I remember!

 

ZCMI, Grand Central, and even the Alpha Beta grocery store had huge selections of kits and paints.

Fly in the B-2 Stealth Bomber!

Another great Christmas Day.

                                         

Radio controlled park flier airplane!

 

She had a pretty good day yesterday.

The anticipation was killing him!

Grandpa gave him a radio controlled tank!!  

Christmas 2023.

Grateful for the Civil Air Patrol this year and the difference it makes to today's youth.

Santa tracker on Flightradar24!  NORAD story here.

This will melt your soul.  

It's been really rough the last 6 months with the geriatric dog.  I feel like I'm in prison at times.  Probably her last Christmas here on earth.

Christmas in the Trenches 1914.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone.  

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a Veteran.

Christmas dinner but not on Christmas.

This was supposed to be Christmas Eve dinner but due to changing of plans, we had to have it last night.  We have a Christmas party tonight with friends we met through the CAP, and tomorrow night the sister-in-law from Thailand decided to make Christmas Eve dinner last minute.  Sigh.

Pellet grilled perfection!

Homemade potatoes au gratin and Altair made a delicious beet salad using our garden beets.

CAP holiday party & Nerf gun battle 2023!

Whew!  What a night!  Food, prizes, fun, & friends.

Cadets getting more tables out.

Parents were invited to eat first.

Big turnout!

Captain Winther made pulled pork for everyone.

Captain Van (rh side) joined us from the Cache Valley squadron.  He's attending Utah State University and was formally our Squadron's most decorated cadet.

Cadets preparing their Nerf guns and ammo for the upcoming battle.

No one left hungry!

Assembling for battle in the back.

Raffle time!  Skyler won a genuine USMC medical kit!

Nerf war!

It was pure pandemonium!

Getting more ammo.

Improvised "trench warfare" behind the lockers.

 

Donde Esta Santa Claus?

Theater class play.

His teacher adapted the play from the book "A promise is a promise".  He did a really good job last night!

 

Yay for old pets.

The 15.5 year old dog now has accidents in the house if we're gone for more than an hour.  For some reason it really bothers the germaphobe Skyler!

Unhappily using the Rug Doctor to clean up an accident after he got a haircut, went to the grocery, and made one other stop.  We pushed our luck on this trip yesterday.

Shirtless because he was itchy from the haircut.😅

Wreaths Across America.

Yesterday was the day for placing wreaths on Veterans graves.  Quite an experience!

1,600 wreaths!

Colorguard practicing.

Cadets practicing before the service.

Cadet Senior Airman Kaminski on the right.  He was selected to lay the wreath for the Coast Guard.

More practicing.

Beginning of the service.

Wreaths laid for the Space Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines.

Wreath laying time.  Our Cadet ended up in the Chapel cleaning up after everyone.

LT. Taylor placing a makeshift wreath on the service dog memorial.

What a gentleman!

My accidental patriotic composition photo!  Impressive.

 

Cadet Senior Airman.

He got his new rank pins last night before the meeting and they had a group photo to honor the Commander stepping down.

I'm not sure why they pinned him in the lobby but they did.

Some of the best people on this planet!  

Captain Winther is on the front row, left side.  He's commanded this squadron for 4 years and commanders are assigned 3 years.  We were lucky to have him!

 

Too insane not to share!

My god...

Happy Birthday Altair!

We appreciate all that you do!

Modeling the latest in Arctic wear at the last CAP meeting.

Pearl Harbor ceremony.

The cadets did a really nice formation to remember Pearl Harbor at the meeting Thursday evening.  One cadet even played Taps on the bugle.

Funny.

 

Never forget.

 

2023 Christmas tree.

We picked out our live tree Friday evening.  The house smells amazing!

Altair loves to decorate the tree!

And she does a great job every year.

Side note, Skyler cought COVID finally after 3.5 years.  Sigh...  

 

Group pic.

What an amazing organization!  I can't believe how fortunate we are to be involved with the CAP.

Of course now that he spent time in the airport, he's home from school today with a cold. :(

Proud parent moment.

He got to participate in the "snowball express" honor flight yesterday.  Wow!  Talk about emotional.

Presenting as the plane is pushed back.  More CAP cadets than any other service branch!

Gathering about.

You can see Skyler on the jetway stairs.

Some info:

The SNOWBALL EXPRESS mission is:

“Honor America’s fallen military service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice since 9/11 by

humbly serving the families they left behind. Champion their children’s future success by creating

opportunities for joy, friendship, education, and communal healing, by connecting these families to

one another.”

 

The SNOWBALL EXPRESS program is part of the Gary Sinise Foundation.

As the official airline of SNOWBALL EXPRESS, American Airlines is flying more than 2,000 children

(and guardians) of fallen service men and women from 500 cities worldwide via nearly 100 chartered

and commercial flights to Orlando, Florida.

 

Our SNOWBALL EXPRESS flight will arrive from Seattle, to pick up additional GOLD STAR

CHILDREN from the Rocky Mountain region, then depart to Orlando, Florida for the 16TH ANNUAL

SNOWBALL EXPRESS celebration, a free unforgettable five-day event with fun and fellowship for

the GOLD STAR CHILDREN.