I said I would update more but here I am, over a month since my last posting and finally updating you on what's going on with our life. I promise I have good intentions. At night once Layla takes a bath, does her homework, and falls asleep for the night I am always telling myself how tonight will be THE night that I am going to blog. It never happens. I have been falling asleep with Layla almost every night, at 7:30. I am a party animal, right? But when I say we are busy, I mean we are busy! We haven't even been down stairs to watch TV in weeks. It's sad and we're very rarely home. I fantasize about calling in sick one day and doing nothing but staying in bed and sleeping. Oh how nice that would be. I work 8-5, Monday through Friday and obviously Layla goes to school. She has cheerleading on Monday nights, Girl Scouts on Wednesday, and Gymnastics on Saturday. Not to mention all the extra practices that these activities hold. For example, last night Layla had a "team bonding practice" for her cheer team. They all carved pumpkins and ate pizza which was super fun but we didn't get home until 9pm (okay, we did stop by a friend's house on the way home to talk and play a bit too) which is over 12 hours of being away from home. See what I mean? Busy, busy.
Let me start at the end of September. We went to an Air Show at Ft. Carson with our wonderful, wonderful friends. We had such a good time and the weather was perfect to work on my tan. When we first walked in the kids were given a scavenger hunt card, they had to walk around and look for certain booths and get stamps. They had a lot of fun running around getting all of their stamps and they looked so cute while doing it too. It was lots of fun watching all the airplanes do tricks in the air and having to cover our ears when the F16 flew by. Layla and Payton didn't watch much of the show. They were too busy putting a whole bottle of sunscreen on themselves and even their toes and bottom of their feet. You never know when the bottom of your feet are going to get burned. By the time we left the girls were covered and so greasy. I don't think that much sunscreen is even healthy! It was hilarious watching them though, they are so funny. Layla also took the time to teach her cheers to the girls. In fact, we ended up watching them most of the time, they were very entertaining. We made it a day at the air field, it was so much fun! 
On October 9th we went to the WWE RAW World Tour at the World Arena. Oh my gosh, we had the BEST time ever. Ed is the only thing that could have made it even better. Actually, he was emailing me the whole time saying how jealous he was that Layla and I were there and he wasn't. Ever since Layla was a baby, Ed and her would watch WWE. Layla's "favorite guy" is John Cena and she was determined to meet him while we were there. The day, the minute the tickets went on sale I had called and got the best seats I could. Ringside, almost front row seats. They were awesome! When the wrestlers would come out we would run to the very front to see them as close as possible. Thanks to my awesome friend Nicholle for making Layla a super cute tutu, she totally stood out. No one looked like her, everyone was commenting on her outfit and how cute she looked. We watched some awesome fights but we were just sitting and waiting for the main event. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio. Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo came out first and as soon as they saw Layla standing in the front row, they started making fun of her (and in case you don't watch wrestling, they are the bad guys). Ricardo pointed at Layla and kicked his leg like he was going to kick my Princess. They both started laughing at her and pointing and then left. We were most definitely hoping they lost! The fight lasted quite awhile but the very end is what made the entire show. John Cena came up and shook Layla's hand and Evan Bourne gave her a high five! Layla's face just lit up when John Cena came up to her, such a dream come true for the little Princess. What an amazing day we had, it was so, so much fun! When they come back to Colorado, we'll be at the show rooting on John Cena for sure! 
While Layla and I were enjoying ourselves at the World Arena, Ed was climbing to the top of a mountain to see Alexander the Great's castle. Did you know he had a castle in Afghanistan? Because I didn't, I had to Google it. "According to local officials here, the fortress was built more than 2,000 years ago by legendary conqueror and Greek military leader, Alexander the Great during his push to India. Since then, nearly every military force has used it, including the British, the Russians, the Taliban, and now American and Afghan National Army soldiers." Crazy, right? Anyway, Ed climbing a mountain was good for me, it meant I finally got some pictures of him! 
Last weekend Layla and I headed to Happy Apple farm to pick some pumpkins. I had to take the day off because it was Columbus Day and Layla didn't have school so we made the best of our extra day off. Pumpkins! It was a perfect day to go, there was no one there and we had our pick of the patch! Of course my little girl doesn't care about finding the perfect, large, round pumpkin. No. Instead we ended up with about 20 "baby" pumpkins. It was a fun day though and definitely worth the trip. 
