Here Comes Santa Claus!

So, we are headed out of town today, but I thought I should update the blog before we left. Here are some of the hightlights of our December (so far!)

Santa Claus came to our Ward Christmas Party. McKayla and Kyle both asked for Nintendo DS consoles. Santa told them that those were very expensive but he would see what he could do. Josh wanted that "Cars toy that Mom showed me at Walmart" (which was a Leapster 2 with a Cars game that I specifically pointed out to see if he was interested :) ).

Santa Claus also came to Joe's work party. The kids asked for the same things! (McKayla added earrings to her list.)

We saw Santa Claus one more time, at the Annual Walter Family Bowling Christmas Party! I didn't get pictures with this camera, they are all on my camcorder. Everyone remind me after Christmas to post a video of Raida doing a little victory boogie when she gets a strike!

For Christmas, Joe gave me new phones - home phones and cell phones (enV2s) for us both. One of his conditions was that the phone in the kitchen have a cord, so we could always find it. When Kyle picked up the phone and saw that there were no buttons on the handset, he couldn't figure out how to make a phone call. We have come a long way from Rotary dialing, huh?

I tried to upload a video of McKayla's school choir singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", but it took way too long. They had four performances this year. One of them was up in Salt Lake City at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. They stand up on the 2nd level and sing as people come in and out of the cold of Temple Square. This is her second year singing and she really has a great time.

We are looking forward to a VERY white (and cold) Christmas, and wish you all a Merry Christmas too!

The Groovy Parker Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

All I Want For Christmas . . .

Thanksgiving

We are grateful for:

Wonderful grandparents who let us invade their house for 5 days!
Thanks Lou and Senia for all of the food, and time and attention.
We had such a great time!

First Snowman of the Season

Yesterday after school, McKayla and her friend Hannah made this fun snowman in our front yard.

Leave it to two 10-year old girls to make a snowman who looks like he is wearing braces!

Feliz Cumpleanos

Happy 4th Birthday Joshua!

(on the 5th)

For his birthday Joshua got:

A snowstorm!

And a bicycle with training wheels!

And a helmet from G & G Bell!

And a dump truck cake!

(The yellow frosting was his favorite - he ate all around the edges of the cake until it was all gone!)

Happy Hallloween

Here are some pics of the kids on Halloween:

McKayla the Bat

(costume made the night before with a black garbage bag!)

Kyle the Football Player

(giving high fives to the parents at the school parade)

Josh as Dash Incredible

(devouring a chocolate cupcake at our ward Trunk-or-Treat)

Ramps built, time to go home.

Took this picture from the Cock pit of the C-17 as we entered Salt Lake County.

I spent most of Friday building eight ramps, with help of course to help load the CST vehicles we were using for the deployment. A C-17 crew from March AFB California flew to Beaumont, Texas to pick-up the team and flew us back to Utah.

Incredible Story, Yesterday.

Here is the story as I remember it. A few days ago when a TCEQ (Texas Comission for Enviornmental Quality) and the CST group went out marking hazardous barrels for pick-up. While one of the TCEQ workers moved the 55 gallon drum to see if he could determine how much fluid was in the drum. He heard something he had never heard in a 55 gallon drum before. He heard glass or what he thought was glass rattle inside the drum when it was moved, not thinking anything of it the worker marked the barrel with an orange X for pick-up by the EPA in the next few days.

Georgi who is the director of the TCEQ district 10 operations, over heard a neighbor mention she had lost everything to include a 55 gallon drum she had placed all of her most precious antique glass belongings to protect them from debris during the storm

Georgi, remembered Scott mentioning that he had heard glass in a drum instead of the normal liquid sound a few days ago.

Myself and a few other went back to the area where the barrel was found to recover it and take it to the boat dock for further analysis. I was chosen to mask up and pop the top of the barrel to monitor the air with our monitor to make sure it was safe. Once it was determined the barrel was safe. We confirmed the cargo was antique glass that Cindy was missing. We loaded the barrel onto the boat and delivered it to the owner.

The barrel was found two in a half miles down river. The lady was very emotional and thankful for the recovery of her belongings. We found out that the jars were those of her Great Grandma and her mother. They had vital sentimental value. It was a great day to be in the Guard.

NASA on our day off.

Three of us decided to drive to Houston to visit the NASA visitors center. What a great experience! To see the control room, and having the history of NASA explained from a gentleman who obviously had worked there for years. I knew we were sitting in a historic room when you could still see cigarrette trays in every seat in front of you. We had a great time!

Busy day in the field!! Very few, if any pictures.

Myself and one other individual went out with two other civilians. We were assigned to explore a sliver of land right on the edge of Sabine Lake. Un-beknown to us, the area we went into has been designated a SARAH or Super Fund Site. This means years ago, this area was designated as an enviornmental problem, in regards to oil drums and tanks that were leaking on the property. We used three cans of orange spray paint marking the drums and taking VOC or air monitor readings before we were informed of the SARAH site.

We found a baby Alligator on the property mentioned above, that was covered in used oil. It was sad to see. Hopefully, the attention we accidentally gave this site will help them clean it up sooner then it would normally be done.

After eating lunch we went to an area that had 55 gallon drums and other large containers in it. We managed to find a way into this area, it was nerve racking at times. The bamboo you have seen in some of the pictures I have posted before, was thin on top, with two or three feet of water below it. At times your foot would go right through the bamboo into the water. The crazy thing, is that there were Alligators and snakes all over this area, and you never knew what was in the water after your foot went through the bamboo. We made it to the barrels, and no one was injured. That in itself is a good day.

Hope things are going well with everyone.

Yesterdays pictures of Sea Rim Park and surrounding areas.

Surveying some of the damage.

Believe it or not these are hundreds of thousands of small pieces of bamboo that we had to walk through to find barrells of hazmat, not to mention snakes, turtles and Gators oh my.

We found a few of these turtles in a debris field we were surveying for the day, and yes these turtles are alive.

Yesterday we went to a town called Bridge City. We looked at some of the damage caused by Hurricane IKE. It was welcoming to see a group of volunteers 30 to 40 cleaning up a house that needed a whole lot of work. The storm surge litterally ripped through the front of a house and gutted it all the way through to the other side.

Room with a view!

We are finally in our home away from home. The team found a hotel a short drive from the facillity we are working out of for the next few weeks.

I was lucky enough to get a room with a view. Well sort of?

Beaumont Texas!

We arrived on the third of October at 3:00 P.M. Shortly after arriving we set-up our communications truck, Direct TV and Internet. We have an antenna on a fifty foot mast, which we hope will allow us to TX and RX during down range operations. We put an American flag near the top of the mast and it looks good. I will try to get a picture for tomorrows post.

The team has found dead Alligators all over this area. We have been told there are over 10,000 dead cattle in the areas we are surveying.

Joe

Almost there!

Well, we are on our last leg to our work location here in Texas. Starting to feel the humidity!! Can't wait for those days again. We have plenty of baby wipes this time.

I went for a run this morning from our hotel, and new I wasn't in Utah anymore when I came accross a road kill Armadillo.

Rumors have it that the team we are replacing have seen Alligators more then once in their journeys to the areas that were hardest hit by Ike. I will try to post some pictures as I take them. I will keep you informed from time to time.

Joe

WMD team heads to Ike zone

From the Deseret News 10/02/2008:
National Guardsmen load a communications truck Wednesday as 16 members of the Utah National Guard's 85th Civil Support Team, Weapons of Mass Destruction Team deploy for two to three weeks to help out where needed with Hurricane Ike. They will test for contaminants and provide communication services.