This picture was taken back on Dec 14, 2005 after Kozmo finished his training classes to become a therapy dog. Well we finally just took him in to get his behavioral exam by a local vet and he passed! They do all sorts of things like walk by and drop a metal platter to startle him, pull his tail and toe hair, and even had an assistant jump out with an umbrella and open it in his face. That was the funniest because he was on the linoleum and almost wiped out trying to back up. He recovered right away though so he passed that part. His only dock was for being "overly friendly." That's pretty typical for Kozmo. Now all we have to do is get a poop sample inspected for various diseases and attend orientation at the hospital.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Kozmo the Therapy Dog (almost)
This picture was taken back on Dec 14, 2005 after Kozmo finished his training classes to become a therapy dog. Well we finally just took him in to get his behavioral exam by a local vet and he passed! They do all sorts of things like walk by and drop a metal platter to startle him, pull his tail and toe hair, and even had an assistant jump out with an umbrella and open it in his face. That was the funniest because he was on the linoleum and almost wiped out trying to back up. He recovered right away though so he passed that part. His only dock was for being "overly friendly." That's pretty typical for Kozmo. Now all we have to do is get a poop sample inspected for various diseases and attend orientation at the hospital.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Ballerina Sydney
We signed up Sydney for a ballet class at the Westminster Rec Center this year. She gets so excited to go and loves to show us her moves at home. I posted a few pictures from her latest practice which is Friday around noon. Apparently they're even going to have a little recital at the end which should be hilarious.
I also posted a few pictures from the Cross of Christ Preschool pajama night where the kids all wear pajamas, sing a few songs, and then read books. Oh, and they also get hot chocolate and cookies. Nothing like chocolate and cookies at 7pm to make for a good nights sleep!
I also posted a few pictures from the Cross of Christ Preschool pajama night where the kids all wear pajamas, sing a few songs, and then read books. Oh, and they also get hot chocolate and cookies. Nothing like chocolate and cookies at 7pm to make for a good nights sleep!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Space Based Space Surveillance
This is what I've been up to at work. It's a press release which I was told is public information.
Boeing Completes Critical Design Review for Space Based Space Surveillance
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 08, 2007 -- The Boeing [NYSE: BA] team that is building the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system has successfully passed the System Critical Design Review (CDR) as the U.S. Air Force authorized the program to proceed toward a December 2008 launch. The CDR, a four-day event in Seal Beach, Calif., included more than 100 government and industry participants. The team reviewed the SBSS Pathfinder system's architecture, design, assembly, integration and test approach, and concept of operations.
"The successful on-time completion of the SBSS CDR shows our focus on program execution is paying off," said Howard Chambers, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "We are committed to providing an on-time, high-quality system in support of this critical space situational awareness mission to support worldwide military operations."
The review was the culmination of more than 32 evaluations conducted over the last few months, including detailed reviews of the program's ground segment and space vehicle.
In his closing comments, Lt. Col. Steven Nessmiller, U.S. Air Force SBSS program manager, said, "Presentations, analysis and documentation have provided evidence of a complete detailed design, and the road to launch is well defined and achievable. This was a great team effort, and the fact that only one action item remained open at the conclusion of this four-day event is a great example of how working together, we were able to successfully accomplish such a major program milestone."
The SBSS Pathfinder will augment the existing space surveillance network and provide increased capacity and timeliness to detect and track orbiting space objects, including potential future threats to America's space assets. The Boeing team is developing the spacecraft with a visible sensor and ground segment, with an option to operate the system for up to one year prior to transitioning operations and maintenance to the Air Force.
Boeing Completes Critical Design Review for Space Based Space Surveillance
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 08, 2007 -- The Boeing [NYSE: BA] team that is building the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system has successfully passed the System Critical Design Review (CDR) as the U.S. Air Force authorized the program to proceed toward a December 2008 launch. The CDR, a four-day event in Seal Beach, Calif., included more than 100 government and industry participants. The team reviewed the SBSS Pathfinder system's architecture, design, assembly, integration and test approach, and concept of operations.
"The successful on-time completion of the SBSS CDR shows our focus on program execution is paying off," said Howard Chambers, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "We are committed to providing an on-time, high-quality system in support of this critical space situational awareness mission to support worldwide military operations."
