Then and Now

Then :
2005 Paige's first day of Kindergarten and Simon's first day of preschool

And Now :
2008 Simon's first day of Kindergarten and Paige 3rd grade

Even more accurate for now is with Nixon in the picture. Which when Simon goes into 3rd grade will be when Nixon starts Kindergarten. So if I can remember in 3 years I will add another picture to the Then and Now. Kind of cool the kids are all 3 years apart in school.

Big day of Firsts

Well Tuesday was a big day for the Crothers Household. Simon started Kindergarten, Paige 3rd grade and drum roll please........ Tim had his first day at work at Chief!



Paige and Simon all ready for their big day! Paige picked out a Hannah Montana shirt and Simon a Star Wars shirt.



Simon loves his new teacher and class and wishes he could stay all day.



Paige was a bit nervous the night before but she said she loves her new teacher and classmates!


So now to the part of Tim making Chief. We went out of town to Las Vegas for about 9 days. Two days before we left to come home his Chief called and congratulated him that he was making Chief on Sept. 1st. We were hoping he was going to make it but we thought IF he did it would be in Dec. We were pleasantly surprised that 1. He made it and 2. he made it now not later. He made it off the test he took in May 2007 so it's been a good 15 months of waiting.



They had a ceremony where Tim's Chief and I got to pin on his anchors.



And they had Paige put on his cover (hat) with his new anchor pin on it. Talk about warmed my heart to see our little girl get to take part in her Daddy's advancement. I am so glad I kept her out of school today for it. The boys were right by her side.



Here is our Chief. One of the guys asked Paige if she knew her Daddy no longer had a first name it's just Chief now.



Off with the old (bye bye crows)


And on with the new (hello anchors)


It was neat to be there today and see people walk by him and say, "Hi Chief". For the last 14 years whenever I have been to his work I have always seen him address every single Chief that has walked by and I myself have always called his Chiefs Chief. Now it was everyone that walked by saying hi Chief to him. His Captain came over and talked with us afterward and he said he wanted to come congratulate me and said he knows that no one makes Chief all by themselves. That was really nice of him and I greatly appreciate him telling me that.

We will now be in Seattle for 4 more years. Once he made Chief we have to be transferred and luckily for us there was one other Chief position open at another unit in Seattle and they decided to move him to that office. Otherwise we would be packing up and moving in a couple weeks.

I want to shout out a Congratulations to our good buddy Wayne, he also made Chief the same day Tim did and we are hoping he gets transferred to Seattle.

And to Tim, I love you and am proud to be at your side.

Vegas Baby!!

We had an awesome time in Las Vegas for our Summer vacation! We enjoyed the nice warm sunshine and time in the pool and all the fun things to see.

This was the kids' first time on an airplane. We flew down and then drove back with Tim's parents.


Aren't they so cute carrying their own bags through the airport?!


First time on a plane (Paige flew as a baby but doesn't remember it)



We took a Limo from the airport to where we stayed! The kids just loved it!


Here is the M and M at M&M World and the Coke Bear. I think the biggest hit with the kids was M&M World.



Fun in the Sun!



Simon and Nixon both took off with swimming. We got them swim masks that cover the nose and that was all Simon needed by the second day he was diving in. Real diving head first. Nixon got comfy with his floaties and now will jump in by himself and swim around.


Here we are looking at the Lion Habitat at the MGM and then Fremont street.



Fremont street and the Bellagio fountains!



I threw a buck in just for fun! (Didn't win anything of course)



Playing some air hockey!



Daddy won this for Nixon at Circus Circus and he just held on to it for the rest of the night, it was so cute.


FAO Schwartz Toy Store in Caesars! This reminds me of the movie BIG. Remember that movie? I know it dates me.



Rockey punched out Simon at Planet Hollywood and leave it to Simon to find Darth Vader and a Storm trooper!




More fun in the pool!




My two older boys playing video games on the way home in the car!

Well we had a great ending to our summer hope yours has been great too!