And He's Off...

Today we took Nick to the hangar to see him off before he left for Iraq.

When we went home for Christmas I had planned to get some family pictures taken, but due to all of our illnesses, it never worked out! So, this afternoon, moments before we headed out the door, I got everyone together for some quick family pics! Here are a few from our "session"! (Thanks Meridith!)

The kids wanted to climb our coconut tree, and then it turned into a photo op!

Once we got to the hangar it was crazy. There were Marines and family members all over. Nick had to get a paper signed, people were calling him nonstop, and everyone was getting in line to get issued their rifles and pistols.

We stood around and visited with the other spouses and kiddos. After a while, they were getting ready to do roll call and load the squadron on the buses to go to Hickam Air Force Base.

Trevor was a little moody (tired) and snuggled on Nick a while.

Addison was a pistol. When she wasn't walking all over the hangar, she was lovin' on Nick.

Pretending to go 'night-night' on daddy and finding daddy's nose.

Trevor got too heavy to hold, and chilled in Addison's stroller...
next thing we new, he was asleep.

Soon it was time to say goodbye. All the kids gave Nick a hug....Addison wouldn't stop hugging her daddy. It was really cute. It was hard to say goodbye, but the sooner we let him go, the sooner he would be coming back home to us!

The squadron was getting bused to Hickam and then flying out from there on a chartered 767 (?). Their flightplan was unknown but if I hear from Nick along the way I will let you all know!

Thank you for all your emails and phone calls these past few days wishing Nick and all of us well. We enjoy hearing from all of you! Your thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated! Keep them coming! I'll do my best to keep you all updated on Nick's deployment happenings over the next 7 months.

If you would like his mailing address, please email me at: kimturner@hawaii.rr.com and I will get that to you!
Nick will be getting a new email once he gets in country. I will post that here as soon as he gets that.

Day at the Sandbar in Kaneohe Bay

It was a beautiful day today...the sun has finally come out! We took a pontoon boat out to the sandbar in the bay. Addison drove us out there...

As soon as we anchored off, and applied sunscreen....
Trevor immediately grabbed his sand castle gear and headed to the sand...

Addi and Daddy soon followed...

Addison didn't like the sand on her hands and feet at first, but she soon got over that.

Trevor showing off his "sand hole"

McKenzie, Tiani, and Trevor walked clear out on the sandbar until they were little specks. They brought back all kinds of ocean treasures!
Meridith drawing in the sand

Addi walking in the sand and watching the dogs that were running around the water.

Bringing in water for the "sand hole"

Addison thought it was funny when I tried to bite her toes.... they were salty!
But she was such a tease when pretending to give out kisses...
She'd get right up to kiss you and then turn away at the last second and say 'no!'
McKenzie and her friend Tiani on the way back to the Marina.

Addison had NO nap all afternoon, or morning for that matter. She finally crashed on "Aunt Brookie" (aka Meridith) on the way back to the Marina.

Our boat captain... who managed to NOT bottom out the pontoon on coral this trip out! Yay Nick!

In the News Again

Nick was in this Sunday's Star Bulletin!

Check out the link here!

A Surprise Romantical Evening in Waikiki

Yesterday I found a bouquet of flowers and a note from my husband in the car before heading to the vet.

The note had instructions to pack an overnight bag and be ready to leave by 1700 that night....and wear a dress. Reservations for a romantic dinner had been made followed by a night of dancing.

We parked in a parking structure and then got on an elevator that took us clear to the top! Top of Waikiki, the restaurant. It's a revolving restaurant with a magnificent view of waikiki, diamond head, the beach, and beyond. We arrived just in time for the gorgeous sunset.

Me at our table with diamond head behind me!

The sun setting

Our appetizer was an upright california roll... the best I have ever had!

We both ordered the lobster, Nick's had some extras, but both of our meals we had to send back as it was over cooked. Our lobster was rubbery and we couldn't even cut into it! The waiter was really good about it and they brought us out new entrees! This time around it was perfect!

We enjoyed our meal as we revolved around at one rotation per hour. It was so fun!

We had to go up two sets of escalators to get to the restaurant. This is Nick coming down the last set after our meal. (and two Mai Tais)


We went on to Nashville Waikiki, which is the one and only country western bar on the island. It was a neat little hole in the wall place, and it just so happened that pretty much the entire fleet of flightline guys from Nick's squadron showed up! So, Nick got free beers most of the night, and I was highly entertained by the group...who constantly mingled at our table. I've never laughed so much! And heard a lot of really nice things about Nick from all the guys. It was obvious that they really respected him and enjoyed having him there.

We had a great time! We stayed the night at a friend's condo in Waikiki (he's currently in Iraq). It was nice to get away for one night, just the two of us and be able to have adult conversation. With 3 kids, it's not too often we get to spend this kind of quality time together, and really meant a lot since he is leaving in a few short days.

Meridith stayed at home with the kiddos. She made them spaghetti for supper and then treated them to pancakes for breakfast, per Trevor's request when he went in to wake her up at 6:45 am! Luckily, Addison slept all night and McKenzie was a huge help!
Thanks Meridith!!!!

I'm Trading In My Van for an Ambulance

Today was Molly's turn to go to the doctor (aka vet). Last night we noticed she was limping. We checked her paws and noticed her front paw was all red and swollen underneath. She was licking it like crazy. We didn't see a sticker or a thorn anywhere, so we took her into the vet this morning to get it checked out.

It was obviously infected, so they soaked it, wrapped it, threw a plastic cone collar on her head so she wouldn't chew off her bandage, and gave her an antibiotic shot. A "few" dollar bills later, and some instructions for the take home medicine, we were back home.

Addison and Trevor both laughed when they saw her come in the door. Poor Molly.

Windy Hawaii

The past 24 hours we have had some crazy weather. It's been windy, really windy, and raining off and on. Then the sun will peek out for a minute or two, then the winds will blow in bringing another downpour.

We grilled Iowa Chops last night (Nick had to turn the heat up on the grill because the wind kept blowing the flame out). While the chops were cooking, we had a little fun with the wind.

This is Nick showing my sister Meridith some survival techniques in a wind storm. Here he is climbing a tree to get a coconut.

Back to the Doctor....again.

This time it was for Trevor. He's had the same cough and cold for a few days now that Addison has, but last night he had a fever. I took him in first thing this morning. The doctor could hear some fluid in his lower lungs, so we did chest xrays, and sure enough....he has middle lobe pneumonia!

She prescribed some antibiotics and told him he couldn't go to school the rest of the week. She thought he would recover quickly because he "appeared" healthy and wasn't too run down. It may just take a while to get that fluid out of his lungs. He was so good at the clinic and even when we went to radiology. I had to wait outside while they did the x-rays, but the staff was so good with him and explained things to him before they took the pictures.

It probably helped that he was with me when we went through all of this with Addison a few days ago...doctor, x-rays, etc....

I hope my little sicklings get better soon because we are NOT sleeping much at night these days! Addison has been up the last few nights anywhere from 3-5 hours just fussing and refusing to lay back down....

I'm exhausted!!!!!!