I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years! We were in Spokane for the holidays and enjoyed our time visiting family and spending at least a little bit, though not nearly enough, time with friends as well. Toward the end of the trip, Spokane got blanketed with nearly eight inches of fresh snow which was beautiful! It was cold, with temperatures in the single digits...a bit different than good ole Texas.
Mikayla enjoyed the visit and did wonderfully with all of her "fans." We couldn't have asked any more of her on the planes or while we were there, though I guess she's probably accustom to travel and to lots of people by now.
Since I'm way behind in updating the blog and there are all sorts of things to catch up on besides the holidays, I'm going to do a quick recap of our vacation via photos and call it a wrap for now. Happy New Years to all!
I’m not sure whether or not I should be disappointed that this year’s Wild Game Dinner didn’t feature any armadillo, but I will admit I halfway expected the roly poly critters to be on the menu. Unlike any fundraiser I’d been to before, the event benefited the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce. It attracted hundreds of people from throughout the county and while I can’t imagine recommending such an event to the organizations I help fund raise for, it seemed to be a success.
Hosted at the civic center, the event kicked off by shuffling the crowds through a chow line where nothing but wild game was served. Attendees ranged from hardcore hunters wearing vintage Wranglers to just about every student pilot training at Laughlin. As for the food, the wild boar and turkey weren’t bad, but I quickly understood why the food isn’t the main attraction. Rather, it’s all about the guns!
This year’s event featured a gun raffle with 100 rifles and shotguns, though if I were to guess I’d say there were probably a few more guns in the room – not to mention the pickups outside.The guns were said to have a combined value of $50,000 and rumor has it, more than 4,000 one dollar tickets were purchased. While the odds could have been better, one of our friends won two – not a bad return.
This definitely counted as a "y'all" moment and a Texas adventure to add to the baby books. What will Mikayla think when she’s old enough to go through it???
Hat’s off to Laughlin’s Captain Moore duo for a great spouses’ day! They introduced us to what John is going through during pilot training and then sent us soaring with T-6 flying lessons (from the ground that is).
From the control tower you can see the dozens of T-6s lined up on the flight line. Apparently there are 40-50 T-6 flights at Laughlin per day. I'm not sure how many T-1 & T-38 flights come in and out.
Climbing to the top of the control tower wiped Mikayla right out!
(BTW - Although we're in Texas, it was 37 degrees out when we left the house this morning! Hence the sweaters and blanket.)
Airplanes, airplanes, airplanes! The white ones are T-1s and are what John will move to after the T-6. It looks like a business jet.
The three planes pilots train in at Laughlin. From left to right is the T-1, T-6 and T-38. Everyone starts in the T-6 and then they break out to the T-1 or T-38 depending on whether they'll be flying "heavies" (like John's C-17) or fighters.
A better view of the T-6s from the catwalk, which is essentially a wraparound porch on the control tower.
On the way to the simulators we ran into Daddy and did the great pass of the baby so that Mommy could go flying. (From the look on John's face, you can see that he's intimidated by my incredible flying skills.)
Who needs a fancy flight suit anyway....?
Does this thing have a seat warmer?
So, I'm assuming someone is going to tell me how to start this thing...
"Mom! I can't believe you just did that, you should really leave the flying to Daddy."
Fheew, a co-pilot! But shouldn't he be in the plane?
Hold on, what happened to the runway? Turn the flash back off.
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.
