Oh how the years fly by....

Iain and I celebrated 11 years of marriage today. How is that possible? The blessings of being married to a man like Iain are to numerous to count. He is my safe place, he makes me feel like the most beautiful creature on earth, he loves our children to a depth that is unmeasurable, he gives to us before he ever takes anything for himself. He is more than I ever imagined or hoped for.........but that is how God works. I am so thankful for our precious lives together. I am reminded of the verse our wedding was centered around, 1 John 4:19, " We love because He first loved us."

Mollie

Miss Mollie.....I just couldn't resist posting this precious picture. When Mollie laughs it sounds like millions of tiny bubbles popping one right after the other. I love her laugh. I am glad she laughs often.

Family Bliss

Last night we had dinner as usual. Then we moved into the family room for our regular family devotions. Abbie played Holy, Holy, Holy for us on the piano. It was beautiful. She is going to play it in a recital next week. Then the kids dispersed after prayer to squeeze the last possible moments of play out of the day. Iain contemplated going back into work. I contemplated getting up to do the dishes.

Instead, I lay down on the couch with my head in Iain's lap. We visited. Iain picked up a magazine. I relaxed. The kids began to circle, playing a little closer and then a little closer to where we sat on the couch. They remained in their own imaginative worlds, but they also seemed very aware of staying close to us in the living room. Eventually, Abbie squeezed on the couch with us and picked up her Clubhouse magazine. Iain picked up our latest subscription to Food and Wine. I stayed put, and left the dishes. Slowly but surely, all six of us were on the couch in a matter of a few minutes. We tickled, we laughed, we snuggled, we talked about nothingness. To me it was blissful.

I think we would have stayed there all night if we could have. I love that the kids like to be around us, often times doing their own things, but close to us. There is something sweet about just hanging out as a family. It is safe, it is familiar, it is loving, it is comforting. I am slightly embarassed to admit it, but I still feel this way when I go home to visit my parents. I just like to hang around them. When my mom is getting ready in the mornings, I find myself kind of waiting for her to be done so we can just hang out. I like to sit at the counter and watch her in the kitchen. I will wander into her office while she pays bills, just to say "watcha doin?" I like to sit with my dad next to the pool and watch him smoke his pipe. Even if there is not much to say, I just like to sit with him. It is familiar. It is home. It is what I see our kids doing as they seek us out for no other reason than to just say "watcha doin?" :)

Another Airplane

So, you may be surprised as you read this blog. Yes, it is a new airplane to add to the list.....BUT, it is a new pilot too. Drum roll please......the new pilot is me!! Yes, it is true. Today I got to fly a glider!! It was Spouse Appreciation Day at TPS. The guys all got the day off in order to allow the wives freedom to experience a taste of what our husbands do. You could choose between and T-38 taxi (you just drive on the runway for this, you don't get airborne), a C-12 (a 6 seater leer jet) or a glider ride up in the Tehachipi mountains. I went on the glider ride. It was so much fun.

First a tow plane tows you up to about 3,000 feet and then releases you to glide your way back down. It is beautiful and peaceful and a little scary. The pilot with me let me fly the plane most of the way. Iain brought the kids up and they watched me. It was a great day and I appreciated being appreciated!! :)

The Top 5

For those who are interested in my "TOP 5". you will have to scroll down. It got posted according to the date when I began writing it rather than posting it on the date when I finished....

It's Windy Here

This is what the wind did to our patio table last weekend. We have already had a couple hundred dollars of damage to our stuff from the wind. Sadly, we accidently left our umbrealla in the table and the wind came up while we were in town. The wind picked up our table and umbrella and threw it about 5 feet. Time to check Craig's list for a new table......

A Cocktail Party

Vicki, Kelly and Annet
Vicki, me and Fran, in the shirt....
Cheers
Nancy, Kerry and Abby
Nancy, Sheree, Kerry and Vicki

So, one of the social events that we are responsible for planning this year is a farewell to the Sr. class wives just before their husbands graduate. We are currently the Jr. class, but will be the Sr. class very soon (June 7). Anyway, my good friends Kelly(went to culinary school) and Annet (here from France) were the members of our class who planned this event, along with my other friend, Fran, who also happens to be the Commandant's wife. She is from Spain. All that to say that they put together an amazing farewell. The theme was a cocktail party. There was an open bar with fancy drinks like cosmopolitans and AMAZING food!! We had a fabulous time.

I am so proud of the gals in our class. They are all so much fun. We laugh easily together, no one takes themselves too seriously, everyone has unique talents and abilities. I feel such support and willingness to help from them. And, they are all so darn cute!! You can see for yourselves in my pictures.

