Mike & Shela's Zoo

Retirement

2010-04-17T07:53:00.003-05:00

Mike signed his paperwork from the VA Friday. We expect official word back any day on when he will be leaving San Antonio. He still has to go to Ft. Riley, Kansas to out process his unit and take care of all the retirement paperwork. You never know how long it will take the Army to do anything but we expect that he will be done in time so we can all go to the Wayman family reunion in June. We wish everyone the best. We will be traveling grand parents for a while but someone has to work. Does anyone have an idea for a great job with decent income so Mike can eat Bon Bons while Shela works?

Happy April!

2010-04-15T11:20:00.002-05:00

Aaron has tried out for the University of Central Arkansas's Cheer Team. AND I'm trying out my new found skills of creating a video.

2010-02-22T21:22:00.000-06:00

Aaron has had a super year so far this 2010 season of Cheer Competition. He has competed in Little Rock, Atlanta Georgia and will be headed to San Antonio Texas on March 5th. His team placed 2nd at the Nationals in Georgia so they have been registered to compete in the Internationals in Dallas in mid-April. Aaron loves his sport but says he can do without all the drama. lol that comes with Cheerleaders.

Missionary

2009-12-26T11:20:00.001-06:00

Mike is still in San Antonio. At the beginning of November he was able to go take Jacob out to the MTC. They spent about ten days visiting friends and family while they went Temple hoping across the US. Along the way they attended sessions at the Memphis, Mesa AZ, Las Vegas, St George, and Manti Temples. Most of these were with other family members. Parents, Grand parents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and many friends all had a great time. After dropping Jacob off at the MTC I had to drive straight to San Antonio. I was in such a hurry that I did not even stop to take any pictures of the area as I passed through Moab, Utah. That was very beautiful but I wanted to try to get to Albuquerque, NM before stopping for the night. At 10:30 PM I was not yet there but had to stop anyway. Got back to San Antonio about 9:00 PM on the day that I had to sign back in from Leave. I then went to Sea, World with some fellow wounded soldiers where Shamu Killed my phone but it was worth it. We saw the first show from the top row where they have space for the handicapped but came back again in the afternoon and got seats on the second row. Right in front of the area where the whales beach themselves during the show. One tail wag was all it took but then we also got two more. We were totally soaked.

2009-12-26T10:16:00.000-06:00

Where Have I Been All These Months?

2009-11-10T20:45:00.005-06:00

Let's give this blogging thing another try. Folks, so much has changed in our family in the 10 months since the last time that I posted that I must randomly post events as they come to me. I will try to get it all eventually. So, here's me with Gage, the grandson just below that was "just born". Yeah, it seems like yesterday. This is his first visit at the Pumpkin Patch. Just a note, we do not live in Germany now, we are living in Cabot Arkansas. Mike is working on a medical retirement from the Army. More on that to follow

Poppi blesses Gage

2009-01-26T09:21:00.005-06:00

On Sunday, January 11th, Mike gave Gage a blessing and placed his name on the records of the church. Momma and Papa were so proud. The same day, Mike ordained Jacob to the Melchizedek priesthood, as an Elder. He is preparing his papers for his mission. Note: Mike is currently in Iraq. We miss him and want him to know many, many people are praying for his and his unit's safety.

GAGE GIL has arrived!

2009-01-26T08:56:00.005-06:00

Julio and Corinna are the proud parents of Gage Lucas Gil, born on January 6th, weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 8oz, and 21.5 in long. He is just beautiful and looks just like me, as all my grandchildren do, of course. Mom is doing well now, it was tough at the first because when she received her epidural, an extra hole was made and she had bad headaches and nausea for the first 10 days. The anesthesiologist did a patch procedure and she got better almost right away.

The Great Punkin' has arrived!

2008-10-08T19:22:00.007-05:00

At last, our new granddaughter has arrived. Weighing in at 10 lbs 3 oz and 21.5 inches long, we'd like to introduce you to "Lydia Belle Brown"

It's amazing how much she looks like her big sister. Mom, baby and of course, Dad are doing great and Elina and Noah are astounded and proud to have a little (big) sister.

Shela's new look! WOW!

2008-09-17T19:18:00.003-05:00

Mike & Shela
Elina & Noah

We are in Fort Huachuca,
visiting our daughter, Ariel
and her family which includes
two really fun grandkids.
ps. and one's on the way!

Poppi says hi to Noah T and Ellie

2008-09-05T09:58:00.002-05:00

Aaron in the Airport

2008-09-05T09:53:00.003-05:00

It was really weird to travel with only one child but regardless of how many are in your party, airports are never fun.

Meet Officer Gil

2008-09-05T09:32:00.002-05:00

We are so proud to tell you that our son-in-law, Julio, is now a patrolman in the Little Rock Police Department. He excelled in his class and was a first-pick by a specific division of LRPD. The first picture is of him with his little sister from NY on his right and his wife, Corinna who is expecting their 1st, is on his left. And the second picture is of him being pinned with his badge by Corinna.

