forgot to add this photo from Christmas Eve - we went to church, hung stockings, and read the Bible story. A quiet family night, but really nice! Wade's 8th Birthday! I can't believe he can possibly be 8 years old! What a sweet boy.
Kathryn doing a sticker book in our kitchen.