Thanksgiving

Well this years Thanksgiving although small was still very much worthy of being thankful for. This year has really shown us all of the things that we took for granted. We are so thankful that even though money is much tighter than it used to be we are still filled with family, friendships, and our health.

* I am so grateful for having such a supportive family who has really helped us out during the past year to help us get where we are.

* I am so grateful for having the cutest little boy in the world who makes me smile everyday.

* I am grateful for friendships that have lasted so long and new ones that we get to start.

* I have a new found appreciation for all of our military service members (present and past) who sacrifice so much. Not only for our freedoms, but so that we don't have to have a draft. Some of the jobs are no joke!

* I am so thankful that my family is really so healthy! We hardly ever get sick, and when we do it seems to pass quickly

Those are just a few things that I thought that I should share.

So on to Thankgiving...On Wednesday I decided to get a head start and make my pumpkin pie. I was so proud of how beautiful they look and how wonderful they smelled. Lucas and I both tried a little sliver so that we could see how yummy it was. Afterwards I started cleaning everything up and I had put two of the pies away when suddenly I saw Lucas doing the unimaginable...he pulled on my cooling rack and caused my beautiful pie to come flying off the counter and on to the floor, face first. Those of you who have watched Friends and remember the cheesecake episode can somewhat feel the loss that I felt at that moment. For those of you who haven't go to YouTube and see the clip. I did scrape it up off the floor using my crust rolling out plastic sheet, and you can see the results..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98KZNd03l4U

Our thanksgiving dinner was fantastic. I made delicious rolls for the first time! It was exciting to see that I could really make bread. I have a breadmaker back home so I never had to make real bread from scratch and it was a little intimidating but it paid off! Brian made his small turkey and of course we had to have 2 styles of potatoes - mashed for me and baked for Brian. After we ate Brian's mom called and Lucas had a lot of fun talking her ear off. He loves to talk on the phone now (and now he actually talks instead of just listening)!

Big Boy

From Wichita Falls

From Wichita Falls

From Wichita Falls

Well Lucas is such a big boy now! In the past month that we have been here he has become so independent and gotten so much more personality. He loves to help me out around the house. As soon as the dishwasher is opened he wants to help empty it, reguardless of whether the dishes are clean or dirty. He also loves to help sweep. I have the big broom and then a small hand one. When I use the hand one he holds the dust pan and I sweep into it. I have talked about the little boy upstairs before I think but he has a little car that he keeps in the breezeway of our building so Lucas likes to play, or "drive" I should say, it all the time. These pics are actually from a very cold windy day that we had a while ago. That's the thing with the weather here, the sun shines most of the time so you think it should be warm, but the wind blows a lot and it's always a COLD wind.

Lucas 1st Santa Visit

From November 2009

On Saturday we went to Hangar Holiday here at Sheppard AFB and Lucas had his first opportunity to sit on Santa's lap. He was very unsure but he didn't cry or whine or anything like that. I plan on taking him to see Santa a few more times here on base so hopefully we can eventually get a cute pic :)

Our new little apartment

So this is our cute little apartment. It is about 1/2 a mile from the main entrance to Sheppard, and about 1.5 miles from my door to Brian's squadron. That actually makes it pretty nice since we are sharing the truck. If I ever need the truck I just walk there and get it. I really like our area because it is filled with Air Force (and a few army) wives and/or families. The people are really nice and Lucas has fun because there is a little boy (Caleb) his age that lives upstairs from us. Overall we really like it here, the one problem is that our apartment had fleas when we moved in!!! As you can see from the picture, they are eating me alive. Luckily both Brian and Lucas have emerged without hardly a bite (maybe 3 total). I think that after bombing twice we are finally getting rid of them. It just makes us glad that we didn't bring Gus, the poor guy would have a tough time with them.

Crazy Birds!

From November 2009

From November 2009

From November 2009

From November 2009

I thought that this really deserved it's own post. Near Brian's dorm there is a crazy phenomenon that happens every night at dusk. For no apparent reason, as soon as the sun starts to go down I think every bird in the region flocks to the same spot. It is dangerous to walk in this area!! There are power lines and quite a few trees and the floor is LITERALLY COVERED in bird "doo doo". It is really nasty. Brian said that when they march back from school or whatever they were out doing that usually at least one person gets pegged by flying poop.

