An Iraqi check point

Here are some pictures that our neighbor A1c Lawson took and sent to his wife who was kind enough to share with us.  So these next two posts are pictures from him and our of the Iraqi country side that the boys patrol.  Lawson does work and do the same job as Will but they are on two different groups so they don't work at the same time in Iraq.  In fact they've only seen each other a few times since arriving in Balad.  

Here is an Iraqi check point.  The two soldiers standing by the cone are Iraqi soldiers.  The group of three with their backs facing us are Air Force soldiers.  They are wearing flight suits since their uniforms are not flame retardant.  

I thought it was interesting that the older Iraqi men still wear the traditional clothing.

I posted this picture since it shows that the younger men wear normal clothes

Just another picture of the check point

This is a little boy herding sheep. I've been told a lot of younger children walk the animals around the farm land. William has seen cows, goats, and sheep. 

The Iraqi country side

Air Base Balad lies right on the Tigres river in Iraq.  So the country side is rather green.  Now here are some pictures of the areas surrounding the base.  William says that these are not as green as it really is. There is also a lot of desert by the looks of it.  He says that it has been raining a lot this week and since most of the area isn't used to water it is just pooling.  He now understands why their trailers are up on lifts!  He is afraid that his room will flood if it continues to rain.  

Two baby calves

Some fields

Cows

some type of water

The field next to the water.

London Bridge Day's parade

While we were in Havasu we were lucky to be there for the London Bridge Days.  It is always full with great fun activities and one of the best parts is the parade.  There were all sorts of fun sights and people actually gave out candy.  The boys were so excited about that.  Lil'Will tried all the candy.  But he freely gave away his half eaten candy when more was given to him.  Even Baby James was excited and wanted to run into the street to get the thrown candy.

Here they are arriving in the wagon, not sure what to make of it all.

Waving to all the people in the parade

The shriners brought Camels to the parade!

sucking on some candy and enjoying the view

Leaving the parade full of candy and with fun balloons!

Nana's Sandbox

Knowing how much the boys enjoy their sandbox Nana had Gerry build a large one at her house.  The boys had so much fun playing in it that they didn't want to leave!  It still needs some sand, but the boys loved playing in the dirt, probably better than actual sand.

plenty of room for a lot Bobs

Gerry even got out his antique crane for the boys to play with.  They all were very excited.

Before it was finished it was perfect place for snipers!

Halloween festival

On Saturday while I was getting ready for my 10 year reunion Nana took the boys to a halloween festival.  They were supposed to be in their costumes but it was so hot that we kept them in their t-shirts and shorts.  There were lots of fun things to do and play there.  My favorite story of the festival is the face painting.  Lil'Will has never allowed us to paint his face.  He is always to scared.  He'll make us wait in line and then when we get up front he cries and runs the opposite direction, so I was shocked when he came home with a bat on his face!  Well, James always has to do whatever his brother does so after Lil'Will so bravely painted his face James also had to show how brave he was.  Apparently he climbed into the seat the minute that Lil'Will vacated it.  He climbed on up and pulled up his short leg and started to point and grunt at his leg.  The lady was very sweet and painted a spider on his leg for him.  He was very proud after that and would walk up to about anyone and point and grunt at his spider on his leg!  He was very proud of it!  Of course all the strangers made a big deal of his spider which made him very happy. 

Here James is getting his spider painted on.  Lil'Will is offering moral support.

He was very excited and wanted to help so she had to hold his hand  so it wouldn't get in the paint.

Here she is asking him if he wants her to paint his face.

Lil'Will and his very manly bat!

Snack time

Lil'Will decided that he was going to feed his little brother his snack.  It was so sweet to see Lil'Will give him some snacks and see them giggle and be silly together!  James was in heaven!

Bob the Builder's Cousin Sammy!

James needed to wear Bobs tool belt. He then went around fixing (breaking) things for me!  We call him Sammy the breaker.  His theme song goes, "Can we break it?  Yes we can!"

the infamous say cheese face

Now this is the super special tool I use to break the popcorn maker!

A back view

Now the final piece!  The top of the popcorn maker!  

???

So I am not sure how to explain these pictures.  He had just taken a bath and so he grabbed his tooth brush and toothpaste, but I am not sure where the belt fits in the picture.  I think he just thought that it was super cool.  I came in from another room and this is how i found him!  I think it is hillarious.

I in fact do feed him, he really doesn't need to eat leather!

Wishing I would go away!

Right now he is thinking I have already let you take 5 pictures and said cheese for most of them!  Go Away!!

