~Misha's past time~

A year already!!!

2011-03-13T11:57:00.005-08:00

Has it really been a year?! Oh my, I guess it has! So sorry to have been away this long, thankfully I have kept up in pictures. In fact, at the start of the year I decided to do a picture a day. I know I won't get every day but will be close. I'll post some of my favorites on here and also will try to be much better about getting this updated...

Ok so lets go back in time... We left Japan in April, which was pretty hard for us. We loved Japan and the people there. I think I cried off and on the whole way to the US. These pictures are of our favorite things in Japan. I wish I had been able to take more of my favorites but with everything going on this was what I got.

Craig's last flight in the F-16 (for now.)

Curry, oh how I miss the curry there!!!

Yummy-ness!

Komaki onsen- this hot spring had a hotel built around it. It was so pretty with the pools inside and out and it also had a massage parlor and restaurant.

Austin's japanese school, such wonderful teachers and students!!

Our all-time favorite restaurant. Aburi-An

Where has the time gone?!

2010-03-05T02:27:00.005-09:00

I am not sure how many of you out there are keeping tabs on this blog but here we go, I am so far behind on this thing it isn't funny. We have been enjoying the last little bit of our time here. We have been spending the weekends ice skating at the local rink and skiing as much as we can. I have been on three trips and love it!!!

This is us at Appi ski resort. They have child care which was great, so I could learn how to ski and take a few runs before we took Austin for a turn.
I decided to chop off my hair and I love it... not sure hubby does but he also doesn't have to maintain it long. :)
THis was from our last ski trip of the season. We went to Hakkoda. The 2 hour drive is beautiful!!
I am amazed at all the snow.
The kids had a lot of fun sledding on the hill right next to the lodge where we ate lunch
Bailey trying on the cool goggles.
As most of you know we got out assignment and will be leaving here pretty soon. We are sad to leave but also excited to see what is in store for us at our next base.

I'll try to keep this updated while moving. I will probably be making this private again because of us moving and me not wanting to share my life and the info I post on here with the rest of the world, so keep on the look out for an email letting you know when I make it private.

Sayonara

Three month catch up

2009-10-31T16:39:00.005-08:00

I should just name all my posts catch up...

So Craig and I went hiking a week or two before he had to go to Alaska for some more training. We went to Mt Hakkoda and it was beautiful!!

The gondola ride up...

The marsh...

View from the top.

The kids have been busy going and going. Bailey is walking like a champ and is into everything! She is a great climber and loves to pull out chairs and climb onto the kitchen table.

Austin and I had been playing the Wii, I went to put something in the microwave and when I came back this is where she was! She wanted the Wii remote and wouldn't take no for an answer.
Crazy curls
Austin just turned 5 in October. It was a great day the only one missing was Craig. He got back the next week. Austin and made his cake and we decided to take it over to our friends house to share with her and her son.

One Saturday a month, Austin's school has a birthday celebration for all the kids whose birthday is that month. They sing songs, pose for pictures and blow out candles on a fake cake.
A squadron hat we bought at the Air Show.

Bailey LOVES her Daddy and was pretty upset when he had to go back to work.
Pretty in pink
Carving the pumpkin...
Half ready to go Trick-or-Treating
All ready!

Dad's visit

2009-10-12T01:55:00.009-08:00

At the beginning of September, my Dad and a family friend made the long trip all the way to visit us in Japan! It was so good to see them and in my own home! I met them in Tokyo while some awesome friends kept the kids. Craig was in the middle of an exercise and didn't get to go with me or go on any of our adventures.

Tokyo Tower... We rode in an elevator to the white band and could see all the way to Mt Fuji which my Dad and friend hiked! They said it was amazing!

One side of the tower...

We got to explore Tokyo, which we hadn't had a chance to do. I was able to navigate the subway and trains without too much trouble and was quite proud of myself. We went to the Imperial Palace's West Gardens which were beautiful. Though we didn't get to see much as we had been running around all day and they were hiking Mt Fuji the next day.

Imperial Gardens

I took them to the fish market one of the days they were here,which they loved. We took home a bunch of yummy treats and some crab. They sampled some dried minnow looking things and tried to get me to try it but I wouldn't bite!

Squid heads

Craig and Bailey on a long train ride

We took them to the Samurai Village about 2 hours by train. Craig actually got to come with us!

Straw roof...

The gate next to the gate. Austin size!

Sake barrels

outside a ramen shop

Samurai tea room...
Samurai garden/backyard. It was beautiful!

Austin and my Dad
Sleepy baby. :) I tried my best to wear them out with outings which think I succeeded in doing. They also went to a town where they wanted to see some snow monkeys. They made it there and back without getting lost, which was great because I wouldn't have been able to get them back. They got to see a bunch of moneys and spent the night in a hostel there. It was a true Japanese style home and they got a great japanese meal out of it too. When they were walking back to the bus they saw a monkey throwing fire crackers!!!

It was a great visit and we were all sad to see them go. The time was way too short!

Australia!!

2009-09-18T04:01:00.010-08:00

I will apologize in advance for the numerous pictures, but as always I can't choose and since this was such a great vacation I couldn't help myself.

So, since my husband was deployed for 5 months, was home for a a few more then left for another month, home for a few and then gone again for another month, I decided we needed a well deserved vacation and without the kids. We went for 7 days and had and awesome time and I didn't get half the pictures I wanted.

We went on a tour of the rainforest and the outback...

We got to throw boomerangs...

A wombat, which Craig insisted we could take home. I took too many pictures of it and it charged the enclosure it was in trying to eat me, so I vetoed his choice.

Roos everywhere!

A great place to eat, firestone pizza!

Delicious

Yummy breakfast...

Craig went golfing and I tagged along to drive the cart and read, wonderful relaxing day!

The most awesome part of the trip.... One day spent diving. We weren't able to get certified, though we tried. Craig went on 2 dives and I went on one. I am still not sure about the whole diving thing, we will see.

Huge and slimy fishie..

Starfish...
Awesome instructor....

Absolutely beautiful....

Giant Clam...
Nemo, Austin thought that was the coolest!
Sting Ray....
I was looking into the WIDE lens trying to look good in the pic because I could see my reflection....
Didn't help at all!!!

Craig's trip to Alaska

2009-08-13T02:09:00.005-08:00

Craig was sent, by work, to Alaska for about a month. Oh darn, and no, I am not hostile!