The review was the culmination of more than 32 evaluations conducted over the last few months, including detailed reviews of the program's ground segment and space vehicle.
In his closing comments, Lt. Col. Steven Nessmiller, U.S. Air Force SBSS program manager, said, "Presentations, analysis and documentation have provided evidence of a complete detailed design, and the road to launch is well defined and achievable. This was a great team effort, and the fact that only one action item remained open at the conclusion of this four-day event is a great example of how working together, we were able to successfully accomplish such a major program milestone."
The SBSS Pathfinder will augment the existing space surveillance network and provide increased capacity and timeliness to detect and track orbiting space objects, including potential future threats to America's space assets. The Boeing team is developing the spacecraft with a visible sensor and ground segment, with an option to operate the system for up to one year prior to transitioning operations and maintenance to the Air Force.
Christmas 2006
Well it is mid January already so it's probably time to post some Christmas pictures. This one was at our house in front of our tree. Bryce obviously was not enjoying himself. I pretty much described the travel adventures we had this Christmas in the last post. We had a great time in Iowa seeing Brian and Katie even though we only had one full day with them. We spent another full day with Mark and Pat and got to see Craig who was home from Michigan law school. Thankfully Brian and Katie are coming to visit us in Colorado for a week so we'll have some more quality time with them then. Enjoy the pictures and have a great 2007!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Kozmo & Zoey in the snow tunnel
This picture was taken Dec 21 after we received 24 inches of snow. Our back yard drifted a little so the snow was even deeper there. I dug a tunnel out to the backyard so Kozmo and Zoey could go to the bathroom. They managed to jump forward step by step because the snow was deeper than their legs. Our driveway and front steps had a huge 3.5 ft drift which I had to shovel by hand since we don't even own a snow blower. Usually in CO, the snow melts away by the second or third day so snow blowers are a little overkill. This year it would have been nice to have one.
We were supposed to fly to Minnesota at 4pm on Wednesday the 20th but the airport was already closed by the time we woke up. We tried calling Frontier all day but couldn't even get through because the circuits were busy. Finally at 5 we got on hold for an hour and reached someone. She said the first flight out was Monday, Christmas Day at 4pm so we took it. Unfortunately we missed the Thomas Christmas that Saturday and most of Brian and Katie's time. We drove down to Iowa Christmas night and had a nice Christmas dinner of gas station foot in the parking lot of a Kwik Trip somewhere south of Minneapolis. We made it to Independence at 12:15am so it was a long day. We had a nice Christmas on the 26th and took Brian and Katie back to the airport on Wednesday the 27th so they could fly back to Alaska. Thursday we drove to Saint James and found out that Colorado was getting yet another blizzard and another foot of snow. Luckily the weather in the midwest was so warm it was just raining ... that is until New Year's eve when we flew out. It changed over to snow that morning and we drove to Minneapolis in a Winter Storm warning blizzard in our Toyota Corolla rental car. Amazingly our plane took off an hour late at 8:45pm and we made it back to our house just before midnight to ring in the new year.
This week we again got about 8 inches of snow Friday, Jan 5th so that's 3 weeks straight with major snow storms. In fact as I write this there has been a major avalanche near Berthoud Pass on the way to Winter Park where I have my ski passes. I was actually thinking about going today because of the great snow but decided to stay home. They've already rescued some people and I just hope no one was killed. The closure of the road is going to add 100 miles and countless hours to trip home for anyone skiing there today.
Ok, this was my longest entry yet so I'll sign off.
We were supposed to fly to Minnesota at 4pm on Wednesday the 20th but the airport was already closed by the time we woke up. We tried calling Frontier all day but couldn't even get through because the circuits were busy. Finally at 5 we got on hold for an hour and reached someone. She said the first flight out was Monday, Christmas Day at 4pm so we took it. Unfortunately we missed the Thomas Christmas that Saturday and most of Brian and Katie's time. We drove down to Iowa Christmas night and had a nice Christmas dinner of gas station foot in the parking lot of a Kwik Trip somewhere south of Minneapolis. We made it to Independence at 12:15am so it was a long day. We had a nice Christmas on the 26th and took Brian and Katie back to the airport on Wednesday the 27th so they could fly back to Alaska. Thursday we drove to Saint James and found out that Colorado was getting yet another blizzard and another foot of snow. Luckily the weather in the midwest was so warm it was just raining ... that is until New Year's eve when we flew out. It changed over to snow that morning and we drove to Minneapolis in a Winter Storm warning blizzard in our Toyota Corolla rental car. Amazingly our plane took off an hour late at 8:45pm and we made it back to our house just before midnight to ring in the new year.
