National Defense at it's best

Puerto Rico 20080215_0001
Originally uploaded by rwcrosby

Hello all. I am on a trip to Puerto Rico with the Air Force right now and had a little bit of time before I have to go into work. So I thought I'd share a little with you.

Earlier in the week I was able to do some SCUBA diving. I have some picture posted on Flickr if you are interested. There's not alot of pictures. The visibility wasn't the best on one of the dives so I had the camera off and just enjoyed the dive for a lot of it.

Lexi is doing well. According to Kristi, while I've been gone she's started pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on.

Merry Christmas

Lexi's first Christmas has come and gone. For the most part, it went very well. She is, however, very glad to be back to a more normal schedule today.

The holidays started this past Sunday with Lexi playing the role of Baby Jesus for the pre-school portion of the church Christmas program.

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Spitzer's. Grandma and Grandpa Crosby, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Spitzer and others from The Spitzer clan were there as well.

Christmas was a much smaller affair at Grandma and Grandpa Tubbs' house. That was just Grandma and Grandpa, (Great)Grandma Nell, Uncle Ben and Aunt Robin.

Yesterday, we met up with Dave and Kristin Oakley, Sandy and Mike Cofta and all the associated children. In addition to Lexi, there were two 3 year olds, a one and a half year old and six month old twins. Lexi loved interacting with babies her own age.

I'll have some pictures and video up once I get everything on the computer.

Yummy Yummy

Lexi ate cereal from a bowl with a spoon for the first time tonight. She was a little confused at first, but seemed to enjoy it (at least what stayed in her mouth.)

Rolling around

I know I haven't posted in a while. Lexi has been growing like a weed. She's real good a rolling around now. She is starting to be able to support herself briefly when sitting.

Lexi's Sabres Debut

Lexi made her first appearance at the HSBC Arena Saturday night as Buffalo hosted the BlueJax. No, she isn't the secret weapon to fix the power play (but it couldn't hurt). A picture of Lexi and Daddy, both sporting Sabres gear, made the Fan Scrapbook that is shown on the Jumbotron during a stoppage in play.

Baby Firsts

Lexi has had a couple of firsts recently. About two weeks ago, she moved from the bassinet in our room to her crib in the nursery. She took to this change very well.

The other first happened this morning while in the nursery at church. She was laying on the floor on a blanket and, after a couple attempts, she rolled from her back to her tummy.

Back from Hawaii

I got back from Hawaii Wednesday night. After all, air shows are a vital part of our National Defense, and you can't drop Navy Seals out of an airplane at an air show without maintenance to support the plane. It was a very nice trip. We had a down day on Monday and I was able to get in another dive trip and visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. (See picture at right) It is a very nicely done memorial. It takes about 75 minutes to see everything. The tour starts out with a video that documents the days leading up to Pearl Harbor and actual video from the attack. For those of you who do not know, the Arizona was sunk when an armor piercing bomb penetrated the deck and struck the ships forward ammo hold. It seemed like you could feel the blast watching the movie.

After the film, there is a boat that goes out to the memorial. The memorial is build over the wreckage of the Arizona. From the memorial, you can see some of the ship, including the mount for one of the gun turrets, above the water. Since the ship was refueled about a week before the attack, there is still fuel oil bubbling up from the tanks.

I have uploaded all of my pictures to Flickr. In the pictures, there is another battleship moored not to far from the Arizona. The is the USS Missouri. This is the ship on which the treaty ending WWII was signed. This battleship was in active service as late as the Gulf War in the 90's. It is now set up for tours. Unfortunately, time did not work out to allow us to tour this.

If you plan on visiting the memorial should you ever get out to Hawaii, make sure you get there early. We tried going one day after work, but ended up getting there about a half hour too late. The last tour starts at 3:00 pm so make sure you get there in plenty of time.