WE"VE MOVED!

2008-09-05T09:09:00.002-05:00

This is a picture of our bed in our Germany house, just before the packers took it down and put it in a crate to ship to the United States. Sometime around the last couple of days of July, Mike's medical status was upgraded to "fit for duty" after nearly 8 months recovery from his disc replacement surgery. We really expected to be assigned to Fort Huachuca, Arizona but imagine our surprise when an assignment came for Fort Riley, Kansas. Mike will go to Alabama to train for a new job as an aviation liason to an infrantry division and then he's off to Iraq to join his new unit. Shela and Aaron will stay in central Arkansas, Cabot to be specific while Mike is in Iraq. Shela will spend a few weeks in Arizona helping Ariel with her 3rd baby due end of Septemberish. She will also be able to be in the area when Corinna has her 1st end of Decemberish. Thus, our new chapter begins. But we sure do miss our Germany house and ward family and friends.

Castle Touring

2008-07-06T05:10:00.004-05:00

During the last week, we also took our visiting family to see the castles of King Ludwig II. Here is Mike with the King's childhood 'home' in the background. It was a beautiful day. This is the first summer we have spent here in Germany since we began this tour in 2005. We do miss our family in the states that we normally go to visit but we are enjoying some sightseeing too.

Paragliding in Garmisch

2008-07-06T05:06:00.004-05:00

On Tuesday, the 1st of July, we went down to Garmisch again and this time Shela and Lorissa went down the mountain on a parasail. It was pretty darn awesome. The pilot asked Shela if she wanted a calm flight or some action and Shela said, "Bring it on!" so the pilot took her on two "death spirals". It was exilirating to say the least. It's no wonder the boys want to do this as a hobby.

Just walking along.

2008-07-05T12:29:00.006-05:00

This is one of my favorite photos because it shows a rare time that I had with my grandkids in Arizona of just being normal. We were walking down a sidewalk at a strip mall heading for the pizza joint.

Grandma's Visiting

2008-06-29T14:40:00.003-05:00

Just a couple of days after Corinna left Germany, Grandma Burnside, Aunt Betty Wayman and Lorissa arrived for a visit to our home and country. So far we have walked the Nuremburg tour of the Emperial Rodelbahn (kinda of like luge in the summer) and we watched a falconry show. Jacob and Aaron left for EFY in Copenhagen today, Sunday and tomorrow we will take our guest down to Garmisch. Grandma's really gotten a kick out of Lily, our cat.

Walking my legs off

2008-06-23T13:13:00.002-05:00

Corinna came over for a visit and we did so much walking. We went to Nuremburg, Karlovy Vary (Czech), Rothenberg, Garmisch, Neuschwanstein Castle and much more. Here's a pic of me and Poppi in front of the castle of old Nuremburg.

Summer Vacation Begins

2008-06-23T13:09:00.002-05:00

The first weekend out of school and we were already on the move. We went down to Garmisch to the Edelweiss Lodge and the boys and Corinna went parasailing. They had the best time and they all said it wasn't too scary. I didn't go because of my previous encounter with the ladder, (if you don't know, look below) and I was afraid it would hurt but the said I'd be ok, so next week sometime, I'll probably do it. We'll see.

Jacob's Graduation

2008-06-08T11:44:00.003-05:00

On Friday night at approximately 7:35, the Ansbach High School Principal handed Jacob his high school diploma. Yahoo! Four down and one to go! It was a good ceremony and Jacob wrote a very gratitude filled dedication for his parents and of course for his friends. He will attend Arkansas State University in the fall. The day before, at the HS awards ceremony, he was presented with a $1000 scholarship from the Illesheim Spouse and Civilian Spouse Club.

Fire Recovery

2008-05-29T02:55:00.002-05:00

The current event that shapes what we do with our time is a house fire that occured a month ago. One evening, Mike came home to a strong burning odor. He found Aaron's room had been on fire. The computer monitor in his room had burned up and destroyed all of Aaron's belongings. He literaly lost everything but the clothes he was wearing (and his school backpack which he never puts away). Besides Aaron's room, there was soot damage to other rooms on that floor. We have had to move to the house next to ours. Fortunately, the insurance company is footing the expense. We are grateful that there were no injuries and that it did not spread to the rest of the house.

Welcome to our World

2008-05-29T02:37:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the family portrait hanging in my dining room and gave thought to the fact that it was a fairly recent photo and it was already out of date. I realized also how behind we are in getting updated photos to family. What is to be done? The answer came when recently Ariel sent us the link to her family's blogspot. Mike thought it would be a good idea and a simple way to get much information out to family and friends, especially when our family is evolving so fast. What do I mean by that? Well, currently, we have both daughters expecting babies this fall/winter, we have one son engaged, we have one son graduating, we have one son growing faster than we can outfit him and we have grandchildren learning to talk, and having ballet recitals etc. Many, many great wonderful changes and also challenging times that best shared with family and friends. We hope to put smiles on faces and prayers in hearts with this blog/journal of our family.
Enjoy,