Sweet Comforts

Lil'Wills blankie and doggy had just come out of the dryer and apparently they were so warm and cozy they lulled him to sleep!  Isn't that just so sweet.  He was so excited to get them out of the dryer and he was prancing around waiting for them to get done and when they were finally finished he took them to the couch so he could get all cozy with them.  He is so sweet!

The little hand at the bottom of the picture belongs to James.  He was coming to stop all the cozy sleepiness!

Love is a warm blanket and doggies!

Can we build it? Yes we can!

A dear friend of ours saw this Bob the Builder costume at a store and it was such a good deal she couldn't resist getting it for Lil'Will!  He loves it.  He is upset though that the belt does not have a hammer.  He looks super cute in it and it comes with a hard hat!

A cute picture of Baby James

Bob adding some real screw drivers to his tool belt.

A fuzzy face picture of the new bob the builder

Lil'Will in his new Bob costume!  He is already quiet the little man!

I am blogging again!

We have had a very busy couple of weeks.  We were able to go have a ton of fun in Oregon visiting the Oregon Bennetts and last weekend we spent in Havasu celebrating my 10 year high school reunion!  Then in a week we will have Grandpa Jim out to visit with us!  We have had a very fun a full month!  I am sad to report that I don't have any pictures from the Oregon trip.  When we got home I went to put the pictures on the computer and the computer said that my memory card was empty!!!  I am so bummed because we had so much fun and I know that I had taken some beautiful pictures of all the kids.  I was so excited to get home and show the all off to you all, but alas now I have to wait on my sweet sister in laws to send me their pictures and then I can share those with you all.  While we were in Oregon they had a birthday party for Lil'Will and his Aunt Autumn.  Lil'Will loved it since there were a ton of family and cousins there.  We played on the playgrounds, Lil'Will got to participate in preschool with his cousin Mason, went to soccer games and practice, went to a pumpkin patch, painted pictures, visited a discovery zone, played, played and played again!  It was so wonderful.  The  boys thought they had died and gone to heaven with all the cousins to play with.  We are so thankful that we got to go and spend time with them all!

Lil'Wills birthday scooter!

We got a radio flyer scooter for Lil'Will for his birthday.  We love the fact that it had three wheels  and a very wide base.  It is extremely stable and he loves feeling like a big boy with it!  He has fallen twice but both times it was because he doesn't quiet know how to steer so he swerves onto the rocks and falls down.  Both times it was such a slow fall that nothing could possible get hurt.  Here he was so excited to go out and ride that he is still in his Daddy jammy pants.  Which of course he changed into right after we got home from the store.  

Lil'Will riding his scooter on the area on the side of the house

Lil'Will and the neighbor boy

He is supposed to be smiling so I can send this to Daddy instead he decided to frown!  I guess that maybe to show his displeasure at his Daddy not being there.

Pretending he fell

Helping James to the figure eight behind the house.

A picnic at the park

If Lil'Will hadn't had enough fun already we spent a day at the beach, where Nana ruined her camera saving James from falling in the water, and I had left my camera at home that day, so there are no pictures from that day, but on Friday we made sure we tired out the boys plenty enough by having a picnic at the park.  The boys enjoyed playing with other children on the playground as well as eating on a blanket!  Travis, Trent's friend had told me he had never had a picnic like that before.  I wasn't sure if it was the blanket on the grass or the takeout instead of homemade sandwiches and such, but it was a lot of fun!

Trent and Lil'Will on top of the twirly slide!

Now they are at the bottom

Baby James eating ice out of a cup

Not the best picture but he does love his ice!

A night at the circus!

Just in case Lil'Will wasn't spoiled enough on his birthday the next night Nana took him to the circus.  They had so much fun watching all the acts.  The circus was filled with acrobats and contortionists.  It was really fun and entertaining.  The pictures aren't the best quality due to the dust that was kicked up during the acts and from the animals.  The dust on the camera lens got worse with each picture.

I love this picture because it just shows the amazement in their faces as the watched!

Lil'Will on the pony

Here is a picture of Trent and Lil'Will riding an elephant.  Lil'Will is the second from the head and Trent is right behind him.  I didn't want him to ride the elephant cause he is so small and the elephant is so big, but Nana bullied into letting him go.  He did enjoy it even though at the end when you asked him about it he got a very serious almost scared or reverent face about it.

Just another elephant picture

When we took Will on the ponies James was upset when he didn't get a turn so after the circus he got a change to ride.  He actually really liked it and cried bloody murder when he was taken off!