DC Trip

Last week I was able to go out and visit one of my best friends who lives in DC. Kelley & I were college roommates and have stayed close ever since. I hadn't seen her in over a year and had her 2nd child in September, so it was great catching up and spending time with everyone. We never remember to take pictures, partly because most of the time we are just shopping & there really isn't much to take pictures of, but did manage to take a few this time.

The first day we did some Christmas shopping at the Tyson's corner mall. Up in the food court there was a train ride for kids. We tried to distract Landon but failed and he of course wanted to ride. So he & Kelley rode the train. Landon had a blast and was so excited!

Another college friend of ours lives in DC and we were able to meet up with her for dinner. Shannon is doing so well and it was great to see her and catch up on everything that is going on in her life. She was actually over in England for a couple weeks this summer & we met up there too. It was great to see her again in DC! Thanks Shannon for meeting up with us!
Kelley & I had to get a picture in before I left. We snapped a few pictures of her family but just not on my camera. Thanks Kelley for a great trip and great girl time!!

That is it for now, I think I'm all caught up. We are hosting Christmas her for Jay's family who all arrive next week! We are excite to spend some quality time with them as well as hosting our first Christmas in our new home so there will be more to post then!

Thanksgiving 2009

Jay and I were able to go to North Carolina for Thanksgiving with my family. We didn't think we were going to be able to but it ended up working out. The whole family was there which was great since we hadn't seen Eric since being back in the states. The boys did some hiking and the girls did what we do best: hitting the shops! It was a great trip, even if it was a little quick. We can't wait until we can get back, plus we have some good friends who are not too far away and it will be great to have some get gatherings there!!

Lauren and I swinging on the porch swing downstairs...

Some deer in the back yard. It was great to watch them, they are so peaceful and beautiful.
The whole family! It took a couple attempts but this is the best one despite mom's eyes being a closed slightly
Wrestling fun! I love Evan's legs just hanging out and that is all you can see...
The boys cleaning up after dinner.

New House!!

So after visiting all the family we finally made it back to Wichita Falls. We had been looking (online mostly) and saw a few houses the day we flew in from England. It didn't take too long for us to decide on our great house that we finally choose. We are so excited and have a few other projects to do but we are settled for the most part. We have plenty of room for visitors so please give us a call anytime!

The dining room. We have both commented on how much bigger the rooms are here compared to our England house. You could barely walk around the table in the England house it is so nice to actually have room here! All the fixtures are great too and really go well with all our stuff.

Entry Way w/ the hallway to the right of the front door that leads to 2 bedrooms.
That is it for now but will have more to come later...

Disney Sept 2009

After we left England we went to Disney with my family w/ the Military Discount that Disney was offering. It was a lot of fun... I have always loved Disney and it is even better through the eyes of kids. Evan & Lauren had a blast. Evan loved having Jay there and wanted to go on all the rides with him... the race cars & Buzz Light Year were his favorite. Eric wasn't able to get time off of work so we will definitely have to go back when he is able to go as well.

Dad & I going into Disney... we were all so excited!!!

Dad & Mom shooting aliens on Buzz Lightyear's ride! I love how focused Dad is...
Buzz was waiting for us when we got out... Evan was pumped!
Jay & Evan driving the race cars. Evan was so excited. Jay was a little sad that the car they got was a Right had drive car... he thought we had left those in England!
Sally, Lauren, & Evan riding the train.

Sally & Lauren driving the race cars.

Saying hello to Goofy... turns out that Goofy is a Gator fan too! I had on a Gator shirt that he noticed and started doing the Chomp with me. Sally got a picture of it... it was great!
Lauren and I eating mexican at Epcot waiting for the firework & laser show.
Jay & I at Magic Kingdom. I'm such a kid at heart because I really get so excited walking into Disney, it just makes me happy!
Jay & Evan flying on Dumbo! Evan & Lauren both love wearing sun glasses and it just cracks me up for some reason... they look so cute! Jay isn't too shabby
It was a great trip, a little hot but oh well could have been worse!

Leaving England

So I know it has been awhile and these past 2 1/2 months have been a bit crazy with lots of change. Jay and I (as most if not all of you know) have moved back to the states!! As amazing as being in England was it is really nice to be back in the states. So here are a few pictures from our last few weeks in England. These are from Jay's fini flight in the F-15 at Lakenheath as well as the Reaper Passing that was hosted by Spike & Stephanie as well as some going aways of other friends in the Squadron who were leaving around the same time we were.

Jay's Fini Flight:

Jay taxing in...