Since this post I have seen at least one other location on base that has a similar phenomenon. I am not sure what is up with this place! Oh and there are lots of squirrels everywhere on base too...

Veterans Day Parade

Veterans Day Parade

Well I went to my first Veterans Day Parade, and what a good first one. Since Brian was marching in this parade I opted for the parade on base instead of going to the one in town. I was worried that it would be packed with people so we got there really early and Lucas had fun wandering around and of course following everyone in ABU's (camos) saying "Dad... Dada". We were 2 of the probably 10 civilians that ended up coming to watch the parade, the rest of the stands were completely filled with all of the troops that are assigned to Sheppard for school. It was neat because they had 2 other services marching there too, although I didn't catch which branches (thus the Army? and Marines? comments). At the beginning the marching band played the songs of all of the Military branches and then the National Anthem. It was weird because some of the branches songs were actually familiar patriotic songs that I remembered singing as a kid in school. Anyway it was very neat and I am glad that I went.

Brian's graduation Part 1

Well time to catch up on posts I guess! These are all pictures from Brian's graduation, I will probably add more pictures when I get the pictures from my Dad's camera as well.

On Thursday morning (10/22) all of the graduating airmen do their last run while their families stand on the sidewalk and try to get a glimpse of them. Later that afternoon is the coin ceremony where they officially go from Trainee's to Airmen. After that ceremony was the first time that we were able to see Brian. It was super exciting! They have to stand in formation until you go and touch them and then they can leave and walk around with you. I walked past Brian a million times and I couldn't see him, he finally gave up on my ability to find him and he cracked a tiny smile (which they really aren't supposed to do) so that I could find him. It was amazing!

The other pictures of the graduation parade are from Friday morning (10/23). I rode the shuttle there from my hotel and then my dad, Julie, my aunt Neli, and Uncle Dwayne drove over and met me there. Everyone had told us how hot San Antonio was but when we were there, it was sooo cold in the mornings! At the parade all of the airmen march past the bleachers and then there are speakers and songs, and then we all rush out on to the field to find our Airmen once again.

Right after the ceremony we were able to walk over and see Brian's dorm. It was crazy to see how he had lived for the past 2 months. You virtually have no privacy in there and I could see how difficult it must have been for all of the guys there. We met Brian's TI's and it was weird because the smaller guy looked so mean and tough and he was actually the nicer guy that let Brian call home on the weekends, and the TI that seemed nicer when we met him was actually the tough super strict one. I guess he is the toughest TI there at Lackland and he does things a lot differently than the other TI's but he is so good at what he does that they let him basically run his own show.

More pictures to come! After our visit to his dorm we were free to go around the town and then he had a town pass for Saturday as well.

Graduation weekend to commense!

I know I have completely been ignoring this while Brian has been gone. I have been writing him EVERY single night so after I write all of that stuff I am pretty burnt out on the writing. This is just a quick update to say that tomorrow I am flying to San Antonio to see Brian!!! It's graduation weekend already. I will try and post soon after arriving home, but I can make no promises! We will see him a little on Thursday and then all the way through Sunday. Who knows what life will have in store for us after that...

Phone Died.. :(

Well my phone has sippy cup damage! Apparently Lucas's cup leaked on to my phone and it won't turn on. So, I have NO phone numbers!! For now I have my cell forwarded to my home phone so you can call my number or call 435-705-5642. Please call or email me so I have your numbers again.

Thanks!

Phone Call #2!

Well Sunday I got another call from Brian! It was supposed to just be a business call to just get the drivers license numbers and dates of birth for everyone going to basic training, but we managed to get in a little bit of a conversation in the midst.

