Summer is finally here! I am glad because I was getting tired of whining because I am cold - now I can whine because I am hot! LOL

I have been busier than usual. My mom decided to get pneumonia and get checked into the hospital for 9 days! Then Ms. Juliana decided to get viral pneumonia and go to the hospital for 8 days! All the while, I have to work, garden, keep Kelly and Ian in line and be the YW president! It is a good thing I am not allowed to drink, because I would have a serious problem!

Ian finished his freshman year of high school! It was a BIG struggle and it was very painful, but it is done and he has a GPA of 2.67. Pretty good for a kid who left Lassen High with all F's! He is now standing 6' 1" and wears a size 13 shoe! Very tall with a firm foundation! He is turning out to be a great kid - I only have some minor tweaking to do and then he will almost be presentable to society, LOL.

Colton is doing well in the Air Force. Money is not his friend. He struggles with not spending all of it and then some. I have been working with him everyday and he is improving. He is serving on the Honor Guard. He didn't like it at first but now is enjoying seeing the east coast. We took him a car in May. He is only 17 and cannot get credit on his own, so we bought a Honda Civic for him and drove it to S. Carolina! I was worried that the trip would make or break my relationship with Kelly, but it only made it stronger. We had a wonderful time and getting to see the base and where Colton is living was great too! We are hoping to find out soon if Colton is a parent. This process is long and painful.

Kelly built a chicken coop in the back yard and we now have 6 chickens. I have no idea what we are thinking, but it must be crazy thoughts! Hopefully the neighbors will not complain and it will all be for nothing. The garden at the church is growing great. I am going to the garden in the early mornings now, I cannot seem to get there after work. By then my day is totally out of control. Work is slow but good, I am hoping that the real estate market turns around and we can get busy again. Kelly is never in need of a turn around, people are always dying!

All my girls are at Girls Camp this week, so I don't have to plan an activity for Wednesday. That is a nice break! I think that Charlotte and Denise are planning a fruit processing party, so I won't be bored! :o)

Has it really been 3 months since I posted?

I cannot believe what a slacker I have become. I was just reading Denise Ramsey's blog and I guess she is watching my blog because there was a little post that said 3 months ago!!!! WOW.

We are currently at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. Kelly and I drove a 2004 Honda Civic out to Colton. We tried to buy him a car here but that proved nearly impossible. They wanted us to register the car we wanted to buy in CA. That would have meant we would have to drive the car to CA to have a smog test done because CA won't accept another states smog test! Needless to say, we did not go for that. Kelly went down to Susanville Ford and found perfect car for him. So, we bought it and drove it out. When Colton turns 18, we will help him refinance it into his name.

Colton looks REALLY good. He is putting on weight and looking like himself again. After BASIC it looked like they never fed him there. He is loving being on his own, said he liked that we are able to visit him here at his house (his dorm room)! His room is nice. Kelly is jealous, because when he was in the Army he never got a room to himself, not until he was an E5. Colton has a nice closet, tv armoir, refrigerator, dresser, 2 side tables, and a loft bed. He has to share a bathroom with 1 person, but he has a sink in his room. It is actually really nice. He was asked to be on the Honor Guard for 1 year. I am not sure how he feels about it, but I think he is worried that he will not be able to know his job.

Yesterday was Kelly's 50TH birthday! I cannot believe that I married such an old man! LOL We had a great day and Colton took him out to Dinner. We are planning on going to Columbia today, but I might try to convince everyone to go to Myrtle Beach. It is only and hour away!!! ;o)

The trip was...........

Awesome and sad all at the same time. It was WONDERFUL to see Colton and horribe to have to leave him in Texas! There were a few times when we were all in the car and he had fallen asleep, that I thought that I could just keep driving and keep him with me a little while longer.

He has changed a lot and he is still them same. I cannot believe how much weight that he lost, he is a skinny minny! :o) He loves the Air Force and is taking his job very seriously. On Thursday they have the Airmans Run. They have all the Flights that are graduating run by while all the frineds and family that came to graduation cheer them on! There were 16 flights graduating! After the run, we attended a Parent, Spouse Orientation and got a lot of great information. After that there was an Orientation Briefing for the graduation weekend. Then the Coin Ceremony. This is a ceremony were they give all the graduated an Airmans Coin, the can now call themselves Airman instead of Trainees. It was a really nice ceremony, after we FINALLY got to hug Colton! It was so great to hold him again. We were able to spend the rest of the day with him on base. The first thing he wanted to do was eat at Burger King! Then we checked out the base and did some souvenier shopping.