Half-way through the 14 mile hike up a receding glacier
The living part of the glacier flowing down the valley off the mountains.
Pedro the prairie dog, on top of Mt Healy

Half-way up Mt. Healy in Denali Natl. Park
It's summer and this river in Denali is completely frozen over
He worked pretty hard and decided to reward himself with a little golf. Not a bad deal!

The base moose.
The best bar in AK
maybe we can visit next time he goes.

Procrastinating

2009-06-25T01:23:00.017-08:00

I am procrastinating on organizing our office and am finally catching you up on all the happenings in our little world. We have had a busy few months since Craig got back and will have a busy rest of the year, so keep checking back!

These first pictures are from various walks around our neighborhood. I love looking at how neat they keep everything!

These are my tulips that 2 previous owners planted.

I had to get the sewer tops!

We went on a long walk and I knew Austin wouldn't last that long and he is riding with our friends dog.
This was from Memorial Day where Craig got to fly in a Fly Over.

This was from bonfire night on a beach off base, a bunch of people from our squadron got together and had a bunch of fun being pyros. The cops and firemen showed up and put out the fire. One of the guys with us was able to talk to the Japanese cops and straighten things out. Oh, and the food in the picture above is a beef bowl (sts). It is so yummy!!!

The next set of pictures are of rice fields being planted. I'll try to get pictures as they harvest it.

Green hills, which is a great ski area, so I am told.
First time doing pig tails!

Peek-a-boo
Crazy Hair!

This set of pictures is from us watching and participating in some drifting. It is basically cars racing on a track and instead of slowing down on the turns they drift on the turns. We got to ride along we had a blast!!!

Pardon my bra!
The car we rode in...

This is from Austin's field trip with his class.
Snow monkeys...
rides, petting zoo, and nature, what a great trip!

Austin making a vase on Father's Day, too bad Craig was in Alaska.
Bailey after her bath, she gets the curls from Nina...
the back view.

We have been exploring a little more with friends now that I am not pregnant and it isn't freezing out! This is a park by our house, Austin is becoming a little more adventurous and Bailey is not a fan of grass.

This day after the park we went to a sushi restaurant where you pay by the plate. The plates are color coded and have a certain price for each color. If you want something you don't see on the belt you can order it off the monitor and a little train brings it out!

Yummmy!
Today was a beautiful day and we spent it with friends at the beach by our house. Sadly Austin didn't get to go with us because he was in school. Hopefully next time.
It took some time before Bailey would sit in the water without whining. The water was cold, so I don't blame her. She was pretty funny and wouldn't get off the beach towel I had laying out because she didn't like the feel of the sand. She crawled from the towel up onto a friends lawn chair and onto our friends back, where she camped out. We realized that she was doing it to avoid the sand.

Asamushi Aquarium

2009-04-23T03:46:00.004-08:00

This past weekend we took a trip to Asamushi Aquarium which was about an hour and a half drive from our home. Even Bailey had fun looking at everything!

The Aquarium...
huge turtles, I don't know what kind, everything but the name was in Japanese for all the animals.

This was a big tank that you could walk through. Bay was on my back, sorry. :)

we got to see a dolphin show and the kids LOVED it! Bailey squealed a few times and even tried clapping.

Bat fish....
Oooo, baracuda.

This was a display the you could stick your fingers in and have the fish nibble on you. Austin refused, I tried and made Craig do it twice so I could get a picture. It felt pretty weird.
Love the displays they came up with.
Giant crab, Austin wasn't a fan to be standing in front of the crab.
Bay, loved it!
It was hungry!
You were able to touch the starfish and other shells there. Austin actually touched the starfish!!
Mutsu Bay, we drove along this for part of the trip.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-19T02:32:00.004-08:00

This weekend started out with Craig going to a Japanese baseball game and me spend the day by my self for some much needed R&R. He went and saw the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles Sendai's baseball team in Sendai.

This was the stadium....

band that played outside....

pickle.....

balloons they handed out and let go in the 7th inning stretch

This was Easter morning, the kids waiting to go see what the Easter Bunny left them.

Austin made out like a bandit, chocolate bunnies, plastic eggs with candy in them that he had to hunt and a game for his Leapster game. Bailey got a cute dress, I'll see if I can find a picture of her in it. The only down side was that Bailey started running a fever that morning and so we had to miss dinner with our friends, thankfully they gave us some of the yummy fixings! Thanks Sarah!!!

5 Weeks!

2009-03-31T22:24:00.006-08:00

It seems like it has been months since I have updated this thing but I guess has only been 5 weeks. Here are some of the things that have happened....

About a week before Craig made it back from his deployment, Austin fell out of his bed and BROKE his collar bone!!!! It was 415 in the morning and I had to call my neighbor to come watch Bailey while I took him to urgent care. They put him in a sling and told me that in about 2 weeks he would probably be moving it like nothing had happened! I was amazed that he was able to move it around in less time than that!

These two adorable babies are Bailey's playmates, sadly one of them moved (as several of our friends have) and we miss her a lot! This was a day or two before Craig made it home. We were greeting the other guys in the squadron who made it home that day.

Craig finally made it home on the first of March, and we couldn't have been happier!

We have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to take many pictures of anything so, please forgive me! Craig and I were able to take a short trip to Sendai which is a fun town. We took a neat little tour of the town and got to see all the touristy sights, including some castle ruins. The food, shopping and walking was wonderful. We plan on returning for a baseball game in the near future.

Bailey is growing like a weed and has two new teeth, she also started crawling the week after Craig got back. She is now pulling up on everything, getting into anything she can and yelling about it all!!!

Austin is keeping me busy as he is out of school for a few weeks and will be starting a new school year in April. He will be moving up to the 4 year old class and can't wait to get back and be with all his friends. It has been a challenge keeping him entertained.

As for me, I am keeping myself busy with friends, the kids activities and am hoping to take a few trips and give myself a break from everyone. Mom needs some relaxing, alone time...

Lots of randomness...

2009-02-19T02:47:00.004-09:00

These are the rest of pictures from when we got back from Texas till now. Enjoy!!

This was a beautiful bouquet of 1 dozen roses from Craig for Valentine's day, since he wasn't able to be here with us. Isn't he the best!!!
Austin hiding with Bailey. I had to peek at them and capture it.

