Three appetizers, nine side dishes, a 12 pound turkey, an 18 pound ham and three desserts, four if you count the ice cream, later, we successfully rolled away from a Texas Thanksgiving. We kicked off the holiday at our house with friends by tapping our keg of homemade Hard Paddling Cider. (For those who don’t know the back story, we made hard cider with our friends Ben and Joni from back home. It took a year of fermentation after hand crushing 275 pounds of apples to create the final product and we can now officially say it was worth the wait. Cheers to our success Harvester 9!) With an alcohol content of 9% it’s a bit dangerous and ensured that everyone enjoyed the rest of the evening.
Mikayla did fantastic and hung out with Daddy and friends most of the day. Though by the end of the evening it was clear that she and I had not spent much time together and she let me know it was time for Mommy time.
It was a harsh punishment, but Friday was spent cuddling before the Ducks game and leftover feast that night.
The rest of the weekend was spent not doing much of anything. We decorated the house for Christmas, and while we didn’t get a real tree this year, since we’ll be gone at the holidays, we’re reminded of home every time we walk by and smell the trees at the store! It's a bit different, putting up Christmas lights in shorts and t-shirts, but a few holiday decorations and the spirit of anticipation that comes with the season is enough to make just about anywhere cozy.
If there was ever a year to host Thanksgiving outside, this would be it. The temperature is forecasted to be a high of 79 with a low of 40 degrees. Too bad we don’t have a picnic table! The view isn’t nearly as pretty as it is back home since the leaves don’t change colors, they simply die and fall off, so I guess we’re not missing much by keeping the turkey indoors.
The past couple weeks have once again sped by. Two weekends ago, John and a couple friends went camping and had their site visited by a raccoon and wild pig. The guys survived, however the banana nut muffins were not as lucky.
Mikayla and I have attempted to become more adventurous with our daily walks, even venturing off base a bit more. Though when we tried to find hiking trails around the lake and instead found desolate dirt roads with vultures flying overhead, deer as thin as sticks and bushes with spikes all over them, we decided to keep going. Fortunately, we were at least able to find a campground with a fishing dock to walk around for a little while.
Mikayla continues to do better at entertaining herself. She’s found blankets to be great toys – that or she’s practicing to be a nun. And today, she reached out and grabbed a rattle for the first time, which she immediately tried to eat.
This past weekend we headed to San Antonio. No matter where the road takes us, we’re never short of things to chuckle about, and this time, one such thing was a home for sale via a handwritten yard sale sign. Best of luck to them I suppose.
Most of the weekend was spent shopping anywhere other than Walmart and I can’t say how thrilled I was to visit a real grocery store! I felt like a kid in a candy store when we walked into Whole Foods and could have spent the entire day shopping. Fortunately for John and Mikayla’s sake, I pretty much stuck to the list of Thanksgiving ingredients and then we hit the road.
Mikayla continues to love road trips! She spends a fair share of the drive sleeping, but also enjoys looking out the window and telling us stories. We have a mirror hooked up for her in John’s car that has a monkey overhead – I’m not sure what she was saying, but she had all sorts of things to tell Mr. Monkey this weekend.
It’s been fun to listen to Mikayla's pigeon talk evolve. In addition to having specific cries, she has very specific conversations to tell us what she wants. Perhaps the easiest to decipher is her food request, which almost always serves as a prelude to the great breakdown demanding food.
It’s hard to believe that Mikayla will be three months old on Thursday. She’s growing fast, becoming more playful every day and definitely has some spunk in her. The other day as John picked her up during a crying fit that was spurred by nothing more than wanting to be held, I caught her sneak out a smile as if to say, ‘hah! I got my way,’ watch our world, here comes Mikayla Jo!
Awe, wine. There’s nothing like a good glass of Oregon wine to remind me of home. We really should try out the local winery here in Del Rio, I just haven’t mustered up the courage to venture in quite yet...perhaps this weekend.
For anyone that’s checked the blog during the past few weeks, I apologize for the lack of entries. The days have been a bit hectic getting moved in, adjusting to life on base and with John jumping into pilot training. Good news is, 400+ boxes and who knows how many trees worth of paper later, we’re finally settled. We unpacked the last room this weekend and are to a point where I’m able to sit back and spend some time typing.
Our house is nothing glamorous, but we’ve done what we can to make it cozy and I it will work for the year. Besides, there’s a ceiling fan in almost every room so Mikayla thinks it’s the best house ever! Virtually all of the homes on base – aside from the big wigs' – look the same. They’re mid-50s rancher style duplexes. The interiors vary a little bit, but not much. Ours is a “two plus” bedroom, which essentially means we have two regular size bedrooms and a little one. It has a “his and hers” bathroom, which is odd, a big fenced backyard and a huge pine tree in the front yard. We’re kitty-corner from the base commander’s house, so we probably won’t be hosting many wild parties, and we’ve already established a social circle that makes it seem like we’ve been here far longer than we have.
(Mikayla doesn't mind folding laundry, as long as there is a ceiling fan involved.)
For the most part, unpacking went smoothly, though there were a few lessons learned for the next move. In particular, throw away the grease jar before the movers come! We emptied the trashes, but completely forgot the grease jar. Fortunately, almost all of the grease made it to Del Rio without spilling... Also, don’t assume the labels on the boxes have anything to do with what’s inside. After all, why wouldn’t the stereo be packed with the flower pots???
John’s pilot training is off to a running start and going very well. It’s no surprise he’s excelling in the academics and can’t wait to hit the flight line next month. He spends most of his day in briefings, AKA class, comes home for lunch and then hits the books with a study group in the evenings. Mikayla and I had a chance to watch him practice parachute landings, which I have to admit looks a bit like a bunch of grown men jumping off platforms and rolling around in the gravel, as well as his time in the pressure chamber. Ironically, I think we see each other more now than we ever did before.
Mikayla continues to grow and her personality blossoms more and more each day. For Halloween she was a pumpkin and a monkey, and in the past couple weeks she’s started giggling which is a heart melting sound.
We haven’t been able to get her to roll over again, but she’s gotten much better about entertaining herself and napping on her own. She’s finally big enough for her swing and naps to the sound of the ocean just about every day. By the time we take her to see the ocean, she’ll probably fall asleep the moment she hears the waves crash.
Recent cold fronts have brought the temperatures all the way down into the 70s during the day - not quite like November at home - and while I could tell you stories all night, it's time to head to bed. On that note, I leave you with a few photos and I'll try to keep the posts coming more regularly going forward.