This week we again got about 8 inches of snow Friday, Jan 5th so that's 3 weeks straight with major snow storms. In fact as I write this there has been a major avalanche near Berthoud Pass on the way to Winter Park where I have my ski passes. I was actually thinking about going today because of the great snow but decided to stay home. They've already rescued some people and I just hope no one was killed. The closure of the road is going to add 100 miles and countless hours to trip home for anyone skiing there today.
Ok, this was my longest entry yet so I'll sign off.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Sydney the Care Bear and Bryce the Lion
Now that the holidays are over it's time to update the blog. I just must post things chronologically so I guess it's time for Halloween. Thus this batch of photos from before and after Halloween. Sydney was a real piece of work this Halloween about her costume. We had her all set in a pink princess outfit when she had a fit and decided she wanted to wear the yellow princess outfit (we borrowed three costumes from the neighbors). So I took off the pink one and put on the yellow one. Then another fit was thrown and Melissa stepped in and decided to give a Love and Logic choice: "Ok, which princess outfit do you want, pink or yellow?" Sydney picked the pink one again but when it was back on she once again threw a fit. That was it for Melissa and Sydney almost got left behind on Halloween. I decided to go try one more time with the third costume, the pink Care Bear. She agreed to this one and even though we warned her it would be hot, she stuck with it. Gotta love 3 year olds!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Fall Trip to Steamboat
This picture was taken near Fish Creek Falls in Steamboat, CO. We went to Steamboat this year on our annual fall trip. The aspen colors were amazing and the weather was perfect. We stayed at Rabbit Ears Motel which is a Steamboat landmark and visited the hot springs. We also went up to Steamboat Lake state park and Pearl Lake state park. What an amazing place to see the Colorado fall colors.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Bryce's Baptism
We finally got Bryce baptised at Jason's home church in Independence, IA on Sept 24, 2006. He was pretty squirmly throughout the service but managed to stay calm during the actual event. The reason we waited until September was so we could do the baptism with Bryce's sponsors, Brian and Katie. They flew in from Alaska to do a presentation to the church about their time in Kenya. You can still see their blog about their trip here. This presentation drew a lot of extended family who we also haven't seen it a while. It was an added blessing to have them there for Bryce's baptism as well as the Kenya presentation. We enjoyed seeing Brian and Katie again and can't wait until Christmas when we'll all be together again. Sydney has been talking about Grandma Jayne's Barbies (Melissa's old toys) and Oma's dolls and cars since we left. Every time we talk on the phone she reminds them that she's coming out for Christmas to play with their toys. I think they could wrap up a few things she's already seen and she'd have a great Christmas!
Sydney and the Penguin
I'm still trying to catch up with our iPhoto library by uploading to Flickr. This photo belongs to a set I just uploaded from when Melissa, Sydney, Bryce, and Jayne went to the Omaha zoo on their way from CO to Saint James. I've also uploaded some from when we went to 6 Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver. Each fall Ball rents out 6 Flags for the evening for all the employees. We usually hang out in the kids area the whole time but this year, since Jayne was in town, Melissa and I were able to ride the wooden roller coaster. 6 Flags in Denver is a decent park but because it is really land locked there isn't much more they can do with it. Oh well, they still have an awesome wooden roller coaster. Just ask Melissa!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Sydney at soccer camp
Sydney participated in the English soccer camp in Broomfield this year. By English I mean all the teachers were from the UK. Notice the kids t-shirts with the flags. The kids met each day for an hour at 4pm at the beginning of August. Needless to say, it was often very hot and that seemed to wear on the kids. Sydney had a mixed experience. One day she was out there running around and the next she didn't want to do anything. Obviously the 3 year olds didn't really learn any technique or soccer skills. It was more about learning to be away from the parents and listen to a coach. Mission accomplished??? Well, maybe a start.
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