Almost up on all 4s.
This is our friend Micah. Bailey stole his paci and is trying to get the ball on the end of his hood.

This is a melodian, which is like a mini piano, Austin has to blow into it while pushing the keys. He just started learning it this week.

This is what I get for trying to take their picture.
I put her here and she whimpered because she couldn't get out of it. She was on all 4's for about a minute.
My adorable snowgirl.
Yummy, yummy!
The snow on our porch when we arrived. Poor Kuma!

The rest of our trip to Tx

2009-02-19T02:31:00.004-09:00

Sadly we spent the rest of our trip sick so we didn't get to do anything we had wanted to but it was so nice to see everyone and helped us to "get out of the house". We miss everyone and can't wait to spend time with them again.

Ha, got it!
This little red dress was mine when I was about a year old!
My Dad, I love these moments!
Bows on the head are a tradition with the Phelps family. This picture was for Craig since he couldn't be with us this Christmas.
Building a leaf fort around Bailey.
I love, love, love this facial expression!

Christmas Eve and Day

2009-02-19T02:20:00.003-09:00

Austin heard Santa on the roof!
Bailey thought it was funny.
So many cool toys and great family time.
We had a blast even though I wasn't feeling well. We stuffed ourselves and played the Wii. Austin had a fun time playing with his 2nd cousin, Ava.
This was visiting some of Craig's side of the family. His grandparents gave him these light up swords and he LOVED them.

More Catch up...

2009-02-07T03:25:00.005-09:00

Precious!

Early Christmas present from Grandma

Photo session in xmas dress.... before my new lens that she loves so much! - Thanks Craig!!!XOXOXOXO

This was Craig's sweater, I believe from Spain.... or his Grandma made. I forget.

The Christmas program at my Mom's school. Cute!BATH TIME!!! She loves it!

This is my Grandpa and all but one of my cousins on my Dads side. This was the last time I got to see him. I am so glad I got this picture of all of us.

Catch up...

2009-02-07T03:10:00.004-09:00

Sorry it has taken so long to post these but it has been a crazy couple of months! So this all was leading up to Christmas with the families.

Austin loving on Bailey
This one was at a mall in Dallas, North Park I think. We went with my Aunt and had a great time. We got to see 2 different puppet shows which Austin loved. Bailey was awake the whole day as there was so much going on.

Getting ready to eat.
My Dad
Austin helping decorate the tree.
We went to my other Aunts house and Austin and Bailey got to open presents early.

Obsessions..

2008-12-15T08:09:00.004-09:00

I was tagged by Meghan, to list my obsessions and tag some others, so here we go.....

In no particular order:

1: Photography

2: My Apple computer, I love it!!!!

3: Reading

4: Trying to visit everyone while in the states.

5: My children- right now it is taking lots of pictures for Daddy so he doesn't miss as much. Also, trying to find the right balance of love and discipline.

6: Trying to eat at all the places I have missed and love but, also trying not to gain anymore weight. Ha!

7. Trying to go to the gym at least 3 times a week..... hasn't worked out too well this week. Oh well, maybe next week!

I am tagging:

Allison

Kim

Jen S.

Jennifer- Kaci and Taryn's Mom

Sarah- Micah's Mom

Melissa- Braydon and Preston's Mom

Erika- Audrey's Mom

Jennifer C.- Ben's Mom

Kristen H

Heather

Have fun!!!! Do as much or as little as you want.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T16:45:00.003-09:00

Happy Thanksgiving everybody, I hope it was a good one for you. This was our first one without Craig and we definitely missed him. Some of our family got to come over and spend time with us and that was a great distraction.

We played Hide-and Seek....
went on a great Wheelbarrow Adventure,
stuffed out faces, and got lots of suggles and family time! Oh yea, and watched some good football games too! We are very thankful for our friends and family and can't wait to see the rest of you soon!

Adventures with Grandparents

2008-11-21T18:10:00.002-09:00

The Kids have been loving all the attention from their grandparents. My Dad took a few weeks off and has been having a blast with the kids. He has been taking them to the park most afternoons and it has given me some free time!

There are a couple of parks near our house. One of them has a pond and some ducks and geese. The ducks came up to my Dad and Austin and started to follow them. Austin didn't like them following them and took off running. They still followed them and Dad had to put him up on a picnic bench. Dad feed the ducks and Bailey watched and giggled.
This one Austin calls the bloody duck. I think because of the red on it's face. This one is also an aggressive one, the one that scared Austin.

Getting ready for the ride.

This is not one dealing with the park but it was cute. I was over at Craig's parents house

with the kids, sitting out with his grandparents and parents hanging out. I found this seat in Japan and thought is would be good for the bath. As you can see it is also good for other stuff.

Today Austin and my Dad went flying with Papa (Craig's Dad) to breakfast, and they both had a great time. Austin has been asking to go since before we left. I am sorry to say, I didn't get any pictures. I rushed out the door and forgot my camera... maybe next time.

Our trip so far...

2008-11-11T14:07:00.002-09:00

This is Austin and his friend riding the train on the way to Tokyo.
Austin decided to write his name on his leg while going potty. Can you read it?
Bailey is playing peek-a-boo.
My Mom teaches 3 yr olds and Austin is getting to go with her to class. Her school had a fall festival this past weekend and he won some prizes and also got to ride this horse.
Grandpa and the kids
Bailey, showing us her new tights...
Bailey, holding her new BFF.

My Cow

2008-10-27T14:46:00.002-08:00

Austin asked last year to be a cow for halloween and we weren't able to get a costume in time. This year we asked again and we got the same answer. We, having limited shopping here, asked Craig's Mom if she could make or buy a costume for us. She ended up making this wonderful cow costume for him! It turned out perfect and Austin loves it! Thanks Nina!

He is shooting a fireball.

He was afraid of the hat at first but a little bribery and a tantrum later, he is just fine with it now. ;)
Little cow monster!

Art work

2008-10-26T02:14:00.002-08:00

Today we got to go to Austin's school for Bizaar day. They had some of the kids art work displayed.

I am assuming this one is of Austin.
This one is a penguin.
I think this is a sushi plate. I am not sure how much the teachers helped but, I love it!!!
This one he did with his finger.

I was real impressed!

