Halloween 2008

This has to be the luckiest Halloween ever for the Fosters. We won so many contest this year. Here is a picture of Cedar and Aspen at the Trunk or Treat that we entered this year and won. I have to give the credit to Michael. I just decorated with limited time and budget. Michael had the idea of making a haunted trunk. We had a strobe light that looked really cool once the sun went down. Michael wore a mask and scary hand and each time you went for the candy dish he grabbed you. He said that there were some women that would not even come in. There were some really cool trunks out there and a lot of money spent. We showed that if you use a little imagination you can still make something great.

Cedar also entered a pumpkin coloring contest at the Library and took first for the most creative. She used buttons and feathers. She won a Crayola coloring case. At the same library Michael guessed almost exactly how many M&M's were in the container and won the container with the candy.

If you do not know this, Cedar has the same teacher this year for 1st as she did for Kindergarten. Ms. Irene moved up to 1st and we were lucky enough to have her again. Last year we won the Halloween door decorating contest together. The theme was spiders. I came up with these paper bag spiders to make. Ms. Irene came up with this line that said "Say Boo to Drugs" because it was anti-drug week as well. This year the theme was Ghosts have spirit, so do we. Our school colors are red and white. I had the idea to make ghosts out of plastic bags and with the things that Ms. Irene had bought I thought up a cheer theme with pom poms and mega phones. I called a fellow class parent, Regina, and asked her if she had any ideas for a tag line. She came up with We've got spirit, How about BOO!! So to make a short story long we won again this year. The kids had so much fun and they got a pin to wear on their lanyards.

Cedar carved her first pumpkin this year and she was so proud of it. She just drew a face on paper and Michael transferred it to the pumpkin. Cedar cut it with one of those pumpkin cutters. I think Michael had to save the pumpkin a couple times. And of course I had to send a message with my pumpkin. RECYCLE

We hope you all had a great Halloween.

Family Camp September 2008

Here is Cedar the first evening we were at Family Camp. We were accepted into a YMCA family camp this past September for a weekend. It was so much fun for all of us. We did archery, rock climbing and kayaking. We had a carrot race the first night that Aspen still goes on and on about. You get to decorate and name a carrot as a family and then send it down the zip line in the mess hall. Cedar named our carrot Happy Girl. Thanks to our smart leader Michael who picked the largest and heaviest carrot we won. The next morning we dropped the kids off at a kids play group and went to do the Odyssey Challenge course. We did this challenge with six other people. I could not have picked better people to do this with and they were all strangers. This is a team building activity. You have to communicate well and depend on everyone or you are stuck. We climbed up the rope ladder to the top and believe me you do not want to be stuck. I was so proud at the end. We did so well and had so much fun. After that we got the kids and did some crafting and swimming. We came back to the Odyssey area before dinner with the kids and they got to do the big swing and the Alpine Tower. Cedar loved it all but Aspen was a little scared on the big swing. He says now that it was fun and he wants to do it again. We always had dinner family style so we made a lot of new friends and the kids got to set the table and clean up. Cedar wants to go for summer camp but I am a little scared to let her go. On the last day we got to go kayaking and we saw tons of turtles and Aspen loved this piece of coral that looked like a brain. All in all it was a great weekend and I am so glad we got to go as a family. I can not wait until next year.

Soccer Season

Well it is Soccer Season again and Cedar and Aspen are playing this year. Cedar is in U8 and her team is doing very well. Their new field is so big. I get tired just watching. Aspen is in U5 and his team is learning sorta. Lots of sitting and looking and slow motion soccer. Cedar never played in a league at this age so I did not know what to expect. I think for his age and talent he is doing well. He is learning to listen and play together with a team. I think soccer is good for them both and they really enjoy it.

Wonderful Memories

I just wanted to take a moment to tell everyone about my great dad. His name is John. My dad had been fighting Cancer for some time now and unfortunately this summer he passed. Some of you may not know this yet. I am sorry for that. We were fortunate enough that Michael's command sent all four of us home to North Carolina the week after school let out in June. We were able to spend a little more than a week with him. I am so glad we were able to be there and visit with him. He passed on July 2, 2007. We had also spent about a month long visit last year for Thanksgiving and left right before Christmas. He was able to get in as much grand kid visiting as one could handle. The picture here is one from that visit.

New Beginnings

Hello everyone. It has been a long summer for the Fosters. Harder for me I think because I have the hardest time with change. This summer was the biggest Military rotation I have gone through since moving to Hawaii 5 years ago. I would say that at least half of the people I talked to on a weekly basis moved. Some of them were very dear to us as a family. This is the reason for this picture. I will tell a little story too. Some of you have heard this one too many times already but some of you have not. It is one of my favorites. Cedar loves it too.

It all started about six and a half years ago in a really nice hospital in California. A little boy named Dylan was born and about a week and a half later a little girl named Cedar was born. Unfortunately they would not reunite until almost two years later. It was on a beautiful tropical island in the middle of the pacific ocean called Hawaii. A very cute little bald girl moved into the end of a four plex house in a town called Pearl City. At the other end of the four plex lived a cute little blonde boy. This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship between two two year olds named Dylan and Cedar. To make a long five year story short. They grew to love each other so much and did everything together for so long. As we all know in the Military things never stay the same for too long. Dylan and his family had to move this summer back to California for a new adventure. They set off on August 1, 2007. Here is a picture of Aspen, Dylan, Cedar and Abby just hours before the flight.

Keeping in Touch

Hello everyone. I thought I would give this blog thing a try. I have a few friends who post updates about their families this way and I enjoy looking at their blogs. I have been having trouble sending pictures this last year because of the loss of my photo program and I think this might put me back on track. I hope you all enjoy our family updates and I will try to keep it going.

Love to all,

Michael, Crystal,
Cedar and Aspen