Oh baby

We decided to squeeze in a baby shower for my friend Amy before we rolled outta town.  Throwing a party at your house, while getting ready to move, wasn't exactly my most brilliant idea, but I am so glad that we were able to help celebrate this sweet little girl on her way.  I couldn't have pulled it off without help from Ben and my two friends Amanda, and Lyanna.  Sorry I am so slow getting these pictures to you Amy!

Rhone helped me make some of the decorations

This picture didn't turn out so great, but all the pink and oranges were so cute together.

Cute decoration and gift

Ladies from church

Amanda brought a fun game to make a baby.  There were some pretty cute ones.

Opening all the pink gifts

More guests.

Thanks for letting us help you celebrate your baby girl Amy!

Happy Birthday America!

Our 4th of July plans were seriously messed up by a little tiny popcorn kernel.  Ben and Rhone spent a good part of the morning in urgent care trying to get the kernel out of Rhone's ear.  We still tried to make the day fun and special even though he  couldn't go swimming so we had to skip out on some of our plans with friends.  We still meet up with them for a yummy bbq, the parade and fireworks.  We are so lucky to live in American and enjoy such a blessed life.

As Rhone was painting this flag he said, "She's gonna love it, Mom" I asked him who was gonna love it and he said, "You know that girl whose birthday it is." I asked if he was talking about America. "Yah, Mom. Merica's gonna love it."

Fresh made granola with fruit and yogurt was our patriot breakfast.

We made flag treats

Red, white, and blue gear shirts

We got Rhone a little "fire cracker" that was spring loaded with streamers and confetti (DE doesn't allow any fireworks).

My little cutie at the parade

We are quite the crew at the parade

Yummy bbq dinner

Waiting for the fireworks to start,  It was still around 90 degrees!!

Just passing time

Waiting, waiting, waiting for it to get dark.  It was worth the wait though.  Happy Birthday America!

workin' man

I don't really keep track of all of Ben's work adventures on the blog.  I guess I figure if they are important to him he will blog about them, but lately I have been thinking that when our kids flip back through our family album I want them to know what their dad does.  Ben has been some pretty amazing places in the C-5.  He made history on the Air Forces first mission through the arctic circle.  You can read about it here. He's traveled to all sorts of places in Europe and the Middle East.  He headed west for a trip to Hawaii and Japan. He spent a month in the Czech Republic brushing up on his language skills through a special language program.  He spends a whole week on call 24 hours making sure that all the planes the roll through our base are on time and safe and most importantly he helps orchestrates the Dignified Transfers of fallen service men and women returning home day and night.  Most recently he and his crew handled a very dangerous emergency situation without injuring anyone.  We have been waiting months for the safety board to close the investigation.  Thankfully they finally did so Ben could get in one last mission and his Air Craft Commander Check ride.  We have had a love/hate relationship with the C-5, but honestly I know Ben will miss his travels around the world and the friends he has made here. We are so proud of him for working and sacrificing so much.  And I am so grateful that I get to stay at home and take care of our children.  What a luxury that I get to spend my days with our kids.  OK I am all done tooting Ben's horn. :)

 

 

He was on the ground for less than 24 hours in Hawaii, but still found time for the beach....

.....and banana macadamia nut pancakes

Water on the run way caused this much damage to Ben's plane.  They managed to land it in one piece (well besides the pieces left on the initial runway).

 To finish up our time here Ben got us some time in the flight simulator.  Rhone was so excited to put on his flight suit and go to work with Daddy.  I even got to spend some time flying.  Seriously there is a lot going on a time.  Ben was getting a pretty good laugh at how much I was concentrating.  We even got to fly over Hawaii.  My last landing was pretty terrible.  The plane bounced so hard, Sylvie woke up in her car seat.  What a fun day and a fun way to say goodbye to the C-5.

He couldn't take his eyes off that plane, not even for a picture

Good thing its a big cockpit

Ben was telling Rhone that he was a good pilot.  Rhone confidently piped up, "I sure am a good one Dad."  The sim instructor was cracking up.  What a character

A little after flight debrief.

summer adventures

Summer has been filled with excitement for us.  Namely hanging out with friends at parks or pools (see previous post).  We have also spent some time picking blueberries and even a few tomatoes and lots of herbs from our garden.  We tried out making some home made friut roll ups aka fruit leather too.  

Unfortunately we have also had plenty of doctor visits too. A few weeks ago Rhone was helping me cook when his arm slipped and hit the side of the pan.  We took him to urgent care and had a 2nd degree burn.  It took a while to get it all healed up.  Then Sylvie had a crazy rash.  We aren't exactly sure what caused it, but I have eliminated a few things from my diet.  Then Ben and I headed out on a date with some friends.  After we were home I was talking to Rhone and he started to tell me that "the first one came out, but the second one is stuck".  Confused I asked him what was stuck.  I was a popcorn kernel in his ear.  After a call to the doctor we decided to wait until the next morning (July 4th) and take him to urgent care (yet again) to try and avoid the ER.  They coudn't get it out and only made it much worse and terrified Rhone.  So we had to wait until we could get him into an ENT.  4 doctors later we were able to get him into one the next day if we were willing to drive to Maryland.  He pretty much melted down and Ben had to hold his entire body down, but we got that little kernel out.  We are hoping to be done with doctor visits for a while.

Playing catch with Dad

In the blueberry bushes

He is pretty good at only picking the ripe ones now.

Our pan of fruit leather. We don't have a dehydrator, so we just did it in the oven and it turned out great.

Playing together- well sort of.

Sylvie went to her first movie, Madagascar 3. 

Oh I forgot Rhone has also gotten 3 hornet stings in the last week.  That boy keeps us hoppin'

Rhone's burn. It left a pretty good scar.

We went to pick crabs with our friends for a fun date night.  We had a great view of the water, delicious crabs, and a great company.  It was a pretty perfect evening.....well 'till we found the popcorn in Rhone's ear :)


I even got to add my name and tag my hometown on the map.

Friends

As we have been getting ready to move across the country (literally), I have really been thinking about our time here in DE.  I really feel like this is where our family was meant to be for the last 3 years.  I won't lie, its been extremely hard at times, but it has also been so rewarding.  Great friends are the only thing that make this crazy Military life tolerable.  If you haven't lived it, it really is hard to understand and imagine what its like to be left alone with no supporting family mission after mission.  Time and again our friends have pulled through, like family, to bless us and support us we we needed it most.  Of course I only have pictures of the kiddos, perhaps I will get some grown up picks before we roll outta her too.  We will miss you guys!

Rhone's first sleepover was with miss E while we were at the hospital with Sylvie.

This is a little Missisippi reunion.  We sure have added a lot of kids since pilot training, but it is so fun to meet up with friends we have met along the way.

Our friends brought Sylvie this adorable handmade doll.  Bailey was so sweet with Sylvie and so excited to give it to her.  Thank you for the gift and coming to see us!

Look some mom's actually made a picture!

Nothing says summer like a juice box with friends.

The wagon was turned into a portable swimming pool

I seriously love these little super heroes!

These guys left a while ago, but I couldn't forget them!!