Halloween, etc...

Well we had a decently fun Halloween even though we were not home to go Trick-or-Treating. We took the kids to haunt the zoo, where local businesses come to the zoo and hand out candy. We went there earlier in the week and then on Halloween day we took the kids out of school and headed to Kansas where Ryan had a football tournament. They won three of four games while in Kansas and all had a great time. Ryan won MVP of the first game and has been so proud of his trophy ever since. We were going to take the kids to the mall in Kansas to do some trick-or-treating, but they both voted to stay at the hotel and go swimming instead.

On the 15th we finished up Ryan's football season with a win in very cold weather, like 30 degrees, to our rivals who have been undefeated for the past 2 years. It was a great win that the boys really deserved. Unfortunately, I was a wimp and did not bring the camera because I didn't want to have to try to fumble with it in gloves and there was no way I was gonna take those things off! Colin cried most of the game because it was so cold, but we got through it.

I am finished with my clinicals for this semester and am looking forward to taking my final in two weeks and being done with my class! I hear that next semester is going to get way harder, so I am happy to get a break before I have to go back.

Matt has just returned from a 2 week trip to Texas for some training and will be trying to get some work done in the next two weeks so that we can get ourselves to Virginia for Christmas. We are so excited to go home and see everyone since it has been 4 years since we have been home for the holidays. Unfortunately, we have to leave the day after Christmas so that Matt can get back with his squadron, but we are gratefull for the time we are going to have.

In other breaking news....Matt and I have been attending a church here in town that we truely love. We have tried so many churches over the years and have never found one with such nice people. The first day we came people began opening thier hearts to us in a fashion that is truely genuine. Because of this, Matt and I really feel that God is trying to speak to us and have us open our hearts to him. In the past when we have prayed, it has been almost a necessity (like, "God, please let this person be alright"), but in the last couple of months we have been praying that he would just show us the way and come into our hearts. In response, Matt has decided to get baptized and become a member of the church here and I have decided to stand by him and get baptized into the Baptist church that we have been attending.

I will update more after Thankgiving.....

Long Overdue

Hello everyone!!! I know this is way overdue, but I guess it is better late than never. AOL closed down thier journals...I guess to save money so I had to transfer my blog over to this one. unfortunately I don't think it let me bring my pictures over. Hopefully, this new one will work fine for the few times of year that I do post!

We have all been super busy as usual. Ryan plays football and is the starting quarterback for a fairly competitive team. He gets 100s on everything he does in school and attends a special class once a week for kids who are a little ahead. He is still very smart and although that is a good thing, it can get him in trouble as well.

Colin was going to gymnastics but just stopped. He is doing well in school and is always getting commended on his kindness and hard work. His teacher says he is quiet, but takes everything in. He keeps busy wrestling with Daddy and improving his football skills in hopes of being like Ryan.

Matt has had an exercise at work every month almost since we have been here and spends a lot of time in the field and working long hours. In between all of that he has been playing on the squadron flag football team as well as being an assistant coach for Ryan's football team. He will be headed for Texas in a couple of weeks for some additional training and then will be off to the desert in January.

I have started back to nursing school and spend three days a week at school. I also waitress about 20 hours a week to bring in a little extra money. I spend any spare time I have at Ryan's football or doing a little around the house.

This weekend we head up to Kansas for an out of state tournament fot football. It should be fun...I just hope we do well and the boys have fun. This will be our last big tournament and then football will be almost over. In December we head home to Virginia for a Christmas home with family.

Finally making time to do this

Okay, so I cheated everyone on the last entry and have taken forever to update anything. Sorry! Hopefully, you are all still checking on this every once in a while and haven't completely lost faith in me.

Matt has started ALS or Airman Leadership School and will be very busy with that for the next 5 or 6 weeks. Once he is done with that he will officially be a Staff Sergeant and will start to have troops under him. So far he has been keeping a positive attitude and seems excited to start the next phase of his military career. He has seemed to find his place at work and as usual got right involved in the things that he enjoys such as the football team. He has quite a little jog to work every morning, but has been enjoying the quiet ride there.

Ryan played basketball when we first got here which turned out to be quite a bit more serious than we anticipated. He then played soccer in the smaller town that we live in which ended up being a bit to unorganized. We are working on finding a balance for him where he can still enjoy playing, but also develop his skills. He is only a week away from finishing the first grade. The school here is quite a bit easier than his old school and he is way ahead of his class. We had him tested for the gifted and talented program here and he qualified. He will be spending one day a week starting next year studying more challenging things which will hopefully keep him from getting bored. His summer will be packed full with activities and visits with family until the next school year begins.

Colin also played soccer this season and loved it. He is so fun to watch because you can tell he enjoys every minute of it, although he does say that "soccer is so hard!" He was the youngest on his team of 5 and 6 year olds so he had trouble getting to the ball before the other kids. Colin has a wonderful ability to pretend with anything and often times can play with his toys for an hour at time.He will probably go to a pre-K program next year, which should really help him get ready for kindergarten.

