HazMat Adventures

 

 It's funny what can be waiting on a quiet night in Syracuse...

Just across the street, the National Guard HazMat team disembarks with their gear.

Here they are outlining their strategy.

Here is the local sherrif who came to "brief us on the situation"--the original story we heard was that there was a possible extermination poison possibly contaminating the house. Then we heard that the family had borrowed a Carbon Dioxide detector that had registered some possible gas leak. The Natl.Guard came to bring in detection equipment that could identify the gas type.

Here they go in their nifty suits on their very cool 6-wheeler.

Griff took the sherrif very seriously and decided to do a little HazMatting inside. He loves the vacuum.

This is the team staging area at the house next to the one with the leak.

Here are the looky-loos. It kills me that one door down they are in protective gear, and these guys are hanging out watching the action in tank tops, with camp chairs. Just a little bit of irony. Love it!!

Oh, in the end it turns out that some dryer lint found its way into a situation that caused all the hubbub. Who knew a little lint could be such a big deal....bellybuttons beware! (someone warn the looky-loos)

Called to Lead in Leeds

What an exciting day!! Paris got his mission call to Leeds, England! I really thought he'd be called back to be part of the vision of the south, but apparently the Lord has decided to have him help with a vision of England. It was incredible when he opened it and read it to all of us. Everyone started whooping and cheering! His mother was on the phone, that's why Michelle is holding it up for him. She was thrilled, everyone was thrilled!

Here he is reading it...

...and here is the actual letter. Hurray Paris! We are all so proud of you! Sharon and Kenzie are already planning a big trip to pick you up! Another big adventure for our Alabama Boy!! ETD is December 3rd. WOW!

More Birthday

Happy Birthday Emily! You wouldn't know it from these pictures but Em turns 15 today! Crazy! I couldn't resist posting a couple of very cute pix from days gone by. I hope you have a terrific birthday Emily!

Here's Em with Max, who appears as his 13 year old self in the next post. One more year Em, and you can drive Max around for real.

Birthdays!

First things first, more pink toes are on the way! We heard from Rach and Drew today and it's a girl!! Hurray!
More birthday fun, here's Maxwell--a teenager at last! Hopefully he wasn't too old for the rockets. He is a brilliant scientist so I would imagine if he didn't love them, he could turn them into something that he did love!

Max and Wills. The scientist and the superhero he created in his lab. Wills loves the shades!

My other Will, not his birthday, looks like he wishes it were. I just loved the picture and couldn't resist!

Happy Birthday America! (and happy birthday to my parent's wedding/marriage) We celebrated both out at Syracuse with yummy dinner, swimming....

More swimming....

...and lots of general cuteness. This was all followed by the "Backyard of Fire" as Charles and Cam presented a fabulous fireworks display! The Sparkling Tree was truly something to behold!

So was Ella K. in her princess finery. What a fun night!

Now here's William again. This time he has a birthday cake, although it isn't his. He has decided not to wait until Uncle UUhhhhh blows out the candle. Mimi's pear cake is too yummy to wait....

DELICIOUS!!

Ah, the real birthday boy, with his DI birthday gifts! He was such a good sport, especially considering that he gave almost everyone DI Christmas this year! The exercise mat was my almost my favorite.

But then this mock turtleneck sweater with attached dickie (that's a fake shirt inside that only goes part of the way down, for those of you who didn't know that). This one took the cake. He also received a couple of wonderful running ensembles with very interesting shorts (previously worn...of course), and the trophy that P is holding. Do you think he's flipping me off in the picture on purpose?

Shel came through with a return to the outdoor game theme of his pre-mission birthday. It is perfect because he and his boys have been having a great time with outdoor games. Nice job Shel. It's not badminton, but it came with a koosh ball that William already wants! Dinner at Cheesecake Factory was delish and a good time was had by all! Happy Birthdays so far. At least two more July birthdays to come, and some in August and September too. Oh and October, November, December....you get the idea.


One last thing...our own Grady Gaga. I took it at Lagoon and still haven't figured out how to turn it right side up. Sigh. In any case, he is hilarious. This isn't even his best work, but it's worth a laugh! Love this kid.