Ode (in picture form) to the yellow 2002 Ford Focus ZX3 purchased brand new for $14,000 in November 2002, now gone, traded in at the dealership in March 2009, cast aside...like an old glove! Take note of the bike racks on the ZX3. They are the same as the ones on the Taurus Wagon (below). Good old bike racks, we'll miss you the most!
The white 2005 Freestyle, not rusted, just terribly pitted with Dallas, Texas-size hail dents. Purchased in June 2008 for $10,000 and still going strong. We love your 7 seats and CD player. We will drive you every day!
The 2000 Ford Focus Wagon SE at Yellowstone. Purchased in July 2003 for $7200 and sold in April 2006 for $5500. You served us well.
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And the ever popular 1994 Ford Taurus Wagon LX in Provo Canyon. Purchased in August 2000 for $3,500 and sold in February 2004 for $600. You sure had nice LX features! Ahhh, the days of the automatic headlights. This one had the distinctive feature of stickers on the rear window from every college or university we had either attended or instructed at (Utah Valley State College, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Utah State University, LDS Business College, and Provo College). We couldn't see out that window very well.
I tried to thaw out some milk for Holly in the fridge. This is how it turned out (the milk froze the water)..jpg)
I tried to make a beautiful cake. This is how it turned out (Kevin wants me to make one for his wedding).
Yummy yummy yum yum yum..... .jpg)
This is Derek holding Holly on my bed. There are two things wrong with this picture. One is that because of the tilt of the camera it looks like they're both about to roll over and konk their heads. The other is that you can clearly see that we have flannel snowflake sheets on our bed. Don't make fun! The set was on sale at Walmart for $9 and they are so super cuddly..jpg)
Here's a better picture of Derek holding Holly. He always wants to hold her but as soon as I get them all set up, he wants to give her back.
This is how I hold Holly.12.jpg)
On an unrelated note, here are some socks that we found by a garbage can outside the immunization clinic on the base. We took this picture especially for Jared..jpg)
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Suzie's aunt Lisa came down for a visit, and she and Suzie spent some quality Chick-Bonding time at the most chic shopping mall in SA. They hung out in Saks (as in '5th Avenue'), dodging the folks who insisted on giving them Champagne, when their 'attendant' offered to show them them the most expensive item in the store. He took them to a concealed panel in the wall, and withdrew the ring shown below.
The attendant said that the ring cost $485,000! The center diamond is a 6 karat yellow diamond, with 10 total karats of diamonds in the whole ring. Maybe for our 20th anniversary...
Derek found a ball point pen, decided that our computer monitor was too boring, so he spiced it up with some of his own original art-work! Luckily, I could still see through the ink well enough to find out how to safely clean it off (isopropol alcohol, of course), and our monitor is now cleaner than ever!
Part of our duties as Air Force psychologists is treating Soldiers and Airmen for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after participating in combat in-theater. Many of the treatments for PTSD involve revisiting the traumatic event in your mind, while processing your emotional reactions and practicing relaxation techniques. Below, I'm training with some new equipment which employs Virtual Reality to better simulate the specific experience that the client had. The goggles present a 3-d interactive environment, coupled with surround-sound headphones. The platform I'm sitting on rumbles with explosions and the engine of the humvee, and the grey box on the table provides smells which might have been present during the trauma (any combination of B.O., exhaust, weapon-fire, building-fire, middle-eastern spices, etc.). The details of the experience are all orchestrated by the therapist. It all seems like really flashy technology, but it also seemed like it would be easy to get lost in the wonder of science, rather than the emotions of the experience. But it gave a positive indication of where the future of treatment lie.
My supervisors at the Clinical Psychology Residency invited us to participate in Convoy Training. Driving Truck is a whole different experience in the military. In the 21st century, most 'combat' consists of roadside bombs and urban ambushes, so the vehicle operators must be trained and flexible tacticians. They are trained to stabilize blast and gun-shot victims, start IVs, and call in air-support and med-evacs. Below, the vehicles circle to form a box after a simulated roadside blast. The box provides cover for the individuals providing triage for the wounded. The only heads you can see are the shouty-screamy sergeants who are there to provide 'combat stress,' direction and observation.
The Clinical Psych Residents playing the part of Third-Country Nationals, or TCNs--basically useless people-baggage who must be protected at all costs, but would contribute nothing in an emergency situation. We had to wear kevlar helmets and 40-lb body armor the entire day (until 9:00 p.m.), I literally had bruises on my shoulders from where the vest hung (as well as bruises on my booty from sitting in the Korea-era 5-ton truck).
Below are some of the young (18-21 year-old) Airmen who are charged with saving the lives of others. This is one of the most dangerous maneuvers (hence the drawn weapons), where they are returning from delivering the wounded to the med-evac. They are in the wide-open, in an area where they have already come under heavy attack. 