I have to explain the polk-a-dot shirts...... So, several weeks ago a group of us had a big shopping day together. Vicki and I found ourselves in one of our favorite stores, Ann Taylor. I saw this shirt in the store window, tried it on and announced I was getting it. Well, vicki thought it looked SO good on me, she tried it on. Turns out, it looks even better on her, but whatever.... Anyway, we both bought the shirt. There is a pair of shoes involved in this whole story as well, but that is beside the point. Along comes the cocktail party. Hmmmmm. Who is going to wear the shirt? Well, I had already worn mine out on a date with Iain, so we decided Vicki would wear the shirt. Everything is settled. I show up at the party and the first person I see is Fran. Fran is hosting the party at her house. She is the boss' wife. She is a ton of fun. SHE is wearing the SHIRT!! AHHHH!! I say, "That's my shirt!! Have you seen Vicki yet? SHE is wearing THAT SHIRT too!" All this time I am wondering how this is going to go over with Fran? Well, she is a doll and she thinks this is hysterical. She thinks it is so hysterical that she sends me home to change into MY shirt too. SO, I do, because well, she is the boss' wife and I only live 2 minutes away. We had a grand time!

The Gorgeous Ladies of TPS O8A

The Top 5

Okay, so now I have been tagged by my sister RiLee AND my freind Ellen to do my Top 5 list. since I enjoyed reading their lists so much, I guess I will do mine as well.

1)5 things under 5$ that I can't live without.... Burt's Bees chapstick, my sunglasses (I buy the cheepies becasue I lose them or sit on them all the time), eye makeup remover, q-tips and my toothbrush

2)5 favorite movies.... Ferris Buller's Day Off, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Remember Me, Goonies and Grease (of course)

3)5 favorite baby name....Abigayle, William, Mollie, EmmaLee and Ben (do you think that means we have one more to go?)

4)5 songs I could listen to over and over again.....Nora Jones' "Turn Me On". That is mine and Iain's song. James Ward's "Rock of Ages". Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name" Charlie Hall's "Better is One Day" and anything by Alexa Ray Joel.

5)5 people who have influenced me in a positive way..... My parents (since the Bible says the 2 shall become 1, they count as 1), Iain's parents, Iain, Nancy Butkowski and Susan Hunt. By the way, I hate this question. The fact is that every member of my family, every friend I have ever known, ever Pastor I have ever had has influenced me, on some level, in a positive way. For the record, I don't know Susan Hunt, but I love her books and hope to meet her in the future.

6)5 things always in my purse.....sunglasses, debit card, military ID, epi pen (Abbie is deathly allergic to nuts) and keys.

7)5 life changing moments........when I realized I was saved by grace alone; when I said "I do"; when I heard the words "it's a girl; it's a boy; it's a girl; it's a girl"; when I faced the possibility of having a severly ill child. Thankfully, the feared illness was not what we thought, but it took time to run all the tests.........and wait. God transformed my thinking on a very deep level for me during that time. I will save the details of that for later. When I realized I need to stop looking for a permanent home on this side of eternity...... Okay, this is 6, but who cares. Getting to appreciate what my mom did as a military wife.

8)5 obsessions.......building and investing into the relationships in our family, lasting friendships, order and schedules, exercise, food (the later two do not compliment each other)

9)5 places to go....I am developing a growing interest in China. I would love to go back to Europe. We would like to take an Alaskan cruise when TPS is over. England. New York!!!

10)5 appliances I can't live without......washer/dryer; Kitchen Aide mixer; fridge; hair dryer; microwave

11)5 people I want to see their top 5..... you, you, you, you, and you

test

test

This is a test to figure out what happened to my "comments" setting.....

"I spilled"

The other night poor Emmie had quite a tummy ache. In fact, just before she went to bed she "puked" (as the kids would say). Thankfully she slept well all night and woke up back to her happy self. As I was giving her a good morning cuddle, and checking to make sure she really was back to normal, I asked her, "Emmie, what happened last night?" She looked up at me with those big, soft brown eyes and replied, "I spilled."

In Action.....

There is a wonderful home school network here on base. We have been so thankful for the opportunity to home school the kids and we really appreciate the many resources God has provided for us to do that here. One of the opportunities the kids have had here is a home school PE group. We meet every Friday morning. PE has ended for the year and last night was the final "field day". Enjoy the kiddos in action....

Next Airplane...

Today Iain flew the LJ-25 Learjet. He had a lot of fun with this one. In basic "wife" terms, this plane can be programed to simulate all different airplane types. For example, it can be programed to fly like a big heavy type of airplane, or it can be programed to fly like a fighter.

For those of you wondering, there were a couple of recent crashes at other bases in the last couple of weeks. They both involved the T-38C model. Sadly, the pilots and students (both were at pilot training bases) were killed. This is the same model that they fly here at TPS. Until further notice, the planes have been grounded.

Man, I LOVE this guy!!