Baden is two!  We celebrated with a family party with Bebe and Grandpa coming out from Oklahoma to help celebrate.  Bill wasn’t able to be here as he is in Washington State, so that was a bummer.  Thank goodness for pictures and video.  Baden has been going around all day saying “two” and trying to hold his fingers up to show his age.  He loved opening his presents and got some fun new toys.  He had an Elmo’s World birthday cake which he loved and he even blew out his candles.  Baden is a blessing to our family and we love him so much. He makes us laugh and we love his hugs and kisses. Happy Birthday, Baden!

We took a summer junt up to Utah to celebrate the 24th of July and to attend a family reunion.  We also went camping at Dalton Springs in the Manti-La Sal National Forest.  When we lived in Maryland, we camped at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. There are showers, hot water and flush toilets.  Here in the west, no flush toilets.  There is a nice building with a pit toilet inside.  I have Crohn’s disease so toilets are a major part of my life.  Because Bill cares so  much for me, he got me my very own privacy tent and travel potty.  I have an aversion to pit toilets.  I am afraid I might fall in or something might come out, so having my own outhouse was great.  We were able to take showers at Bill’s mom’s house which was nice.  It’s only five miles down the mountain to her house.  We had family eating dinner with us every night and Bill’s sister, Melanie and her kids stayed with us for the majority of the week.  It was a lot of fun.  We had a strange encounter with a deer or I should say Bill did.  There was a doe that seemed to hang out at the campground.  We would see her every day.  One morning she came up while we were eating breakfast and just stood there.  Then later in the afternoon she got brave and tried to eat a cookie off of the table.  The same afternoon while Bill was in the hammock he looked up and saw whiskers.  Yep, it was the deer sniffing him.  Sorry no pictures on that one.  Couldn’t grab the camera fast enough, but it really did happen.  We enjoyed the 24th of July parade. The kids loved it because they get candy and other fun treats.  The family reunion was great and was capped off with Grandpa Hurst singing some songs to the delight of all in attendance.  We are enjoying being so close to our families and look forward to making many more memories.

On June 29th, we headed to New Mexico.  It was a good trip and gave me an idea what it will be like for the trips back and forth to my parents’ house.  It was exciting to finally be in New Mexico after so many months of anticipation.  We got to the base and promptly went to Sonic – my favorite. 🙂  We saw our house after only seeing pictures and well I can’t say I was excited at first, but it has grown on me.  The views are great. We live in a small town. It has a Super WalMart, a Smith’s grocery store and a Walgreen’s. There is also a McDonald’s & a Dairy Queen. Not much, but we like it.  We went to our new ward and the people are awesome. We got a great reception and we are looking forward to getting to know the people in our ward better.  I think we are going to like it here.

We spent a week with my parents in Oklahoma before heading west to New Mexico.  It was really hot when we were there, but we did get out and try to see some sites.  We visited the Wichita MountainWildlife Refuge. The Refuge provides habitat for large native grazing animals such as American Bison, Rocky Mountain Elk, and white tailed deer. Texas Longhorn Cattle also share the Refuge rangelands as a cultural and historical legacy species. More than 50 mammal, 240 bird, 64 reptile and amphibian, 36 fish, and 806 plant species thrive on the refuge.  It’s a really neat place to visit. So if you are ever in Southwestern Oklahoma, check it out.  Oh and don’t forget to go to Meers, Oklahoma for a Meers Burger. You won’t be disappointed.

While we were traveling to New Mexico, we stopped in Dayton, Ohio and visited the Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson.  It’s a really neat museum and a must for aviation enthusiasts.  We didn’t have a lot of time so we spent about an hour or so.  I got to see the helicopter my dad flew in during the Vietnam War. It’s called the H-43 or the Pedro.  It was really neat to see it in person since I have heard stories about it all of my life.  We also found a B-24 Bomber that has the squadron patch that Bill’s current squadron has.  That was a pretty neat discovery.  We really enjoyed this mini excursion on our third day of traveling. 

