Jonathan's home from Iraq!

On September 16th, after 15 months in Iraq, at about 3:45 pm, the C Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, in other words, Jonathan, returned to Fort Lewis.

Ashley had decorated the house with these really cute, "Welcome Home" signs.

Dad thought this said, "Welcome Hottie". lol

Ashley has this really beautiful picture above her fireplace.

Ashley's friend made her and the kids these amazing shirts. The kids say, "My Daddy Comes Home Tomorrow" and Ashley's said, "My Husband Comes Home Tomorrow." The backs of all the shirts say "SPC Plumb".

We stayed home with the babies while Ashley picked up Jonathan at the base, so I don't have pics of Jonathan's homecoming, but I did find these pics online.

The homecoming was so sweet. Faith & Logan ran to the front door to see their Daddy. Dad was so happy.

Logan couldn't stop staring at his Dad.

Jonathan made us burritos.

Ashley has this amazing park. She put more great pics on her blog. Tanner & Kaylee loved this park so much, they can't wait to go back. Notice the jeep says, "Fort Lewis."

Dad and Ashley had a "my pineapple's better than your pineapple" contest. So, Dad had to cut both pineapples, to prove it. We called Grandpa and Logan the "pineapple monsters". But I think Ashley should have been included in this.

Faith got tired of Tanner tickling her so she tied his arms up with her hair bands. She said, "Tanner, you won't tickle me ever again!" McDonalds. Logan went into the playground with pants and came out without them. Tanner found them for us!

Clams

I actually made Nonna's clams, for, I think, the first time in my life. So, who likes clams?

Spokane County Fair

We love the Fair. We have so many memories, year after year, of going to the fair. Like the year Dad was in law school and we were struggling just to survive, but Dad decided to take $100, which was a ton of money then, and take you kids to the fair. I was so mad that he spent that much money, but he had the time of his life with his babies.

We look like we're entering the "biggest pumpkin" conteset.

Dad dreaming of barbecuing steak for dinner.

How much longer is mom going to be looking at these boring exhibits?

While we're on the subject of the fair, here's one of my favorite fair pictures, in 1997 of Grandma, Angela and Kaylee. Grandma loved the fair so much. She was so weak while going through Chemo. She thought she wouldn't get to go, but we dragged her with us and she had such a wonderful day!

Kep, this year, entered the Spam contest and brought us all kinds of Spam paraphernalia, just to remind me of where she got the idea. In 1996, I won the cooking with Spam contest. I won $25 and paid for Jared's ACT test with the winnings.

September 11th

Today, September 11th, dad flew and was in seat 11F. They completely searched him and every single thing in his luggage. Not the best day to travel, I guess. For the record, Jonathan was flying in a chinook helicopter over Baghdad today. Probably a little less safe than Dad was.

Dad's Travels

Dad's been traveling a lot lately. Three weeks ago he went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their "space needle" is actually the CN Tower, the tallest building or tower in the world. Then he went to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada. This is the start (mile marker 0) of the Alaskan Highway.

Two weeks ago he started in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I went with him, just to be able to see him. We had so much fun. By the way, Heidi, they have an IKEA in Calgary!

The fall colors are already starting to change up there. Here, we decided to take a picture of us with the beautiful Canadian Rockies in the background. While Dad was focusing on me, getting ready to run into the picture, this Llama snuck up behind me.
Canada has such character! There's a pass and town called, "Crowsnest". Here's the giant statue. Notice how little the truck looks that is passing by. We saw deer and elk and actually saw a black bear cross the highway. It's funny because all while you're in Canada, there are signs that say, "Deer crossing," "Big Horn Sheep crossing," "Elk crossing," "Bear crossing," and then you cross the border into the states and the first sign you see is, "Cattle crossing." Here's the biggest truck in the world. Look close-Dad's sitting in the wheel.
He ended that week in a little town called Farson, Wyoming, population 350.

This week and last he went to southern California. Jonathan and Emily, do you remember when Dad took you surfing down in California? He went to that beach and thought of how fun that was.