NOV 2008

Well, A lot has happened in the short time since our last post.

First was Halloween. This is Helen's second most favorite holiday. We bought her an outfit this year rather than having Bonnie sew one. This year Helen was Princes Padme from the Star Wars movies. Here is the princess with a " 'tude" before we went out (it is an act for the picture).


Of course, the goal at Halloween is maximum candy haul. Evidently, this was achieved. It has still not been completely consumed, as we only dole out two pieces a day until it starts to go bad (which happens on the day that Dad can't find any other junk food in the house).


The next thing that happened is that David volunteered to go to Afghanistan. To David's surprise, it did not take much to convince Bonnie. But, it was not to be, the mission was canceled. Fortunately we found out before David ordered another couple of thousand of dollars worth of field gear (there isn't much use for velcro grenade pouches and gortex underwear unless you actually go to the field).

Then some sad news. Bonnie's father passed away. So we went to Dallas for the funeral and to see Bonnie's family. We love going to Dallas, especially since Bonnie's brother and sister in law allow us to stay at their immaculate mansion. I don't have any photos to post of the place because I cannot fit it into the picture frame of the camera.

Here is a nice photo of Bonnie as we went out with her family in Dallas.


It was really great to see all of Bonnie's family, it is so unfortunate that it took such a sad event.

Many of her Dad's relatives came for the funeral, and we learned some new information about her Dad from Bonnie's uncle. This is a picture of Bonnie with her Uncle Gene and his family.


Seems that Bonnie's Dad at one time had an appointment to West Point, but quit the Prep School to go to Airborne and Ranger school during the Korean War. David has now seen the certificates, and all of this is indeed true. Her father never talked about this, nor of his Korean War experiences.

We took lots of family pictures while we were together. Here is the Guinn Clan, centered around Bonnie's mom, Marlene.


In the picture are Brian, Jen, and little Raegan Guinn (Bonnie's brother's family), Eric McGuire and his parents Bud and Barbara (Bonnie's cousin, aunt, and uncle), Barbara (Bonnie's sister), Brent (Bonnie's brother, behind Marlene) and then the two of us. Helen is in front of Eric, mugging for the camera.

After the funeral, Marlene took us all out to Dinner. There we got a nice picture of two Helen's (the other Helen is Bonnie's Aunt).


Here is another picture of the extended Guinn family once we got back to Brian and Jen's.


And here is a good one of Bonnie, her mother, and siblings



And, finally, one of the three of us.


More coming soon for Christmas!

This post will mostly be stuff from the last year to catch up with all our "goings on". Pictures are in no particular or chronological order, but are from the last year or so.

First is a picture of Helen. She was my guest at the 4th of July Freedom Celebration at BYU Stadium. Soldiers and their families were invited for the Fireworks spectacular and Hanna Montana concert. We got to be on the field, and had a great view. We were so close to the stage that firework debris was landing on us during the show.



Next is a picture of me addressing my Battalion during my assumption of command ceremony last year. This is up in Helena Montana, at the big training site up there. Being a battalion commander a lot of work, but a really fun experience.




After the battalion command, I went back into a staff position at the area headquarters. The most exciting thing we have done is go over to the middle east. Some of us went on a special trip to Jordan. We went to a Jordanian army base outside of Amman to learn about dealing with Arabic issues/culture. While there, we were confined to the post for safety/security reasons (the Jordanians didn't want their own people to know American troops were there). At one point, myself and another colonel went up one of the guard towers to get a better look around. The sentries let us take our pictures with them. Note the scenic terrain in the background.



Here is a picture of me with one of the Jordanian instructors in his "civilian" outfit.



Next up are some pictures of Bonnie. First is her at her IDRS (International Double Reed Society) recital at BYU. Oboe players from around the world had their annual conference at BYU, and Bonnie was invited to play again.



Here is Bonnie and her good friend, and fellow Orchestra at Temple Square musician, Tamara Oswald. The strange "small world" thing is that Tamara is also the daughter of my mission president, and I actually knew her in Switzerland in the 1980's.