And lastly, on Wednesday Layla had "dress like a book character" day at school. At first I couldn't think of what she could be, most of the books we read have to do with animals. Then it hit me, two perfect characters that Layla acts like on a daily basis. Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy. I asked her to pick one of those two and Pinkalicious it was. We threw together a pretty, pink outfit, put her hair in pigtails with a crown, and found a wand. Taa Daa! Pinkalicious! 
Oh and I saved the BEST news for last. Thursday I got an email from the FRG with a letter from CPT Johnson in it, here's the best part: "As some of you heard from LTC Stevenson at the Battalion Video Teleconference last night, we will be part of the overall draw down slated for Afghanistan. The President of the United States has ordered 10,000 Soldier, Sailors, Marines and Airmen out of Afghanistan before the New Year. Havoc Company is looking to have about 70% of the company return home to Fort Carson. We are looking to leave Afghanistan at the end of December." That slashes our deployment in HALF! This kind of stuff never, ever happens to us. I am amazed and still cannot believe it. This may be the best Christmas we've ever had!
Another beautiful day in Coronado! I think Ed needs to get stationed near the beach some where, looking at these pictures makes me crave the sun and the water. These last two days we went to the beach, went to the beach, and went to the beach. Other than eating, our time was consumed with long walks on the beach (seriously), jumping over waves, collecting seashells and sand dollars, making sand castles and soaking up the sun. 
We had even more fun than I thought we would, I can't even imagine having a better time than what we did. I woke up on Monday super sad, knowing we had to fly back to Colorado Springs. I like Colorado but it is no California and I knew that once we made it back home I would be homesick. We didn't fly out until around 5pm so we still had plenty of time to hit the beach one more time. It was actually good timing we chose to leave on Monday, it was the one day where it was completely cloudy and even started to rain while we were on our walk. Regardless of the weather, we had a great morning walk knowing it was our last. 
Thank you, Mom, Dad, Glen, and the kiddos for an amazing trip! I cannot wait until the next one. We had such a great time and we are so lucky we were able to spend that time together. Miss you guys so much!
Ahhh... I cannot tell you how good it feels to wake up in California with my family all around me. This mini vacation is just what I needed. I have been so stressed out and so busy, busy, busy that I needed a few days to just be lazy and do nothing. I think it did Layla and I so much good. As soon as we ate breakfast it was time to go down to the beach. We picked a great weekend to go, the weather was perfect. The air was cool and chilly but when the sun came out it warmed everything up! We had a blast walking around, collecting seashells and just watching the kids play!
Of course we were getting hungry so we made Grandpa and Uncle Glen come bring us food. Burger King for all! 
After we ate and hung out some more the girls decided they wanted to go to the swimming pool. So off we went! Jaydan was tired and about fell asleep in the chair next to mine while I enjoyed watching the girls play in the water while drinking a Pina Colada. Mmmm... Talk about relaxing. 
We stayed at the pool for a few hours and after we were done with that it was time to go back up stairs to clean up and get ready for dinner. The hotel gave us these lanyards with the kid's names on them and they were to go around to all the stores in the hotel and collect stickers. At the very end of the scavenger hunt, if they collected all the stickers they got a little prize. It was super fun for the kids to do and was the perfect before dinner activity. 
Aren't these two adorable? They were like this the entire trip, holding hands and playing together. 
For dinner we ate at the Sheerwater, an amazing seafood restaurant at the hotel with an amazing view. The food was SO good there, I cannot say enough good things about it. When the hostess sat us down she even gave the kids a little thing of trail mix so they wouldn't get hungry waiting. Although I must say our waiter was a bit odd but when Glen asked what room the ghost was in (room 3512) he made up for it by telling us. The kid's meals looked super good too, Chloe and Jaydan got pizza and Layla got a hotdog and french fries. The adult meals won though, they were so delicious. My mom had Shrimp, Pancetta & Penne Pasta (rock shrimp, wild mushrooms, spinach, brandy lobster sauce), Glen had Wild Pacific Sea Bass in lobster sauce and I couldn't make up my mind so I just got two appetizers, Lobster Mac & Cheese (brandy truffle cream, pancetta) and Blue Crab Cake. I ended up eating all of mine and then stole half of my Mom's. Oh my gosh, it was so good! I can still taste it now. We had such a good dinner and we sat there and drank wine and talked and laughed the entire time. Memories. 