He is sounded like he was doing better, and since I was somewhat expecting (well really just hoping) for a call again I took it much better and didn't cry! Thank you to those of you who have written him. He did say that the letters from home have made things better. He reads the letters before he goes to bed at night, and he said that if "lights out" comes before he's done reading that he takes the letters into the bathroom to finish reading them there! So funny that he has to read the letters in the bathroom. I hope he is just "reading" them there instead of them being "reading material" if you know what I mean. haha

For those of you who know our eating habits you know that well, we aren't the easiest eaters to please. In spite of everything he said that he is eating well there. He eats a salad, main course, and a fruit for dessert at his meals. He also got the most perfect job for him there! He was assigned to the kitchen, which means that twice a week when he works there, he gets to have ice cream and sugary things. They are really meant for the TI's, but the kitchen workers get to eat from the forbidden luxuries.

He said that even though his flight is filled with guys right out of high school he is managing to make some friends there. There are a lot of country boys there that he gets along well with. He said that the evenings are his favorite parts of the night because everyone in his flight gathers in a group (even the TI's) and they just sit around talking and relaxing. That is something that they have earned recently and the guys all enjoy actually being able to relax instead of being on their toes.

I asked how his performance was going and he said that he is doing well. Most of the guys have around 20 marks against them (he used a specific name for it, but I can't remember it) and he only has 1 (that he got blamed for something that someone else did). He actually is learning to "cheat" the system. Apparently you only have so long, after the get out of bed trumpet sounds, to get dressed. So, he started hiding his socks under his bed so that before the trumpet sounds he can get out his socks and put them on while still in bed to buy him a few more seconds!

Well this is the start of his Week 4 of basic. Which means, Friday is his official half way through mark. I must say it is quite a relief to see that day come. He also said that this week they earn their name tag on their uniform. Which means that the TI's can visually see how long they have been there and don't give them such a hard time anymore.

Oh - and he did say that they started something new with his group. Now they do "night raids" (where people raid their dorm at night going through all of their things to make sure that everything is folded nicely and everything is spotless) every night. They used to only do this ridiculous thing like once or twice a week, but now it's every night. I don't think I would be able to go back to sleep after something like that.

At the end of our conversation we decided that I will be joining Brian at Tech School reguardless of duration or location. So, I will either be moving the last weekend in October or the first weekend of November. It is exciting, but a little crazy since I won't know where I am going for at least another 2-3 weeks. It is nice though, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, if anyone is wants to head on a road trip, (probably to Wichita Falls Texas) let me know and come with me!!

Lucas and I are doing well, I just haven't written on here much because I write Brian about it every day and it just feels so redundant.

Please keep all of us in your prayers, especially Brian. He could use any extra pull we have! :)

Brian called home!!

Well that super long awaited call finally came! When I heard my phone saying that a 210 (texas area code) phone number was calling my heart nearly leaped out of my chest as I darted for the phone leaving Lucas eating raisins in his high chair. I tried to hold it together but just hearing him say "hey" got the water works flowing.

He is missing home naturally, and says that it is REALLY hard, but he is doing ok. His TI's (insturctors) are really tough and they get in trouble a lot because there are some guys in his flight that really don't care to be there. They are so strict that he they haven't let them mail any letters home. If they are caught sending a letter home without permission they can get recycled (held back) a week.

He said that they have to run for 30 minutes straight and then they get a little break and then they have to do sprints. He is doing ok with the running but he said that on his physical test thing they do that he needs to improve his time on the mile and a half. Apparently he has to run it in 11 minutes or less and he is at 12, but his chins and calves are killing him so he is praying for rain! (when it rains they don't have to run - thus giving his calves time to heal) He says that he has lost some weight, but that he is getting a six pack with all the sit ups so it's ok.

He did say that he is only allowed letters and NO packages of any kind. So, feel free to write him even though he won't be able to respond.

Finally a picture

Well today I got an email from the service missionaries at Lackland and there was a picture of Brian!! It made me feel so good to see him, but yet so sad that we aren't there together. Although I really am doing alright. I get sad at night, but during the day I am really so busy with everything going on just don't have time to think about it.

I have written him a few letters but still no word from him yet. The missionaries said that writing home and calling is a "priveledge" that has to earned.