4 months and growing

2008-10-20T01:56:00.004-08:00

This has been an interesting month for us. Bailey is now 4 months old and she is such a great little girl. She is starting to eat cereal and doesn't like it much, I think she just likes chewing the spoon. I get it in her mouth and she spits it out and motor boats her mouth! Sooo messy! She is almost rolling over, she grabs her feet and rolls to the side.

She loves to watch and laugh at her brother. Bailey also loves to "talk to us", where does she get that from I wonder?!

We will be headed to Texas soon and we can't wait!

Craig also deployed this month and we are trying to adjust to him not being here. We have been real busy trying to get ready for the trip and also just trying to pass the time. There is a great support system here and they help keep us busy too. :)

I will try to post some more pictures before we leave.

Old pic...

2008-10-09T04:54:00.003-08:00

Here is an old picture I came across the other day while looking for a picture of Austin.

Allison, do you remember this? He still likes to eat lemons, he now eats the rind.

Bumbo....

2008-10-09T04:40:00.002-08:00

More silly boy antics

Bailey- 4 months

2008-10-09T04:20:00.002-08:00

Almost rolling

Birthday Party at Kiddie Disco

2008-10-09T04:08:00.002-08:00

Austin's friend Kaci

Yummy

School Birthday party

2008-10-09T03:17:00.003-08:00

Birthday Party at school

Ham

Birthday cake

Blowing out the candles

dancing

The teachers did a little magic show.

I am working of finding a program that resizes the photos, sorry.

More Festival

2008-09-27T01:35:00.002-08:00

Sorry, this is a little out of order, I am trying a new program and haven't got it all figured out yet.

The perfect ending to a fun day!

Garlic

I think this is a squash, look how big it is!

No clue what this is

How cute is she!!

Bailey loves Miss Sharon!

Big mushroom

One of Bailey's "boyfriends"

soy and garlic toppings

2008-09-27T01:20:00.001-08:00

cooking

our lunch
Posted via Pixelpipe.

Garlic and beef festival

2008-09-27T01:14:00.002-08:00

Rice Fields

Harvesting

for crazy people who can't back up...

The Beach

2008-09-20T03:32:00.002-08:00

We went to the beach the last weekend to wear Kuma out. We couldn't pass up such a pretty day.

The turn off to get there.

Can you see all the trash? Yuck!

I love the reflection.

The boys played ball, Bailey napped and Kuma and I played chase. Oh, and we did a little offroading. We thought we could get close to that tower by driving on the sand, well a part of it turned into bushes and then a drop off. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the tower. Ah, the little adventures in life!

Football and Austin

2008-09-20T03:23:00.002-08:00

We stumbled into this by accident and we love it. Craig inquired about it and was signed up without knowing it. So Austin's first practice was 2 Fridays ago and he had a blast! They teach them how to do the fundamentals and to play as a team.

Austin catching the Nerf ball.
Pulling the flag off the other team.

Austin's New Outfit

2008-09-16T05:24:00.003-08:00

I love it!!! Nina sent this to Austin along with some other goodies a few weeks ago. It was kind of chilly for a week or so when we got it and now it is warm enough for him to wear. He also is a big fan. A button popped off the other day and he threw a little fit!

This past month...Bailey

2008-09-16T04:59:00.003-08:00

Here I am once again playing catch up with pictures. It has been a busy month with a few new milestones. She is sleeping a lot more through the night, normally one night of 10 hours or so and the next 8. No complaints here! She has great head control and is even curling her shoulders up while laying down. She is also laughing a lot, especially at her brother. I can't wait to see what this month brings. Enjoy the pics!

I am going to get you pacie, just you wait!

What are those things!? I like them, they wiggle and stuff.

What is he doing?
Oh, he is playing peek-a-boo, I like this game!
I am bubble queen, do as I ask and you shall get no slobber!

My Daddy is so funny!

A little behind...

2008-08-30T16:24:00.003-08:00

These are from when Bailey was 6 weeks old. I was taking them for fun and might use some of them for our announcements. Ya ya I know it has been three months but I will get them out soon!

One of my favs!

I love this one, a snail button.
No more pictures please, I am done!

Austin's school festival

2008-08-28T04:05:00.007-08:00

A little over a month ago, Austin's school had a festival. It was such a neat experience for all of us.

Austin in his Jinbei.
Some of the decorations...
This is a Japanese Yo-yo, which is a balloon on a streatchy string with a little water in it.

Hot dog on a stick.

This is Austin's friend Kaci. She is wearing a Yukata, which is a summer Kimono.

Cute huh. Austin got to eat some yakisoba (type of noodle)and an icy. He won a few prizes, played with friends, and got to watch some fire works at the end.
Such an exciting night for our little man!

What I love....

2008-08-19T04:32:00.004-08:00

What I Love about my almost 4 year old....

I am taking this from my cousin's wife Megan. Thanks Megan this is so neat!

1. I love how interested in his letters he is. He is always asking "How do you
spell ___? "

2. I love how he still likes to snuggle and will ask to.

3. I love his little gremlin laugh, you should hear it some time.

4. I love that he is so willing to help me with Bailey. Normally getting
something I need for her, or putting her Binky in her mouth.

5. I Love that he stays in his room when he wakes up in the mornings
and lets us sleep "in".

6. I love how he knows which songs he likes and which ones he doesn't
just by the beginning notes. He tells us not this one... this one!

7.I love that he likes Johnny Cash- Ring of Fire and Tim Mc Graw-
Dancing When the Stars Go Blue to name two.

8. I Love how he asks to do a lot of stuff before he does it. Like "Mom can I
drink your drink" or "Mom can I play with this?" I am hoping he
continues to do this for years to come.

9. I love that he loves his sister and loves to play, hug, kiss and talk to her.

10. I love how hard he can make me laugh with his silly antics

11. I love how he knows our names and he knows that both sets of

grandparents are our parents and which ones go to which.

He will tell us something like.... "Will you ask your Mom ...."

talking about me and my mom!

12. I Love how excited he gets right before he gets to talk to Craig

on the phone when Craig is gone.

Guess who

2008-08-12T01:57:00.009-08:00

Can you guess which one is Austin and which is Bailey?

Melt down

2008-08-09T01:44:00.002-08:00

Another story without a picture....

