Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. We spent this year at home in Wichita. Here's some photos:

Here's Rachel with the turkey pumpkin on the front porch.

Our spread. It was just Isaiah and I, but we had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, canned yams, and green bean casserold. It was super yummy but WAY too much food for just the 2 of us.

The pumpkin pie I made for dessert. I'm a Semi-Homemade girl. The crust is Pillsbury Pie Crust and the Pie filling is the canned Pumpkin directions. The embelishments on top use Pampered Chef small cookie cutters with the left over crust.

Our Visit to Colorado Springs

At the early part of November we decided to go visit Isaiah's sister in Colorado Springs. Their daughter Eden is one month younger than Rachel and we had not met her yet. We were very excited to get to see them all play together.

The pictures below were taken at an indoor playground, because it was pretty cold while we were in Colorado Springs.

Daddy and Rachel making our way up the very steep bridge.

Eden and Sarah playing.

We tried really hard to get a good picture of the 3 of them playing, but this was the only shot I could actually get them all in the frame. Oh well...

Here, Rachel, Eden and David are having fun in the tub.

Happy Halloween

Well, I did a really bad job post for the last 3 months, but here's some pictures for memories' sake:

Applejack Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 10am McConnell is really fabulous about their morale programs for families with deployed members. This month's event was centered around Applejack Pumpkin Patch just on the east side of Wichita. This was the first time for both Rachel and I at a pumpkin patch and it has set the standards very high. The normal admission price for the pumkin patch is $6, and they have all sorts of games, rides, slides, a corn maze, and of course a pumpkin patch. They also have some food concessions available. The Heart's Apart group got a wristband and voucher ticket which allowed us to get into the patch for free, a pumpkin each for free, adults got a $5 concession voucher and kids a $3 voucher. This was good enough for me to get a cheeseburger and drink and Rachel to get a hotdog and drink while we were there.

I got a stranger to take a picture of us at one of the "kodak moments" set ups. (it turned out good except for being crooked)

Here's a picture of the farm. Across the field they were doing tractor rides, but you had to be at least 2 to ride. They also had a place where you could shoot a pumpkin out of a cannon, shoot paintball shots and pumpkins, and some other fun things. Behind us (outside of the picture) was a big playground for the kids. Rachel ended up standing in this one spot sort of spinning around just looking at everything.


This was our first corn maze...

We made it out, without too many dead ends.

Rachel and the pumpkin patch. Obviously we're getting towards the end of the season, so it was slim picking in the "free pumpkin" lot.

Rachel and her pumpkin. Mine is the green one on the ground. I really like this picture, I just wish she had been looking at me.

Our first hayride - back to the car we go after a fun-filled, and free morning!

McConnell Family Mobility Line

On Saturday, October 15, 2011, we took Rachel (and myself) to our first Family Mobility Line. The purpose is to show families how our heros prepare for deployments, but obviously they tried to make it a little more fun for us.

Isaiah with Rachel when we first got here. Everyone is still happy in this photo, that's how you know we had just got here. Rachel got a camo hat so the deployment could be more realistic.


Rachel and I - we were assigned to Chalk #3. Even though we got here right when they told us to - 10am. We were assigned to the 3rd group to proceed through the mobility line.





Isaiah was impressed that they were true to their word of showing how a mobility line works - having to wait in line for a long time. We ended up waiting outside in our chalks for an hour.



OK, now we're "marching" to the mobility building so we can get our intel briefings and then proceed to the jet. Notice Rachel did no marching.

Rachel was super excited about her dog tags.

Now we're on the bus to head to air plane.

Mom and Rachel outside of the airplane. As you can tell from our hair, it was a typical windy Kansas day. But other than that, I like this photo.

Rachel checking out the cockpit. Apparently there were a couple buttons and flashy lights that caught her attention. I don't believe it though.

All the jets here at McConnell. Since coming from MacDill its still impressive to me how big this 135 wing is and how many jets they have here.

Sep 09, 2011 Trip to the Zoo with Friends

My new Wichita friends, Jen Forness and Meg Massey joined Rachel and I with their babies to the Sedgewick County zoo. It was a beautiful fall morning and the kiddos seemed thrilled!

Baby cow

Right to left: Rachel, Rosalyn, and Wyatt. This part of the zoo is my favorite. It's completely enclosed and mimicks a rain forrest, so it is really humid. You get to walk along this dirt path and there are birds and bats that get to roam around freely. They have a river that runs the through the building that houses large catfish, river rays and other fish. They also have sloths, and caymen in this exhibit.

Right to left: Meg, myself, and Jen with our babies in front of the giraffe exhibit.

September 11, 2011

9/11 Never Forget...
It's hard to believe its been 10 years since 9/11/01. I remember going to Calculus class my freshmen year at Clemson and hearing people talking about some explosion that had gone on. When I returned to my dorm room afterwards it was the most eerie sight. Everyone's doors were wide open with the tv on and they were all on the same channel showing the twin towers on fire. What an omnious day that was. It is so compelling to relive the emotions of that day as if they were yesterday each year. My heart goes out to all those affected by 9/11.
This morning I dressed Rachel in patriotic gear and thought what a cute sight it would be to see if she could hold the American flag but I hope in the future she will understand the full meaning of the piece of cloth we take pride in.

Since we moved to KS, almost every morning I put the American flag up outside. Most mornings I take Rachel out there with me and say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing our National Anthem. I hope that one day soon she will be able to recite the words to both with me. It makes me so angry to think that people do not have the pride for our country that most of us grew up to have. We said the Pledge every morning, and I remember being in elementary school and learning to sing the national anthem and play it on the piano. I hope that pride in our country and sentiments towards all that the flag stands for do not get lost in all the Amendment rights and priviledges that young children are beginning to take advantage of today.

For everyone that reads this post, thanks for hearing my thoughts. If you or a loved one is currently serving in the military, thank you!