Birthday, Shower, and Bean News.....

This past weekend I went to Birmingham where most of the family got together to celebrate Mom's birthday. Stephen and Jenni hosted us all and really out-did themselves making it a wonderful weekend. I went to spend an extra night with them and they took Bean and me out to dinner for yummy pizza. This is Jenni and Will at dinner....cuties huh?

We celebrated Mom's birthday on Saturday night and I did a really poor job of taking pictures...this is the only one I had but at least I got some of the grand-kids with mom and her fantastic cake :-). We all had fun and I was so happy to be there for Mom's birthday!!

Jenni and my sisters threw Bean (and me :-)) a Baby Shower on Sunday!! It was so much fun! Jenni made the most precious decorations and cupcakes!! We played games, traumatized poor Sarah with the dirty diaper game, and took bets on when Bean would be born and his or her various statistics....I wonder who will be right?!? Again I did a poor job of taking pictures and I hope to get some more from Jenni but for now here are some of what I did get:




Tim made his presence felt all weekend although he was missed. He sent flowers and gave Bean some gifts including a stuffed elephant (like he had when he was little). Here are the flowers he sent. Thank you Tim!!!

Everyone gave Bean the best gift ever....A SWING!! He (or she) is going to LOVE it and I am so thankful and excited about it....I can't wait until Bean comes home and can enjoy it for himself/herself.

Bean and I continue to do well. I am getting big...11 squares of toilet paper according to the shower game :-). I had a Doctor's appointment today and it seems that Bean is getting ready to make his/her appearance. The Doctor doesn't seem to think based on where we are now that Bean will make it until his due date (21 March). Granted babies tend to do their own thing but Tim and I are beginning to prepare for a possible early arrival!!  We will, of course, keep you all posted!!!

Pictures From Tim

Tim sent me some more pictures from Iraq. He's doing very very well over there. He's flown more sorties and hours in the short 3 months that he has been there than we thought he would fly all year. I am tremendously proud of him. As you watch the news today about the Provincial Elections in Iraq know that Tim was there, contributing. Enjoy these pictures...I'll post more soon.

This is where Tim lives. Look how good he looks...he's been hitting the gym pretty hard and I think it really shows...way to go Tim!!!

This is Tim landing after his 100th mission.

I think this is an Aussie vehicle...Tim liked the thought of a Panda being scary...hee-hee.

Tim playing soccer with the Iraqis...look at the field and the "out of bounds" markers. Not exactly a municipal park stateside huh?

And this one....Tim literally rubbing shoulders with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki!!!

Daddy and Baby

I made one of the 4-D pictures of Bean big and close up and put it right next to Tim's picture (I use this picture as my background)....Very cute I thought....I couldn't figure out how to place the pictures side by side on the blog but you get the idea.

Tim...In his own words

It's been a while since I updated the blog. Things continue to move along and now we have less than 2 months until Bean's arrival and Tim's trip home! YYIIIPPPPEEEEEE. I got a fantastic e-mail from Tim that seems quite telling of his time there so I thought I'd cut and paste it for all of you who are interested. Here is Tim in his own words:

One of my goals for my year (before I got here) was 100 missions and 200 hours.

I currently have 100 missions (108 sorties) and over 225 hours. It makes me feel good inside that I am achieving a goal while I am here. Now I guess I need 300 misssions and 750 hours… just kidding. I cannot keep this pace going. If I did I would have 400 missions and over 1,000 hours. Not possible. But sure would be fun to try for it.

I am still teaching the #@!%$ out of these guys. If they ain’t good in 1 year’s time, it is not from a lack of effort on my part. You can only squeeze a rock so hard. ........

These guys are just civilians with basic survival English skills. Most have not flown at night, in the clouds, or in any kind of weather. .... I flew back from Faluhjah the other night down the Euphrates and the guy had never been in an airplane at night. He did well considering but imagine teaching a guy to fly instruments at night who you just assume knows what you are talking about. Think about all of those night classes and sims you had before you went out at night. Well, I got guys going from pedestrian to King Air Co-pilot in 60-90 days. That is including Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. Nights, Instruments and contact. ...... We are busy.

Introducing Bean!!

I am very very excited to introduce you to our precious, beautiful Baby!!! I apologize for the picture quality--trust me, Bean is PERFECT!! Enjoy!!! (You can click on the picture to make it bigger)


(you may see something on/in front of Bean's face...the cord was floating in front of his/her face all day but other than that Baby was very cooperative and I am so happy with the pictures!!!)

Pictures From Tim

Tim sent a CD with a bunch of pictures he has taken in his two months in Iraq. I've included a variety here. In one you'll notice a stuffed-animal snake. His squadron here at Columbus is the 50th Strikin' Snakes so they sent him the snake to get the snake some combat time and Tim took alot of these pictures to send back to them. That's the story anyway. Hee-hee. Enjoy!!!

Where Tim Lives:

Where Tim Works:

Tim's Airplane:

Some Sightseeing:

Recreation??

Thanksgivings....Apart

Well it was the first of the big holidays that Tim and I will have to spend apart--YUCK!! But I think both of us were surrounded by people who got us through it and we both had a nice (albeit separate) Thanksgiving. The military fed Tim well and created a festive environment and he got to eat a nice meal with his buddies over there....


I got to spend the week with my sister Lauren and various members of the family were able to come and go with their families throughout the holiday weekend. It was heartwarming to get to spend so much time with everyone and Lauren and Matt proved to be the perfect hosts...THANK YOU!!! Unfortunately we were so busy talking and watching the kids play and eating we didn't get too many pictures but here's an idea of what we did:


And, of course, there was FOOTBALL. Unfortunately it didn't go well for either team but the kids spirit wasn't to blame at least :-)


Tim and I are thankful for everyone who is helping us get through this year....THANK YOU ALL!!!!