Family Day

Sunday was family day at the base. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and cooler. We headed over to the base right after church and met Brian at the guard house. There were so many families there, many with very young children.

We wandered around looking at all the interesting aircraft.  The above photo is the new refitted LC-130 with 8-bladed props.  It is so much quieter and I guess more powerful. Brian has been working very hard on the testing and promotion of this new design.

We took a walk through of one of the planes.  No matter how many times we see it, the cockpit is still very impressive with its many, many switches and controls.

I just love the look of the Hercules.

They had a wonderful lunch for us with steak, pork, shrimp, burgers and hotdogs, in addition to many salads and veggies. We all had ice cream and some had shaved ice and cotton candy.  We sure sugared them up for the day. It was all so yummy.  For once, Dan said he was full.

We are so proud of our airman and it is always a pleasure to see where he works and the people he works with.

Off Again

We are accustomed to Brian's trips, which happen on a fairly regular basis. The past several years have seen an increase in the number of trips and the length of those trips.

He was away for six weeks this fall, home for about a month over Christmas and now has gone again. We feel his absences greatly. We know his trips are short compared to many we know, but it is still hard on all of us. This time of year can be especially hard as winter seems to cause more problems with the house, vehicles, storms, etc. and we don't spend as much time outside, so all feel the cabin fever a bit.

He said goodbye to Rachel, Hannah and Dan as they got on the bus. Bess, Gabe and I took him to the airport. It was a beautiful winter day. He checked in and then we hung out in the observation room. Eventually we have to say goodbye. We have learned to be a good military family, no tears until after he leaves us. We gave hugs and kisses, smiled and sent him on his way.

We watch him pass through the security area. It is fun to watch the people go through here. They allow military families to go all the way through if we like, but we find it is harder on all and just prolongs the inevitable.


When he finally passes through and we can't see him anymore, then we sometimes cry. We are fine. We manage. We miss him. His homecoming will be sweet and much anticipated. The cycle repeats.

Another TDY

Gabe and I took Brian to the airport. Brian will be TDY for several weeks in New Zealand and Antarctica.

Gabe always enjoys going to the airport, although not so much that we are going to say goodbye. We work hard at being a good military family and no tears were shed until after Brian leaves us.


To console ourselves, we did a bit of shopping and went out to lunch.

Brian's Birthday

We celebrated Brian's birthday after he got out of work. It was a quiet celebration, spaghetti and meatballs and cheesecake. Brian doesn't really enjoy his birthday. I have to chuckle at the difference between him and me. I love everyone to make a big fuss on my birthday and he would just as soon let the whole day come and go with little notice.

Happy Birthday, Brian. We love you very much. :-)

Hanging Around

I never mentioned in the last post what Brian's Father's Day gift was. Well, here it is, a hammock. We have several trees that seemed just to beg for a hammock to hang under them. Brian set it up today and pronounced it a wonderful gift.

Of course, around here, you are almost assuredly going to have company from one or more of the children before long. Don't they look so peaceful? I might have to sneak a few moments lounging myself.

Welcoming Our Airman Home

Brian works as a Flight Engineer on C-130 cargo planes. He has been at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan since early May.

We always miss him terribly when he is away, but this time it seemed so much more difficult. The trip was longer and his destination and mission were obviously more dangerous.

Wednesday he came home. We were all so excited. It felt like Christmas at our house.

We stopped to get him some balloons...and they had the perfect one.


We waited at the base for 30, very long minutes with all the other families, before we were told they were "five minutes out". Bess and Gabe had made signs and we had our American flags ready.

They made a spectacular fly-by. I think they were happy to be coming home too.

Finally they are on the ground. If you look closely, you can see they were flying the American flag out the observation port.

Finally, my man steps off the bus.

I was a bit emotional for a bit, but pulled it together quickly. I was just thrilled to have him back home safe and sound.

The children were next, hugs and kisses from all.

Our family, back together again.

Two pallets of luggage to sort through.

Cake and punch at the mess hall and lots of "welcome home" and "job well done" from many, many people.

I have no words to express how much this man means to me. I am so very proud of his service to our country and to our family. He preforms both with a love of God and tremendous honor.

Welcome home, Brian and job very well done!

Tickle Fight

Brian has just returned from being away for 31 days. We all missed him very much.

He arrived back home during the storm on Friday night. It was a wild and adventurous drive to the base to pick him up, but we were not about to be deterred. We had to drive under and around many trees that had fallen during the ice storm. Most of the towns we drove through were without power, so the streetlights were not working. The few drivers that were out were being very courteous at the intersections. We made it there and back home again safely.

We are all so happy to have him home.

The kids have been hugging on him, rough housing and having a romping good time. Lots of days gone to make up for.

New Garden Project - Trellis

We have many garden and yard projects in the works this summer. Brian, Bess and Gabe worked on a new trellis to be placed on the back of the garage for two new Clematis plants we recently bought.