We are here! We have made it to the land of enchantment.  We started out on June 17 (which seems so long ago) and stopped in Pennsylvania to see some great friends.  We had a great time. Billy especially loved that their son had an X-Box. He ran into the living room and said, “Mommy, I am going to play with the big boy who has an X-Box.”  He didn’t want to leave the next morning.  We headed to Dayton, Ohio for our pit stop.  The next day before heading to St. Louis, we went to the Air Force Museum.  I am so glad we made the detour.  We got to see the helicopter my dad flew in during the Vietnam War.  I had only seen a black and white picture and this was the real deal.  After the museum, we headed for St. Louis and spent the weekend with friends.  I felt horrible on Sunday and slept most of the day. Then on Monday, we were ready to go and head for Oklahoma.  I don’t know what it is about Oklahoma, but once I crossed the state line and saw the huge sign welcoming us to Oklahoma, I felt great.  We spent the week with my parents. We went to the Wichita Wildlife Refuge and just hung out.  It was really hot, but cherry limeade slushes from Sonic helped.  Then yesterday, we made our way to New Mexico.  We are happy to finally be here.  We saw the house we are renting and it is pretty nice.  I am looking forward to getting settled. Living like a nomad has been fun at times, but it is starting to wear us down.  The boys have been real troopers, but I know they will be glad to get settled, too.  We will keep you updated plus I will post pictures of our different adventures along the way.  We appreciate all of the prayers and good thoughts that have been coming our way.

If someone gave you a geography quiz, would you be able to name all of the 50 states? Lately I have been wondering about this since we have been running into people that do not know where New Mexico is or that it is even a state.  Poor New Mexico or maybe good because then people won’t move there. Hmmm… Anyway, below are some exchanges Bill and I have had in preparing for our move.

This exchange was between one of the packers from the moving company:

Packer: “Where are you moving?”

Bill: “New Mexico.”

Packer: “Aren’t you scared?”

Bill: “No.”

Packer: “Well, they are having that swine flu problem right now.”

Bill: “No, we are moving to New Mexico.”

This exchange was between Bill and a customer service associate at Lowe’s:

Bill: “I have been fixing my house up since I am moving and this is stuff I didn’t use.”

CSA: “Where are you moving?”

Bill: “New Mexico.”

CSA: “Are you in the Air Force?”

Bill: “Yes.”

CSA: “My fiancee is going into the Air Force and I had no idea he could be stationed in Mexico.”

Bill: “No, it’s New Mexico.”

CSA: “Where’s that?”

This exchange happened between  me and a lady at the Children’s Aid Society:

CAS Lady: “Wow, that is a lot of food.”

Me: “Well, we are moving to New Mexico.”

CAS Lady: “Are you sure you will be okay there? I don’t think I could live in Mexico.”

Those are just a few of the exchanges.  I have heard and read about stories about New Mexico and it being confused for Mexico and students applying for college only to be told they are international students.  I look forward to sharing more as we continue our journey to the Land of Enchantment.

Bill had his fini flight yesterday.  A fini flight is the last flight in a particular aircraft or the last flight with the squadron. Bill’s falls into the last category.  He will still be flying in New Mexico, but the helicopters aren’t as pretty. 🙂  The other difference is he will be sitting in the back instructing and not at the controls.  I think he dreads that part, but he still gets to fly so that’s good.  We will miss him flying over the house so we can run outside and wave.  Bill got hosed down with water and his favorite drink, Diet Coke.  Billy got to help spray water at Bill, but he wasn’t sure why he was doing it.  Bill was getting his gear off of the helicopter and Billy said, “Daddy, why do you still need your helmet?”  Bill told him he would need it to fly when we get to New Mexico.  Billy replied, “Well, why did I spray you with water?”  Tradition, my boy, it’s all about tradition.