July

We continued our Air Force summer enjoying Aaron being home but knowing that SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training was coming 3 weeks after he got home.  Lucky for us the month-long training was at Fairchild AFB outside Spokane, WA.  Lucky again for us that my parents live in Spokane along with my brother and his wife, Aaron's sister and her family and his grandma. 

Family time and fun galore!

Alex got a TON of Cub stuff done with Grandpa. 

 Spokane equals family time as well as Subway time:  Eat Fresh!

The first few weeks were surprisingly cool and cloudy but we still had a great time at the water park. 

We usually split the time in Spokane between the two families.  Lucky for us Aaron's brother Trent moved his wedding up a weekend so we could  be there before Aaron left for Florida for water training.

Yes.... everything we did this summer was with the Air Force!

The sun finally came out and we had a great time boating with the cousins and cliff jumping (Alex went off a 30 footer)

The wedding was beautiful and we all love Aunt Tori!!

A little R&R

Once Aaron got home and re-signed into the base he was given 17 days off for some family time and vacation. We decided to start off with a little Stay-cation in Rapid City.  I mean, hundreds of thousands of people come here to visit, might as well see what all the fuss is about. 

First Aaron and I got a babysitter for an afternoon and went riding on his motorcycle.  There is a highway called Iron Mountain Road that was built specifically for riding.  Lots of pigtail turns and one-way tunnels cut into the rocks. 

Second we took a day and went to the Badlands. For those of you who are planning a vacation to come and see us, the Badlands are only 50 miles from our home.  Just letting you know.

In between summer thunderstorms Aaron took Alex out for "man camp" on the hill behind our house, trying out the paint ball gun he got for Father's Day.  Aaron and our neighbor played men vs boys.  The boys even pulled out one win.  WOLVERINES!

Another Rapid City area hot spot, actually located in Wyoming, is Devils Tower.  For you Close Encounters fans we did not see Richard Dryfus but we did sing the song.  De, de, de, bo bee....

And finally, we took the kids to Mall of America in Minnesota.  One very cool mall!  We stayed at the Raddison across the street which had a waterpark and then spent a day at the mall riding the rides.  I think more than anything it was just good to be together again!

Aaron's Home!!

So yeah - Aaron's home!  It's been a month now and even though we are once again not together (he's at Fairchild AFB in SERE/Survival School) I figured it was time to throw some pictures up.

Aaron coming home was a bit of a surprise.  For those of you following my blog or emails or whatever, you may know that his come home date kept changing.  A bit frustrating - to say the very least.  But FINALLY we had an official be on the plane date (June 18 for him) and an expected "home" date of about June 22-23 (depending on how long he had to hang out in Manas AFB in Kyrgyzstan).

So Friday night we say our final goodbye via Skype (thank you for existing) not expecting to hear from him for a few days .  But, Saturday morning I wake up to this email (quote): So I wanted to wait to make sure everything went ok and no flights got canceled but right now I am sitting in Germany waiting for a plane to Charleston. 

As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm totally freaking out! And by the time I actually get the email he's already in the air on the way to the US.  Good thing we had Cub Scout Camp, 2 birthday parties and I had a lesson/sharing time for church to do, not to mention that the house needed a little bit of a clean up.  It takes me about 10 minutes to wrap my head around the whole situation and then it's to the phones.  Thanks to everyone who helped with carpooling and the like on that crazy day.  

By 1:00 am Sunday (Father's Day) morning the house is clean top to bottom, clothes are all laid out, posters are made and I lay down for a last sleepless night.

At the airport:  TSA has a policy that if you have a family member leaving or coming home from a deployment you are allowed to accompany them to/from the gate.  Just like the good old days.  Too bad the lady at the Security Line didn't want to follow that rule.  I had called a month in advance to get all the info we would need to get past security.  I had all the birth certificates for the kids and had received all the boarding passes from the downstairs ticket people and the TSA security officers on the main floor.  I was ready.  Then the crabby lady who loves to ruin peoples dreams and hates Father's Day entered my life.  She refused to let us through. 