Bri gives Gabe some instruction Gabe loves this...power tools, everyone boy's dream (big and small)
Some primer and paint and we'll be good to go.

Welcome Home

Thursday we headed to the airport to pick up Brian. The kids love going to the airport.

When we got to the waiting area for offloading passengers, there were quite a few military people there. Bessie spoke to one of the men and come to find out, there were two people from Brian's base coming home from Iraq and they were coming in on the same flight as Bri. We were thrilled to be part of the welcome home celebration. One of the women handed the kids flags and Bessie helped hold the large banner. It was so fun clapping, cheering and welcoming these men home.

Brian was laughing when he came through at all the hubbub and made jokes about it being for him.

Flag waving kids

We are so glad that Daddy is home!

Lego Building

Gabe loves Legos and he got a new building set for Christmas...the General Grievous Starfighter. Brian enjoys working with Gabe and the Legos. They are both very good at coming up with interesting designs and creations.

The little General Grievous is totally too cute with his tiny lightsabers

A boy, a dad and a box of possibilities
Finished Starfighter
They always have some great dad/son time with the Legos.

Blackie's South Pole Adventure

Brian and Blackie have just returned home from their latest adventure. I think Blackie is getting tired. She has logged thousands and thousands of miles these last few months and gone almost from pole to pole. I must admit to be a bit envious of her experiences.


This time around their destination was Christchurch, New Zealand, McMurdo Station, Antarctica and the South Pole.

Blackie was not thrilled with the very long commercial flight to NZ. She much preferred the daily trips from McMurdo Station to the pole on the LC-130.

Here Blackie made sure Brian didn't miss any

of his switches in the Engineer's seat of the LC-130

Hmmm...who is this monkey trying to take over my territory

Objective complete...the South Pole

Blackie thought the new South Pole Station was quite impressive, but not as interesting as the old dome station. She is sure the people will find it more pleasant to live in. They will be removing the dome within the next year or two. They were in the process of digging it out preparing it for disassembly.

Here she helps Brian off-load fuel at

the South Pole from the Hercules

During their time in Antarctica, they transported Ann Curry from NBC and the Today Show crew to the South Pole. Blackie is a wise cat and wasn't overly impressed with all the hubbub over their national coverage...all in a days work.

They also had some excitement has they had to do an emergency evacuation from the South Pole of a worker who was seriously injured. Nothing is common place or easy when you are working at 10,000 ft. with temps well below zero.

Mr. Fix-It

I am convinced that Brian can fix anything. In the 20+ years we have been married, I have seen him put a 2nd story on our house, change engines in our truck, install furnaces, plumb bathrooms, doing any number of wiring projects and keep our ancient vehicles running.

He has repaired vehicles while we have been out on the road heading to vacation. He has jerry-rigged them to get us home. On one occasion, he filled the washer fluid reservoir with gas and used the washer fluid pump in place of the fuel pump to get us home.

Last Thursday, he had a day off. Bessie was cleaning up from her latest baking project and announced that she wasn't getting any hot water. Brian headed to the basement and found our furnace not firing. He was able to replace several parts and fix it in about an hour. These type of breakdowns no longer cause me concern because I know my Mr. Fix-It can...fix it!

A former pastor used to call him McGyver. Give him some duct tape and a pocket knife and he can build a tank!

Okay, so maybe not, but I sure do love my Mr. Fix-It.

Blackie Arrives

This cute little girl kitty arrived at our house this week. Jodi and her kiddos seem to like to send these little hairy creatures out into the world! She looks a little startled to me...it must have been dark in that box. Her name is Blackie and she is going on a trip with Brian. They will be going to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and beyond. She will get to see Fjords, glaciers, muskox, arctic foxes and plenty of snow. Sure wish I could go too!

Quiet Saturday

We had a good day today.

I headed out this morning to sign Rachel and Hannah up for soccer this fall. They have this pre-season sign up at half the cost of signing up later, so I try and take advantage of it. They enjoyed playing last year. Bessie is too old this year and Gabe decided not to.

We had a good morning around the house. The kids played and Brian and I puttered. There is always laundry to catch up on. Bri did some outside chores.

After lunch we went to the library. He hadn't been in a couple weeks. There were books waiting for us and everyone found a book or two for fun reading and some videos. Brian even found a couple WWII books. He loves reading books on history.

When we got home, everyone bundled up and we headed out to walk. Brian couldn't believe his ears when I said, "Don't forget the dog!" You bring the dog and all the kids?! Of course!

It was still cold and quite windy, but the sun was out and it was nice. We brought the strollers this time so Hannah and Dan could ride on the way back. Two miles is quite a stretch for their little legs.

Bri all bundled up

I thought he looked like a Ninja

We had a nice quiet afternoon. I got some stitching done, the youngers watched one of their videos, Bessie played Zoo Tycoon and Bri started right in on one of his new books.