Dick Cheney

The Vice President came to post on Tuesday. I have the link at the bottom of the post for anyone who wants to read the article in the local paper. It was pretty neat to be there and see all of the work that went into protecting him for his 30 minute long speech. He also recognized our Brigade (First Brigade of the First Infantry Division, "The Big Red One") with the Valorous Unit Award. This was for the time that the unit spent in Iraq (Sept03- Sept04).
http://www.themercury.com/view/article.asp?sectionid=News/Default/NewsArticles&id=967-2006-04-19-55777-95 PS. you might have to register to the paper to read the article...its free

City Park

Many of you have probably heard one of us talk about City Park across from our apartment. For Easter Dinner Melissa thought that we should grill out. So, we got some charcoal and used one of the grills in the park. I have never used one of those before but it worked really well. We realized that we marinated 4 chicken breasts and had cut up 7 potatoes. So, we invited Keener, a guy I work with, and his girlfriend Kristen. While we were waiting for dinner to cook the 4 of us stood in a diamond throwing the frisbee and Lena ran in circles chasing it. By the time we left the park it was dark and when we got home Lena was very sleepy.

"Future Master Frisbee Champion of the World!"
Lena Buckentine

Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny came and hid some Easter Eggs in our apartment for Lena. She had a good time trying to get inside them once she figured out that there were treats in them. It took her a good while to get the treat out. She would pounce, step, and chew the egg; but most of them time the eggs would just slide around the room and she would chase them. Cheap entertainment I guess. Happy Easter Everyone.

What are these?

MMM..Plastic...

Peace Lutheran Church

We joined a church down here in Manhattan and with all the Lent and Easter services we have been going to it seems as if we have been spending a lot of freetime there. So we decided that we should post a picture to show everyone how pretty it looks. The outside is also very pretty and is dug into the side of a hill. Hopefully we can get a picture of the outside up soon so you all can see how big (or little) it is.

Easter Eggs!

Melissa and I won't be making it home for Easter. We were kind of bummed because the Army is giving us Thursday-Sunday off, and we did not really want to drive all that way to drive back Easter morning. So, we though that we should do something. While shopping Melissa thought that we should color eggs! Somehow, this time it was a lot more quiet from when I was a kid. Maybe it is because now they make nine colors instead of six; or there isn't five other kids fighting for the colors. At any rate it was still fun.

HAPPY EASTER!

Lena.....

Seeing our dog some say, "Oh, she's so cute." Others laugh when she lets out her little bark. Sometimes she thinks she weighs 116 pounds, not her actual 16. This was a bear given to her by Melissa's mom. Some thought it would be a cute little bear she would drag around and sleep with. Well, Lena had other plans for it. As you can see it has had several operations. First it lost a nose, not a big deal a couple of stiches later it was back. Then a laceration to the left arm 8 stiches and some added stuffing we were back in business. Failed with that arm she went for the right. A full amputation of the right arm at the shoulder 12 stitches later the bear was hers again. (The next day we found the arm. She ate it whole and that is how we found it. I guess dogs can't digest cotton). Last surgery was for a large laceration to the right temple and removal of the right eye ball. Final operation 16 stiches.

Do you want to play with Lena?

Tuttle Creek Trails

Melissa heard about some trails around Tuttle Creek. The trails we found were very muddy so we opted to bike in the old river basin. (The creek is actually damned forming a lake. We biked on the dry side of the damn. Kansas doesn't have real lakes they just make them!) The weather today was great; not a cloud in the sky and the high somewhere in the 70's, made it nice for biking. I know what your thinking, why isn't he biking?

Melissa and her new bike infront of willow lake.

Pillsbury Wildlife Crossing

Melissa heard from Shannon (a girl from the Pita Pit) about this park outside of town. We took Lena with for the walking trails. After that we decided to go into Deep Creek, the river that runs through the park. As you can see it is not that deep, but Lena had a fun time in the water once she got use to it.

Rock City State Park

On the same day we went to Rock City State Park. These rocks were formed from the same inland sea that formed Mushroom State Park. The Parks have about 20 miles between them.

Lena walking through a Donut shaped rock

This is about half of the rocks that were at the park.