Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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.