Handing his gear down before he gets some water sprayed at him (that is the tradition at a fini flight, the person gets sprayed down as they are getting out of the Jet) so they usually try to get rid of as much gear as possible.
Getting sprayed and trying to fight back
Greeting me... with his sparkling cider
All the guys who was in his flight with him.
This Reaper Passing was a Road Rally that started in Cambridge and ended up at a pup north of base. Everyone divided in teams of 4-6... our team: Ryan, Jay, me, & Chuck. We had a lot of fun and thought we did really well...
In the Bury Gardens during one of our tasks... with the ruins in the back ground
Jay getting fareweled from Spike. It was a great time and a great way to spend some time with the whole gang before we left.
More to come on our arrival in the states...

Scotland

Over Labor Day weekend Jay and I took a road trip up to Scotland.  I hadn't been up there before and Jay hadn't been since he was little.   We decided to go up there for one last trip before we leave.  It was a lot of time in the car but the scenery was well worth it!  We drove up on Friday and stayed in Glasgow... here is a shot of the sunset we caught on the way up.

On Saturday we drove up to Inverness to go to the Macallan Scotch Distillery and stayed in Inverness that night.  We crossed this bridge on the way... so pretty!
The Macallan Distillery. We weren't able to tour the factory but we did go to the gift shop so Jay could get some good bottles and walked around the grounds a little.  They were absolutely beautiful, over looking the river.
Sunday morning we drove through the Lochs and then headed down to St. Andrews.  We stopped off at a couple waterfalls that we found on the map.  The first wasn't that impressive but the river was great.
The second was really good!
Jay and I at Loch Ness.  It was really pretty and I didn't realize how big it was.  The weather wasn't that great but still impressive.
Another Loch on our drive down to St. Andrews.
We went to Oban and the Distillery there that we were able to tour.
This was really random, we were hanging out before the tour and walking around the harbor.  We came upon this statue.  We weren't sure what to make of it, we didn't see any explanation on why or what it was representing.  Jay thought it would be funny if I "Scolded" him.
St. Andrews Old Course ... the last hole.  It was really beautiful there.
We (and by we I mean Jay) weren't able to play the course but we did hit some balls.  I don't know that much about golf but the balls that they give you at the driving range were all Calloway which Jay says are really good balls.
I even hit some.  I wasn't that good but did manage to get some good shots off.
The St. Andrews Sign...
It was a great trip!  And a great way to round out our Europe travels.  I know we will still do a bunch of traveling in Europe, it just may be a little bit before we get back.

We are now completely packed out of our house, have both cars sold over here and only have one work week left.  Jay finals out next Wednesday and we head down to London that night!  We are going to see Avenue Q and then fly out Thursday morning!!!  We are so excited for this next phase in our lives and all that God has in store for us.  I'll post pictures of Jay's fini flight and our going aways next weekend.

Spouse Taxi

Last Friday the OG (Operations Group, the part Lakenheath that the 2 F-15 E, F-15 C, & Helicopter Squadrons are members of) put on a Spouse Appreciation Day!  It was a great day and they had all kinds of events lined up for us to do.  I was able to take part in the Hight Speed Taxis that they were able to arrange.  We aren't allowed to fly in the jets so this was a close as we were going to get to being in them.  The guys were great at explaining what was going on when they were starting up, we were able to make the radio calls, and then of course the taxi!  We stood at the end of the run way and then "took off", well not really only to 100 knots, but it was still pretty cool.  It was really neat to be in the jet and see even an extremely small glimpse of what their "office" is like.  Here are some pictures:

We all wore one of our husbands flight suits... it was a tad big but still really comfy!

Jay and I hanging out in Life Support getting ready for me to get fitted in all the gear.
Putting on the G-suit.  This is what they fly in that helps them keep all the blood from rushing from their heads and passing out while they are pulling G's! 
With the helmet on.
Getting the harness fitted
and now the mask....
We had to look in the mirror so they could show us how to take the mask off if we started feeling sick.
Jay and I with all our gear on ready to head out to the jet!
James Farrow was the pilot who did my taxi ride... Thanks so much James!

Jay and I in front of the jet... he wasn't able to taxi me but was in the jet next to the one I was in so it was fun to see him next to me.  We got some pictures before we went to the one we were going to be in.

Jay want to do one of the "Hero" shots that they often get when they first start flying...  as you can see it was quite windy that day.
Getting some shots in the jet.
Jay was in the front.

It was such a fun day and a great time hanging out with Jay.  We left that afternoon for Scotland, one last trip before we head out.