In writing this blog, it has become appearant to me that we do not take enough pictures at "fun" outings. Here is a picture of Bonnie and I at the NBA semi-finals game that Bonnie got us tickets to here in Salt Lake. The Jazz were playing the Lakers for a spot in the finals. It was not very close till the very end, then it was a real nail biter, so it was pretty exciting.


I like to make all my co-workers jealous by telling them what a big football fan Bonnie is. I tell them how Bonnie forces me to watch at least 3 games a week and that she encouraged us last year to buy a big screen TV so that we could see the playoffs on a bigger screen. They are always jealous.

Now on to the Helen pictures. First up is a picture of her with her uncles last year at Brian's house for Christmas, where Helen got hooked playing Guitar Hero. Her she is in a contest with Uncle Brian while Uncle Brent looks on.


In the early spring, Helen and I went on a Daddy-Daughter field trip out to the giant copper mine out on the west side of the valley. Its the biggest mine in the world. you can't even see the bottom in this picture.


This year Helen begged us to be able to join a track team. She really does well at long distance running. We found a program for her with the county's recreation dept., and she would go on meets held at High Schools around the valley. In this picture, she is in a sprint. She got a lot of ribbons, but for longer races, and the shot put (of all things).


While at the track meet, a "special friend" of Helen's showed up. His name is Nick V. His brother was also in the track program. He spent the whole meet following Helen around.


Here is the picture of Helen and him "just talking". This is all starting to happen way too fast for Dad. Just in case, there are plans to have Nick see me in uniform and handling weapons.



Well, that should bring you up to date on the Schroeders. I think I will just add new stuff from now on.

Jen uses this software for their family blog, so I figured I could just copy her to upload pictures and videos to show what we are up to too.

I am just going to start with the last month or so, just so I get used to the software and stuff.
Anyway, this is from our last vacation. Helen is starting to look at career options.

Here is Helen and I at Disneyworld. Helen drove the car around the track. While driving she told me "Wow, this is really hard. You and Mom must really know what your doing when you drive!" Helen will be scheduled for lessons when she turns 21.


Next is Helen and I at Seaworld (Bonnie is taking all the pictures). Bonnie really loves this T-Shirt I like to wear that shows all the Swiss Cantons (NOT).


Next is a picture of Bonnie and Helen as we got ready for a real family adventure. More on this a bit later.


Our good friends from across the street, the Riggs, met us at Disneyworld. Their kids are twins, Owen and Una. They are about Helen's age. The picture gives you a good idea of Helen's "height advantage". Anyway, it was a lot of fun to do Disneyworld with friends, especially as Helen didn't always have to do Boring adult stuff.



Next up is a picture of me next to a B-26. We found this air museum outside of Orlando and it was great! The B-26 is an aircraft my father worked on in WW2. It was his favorite. This is probably the only air worthy B-26 in the world! We were really lucky to visit on a day when the aircraft were parked outside and not in the hanger.


Here is the first picture from our Family Air Adventure. More to follow.



Here is a video of the Family Flying Adventure that I made from the video clips I took on the camera.





Here is a video I made of the place we stay at. We bought flexible vacation property with Hilton Grand Vacation Club. Next year we will stay in a similar place in Hawaii for two weeks!




Next up, some recent pictures from Home!

First is Bonnie, doing what she loves best, playing the Oboe.


Next is a picture promised to Grandma of Helen posing with one of her new stuffed animals.


Now, more on the family's latest edition, our dog Shadow. He is a pedigreed Standard Poodle and is now about 10 months old. Helen did all of the pre-dog requirements we could think of (like walking a pretend dog for 3 times a day for 3 weeks without being reminded), so we got a dog. He is adorable.



Still Photos, don't really do him justice, so I made a little video of him. He is Helen's constant companion. When he is not with her, he just mopes around and cries a lot.





OK, well, that's it for now. I'll try to add a few things each week to catch up.