I have been busy working around the house and carting the kids from place to place. Just last week I also got a part time job as a waitress and I am still trying to get into a nursing school somewhere. I had ariginally applied at three schools but I got denied one, put on the wait list for another, and I haven't heard from the third yet. I guess if I don't get into a school this fall, I will just try again in the spring. I have also planted a small garden in the back yard and some flowers in the front that i have been trying to get to grow. I plan on working more on the garden this weekend since it is going to be nice.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we got a dog. A boxer named Roxy!

I hope this finds everyone happy and well...I will update sooner next time!

Well...We're here...

We finally recieved all of our stuff from Japan and as I unpack, I wonder why the heck we have so much stuff! Matt says that he always wonders that. As most of you know, we bought a house here that we are finally getting settled into. There is so much work that needs to be done that I sometimes wish we had a brand new house so that we wouldn't have to mess with any of it.

Bringing in the New Year

As we prepare to bring in the New Year we continue to be excited and amazed at what lies ahead. We are looking forward to purchasing our first home, a new car, my return to school, and the opportunities that we might find in Oklahoma. We spend much of our time right now getting ready for the move and figuring out all the things we want to do when we get back. I have applied to five nursing schools and should start finding out in April or May if I am going to get in or not.

Ryan has been enjoying his time off from school this holiday break and even more than that I think that Colin has enjoyed having him home. He loves his brother so much and although he has many ways to annoy him, he really misses him when he is not around.

Matt got his official orders and so we can finally start making the plans and appointments necessary to out process this base. We also got our port call and will be leaving here and arriving in the states on February 16th.

The kids had a good Christmas, although we kept it small this year, I think it was still enjoyable. They ran out of the lego sets that Ryan really wanted more than 2 months ago at the BX and so I know he was a bit disappointed, but I told him he could pick one out when we get to the states so he will have something to play with there.

We aren't doing anything special for the New Year, but we will be taking in a performance of Tops in Blue ( the Air Force's own singers and dancers). This will be our third time seeing them and I am never let down. They always put on a new and great show. If they ever come your way, you should consider going to see them.

I put some random pictures in this time from Christmas, Boy Scouts, and one of our new house. I hope this finds you all happy and well...until next time!

Ohhhhhhh...KLAHOMA

"...Where the wind goes sweeping through the plains!"

I guess that is going to be our newest theme song! As most of you already know we will be going to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City. We are very excited that we will be back in the states even if it is going to be a ways from home. We are also excited that we are most likely going to be able to buy our first house! Now that we know where we are going, we are ready to pack our bags and be on our way!

Ryan has been sick this last week with a really nasty flu bug. He has had a fever for about five days, but it finally broke last night. He has his last soccer game on Saturday and if they win (well technically we don't keep score...but) we will be undefeated. He has been much better at soccer than we anticipated and we can really see the improvement in he ball handling skills. His speed has also increased a lot, but I think that is partly because he has grown so much recently. He is doing well at school, although his teacher just had a baby and now he is going to have a substitute for at least 2 months. I just hope he continues to do well with the new teacher.

Colin is getting to be quite the little pain sometimes. He likes to cry for the opposite of what you say. If I say lets go to Pizza Hut he cries and says he wants to go to Burger King, so then if I say, "okay we will go to Burger King" he will cry for Pizza Hut. Sometimes you just can't win with him. Right now he is also very particular about what he wears and will often times insist that he has to wear red because red is "cool". It can be very tiring, but I guess if we ever thought Colin might get lost in Ryan's shadow that thought is gone now!

Matt has been finishing up his football season. I think they are 3-3 now and so if they win this next game or two I guess they will make the playoffs. Matt was supposed to be in the middle of Airman Leadership School righ tnow, but he lost his slot to someone who needed the class sooner than he did. I guess he will have to take it as soon as we get to the states. Matt is looking forward to leaving his desk job at this base behind and going to a more outdoor job in Oklahoma. Only time will tell if he will like it or not, but an excited attitude will certainly help.

I have finished taking classes here in Japan and now have enough to earn my associates degree. I won't be walking with a cap and gown or anything, but it is still nice to have. My last week of work is this weekand since Ryan was sick I will only be working the last 2 days. I am happy to be done and I am excited to get a start on the house stuff that needs to get done. I also plan on going to the gym a little more often.

We had a good Thanksgiving and I was really happy with the way that everything turned out. The turkey turned out very tender this year and everything was really good. We always wish we had family closer to spend the holidays with, but it is nice to have our friends around too. I hope everyone is happy and healthy. Hopefully the next time I write we will have our actual date that we are leaving!

Love you all...enjoy the pictures!

Our List

I don't have too much news other than that our list of possible bases came out. I will list them here in the order that we chose which is from most preferable to least.

Bolling AFB, DC,    Peterson AFB, CO,    Tinker AFB, OK,   Mountain Home AFB, ID,      Barksdale AFB, LA,    and Cannon AFB, NM

We should find out where we are going in the next few weeks and hopefully no later that the first week of November.

The pictures above are mostly from Colin's soccer and the one of Matt is after he ran the half marathon. I wanted to get a picture of him as he crossed the finish line, but I was there too late.

We are staying busy here as Ryan plays soccer, we all go to school, and Matt prepares for another exercise at work. I will update more around the first of the month with the kids halloween pictures and hopefully our next base!