I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate New Year's eve other than making homemade firepit s'mores. YUMMY! As you can see, Ethan and Rachel loved it too. This new year really represents many things new for the Eddy family. New house, new truck, new school, a lot of new things to start the new year with. We are so blessed!
Okay, so I didn't do a very good job this year capturing our Christmas with pictures. Between moving and unpacking it was all I could do to get presents wrapped and under the tree by Christmas Eve. Here are a few things I did capture and I will have to do a better job next year. Ethan asked Santa for one thing this year and his request was for a plane with a radar. That's it, nothing else, just a plane with a radar. Well, since it was such a special request Santa's elves had to work extra time making it and it came a day late in the mail all the way from the north pole. He now knows the planes proper name, E-3 AWACS. Rachel wanted a doll house and Santa delivered a base model that we are slowly turning into a dream house for her barbies, pics of that coming soon. I asked Santa for the rest of the Willow Tree Nativity figurines to complete the set and it is so beautiful. Jason just wanted the Cowboys to win and as you can see in the picture it wasn't even close. He did manage to get a brand new GMC Sierra Z-71 and that seemed to help the Cowboy depression. So, that wraps up or should I say unwraps our Christmas.
This year we started a very effective family tradition, Elf on a Shelf. If you don't know the story, it's a toy elf that you welcome to your home and give him a name. As the book says, he flies back to the north pole every night to report to Santa if you were good or bad. Ethan and Rachel named our elf, Kirby. So, Kirby will be keeping watch over the next few days and reporting back to Santa on their behavior. Each morning Kirby finds a new place to sit and observe, today we found him in the Christmas tree.
Ethan started Kindergarten at Oak Park Elementary in Oceans Springs, MS. We moved into base housing so he will be changing schools after the new year. I could not have hand picked a better teacher and assistants for him. Mrs. Dryden, Ms. Jenn, and Ms. Melissa will not be forgotten. And who could forget Ms. Nova who was one of the assistants that greets Ethan as I drop him off at school in the mornings. We lucked out and got the perfect spot in line on Ethan's last day and Ms. Nova got to open the door and walk him into school. I bought TatoNut donuts for the class and we had a little farewell party in combination with all the Christmas festivities. We will miss everybody at Oak Park; we will be back to visit soon.
Wade day or Wedding day, whichever you would like to use. Today is my little brother's wedding, he's all grown up. He picked the perfect bride or should I say he was lucky enough she said yes...I think they make a great couple and in just a few more hours they will officially be Mr. and Mrs. Brad Wade. I was the unofficial wedding planner so I didn't have time to take many pictures once we left the house but here are two I managed to squeeze in. I think Mel ironed the entire wedding party's attire and Bradley, Dad, and I goofed off for one last picture before we headed to the church. We all serenaded Bradley with our version of Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married and managed to get a chuckle out of him.
Wedding pictures coming soon, once I get my copy of the cd with all the pictures.
I flew into Dallas, this weekend for my brother's wedding and in the midst of all the last minute planning I was treated to a wonderful lunch at Fogo De Chao. The turtle cheesecake is YUMMY! Jason stayed back in MS with the kids; we made sure to get plenty of pictures of dessert, his favorite is the creme brulee. We sent him a picture text so he didn't feel like he was missing out...hahaha
Well, with the move and all my birthday was not good timing. We went out for a birthday dinner to a local mexican restaurant. Ethan and Rachel were very concerned about me not having a birthday cake and all my friends there to sing happy birthday, as well as not having any presents to open. So, to improvise the waiters brought out fried ice cream and sopapias for "birthday cake" and sang happy birthday. While one of the waiters put the sombrero on my head another smeared whip cream all over my mouth...hahaha. Thank you everybody for all the happy birthday phone calls and singing voicemails, those were awesome! I'm ready to see what this year has in store for me, CHEERS TO 31!
Kid's Christmas party, Air Force style is the way to go. I don't think anything can compare to watching Santa taxi up in your daddy's jet, get out and give you presents. Even as an adult I think that is pretty awesome! We had the kid's Christmas party in the hangar today and they loved it. Who wouldn't when Santa himself is passing out presents?!
While we were in TX for Thanksgiving, Jason got a call from his commander saying that we can move directly into base housing and not have to deal with TLF at all! What an answered prayer and perfect timing. So, we rolled back into MS Sunday afternoon and in true Eddy fashion started packing our house up to move ourselves into our new base house. Two FULL DITY's in under 6 months, if you need any packing or moving advice call me, I'm a professional. We are now fully moved into our new house and I just got internet hooked up yesterday. Time to unpack and organize, I'll post pics of the house once I get everything situated. And for those of you who have asked about the full story of our housing saga, that will be posted soon but at the moment it's another story for another day.
