From the far reaches of Colorado

Hi all

I'm not going to apologize for not posting more often because there's not much use to that, it doesn't change the past frequency of posting. Here's an update on our crew.

Jesse, Brielle, and Jennah just finished their spring soccer season. Jesse and Bree played on a 5 man team together and Jennah was their coach. We were initially disappointed that there weren't enough players for at least two full squads, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. In fact, I've decided, under certain circumstances, these types of games are funner because there's no time for anyone to stop and the action is constant. It was fun to see Jess and Bree improve so much, they were both very aggressive and played hard, smiling almost all the while.

Jesse earned his Webelos and Arrow of Light. He'll be moving out of the Cub Scouts and into Boy Scouts this month.

Paige has just finished swimming lessons. She's a little fish and we hope to help her keep it up. Her favorite book currently is Green Eggs and Ham. She's constantly wanting to read it to anyone who will listen. It's fun to see how much she enjoys learning.

Kylee is our resident dramatic story teller. I wish you could see her face as she tells the story. Her eyes grow large enough to swallow the universe and the earnestness in her expression is absolutely captivating, and very humurous. Its also very funny to hear her classify small and large things because she often refers to them as "babies" and "mommies" respectively.

Caleb is making great progress in his speech. Its very satisfying to see him get better and have others tell us how much he talks now. If he has an audience, he will go on and on and on and... In addition to his speech, he has added a veritable sound studio worth of sound affects to his repetoire of expression. This, in addition to his current enchantment with airplanes (everything somehow turns into an airplane, including himself), makes for a very dynamic conversation.

Eryn is growing so much. She is learning to express herself better all the time. She loves to play with all the kids, regardless of what they're doing. Yep is still her favorite word, and she has a tremendous independent streak. We're trying to help her learn to express the latter without emphasizing her point with a scream.

Jennah is enjoying the fact that she has a summer break as well as the kids. Now she is in full planning mode for the next round of home shooling. She has started taking bike rides with a neighbor in the mornings a couple of times a week. She is also making all of our soap and shampoo and laundry soap. It's pretty cool. She might even turn it into a business and involve the kids. She is Activity Days Leader and just got called to be the Primary Chorister (she will smack anyone who laughs at that - Ouch!!).

I am working away. I've recently changed positions and am now back out at Schriever AFB, sitting in almost the exact same seat I had as a Captain, doing almost the same work. I'm looking at more schooling this Fall, probably another graduate degree. I have been called to be Assistant Deacon's Quorum Advisor and Assistant Scout Master. Its the first calling outside of the Elder's Quorum Presidency I have had, with a brief stint in Sunday School and a few months in YMs, since Jennah and I got married. I'm looking forward to it.

We love you all and I'll get to work on that teleporter so we can see each other at will.

Love you
Dave