We must have been in a goofy mood because after dinner we went ghost hunting. We had the room number and knew exactly which part of the hotel she (yes, she) is rumored to be in. "Kate was a young woman who checked into the hotel over Thanksgiving weekend under an alias, stayed a few nights, and killed herself on the steps of the hotel leading to the ocean." We tried to find her last summer too with no luck and unfortunately this time we didn't find her either. But, we had a blast searching for her. Glen is deathly afraid of heights so being on the 5th floor, next to an open staircase proved to be a bit of a challenge. So what do you do when you can't find a ghost? Plank, duh. 
After that it was time for bed, we had a very busy day... sleep tight. 
On October 9th we went to the WWE RAW World Tour at the World Arena. Oh my gosh, we had the BEST time ever. Ed is the only thing that could have made it even better. Actually, he was emailing me the whole time saying how jealous he was that Layla and I were there and he wasn't. Ever since Layla was a baby, Ed and her would watch WWE. Layla's "favorite guy" is John Cena and she was determined to meet him while we were there. The day, the minute the tickets went on sale I had called and got the best seats I could. Ringside, almost front row seats. They were awesome! When the wrestlers would come out we would run to the very front to see them as close as possible. Thanks to my awesome friend Nicholle for making Layla a super cute tutu, she totally stood out. No one looked like her, everyone was commenting on her outfit and how cute she looked. We watched some awesome fights but we were just sitting and waiting for the main event. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio. Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo came out first and as soon as they saw Layla standing in the front row, they started making fun of her (and in case you don't watch wrestling, they are the bad guys). Ricardo pointed at Layla and kicked his leg like he was going to kick my Princess. They both started laughing at her and pointing and then left. We were most definitely hoping they lost! The fight lasted quite awhile but the very end is what made the entire show. John Cena came up and shook Layla's hand and Evan Bourne gave her a high five! Layla's face just lit up when John Cena came up to her, such a dream come true for the little Princess. What an amazing day we had, it was so, so much fun! When they come back to Colorado, we'll be at the show rooting on John Cena for sure! 
While Layla and I were enjoying ourselves at the World Arena, Ed was climbing to the top of a mountain to see Alexander the Great's castle. Did you know he had a castle in Afghanistan? Because I didn't, I had to Google it. "According to local officials here, the fortress was built more than 2,000 years ago by legendary conqueror and Greek military leader, Alexander the Great during his push to India. Since then, nearly every military force has used it, including the British, the Russians, the Taliban, and now American and Afghan National Army soldiers." Crazy, right? Anyway, Ed climbing a mountain was good for me, it meant I finally got some pictures of him! 
Last weekend Layla and I headed to Happy Apple farm to pick some pumpkins. I had to take the day off because it was Columbus Day and Layla didn't have school so we made the best of our extra day off. Pumpkins! It was a perfect day to go, there was no one there and we had our pick of the patch! Of course my little girl doesn't care about finding the perfect, large, round pumpkin. No. Instead we ended up with about 20 "baby" pumpkins. It was a fun day though and definitely worth the trip. 
And lastly, on Wednesday Layla had "dress like a book character" day at school. At first I couldn't think of what she could be, most of the books we read have to do with animals. Then it hit me, two perfect characters that Layla acts like on a daily basis. Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy. I asked her to pick one of those two and Pinkalicious it was. We threw together a pretty, pink outfit, put her hair in pigtails with a crown, and found a wand. Taa Daa! Pinkalicious! 
Oh and I saved the BEST news for last. Thursday I got an email from the FRG with a letter from CPT Johnson in it, here's the best part: "As some of you heard from LTC Stevenson at the Battalion Video Teleconference last night, we will be part of the overall draw down slated for Afghanistan. The President of the United States has ordered 10,000 Soldier, Sailors, Marines and Airmen out of Afghanistan before the New Year. Havoc Company is looking to have about 70% of the company return home to Fort Carson. We are looking to leave Afghanistan at the end of December." That slashes our deployment in HALF! This kind of stuff never, ever happens to us. I am amazed and still cannot believe it. This may be the best Christmas we've ever had! 