For those of you who know me I'm sure you realize that I was calm and cool and not sending death to her through my eyes.  FINALLY we get through (via a manager), although Aaron's plane has landed (late luckily) and we get to the gate just in time!!  It was wonderful!  Ainsley went right to him, the kids couldn't get enough of him,  and there were tears all around - and not just us.

 It was pouring rain so I was feeling a little sad that we couldn't really celebrate out in our cul-de-sac with our awesome neighbors.  We pulled into the driveway, opened the garage and all our neighbors were standing in the garage waving flags and cheering.  It was a perfect Homecoming and Father's Day. 

Deployment Up-date

So most if not all of you know that Aaron's replacement was delayed leaving the US due to the volcano in Iceland interrupting the airspace.  Weather that is the actual reason or that's the reason that they are telling us that is all we have.  So his replacement is a week delayed, of course delaying Aaron leaving Afghanistan.  

So what happens now you ask?  Very good question.  From what I understand from Aaron, there is a flight leaving Bagram Thursday, June 16.  Right now Aaron's commander has him on that flight. If he leaves Afghanistan on the 16th, he will be home (earliest) Monday, June 20 and (latest) probably around Thursday, June 23.  Again though, neither of us know so your educated guess is as good as ours.  One thing we can plan on is that Aaron home for Father's Day is not a reality anymore. 

What happens if, for whatever reason, he doesn't' leave on the 16th?  Again, great question! I believe that Aaron said that next flight out of dodge is Wednesday, June 22 which would get Aaron home probably Saturday, June 25 - Tuesday, June 28.  Again, just ball-parking it here because neither of us know.

To Anonymous - Thank you!!

A week or two after Aaron left I received a rather large box from Omaha Steak Co.  filled with dinners, veggies, and desserts with a card signed "With Love - an Anonymous Friend in California".

Three months later, at Aaron's halfway, I received another package.

Last month another.

It is well past time that I sent out a "Thank You" to my anonymous friend. 

Dance Recital

Sydney has been taking dance since September.  Tomorrow is the big recital.  What's fun about the ballet part is that the program is set up by children's books - the dancers tell the stories.  The stories featured are Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Velveteen Rabbit, and Ferdinand the Bull.  Sydney's group is the bumblebees in Ferdinand the Bull.

There is also a tap/jazz/modern program.  They are just set to fun music by Janet Jackson, Queen, Madonna... it's called "Legends".  Sydney's group is doing a tap to "Brown Eyed Girl".

Tap costume

tap again

Bumblebees

 

This is our neighbor Jayda - she's a strawberry in the Very Hungry Caterpillar

Ainsley's new skill

Granted, it's not as cool an num-chuck (sp?) skills but slightly better than computer hacking skills.  Ainsley turned 6 months last Friday and just today decided that she could sit independently. 

Yes - she's huge but the Gerber baby wasn't hired because it was slim.  She loves watching her brothers and sister.  She equally loves food and eating.  She has two teeth and her patchy hair is starting to fill in. She sleeps well and is super happy, which is a blessing with Aaron being gone.

Alex's week

So we started the week with an ear-infection for Ainsley and a split eye for Sydney (see below) but ended the week with a lot of activies centered around Alex.  I feel bad for the kid sometimes becasue being the only boy there is a lot of girl stuff going on around him that he has to participate in.  So I 'm always glad when things get centered around him.

Thursday morning Alex was in the 2nd grade spelling bee.  They do a class bee and top 4 go to the grade bee.  Out of the 12 there Alex got 6th.  One bettter than last year.  The word "broad" tripped him up but he knows how to spell it now.  I just pass it off that he's too respectful towards women to know how to spell that word.

Saturday was our first Pinewood derby.  I passed on the opportunity to wow everyone with my wood working skills so Alex had to make his car with a friend and his dad.  He designed and painted it himself.  He made the Mach 5 from the movie Speed-racer.  Didn't win too many/any races but had a blast and he's already looking forward to next year!

sizing up the competition