I have been trying to get Bailey down for the past hour. I tried feeding and she was full. I tried burping,swaddling, and rocking. She was ok with it but it just wasn't It. I tried giving her teething tabs and that wasn't it. Oh and by the way she IS teething! I tried the swing which she normally likes and OMG she screamed like a banshee! Her special blanket was in the dryer so I put the other blanket that is so incredibly soft on her and she screamed louder. So I pulled the blanket out of the dryer and laid it on her and SILENCE.... the instant it touched her!!!!!! I thought I got it when I said she doesn't like to sleep without the blanket but now I really do get it. So I am sucking it up and buying three more.

Bailey and her blanket

2008-08-07T03:10:00.004-08:00

Practice

2008-07-29T05:31:00.005-08:00

Just had to post this one picture before bed. Today I got a lot of photos of Bailey with her new blanket. Cute huh! I will try to post some more later this week.

Smart Kid

2008-07-13T21:49:00.002-08:00

No pictures today just a little tale of our curious little boy.
Austin's nap time routine goes like this....
We get home from school, he has a snack. He goes potty, washes his hands and gets in bed. I say good night and we are done. Nothing exciting right....

Well, today we got home from school, he had his snack and took forever in the bathroom. I went to check on him and he is standing there doing nothing at the sink. The faucet handle is all the way up and no water is coming out. Hummmm.

My little genius had reached under the sink and turned the water off! I had thought for a second that our water had been turned off by our land lord. (Yes, i went and checked the other bathroom!) I tell him to go potty and when I go back to check on him he has turned the water back on and is washing his hands like a good little boy.
Now I want to know where he comes up with these ideas???!

2008-07-05T16:57:00.002-08:00

Pretty in pink
There are two other members of this family that sleep with there mouths open....can you guess who?
Austin is such a big brother!
Cuteness- I know not a real word but it fits.

This last picture is so not cuteness but I was amazed by it. We discovered this spider between our house and our neighbors house one night and this sucker was the size of a half dollar!!!! Ewwww!

New things

2008-07-03T19:29:00.009-08:00

We decided to try new restaurant yesterday and had a interesting time.

You can cook your food there..... or you can eat it raw, which we did! Somebody thought they knew what they were ordering and well this is what we got....

Raw meat and veggies.

Craig kind of liked it, I ate around it as I am not sure how it would affect Bailey.

We tried to get Austin to taste it but not so much.....

he did like the seaweed soup though!

To top off our wonderful night we had ice cream! Yummy!!!

Bailey is one month...

2008-06-30T23:23:00.005-08:00

Today Bailey is one month old! I can not believe it has been a month. It seems more like two weeks to me.I love baby feet!

Austin still likes her and HAS to give her a kiss every night.
I can't wait to sleep more than three hours at a time. The past couple of days she has been awake to eat every two hours. I am hoping she is going through a growth spurt not regressing!

Three weeks

2008-06-29T22:31:00.002-08:00

Two weeks old.....

2008-06-18T02:41:00.006-08:00

Bailey is now a little over two weeks old and we are totally enjoying her.

She is awake about twice a night for about an hour, hour and a half which we don't love but could be worse. At her 2 weeks appointment she weighed 8.93 lbs and 20.91. Who knew they could shrink!

Austin adores his sister, he wants to hold and "pet" her. He lets me know if she is crying and loves to come and help me get her out of her crib. We were at a friends house and a friend was holding Bailey. She said something like she is so cute I just want to keep her. Austin sort of yelled at her: NO, she is my baby! You can't keep her!!!!! So he is already protective of her. :)

I love this face!

I think this photo above is my favorite so far.

Kuma checking Bailey out. I love how she is sleeping!

Ok so for some randomness.....The first night in the hospital I had one of the Veggie Tale songs stuck in my head and kept getting it stuck in Craigs too.

Bailey Ann Phelps

2008-06-07T01:40:00.004-08:00

I know most have seen these pictures but I felt I had to post them :)

Just born, 8 lbs 12 oz, 21 inches. I still can't believe she was that big!!!!
Austins first visit to see us. He got to hold her and he was ok with her.
I love this one!
Daddy time
I was having fun with the hospital bed controls. I didn't know the beds could go that high!

Hehehe I love B&W!

Home at last. That is Ms Slinky to you.

Austin's Photo shoot

2008-04-21T01:52:00.006-08:00

Hehehe. He loves having his picture taken so I figured this would be good practice.

I am going to get you Little boy!!!!

Easter

2008-03-23T15:38:00.008-08:00

The Easter Bunny brought Austina nice Easter basket with candy, a bunch of toy planes and cars. What more could a boy ask for?!

We dyed eggs and got no dye on us.....

and then went to Kiddie Disco, saw the Easter Bunny and looked for eggs.

Fun was had by all!

Movies.

2008-02-20T01:03:00.005-09:00

My child loves to dance, Hanna Montana happened tobe on and well I caught it on camera. It is pretty cute!

This is of Kuma stalking him. She is big enough to knock him over so he is pretty carefull. It is still pretty amusing!

Catch up.....

2008-02-16T18:25:00.014-09:00

These are from our trip this weekend to Okunakayama. This is a watch out for Beavers sign and the one below is for bear. We had no idea there were either here.

You never know what you are ordering unless you know how to read the language. Maybe I will learn one day. This was a tofu platter, the sauce and rice was pretty good. I though it was a chicken dish because that is what someone who had ordered it said!

Eating lunch in the ski lodge.

This was a monster playground on the road there. It is all metal and old school.... if we had these back in the states someone would be making lots of money suing for damaged children! Notice the 4 feet of snow at the bottom.

The end of a long day!

Nothing to do with skiing but isn't she cute!

This past week we had blizzard like conditions and the wind was bad. that snow was blown onto our window and stuck there.

A little something.....

2008-01-05T16:21:00.000-09:00

I found at the store. It smells good too!

Someone is a sucker for puppies.....

2007-12-26T16:01:00.000-09:00

As you all know we are pet less because of the move out here. I hadn't planed on getting anymore till at least the last year we are here and Craig said NO MORE PETS..... well Merry Christmas to me! Craig came home last Thursday, asked me a bunch of questions making me think he had volunteered us to watch some one's pets over Christmas and then says Merry Christmas lets go pick out your new puppy! I was so surprised and excited.

I picked out an adorable little girl who we named KUMA ( it is Japanese for bear). She is about 9 weeks old and a black lab. She is so much fun to play with. She likes to stalk her toys and loves to run after Austin who in turn loves to run after and tease her. We are working on the teasing part. He says she is his favorite!