Playing "poker" with pawpaw, love how they all have juice boxes and are ready to win.
Wanna be 1,000 yard club...hahaha
ROCKS!
Rockin'
Rollin'
We left MS early Tuesday morning for the 10 hour drive to TX. We spent Thanksgiving at the ranch with my side of the family. My dad, brother, and I hadn't spent a thanksgiving together since I was a freshman in high school. Fun was had by all and tummies were definitely satisfied thanks to dad and Mel's wonderful cooking. It was the best Thanksgiving I have had in a while. Ethan and Rachel got to play with cousins and do some very unique things. Some of the days festivities included the following: Dad and I took the kids on a safari ride while waiting for dinner, the boys pretended shooting water buffalo and deer with their finger pistols and the girls were caught up looking and laughing at the "black buck poop" on the trails. All the guys attempted to target practice with water jugs set at 1,000 yards. Myself, Nikki and Mary Beth spent our time running back and forth between the lodge and house to get forgotten ingredients. Mel spent most of her day in the kitchen but it was well worth it. Dad sat down with all the grandkids and played "poker" which was a huge hit. There are too many pictures to list on the blog but here are some of my favorites.
So, I'll keep this as short and sweet as possible, maybe without the sweetness and a dash of sarcasm. We are moving into TLF next week and eventually into a new house on base. It is amazing how just a few key people can be so ignorant and cause such irrelevant problems. Some of you know our situation, some of you don't; I'm not going to waste my time getting into any details because it's the holidays and I am trying to have a thankful heart. Having said that, I doubt any blog updates will be made until sometime after the new year.
We hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Off to pack...CHEERS!
I was able to make a post of Ethan's first soccer game but I missed Rachel's so we will pick up with her second. Her team is called the Monarchs but she prefers to call her team the butterflies. She got to be team captain today, which involves calling the coin toss. She scored 3 goals today and was very proud of herself.
Today was Rachel's Thanksgiving program at school. Her class all dressed up as indians and did a very cute skit. The kids picked their indian names from a list and wouldn't you know it, Rachel very appropriately picked "Dancing Star". She was very excited about her peformance because she was the lone dancer for a portion of the skit. All the girls stood in a circle saying their indian chant while Rachel sat indian stile in the middle. The chant stopped and the boys started beating their indian drums and in true Rachel fashion she popped up and began doing her version of indian dance weaving in and out of all the girls.
As the title states, today was Ethan's first soccer game. He did great and can't wait for the next game. He scored 2 goals, but we won't mention that one was for the other team.
Ahhhh, the warm south; it doesn't even seem right starting the month of November off with a day at the beach. This time last year we were in snowsuits and shoveling our driveway. In the picture with Ethan and Rachel on the tree stump you can see what's left of the "crab pond" that Jason and Ethan built by piling up sand and surrounding it with rocks. I waited too long to take a picture, the tide came in really fast. Jason found a lot of hermit crabs and some of the biggest I have ever seen. The blue crab was pretty fiesty, but who wouldn't be if they were being pestered.
Rachel has been wanting to watch her daddy take off in his airplane and today the timing worked out perfect. Ethan has seen Jason take off a few times but today was Rachel's first. We got to the base, parked, and even got to watch the plane taxi out. I also snapped a few pictures and I thought the timing of this one was pretty cool. Just so there is no confusion, Rachel wanted me to point out that her daddy flies the C-21 not the C-130, or in her own words "daddy flies the little one not the hurricane plane".
Wriiten by Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes:
As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:
A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think.
If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.
A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a hoot what you might think about her or what she's doing.
Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.
Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.
A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.
Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always know.
A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women.
Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.
Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 30+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress.
Ladies, I apologize.
For all those men who say, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free'. Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage.
Thanks pawpaw and nana for the huge bags of sugar, I mean candy, that you sent to Ethan and Rachel. They wanted to eat all the candy in one sitting and we all know that didn't happen.
Ethan and Rachel have taken a huge interest in Friday night football. We took them to the first home game and had to drag them out of the stadium. Tonight was Homecoming and they had a blast. Jason and I realized how old we are getting thinking back to our homecoming days. We went to the parade yesterday but I forgot my camera, soooo regret that! Ethan and Rachel prefer sitting at the very top and right next to the band, as you can see in the pictures. The half-time performances are incredible! This small town girl isn't use to seeing 5A half-time shows. To top it off the home team won, GO GREYHOUNDS!
