I woke Cameron up at 7:30 this morning for us to go wake Odette up to us singing the "Happy Birthday" song to her. Alegria was already awake, but Odette was not. And she was NOT amused:
Cameron had to cuddle with her a little bit before she got in a better mood...you'd think she'd woken up and found out she turned 4 and had to start school! ;) Hahaha!!!
Thankfully, after a few minutes of daddy's warm embrace, she was good to go!
Alegria couldn't resist helping Odette open her presents:
And Odette loved them all!
Sweet Odette, two years old today!
Today was also a special day because Cameron graduated from his Maneuver Captain's Career Course (MCCC). Thankfully, Abilehi and Ryan agreed to babysit for us while Cameron and I went to his graduation ceremony. They took the girls to Alegria's soccer practice and then brought them home to play. And it's a good thing, too. The auditorium where the ceremony took place was EXTREMELY cold, so I know the girls would have been complaining...AND it was a very long ceremony (they named off 200 or so students that graduated and who walked across the stage), so I know the girls would have been bored out of their minds! Luckily, that was not the case, so I got so visit with a couple of girlfriends and sit with them and enjoy the ceremony.
Cameron graduated in the top ten percent of his class and made the "Commandant's List," which "recognizes those students who have excelled academically." I'm so proud of my soldier!!!
After the graduation ceremony, they presented a check to the Fort Benning Wounded Warriors Association. A few weeks ago, all of the MCCC students had participated in a golf tournament to raise money for the Wounded Warriors and were able to raise $3,500 for them. Not only have these men worked hard to improve themselves for their futures, but they also took time for "Helping Our Heroes."
Once the ceremony was over, Cameron's seminar got together for a few pictures:
Cameron and his best buddy, Vince Frasure:
Vince and his girlfriend, Celsie Fouts:
Celsie and me:
Cameron and me:
We finally came home and the girls, Abilehi, and I played in the playroom while Cameron went to buy some more gear for Ranger School and while Ryan went to get the windshield wipers on their moving truck fixed:
After lunch, Odette took a nap and Cameron and I went to the Transportation Office to talk to them about our upcoming move. They'll be coming to start packing our stuff on October 25th! WOW!!! That's SOOO soon!!!
When we got home, I baked Odette's birthday cookie cake.
Once Odette woke up, the girls, Abilehi, and I went to Walmart. I needed frosting to decorate the cake and Abilehi (and Ryan) wanted to let the girls pick out a new toy as their birthday presents from them. So off we went! :)
We got back with just enough time for me to decorate Odette's cookie cake and then head off to Chuck E. Cheese's for a special birthday dinner for both girls! The girls were SOOO excited!!!
While we waited for our pizza to be ready, everyone else went to play some games and I volunteered to sit at the table with our bags and whatever tickets the girls brought me. I was still able to get a few pictures of them playing games from my spot:
Odette kept coming back to where I was to cuddle. I think she was still tired...too much excitement for one day, maybe? :)
Then she'd rush back off to see everyone play the games:
And then come rushing back:
She finally stayed in the game area and even played a few games herself:
Yes...she won ALL of those tickets at her feet all by herself!!!
Alegria also had enjoyed playing some games all by herself...and sometimes with help from Aunt Abilehi:
Cameron and Ryan spent most of the night killing zombies:
I've never had much luck with this game:
And apparently neither did Alegria and Odette. Abilehi had to help them...but that wasn't much better, either! Hahaha!
So we moved on to another game...that was another FAIL!
One ticket...that's all we got on this one. Sad!
Finally, we used up the rest of our tokens on one final game...which was actually pretty fun! :)
We had so much fun and got lots of tickets from playing games with our tokens!
For our prizes, we finally had enough to get a BIG prize instead of just small, rinky-dinky prizes like we've gotten in the past...and we chose a Twister game and two butterfly-shaped lip glosses for Alegria and Odette:
Finally, we left. On our way, we returned a few phone calls from grandparents and aunts and uncles, all wishing Odette a happy birthday!
Once home, it was time for cake!!! (Just so you know, the antenna on the right is supposed to be the letter "t" and not the letter "f.")
By then, Odette had taken out her ponytails and I didn't have the energy to put them back in, so her pictures with her cake are a little CRAAAZY! :)
Our beautiful birthday girl!
Silly sister!
Mmm...cake!
Yup. This pretty much sums it up...she's 2!!! :)
HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, ODETTE!!! WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!