She loves to play and sleep under the table!

The sucker!LOL

Pretending he doesn't like her....
I think these photos say it all. ;)

Ice Skating

2007-12-16T17:06:00.001-09:00

This weekend we took Austin ice skating and he had a blast. I can not go which stinks but I had fun taking pictures.

Austin started out having Craig push him around.

Someone throwing a fit about who knows what. The fact that Daddy tried to hold his hands instead of pushing him?

Austin saw an escape and took it. He was having fun and just thought the box looked interesting.

Progress! He went all the way around holding the wall and Craig's hand.

He was trying to taste the wall. He ran his hand along the wall and got some"snow" on his glove and then into his mouth it went. Ewwww! Oh and the skates were the OLD ones which have no ankle support. It was sooo funny watching them walk. I kept waiting for Craig's ankles to snap as they would bend sideways and almost touch the floor. I will try for pictures next time!

Squdron X mas party

2007-12-16T16:47:00.000-09:00

We had our Christmas party this past weekend and it was pretty fun. We had a gift exchange kind of thing in which we got a pair of ski goggles and some pans. Craig loved the goggles and promptly put them on and my pans have the Teflon coming off so it was perfect! Hahaha
Yes that is Craig jumping off Santa's lap. Iwas supposed to go and sit to get our gift but kind of goofed that up. Oops! I still got a great picture though. :)

Our first snow

2007-11-18T13:35:00.000-09:00

Hurray! Our first snow in Misawa. Actually my first real snow that doesn't just cover the ground and that is gone the next day. Austin is real excited about the snow, he got to throw snowballs at Craig last night.

This was taken last night a few hours after the snow started.....
and these were taken this morning.

I now have to go buy some long johns and a pregnancy coat. Oh darn!

First day of pre-school

2007-10-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

This is from Austin's first day of school. Below is what he takes his lunch in. The white thing in the blue cup is his wash cloth. They use this instead of paper towels and they have them at every restaurant for you to use.

This is his lunch bag....

These are his inside shoes which only get worn on the hard wood floors.

This is how you spell his name in Japanese, first and last. I only know how to write his first.

This is his Smock. They use it for eating and other messy stuff.

Austin put his socks on all by himself. They are a little sideways but on!

Day at the beach

2007-10-09T01:24:00.000-08:00

We are about five minutes from the beach.... we probably won't ever get in but it is pretty and close. The water is way to cold and there are many strong currants.

We saw some Japanese surfing out there, it was pretty neat to see them.

This picture isn't the beach but was taken to see the mountains better.

Japan cars

2007-09-08T03:02:00.001-08:00

Here are our "new" cars. This one is a Surf and it is the one I have been using. Though I like the other one better, it isn't conducive to putting Austin in his seat.

This one is the Pajero, it's kind of like a Jeep Wrangler. Not bad for a passed around car.

Funny Pictures

2007-09-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

I posted this tub picture to show you haw big our tub is! I love it.

2007-08-31T15:47:00.000-08:00

Ramen night

This day was beautiful! 75 degrees or so and overcast. This is the base lake which you can do just about anything in.

Which one do you like out of the three above? I am taking a painting class and would like to see if I could use one of these.

My first painting ever.

Shrine tours

2007-08-27T01:49:00.000-08:00

We went on a tour of the town we live in and another town. While there we got to visit 2 different shrines and a museum.

This one was from the Shinto shrine.

These photos were from a Samurai House.

Tea Room

This is where they receive their guest.
I didn't get a lot of pictures from here as the tour was behind schedule and everyone was rushed. I know we will be going back so this will have to do till then.

Japan....

2007-08-22T00:37:00.000-08:00

Yea! I finally have my camera stuff so here are the pictures I have been promising everyone.....

I know this isn't one but aren't they cute!!!! The puppie's name is Miso which is a type of soup here which is sooo yummy.

Alright, the rest of these pictures are in the order of discovery.

The thing below is a toilet for us females. You have to squat! I know, I know, I said the same thing..... I have to what!? Where!? Most places have this and a some what normal toilet. This one was at the airport. The one in my house has a tushie warmer for winter.

That afternoon we rode the subway about three times and walked to our hotel. We then took a cab to a restaurant where we had our first taste of fresh sushi. It was up 41 stories and had a neat view over looking Tokyo.

The next day we spent wandering the streets of Tokyo. I Didn't know where to start taking pictures!

We rode the bullet train which (was about 160 a person!) from Tokyo to the town where our base is.

The train ride was about 3 hours. I got to read a lot of Harry Potty.

I tried to capture a little of the country as we flew by but as you can see it didn't work out so well.

Well that is all I have for this post. I will try to put up the rest a little bit later this week.

2007-06-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

Today we got to hang out with our friend Dave who is a volunteer fire fighter. He gave us a small tour of the station he works for. Austin was fascinated with the big trucks and I loved the old one. Craig and Dave have many stories from back in college when they were volunteers.

Flutterbys

2007-06-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

My Dad has a beautiful Butterfly garden which has this purple flower. I can't remember the name but I think it has become one of my favorite smells.

Caves

2007-05-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

My mom was in town this week and we decided to go on a cave tour.

This picture of the trees was us going down into the cave.

This one was of water dripping out of the "straws" on the ceiling. This one was a huge rock that you could touch. The water won't flow over the rock anymore because of the oils from people touching it. It now has a pool of water in it and if you stick your fingers in the water you can not see where they went.

This one above I think is called "Baby Molars".

The one above is of a huge water fall. It was so pretty.

This was from an imagination room. They had different names for different formations. This one was from Little Shop of Horrors. Do you see it?

Craig carried Austin in his backpack the whole tour. Unfortunately Craig had to bend down and walk with him in it. It was pretty funny. I had to help steer him and make sure they didn't bonk their heads. Poor Craig. Had had to walk like that for 20 feet or so.

This picture above from the imagination room is that of a skeleton or ghost.

This is of a 30 foot hole that went up to the top.

Austin and Misha

2007-05-24T10:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pictures of our little man.
Nina made this outfit for Austin. I LOVE it!! It is of Tigger.

Yes I know the hat is girly... well it's mine and I forgot to bring a hat for him when we went to Craig's Baseball game.