Friday morning we got up early to be at the base by 7:30am and we still didn't get very good seats!! The graduation was very impressive. After we got to visit the Dorm where Colton stayed. He can make his bed, fold his laundry and keep his things so neat! My hat is off to his TI!!!! :o) After the open house we went back to the hotel - we were all tired. Colton made a bunch of phone calls to his friends.

Saturday we went into Downtown San Antonio. I am not a fan. We saw the Alamo - that part was really nice. I only wished there were not so many people, we did not get to see it all. But, I thought that the town intself was dirty and cramped. We ate lunch at the hard Rock Cafe and walked a little on the River Walk. We didn't get to see Colton on Sunday so we got up late and checked out of the motel around noon. Ate lunch at the Texas Roadhouse (which was pretty good), turned in the Rental Car and hung out at the airport.

It has been rough readjusting to the time change! It was really easy to go eat - but coming back west has not bee pretty. I am finally starting to feel like myself again.

We took Ian out of the High School this week and put him into Charter School. He just seemd to be getting lost in the system and failing his classes. This way we can keep a really close eye on him and he won't be distracted by everyone. He is such a great kid. I will do whatever it takes to give him a shot at success.

We bought a table and chairs from a friend, I guess this means I get to rearrange and paint! :o) I am sure that I drive Kelly insane will all the re-arranging and painting that I do. He is such a good sport about it all. I am a lucky girl to have found such a patient husband!

Today is Valentines day and we agreed that we were not going to do anything, but we both caved an bought each other cards! Ian even bought me a huge Peanut Butter Cup Heart! It was nice! I think that I am going to fix Kelly a steak for dinner tonight, I feel bad that I don't let him eat beef very much anymore! Well.........not that bad!

The Countdown Is On!

I am Soooooooooooooooo excited to go see Colton! He called this weekend to tell me that he survived BEAST week, I think he is as excited to see us as we are to see him! Only 8 more days!!!

In other news, Ian was goofing around at the church last Wednesday night and punched a wall. He broke it of course. We spent most of Thursday at the hospital having the bones set. The Dr. wanted to set it in the OR just in case they had to pin it. Lucky me gets to pay for the Dr., the OR, the extra ER - - I am so irritated! But I still love him and feel bad that he is in pain.

Parents - can't live with them, people will think your a wierdo!

Well this last couple of weeks have been a little no a lot stressful. First Dad Fink gets an enlarged prostate and spends a couple of days in the hospital and had the lovely experience of wearing a cathater for a week. Then my mom decides to have a massive blood clot in her lungs and one in her leg. She spent this week in the hospital. I got to bring her home today. My dad had decided to stop taking his heart medication because it gives him a runny nose! What the heck????!!?

Colton is doing well in Basic. Sunday starts week 6 which means the BEAST. It is an acronym for something, looks to me like they go out into the woods camping and playing war games. I hope that he does well. I got a letter from him on Wednesday and he got to find out that part of his Environmental job is PEST CONTROL! He said "I'm pissed!" I find it funny but I know I cannot tell him that! I know that it would be a safe job and it would give him time to go to college and get his education. I hope that I get to talk to him tomorrow.

Other great news - Kelly surprised me with a diamond ring!!!!!!! It is absolutley gorgeous!!!! I am such a lucky, and maybe a little spoiled, girl!

Remember the Alamo!

That's right folks! I am going to San Antonio! I have booked the non-refundable flight, reserved a room and a car and plan to see my boy! I am so excited that Colton is already 1/2 of the way through basic! As long as he does not get recycled (the Air Force way of failing) we will be going to his graduation February 6!

I did get a phone call from the Missionaries that serve at Lackland AFB, Colton attended services and they took a picture to send to me! Here it is:

He is sooooooo good looking in a uniform!

I have had a few letters from him and he sounds so grown up! A few guys in his flight got caught with candy on new years eve and got recycled back to week zero! Yikes - I cannot imagine! He has had KP duty twice now. The first time they hosted a squadron and had 1,000 people for breakfast and lunch and dinner! He worked his tail off and got Chocolate milk and frozen yogurt as a treat, he said it may not sound like much, but it is like gold there! :o) The next time he had KP, the lady in charge gave him a letter that he could trade in for a phone call. He got to call me on Saturday night, it was a terrible connection but it was AWESOME to hear him say "hey mom!". He also reports that he got a compliment from the TI during Drill Practice. The TI said that "Fink was the only one in the flight with discipline" and then made everyone look at his discipline. Now, I think that I am pretty up on things, but I always thought that discipline was a verb and not a noun!! I think that I will have to get him to explain that one when I see him!