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Horse Center Christmas Party

Jillian bowed out, but Mike and I had a great time with Marisa at the Christmas party fundraiser at the place where she and Jillian ride horses.  We had barely parked before she was racing for the bounce houses.  She bounced until she was sweaty and breathless.  Total kid fun!

Here's where the party was held.  I love Hawaii!

Of course, the meal was not at all veg friendly, but even the omnivores had challenges.  Marisa asked, "Why do they call it teriaki beef if it doesn't tear?"

The Santa for the evening was the 12-year-old son of one of the instructors.  The Harley-chick elf is Marisa's instructor, Misty.  Marisa didn't blink an eye at either one and promptly asked for a new teddy bear (apparently the two hundred or so stuffed animals she already has aren't enough!)

 
 Marisa wanted to ride this sleigh, but had to settle for pretending.

 

Oh so pretty!

Mike's PR class this semester required researching the seat belt opinions and habits of tweens and young teens.  He recruited Jillian and Libby to model for a photo to include in his final paper.  I'm not sure if they required payment.... he probably bribed them for chocolate milkshakes!

Redeployment Ceremony

For those folks confused by the title...

redeployment - the return of military members to their home station.  It doesn't mean that they are deploying again, but rather that they are done with a deployment.  It's a word that doesn't make any sense.  At all.

Anyway, a few weeks after Mike and all the rest of the soldiers were home, there was a ceremony to make it official.  Even as a pacifist, the ceremony of it all is quite moving.  Any American who doesn't feel patriotic while watching soldiers march or seeing the flag honored needs to do some soul-searching.  The national anthem was sung by a famous country singer, but the sound system went out so the crowd quietly sang it through instead.  What a lovely moment!

 
Mike was the M.C. for the event, so I had to capture a shot of him in action, i.e. with his mouth wide open! 

Mike's mom was able to join me to watch the ceremony and insisted on a picture with our soldier afterwards.

 

Have a Horsey Christmas!

One day at the riding center, the folks had lots of decorations for jazzing up the horses and the kids.  I'm not sure how the horses felt about it, but they were cute...

And then it was back to normal! 

Mandatory Fun on Veteran's Day

Mike's office had a beach day on Veteran's Day, so we made our way to Barber's Point Coast Guard Station for some fun.  The boss had rented a cabin for all of us to use and one of their friends offered to teach any interested folks how to surf.  We Wetzel's weren't up for it, but we had brought Libby along and she jumped at the chance to learn to surf before her older sister.  Nothing like sibling rivalry to toss fear into the wind!  She did great and our girls relaxed in the surf. 

 

Father / Daughter Ball

The timing was perfect for Mike to escort Marisa to the annual Father/Daughter Ball hosted by the local Armed Forces YMCA.  Mike got to wear his dress blues (I didn't get the full effect in the picture) and Marisa had a full make-over, courtesy of Jillian.  The fancy hairstyle was the crowning achievement!