Ok, so these pictures are from when I had my wisdom teeth cut out. The meds were so wonderful and the Hubby did a good job of taking care of me. He is in a little trouble of taking video of me while I was sleeping and snoring. My face was all swollen and I had a huge black bruise on my left cheek. These pics were taken 4 days after. Oh, and that silly doctor asked me right after the surgery if I wanted my teeth- can you guess what I told him???

Baseball

2007-04-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, this is Craig. He has joined baseball legue here and loving it. I have taken my camera to Craigs games and have not figured out how to get the fence to fade out of the picture> I know it can be done. One of these days. I am sure the other "fans" think I am either a stalker or crazy. I have a tone of pics and not many I like. They say practice makes perfect.... we will see. :)

What is that man doing out there????

Austin likes to yell "Go Daddy Go! "

This is what happens when you go to a strawberry festival in Poteet Tx. We went with Dave and Ande. We saw a monkey, hunted for a petting zoo which we saw on the way in and never found and watched a sea lion show where Ausin got his sunburn. Dave went on a helicopter ride and we bought some strawberry wine. A great time was had by all!

Easter

2007-04-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

As usual these pictures are later getting on here than I would like. I hate the process of getting them on here but am glad once I do. So anyway this group is from Easter. We Had a great time in Fort Worth visiting both of our parents and the rest of the family. This little guy was in my parents back yard. I think its' Mom may have been the Easter Bunny. ;) I was so excited that I was able to get close enough to take the picture.

Bluebonnets are everywhere and we didn't get a chance to stop on the way up, but we did stop in a neighbors yard to get this picture. Thankfully Craig has not started to roll his eyes at the many stops and places I go.

This one I did some touch up on. Most of you know what a sucker I am for B&W photos

Austin and Papa showing off their Angry Faces! Such fun after a wonderful Easter

Lunch! One of these days I will get inside pictures to turn out better.

Nothing like a nice glass of wine and being upside down on the couch.

Austins' Uncle, Patrick, helped him hunt for eggs many times. It was pretty cold out there and I gave up after the first hunt.

Reindeer!

Totally Austin

2007-04-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

I am a real cowboy

Austin got this out of the dress up box.

His cheesy happy face.

Can you do this?

Nature Pictures....Kind Of

2007-03-03T13:35:00.000-09:00

So these are a bunch of random pictures from the past month or so.

HEHEHE Molly loves chasing the cat.

I just liked this one:)
Molly loves to stick her nose into things.

This is from goverment canyon. Craig and I have been hiking here a lot....well a lot for me. I know big supprise huh.

This is the Moon, I took it in the car with my new zoom lens. It is funky! I like it.

People Pictures

2007-03-03T12:15:00.000-09:00

I am a little shy when it comes to taking pictures while we are out and about. So these are of family.

This is Ryan, his girlfriend and her Dad. We went to this great BBQ place and had a great time....Craig is a little challenged when it comes to getting directions off the Internet so it took us awhile to get there. :)

First time at bat!

Goofy Grapes! Dad was in town this past weekend for my cousin's dance competition. We had a blast with them. We tried some new restaurants which were yummy! My Beautiful cousin at her dance competition.

This is Austin's sad face, he also does happy angry and silly which i will try to post on another day.

Random Pictures from New Years

2007-02-14T14:52:00.000-09:00

So this is from our trip to Dallas over Christmas. Sorry I am a little slow getting these up...

We spent the day with Craig's parents and Papa let Austin check out the plane. I tried to get a picture of them in it but as you can see this is as close as I got.

This is a favorite of mine.

We spent New Years Eve as we do everyone. With some good friends, no child! This is Maggie and I have known her since before I meet Craig.

CHEERS

This is Holly and she is also a good friend. In this pic is a neat invention for you beer drinkers :) It helps everything go down faster.

This is Zach we have been friends since my Sr year of high school and Craig went to high school with him. This is Maggie's new puppy. She is so cute.

Nina made this for Austin and we LOVE it. It holds his trucks and planes. Well i guess this is it for now. I should be posting more later this week once I download it all. Happy viewing!

More Christmas

2007-01-06T13:52:00.000-09:00

Mom and Dad and you know the rest of us.

Santa Baby.......
We (the next door neighbors, the down the street neighbors, Craig, his Dad and youngest brother and I) all went on a plane ride to a truck stop to eat breakfast one morning. Which was truly yummy! I love going up in Sparky and love that they share experiences like that with me. This trip was a treat for me because I got to take pictures of two different planes in flight. This one is the runway that Craig's parents live on.

This one is the next door neighbor's plane.

I don't know why this has lines in the sky.... they are not there in my file. Humm.....

Oh well. I had a blast.

"Home" for the holidays

2007-01-05T14:34:00.000-09:00

We went to Fort Worth for Christmas as we do every year. Austin and I took Amtrack and Craig drove up three days later. Austin had a blast on the train and was so good. It was a bla day as we took of and as we went along it got more foggy and then started to rain by the time we got to the last stop.

We had a little guide from San Antonio who told us all about the stops we had. I love these kind of buildings.

This is in Austin I think.

This is Craig's brother Nicholas. Austin has taken to calling him Uncle Nini.

This is the second of the brothers. This is Uncle Bubby/ Uncle Ryran and to the rest Ryan.

These are Craig's parents, Nina and Papa. Austin loves them and their pool. :)

Little cat naps are best when not bothered by the camera. I am sure they will love this being up on my blog.

This is Craig's youngest brother. Uncle Paddy. Austin loves riding, chasing, climbing, and all sorts of other things with him.

We went up to Craig's grandparents. Unfortunately Craig wasn't able to join us. His cousins and Aunt made it up there too.

The "kids" playing football.

Pretty sky!

My favorite pictures to take are those in black and white.

Random

2006-12-13T16:49:00.000-09:00

Daddy's shoes.

Ok so I have resorted to bribery in its highest fashion. We were in Fredericksburg for 3 hours and got a late start. So on the car ride home I wanted to keep him awake so he wouldn't wake up when we got him out of the car when we got home. He wouldn't go back to sleep so i gave him one of those candy necklaces and he loved it and made a huge powerdy mess an his face and shirt. I am the best mom ever! :)

They were having some kind of winter wonderladn thing. WHat this has to do with winter I am not sure but I got a kick out of it.

Very random.

