St. MaartinMore iguanas at St. Maartin. They ran the streets here

just as squirrals do in the states.

Here is the beach that we swam at. Ben enjoyed himself here. The girls went sunbathing with no tops on and let everything hang free. There was two sides to St. Maartin, the Dutch and the French. This beach was on the Dutch side. We had a great time. The water was clear and the fish swam under us.

St. Thomas

This is St. Thomas' oldest building. It is now used at the court house and the jail.

Here are a couple of many iguana that we seen. The iguana on the left is in mid jump and the one on the right is watching us closely.

Do you see what I see?

There is a small baby iguana in the middle of the picture.

A Fun at Sea

(8 Oct. 2006)

Sitting at the Pool Deck Bar drinking a few

before we leave Miama.

Here we are ready to go to the Captain's Cocktail Party. Everyone was all dressed up and taking lots of pictures. It reminded me of the scene from the Titanic.

Our First Day on our Eastern Carribean Cruise

(7 Oct. 2006 - 13 Oct. 2006)

Here are a few pictures from our cruise to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin. We had a great time. This is just the beginning to a wonderful trip through the Carribean.

Miami as we are leaving.

(7 Oct. 2006)

This is our first day on the ship. We had to go through a safety course where we practice how to put on our life jackets. Everyone looked silly.

Our cruise to the Eastern Carribean

Here are a few pictures from our cruise to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin. The weather was wonderful. The first day was cloudy but day two Ben and I receive our first sun burn. We were red for the rest of our cruise. We made it to San Juan late at night. Ben and I went horse back riding in the rainforest in the dark. While we were riding we got rained on. I guess that is what happens when you ride in the RAIN forest. Here are a few of those pictures:

This is a view from the ship as we are intering the port.

Nice and rainy weather.

Notice the red faces. This was the day of the nice sunburn.
Ben and I all wet on our break from horseback riding. Our horses names were Roxy and Indiana.These were our guides.

They kept our horses on the trail and lead us through the rainforest.

Daddy's Little Slugger!!!!!

Riley and dad went shopping and found matching

red hats. Riley likes to wear her hat backwards

because she can not see when it's on the right way.

Two of a kind.

Daddy's Home!!!

Daddy made it home two weeks ago. He arrived Sunday September 3, 2006 at 0945. Riley was not sure of him and did not want mommy to give him any hugs or kisses. But now two weeks later daddy can not get away from Riley without her crying and wanting daddy to play. She gives him lots of love and enjoys playing with her daddy.

Hugs and Kisses!!!

Peek-a-boo, mommy. Daddy and Riley having a race

to the playroom and Riley won! SMILE!!!

Daughters !

by:

Dustin Cummins

(Riley's Godfather)

August 26, 2006

A daughter is beauty at its finest.

Heart of an angel, soul so pure, and sweet.

Daughters are one of God's most precious gifts that he has bestowed upon the world.

Angels in Heaven do not compare to thine beauty, and grace my ever so beautiful, and lovely daughter.

Having you come into my life has brought more joy to me than all the money in the world could ever do.

You are morning, bright, and shining, you are noon, you reside at the highest point in my heart, you are the dew kissed night.

You are my daughter, heart, and soul.

Our First Week!

Week one of 18 is complete. Well we made it through our first week of school and day care. Riley is working on potty training and learning to use a cup. She has made lots of new friends and we are still working on morning "Good-byes". Riley is enrolled at Just For Kids which is the same day care that she was at when we were down here before. The ladies are wonderful and work well with her.

I am working full time at Liberty Elementary with a fourth grade class. I started on their first day of school and I will be there until Decemeber. This is the first semester of school. I have a lot to learn about the school system and what takes place in the fourth grade. The team of teachers that I work with are wonderful. They are very helpful and understanding to my needs. In facted I learned that one of the teachers husbands will be return around the same time that Ben is from Iraq. I am enjoying my experience with older chilren. I do miss my young pre schoolers but look forward to working with them again after December.

Learning to Cook!!

(plop, plop)

Plop, Plop is our words for cooking.

Riley sits at her table and plop plops for her

mommy and her babies. She mixes in seasonings

and usuing her wooden spoons to taste the food that she has made.

BASEBALL ANYONE!!!! I

I look forward to playing catch with mommy and daddy.

I already have an arm on me like Jennie Finch.

Getting Ready.

Here is my game Face!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN!!!!!

Happy birthday from all of us at home. We only have 26 more days until you are home and we can share a birthday cake/brownies with you.

WE LOVE TO BRUSH OUR TEETH!!

Riley does all the brushing by herself and she

does a great job. Twice a day we are brushing.

She is going to have the whitest teeth, just like her dada.

Just Hanging out!!!!

Just Me and My Mommy!!!

Hi everyone, I am doing fine. This is my little room I get to stay in. Only about 2 months left till I am home. Yes mom I would clean it up but limited space I know. This pic is just of me when I get up in the morning. The other pic is the pipeline on fire in our AO. When we first got this AO there was a fire like everyday there. The insurgents were tring to blow it up and having sucess doing it until we got there and stopped it and I havent' seen one in like a couple of months.

Riley loves to talk to her dada and get her things ready to go bye-bye. She makes sure her toys are put away and her purse is ready to go with her keys and phone. She will grab her purse and stand at the door waving and saying, "Bye-Bye." When she does this we usually will go for a walk around the neighborhood or go and play outside.

TEA PARTY!!!!

Playing on the patio with her own table and chair set. Its just like mommy and daddy's patio set. She likes to play and explore her imagination. Like her hat. She has a matching hand bag too.

Homecoming will be here soon!!!

Ben has a date. I just wanted to let you all know that we are hoping to have Ben home around September 2, 2006. This just an esmitated date that could change, its the army and anything is possible. We look forward to having him home again.

I also will start teaching again beginning August 9, 2006 (the first day of school). I went today for an interview to be a guest teacher in the local schools here in Clarksville. Things are looking good at this point. Riley went back to the same day care that she was at before and will be going there full time in August. She did a great job today. She was a little upset once she notice that I was gone and not returning but once the class started to sing and dance and play she followed. Her teachers were surprised with her behavior and her listening skills. After she took her nap she sat on her mat until it was time wake up. She did not cry or try to play with the things around her, she just sat and waited for directions. I was pleased with what they had to share with me. I was not worried about her getting along with the other children or with the teachers. Riley played hard and was very sleepy when we got home. She loved to play with the children and visit someone else other then her mommy.

I will keep you all posted with what is going on here in Clarksville, Tennessee when we know more. But for now we are looking forward to a September homecoming for Ben. We love you all. Have a great day.

We love to eat ice cream after a long hot day. It's been so hot that the ice cream melts faster then we can get it eaten. Riley usually ends up with a milk shake.

Daddy's little helper!

Riley was helping mommy, papa, and nana put together daddy's grill. She went through all the tools to find one that fit and she started to go to work. She was very proud of herself when seen the grill all put together. She loves to help.