Everything IS bigger in Texas!

The evil eye.

Our Tree.

2006-12-12T06:31:00.000-09:00

Putting up the Christmas tree was so much fun for Austin. We went to Lowe's to Pick it out and then all three of us put on the ornaments. Austin still likes to take them off and put them back on.

The Boys putting on the Angel. Austin is hiding on the other side.

The finished product.
Our little Mrs. Prissy. This is one of our cats and the other is black and hiding in the back of the tree. He is hard to get a picture of. They have been enjoying themselves playing in the tree.

The Zoo

2006-12-07T12:53:00.000-09:00

My Mom and Dad came to town for Thanksgiving and spent 5 days with us. Craig had to go to work so we spent part of the day at the San Antonio Zoo. We had to make it a part day because Austin had to nap at some point. Silly Naps.

This is My dad. He and My mom (which you won't see many pictures of)
loved showing Austin all the animals which let me take many pictures.

My Dad and Austins' favorite animal was the monkey. One day my Dad wants one. Poor mom her hands would be full!

This turtle one was taken in a very dark room and i was in a bit of a hurry. I was trying to figure out how to take it with out the glare. I got that part now I just need to focus. lol

I love this one, it was in the same room as the turtle and to me this fish looked kind of a dull, a dark blue maybe. Well i guess not! No glare. I was amazed. :) I think my favorite pictures to take are animals and scenery.

This was a leopard and I couldn't get the focus just right. I am trying everything manual.

Mom, Dad and Austin feeding the fishes. Many fishies there were!

He got tired of me taking his picture.

My Moms doing! Blech

These little guys were a part of a neat thing I have never seen. You go into this enclosure and it if full of these little guys. You can feed them and hold them on your arms. I was fetching lunch and didn't get any good pictures. All i got was bird Poo on my shirt and arm.The End

Little boy pictures

2006-11-02T05:20:00.000-09:00

Austin showing off.

Playing ball with Craig
Weird huh? I have no Idea how i did this. It is realy flying in the air.

Butt scooting down the stairs.

Playing in the couch cushions

This Halloween Craig and I carried him to every house! He made out with a lot of candy though.

Our little cowboy!

The Long Hike

2006-10-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my parents were in town and we decided to go to Pedernales Falls state park to do a little hiking. We took Austin with us and he had a blast exploring and throwing rocks! It was about an hour and a half drive and a perfect day to go.
I was in Picture taking heaven! I have put up a lot of pictures and some are similar. You will have to let me know which ones you like best.

These are some of the steps leading down to the water. I think this is a fav of mine.

Dad and Craig. Can you see them?

One of the small water falls..... well that was all there was. No big ones.

A close up.

The water was coming out of the ground behind this rock.

This one the water is coming up out of the ground.

This pool was pretty deep and it had a lot of fish in it.

Another waterfall.

A weird hole!

Waterfall from above.

I think these two above are my favorites... I can't make up my mind on which I like best. Here fishy, fishy

Sand in our shoes.
Below are some more I like. My son and mother were throwing rocks in the pond and I started clicking away. Kind of cool I think!

Can you see the wildlife below?

The Boys.

This park had a couple of real small caves too.

The End

A few hours in Austin

2006-10-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

This was our short trip to Austin. Craig's Mom was down from Fort Worth for work and Craig's brother Ryan just happens to live there. So we made our way down there half a day. Always a favorite of mine, black and white pictures!
A beautiful view off the bridge and up a hill that we walked up to take pictures. Not my idea but Ryan's! My new favorite brother in law!

Craig's Mom Rita took this picture. She definitely has an artistic eye!

Ryan also took us out to eat at this great BBQ restaurant on Lake Travis. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car instead of taking it in. Austin had a lot of fun feeding the turtles in the lake.

This is a picture of Ryan, Rita, me with big hair, Craig and Austin.

The pretty girl in this picture is Carla, Ryan's girlfriend.

Settling in

2006-09-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of our home for the time being. It is in a nice neighborhood which is about 10 minutes from the base. Austin loves going up and down the stairs. Molly is the only one who hasn't mastered the stairs! She trips on them every time she goes up them. The cats love racing up and down them.

There is a little pond down the street where three ducks and a lot of turtles live. We walk down there some morniings to watch them. Austin loved the duckies.

This is Austin's new bike, he can almost ride it.

The only thing not all dried out in our backyard.
He is getting verry good at throwing things. This is his favorite ball.
Wonder where he gets this from?
He just scared the cat from the window.
This is buttercup. Austin calls her Pretty Pretty Kitty Kitty.

Short trip to Frederickdburg

2006-09-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

These were taken in Fredericksburg. We went on a short trip with Dave and Ande. Dave is a good friend of Craig's and Ande is his new wife! This is St. Mary's Catholic Church which was built in 1906. We didn't have a lot of time so I didn't get many pictures so I will have to go back another day. It also rained half the time we were there. My computer isn't being nice today so i am missing at least four more pictures. One being my favorite of this bunch. Hopefully i can get the rest up in a few days! Enjoy1

I loved the stained glass windows. I have more but the computer wouldn't let me post them.

Nebraska

2006-09-14T15:17:00.001-08:00

A good friend of ours had a wedding here in Nebraska. The weather was so nice, I didn't want to come back to Texas.

Lots and lots of corn fields!

She can totally kick some booty!

I just love glass!

Which one do you like?

Isn't he adorable?

The traditional Welcome to the Air Force butt swat.

Look a new village person! My dear hubby.

New camera pictures

2006-09-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

My son Austin.

Molly is waving at you!

I was playing with the light in all these pictures.

My brother- in-law and his piggy

My other Brother-in-law in a race for beer.

Ok so here is the deal... It was my father-in-laws 50th and they had a beer hunt for everyone! (They are thecoolest!) My brother in law didn't win but this guy did. His name is Guy and he is the next door neighbors' girls' boyfriend.

Father-in-laws plane.

New camera pictures

2006-09-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

My first pic with the new camera !

On the way to the park i found this lovely thing. Which picture do you like of this plant?
Yes I know I am posting a lot of the same pictures but I can't figure out which one I like so just hang in there I will be narrowing down a lot of these pictures in time! Let me know what you think, especially Al and Jen. Oh and pardon my spelling it stinks!

Can you guess what this is?

I got the smiley idea from Allison.

Molly and Austin