Gifts from Daddy..

Stuart sent home a few gifts for the kids. He send Emily a Teddy bear dressed like a Military Policeman, so she could sleep better at night and no monters would come in our house.

This sweet teddy bear she calles her "Daddy Soldier Bear" has been a miracle worker... She sleeps with it every night and would carry it with her all day if I let her. Best of all NO MONSTERS! For Sam he sent home a new Truck and Plane. Sam loves to see how they work and run them into Emily's block towers.

We all miss you and love you Daddy.. we can't wait to see you soon!

3 Day Weekend, January 18-21, 2008

This past Monday was Martin Luther King day which is a very important day but for us it meant that I was able to go to San Antonio to visit Stuart. I flew out on Friday night and made it in time for dinner. We were going to go to a Movie theater that serves dinner while you watch the movie but unfortunately or luckily as it turned out, they were sold out. The movie would have been CloverField and we have not heard good reviews. We ended up having dinner at Chili's. It was so nice, it was great to just be able to talk after not seeing each other for what seemed like forever. Saturday we had planned to go to dinner at the Towers of the Americas. When Stuart first joined the Air Force he had wanted to go to dinner there for his graduation but was not able to so this time we were sure to go. The food and the service were TOP NOTCH... the wait staff was fantastic....our glasses were never more then 1/2 empty and they were always there before we needed anything but were not crowding us when we wanted space... We were both SO impressed.

The Towers of the Americas looking from the bottom up. The Restaurant is at the top.

My dinner... It was SO good but Stuart was embarrassed I took pictures of it. HA HA

Stuart's Dinner, Australian lobster tail and Prime Rib...

View from out of the observation deck.

Sunday we wanted to go down to the famous River Walk but it was SO unseasonable cold that we shopped a bit at the Base and got a "Daddy Soldier Bear" for Emily and a new truck for Sam. Then we snuggled in and watched the Patriot's Football game. GO PATRIOTS! After the game we went to dinner with his NCOIC Bobby Ray Adams and his wife, who are from the area. We went to La Margarita. the food was outstanding... there was even a Mariachi band... It was great to spend the evening with new friends for me and old ones for Stuart.

Monday, Stuart showed me around the base that he Started his Air Force career at. He showed me the barracks on stilts and the grounds he marched. And now the building he is spending the 2 months in. It was so nice to have that glimpse into his life years before I met him.

The hotel we stayed at on base

The weapons training building Stuart is at for CATM school

The barracks that Stuart was in Basic Training in.

One of Stuart's favorite planes on display at LackLand

An F-16B plane from Hill AFB on display at Lackland

It was such a fun trip, I was so sad to go but I missed the kids so much also. if they had of been with me, I don't know if we could have left, but Daddy will be home soon...

Sunday January 13th

Emily was feeling a bit better so we decided we would do some grocery shopping. We went to Hill AFB. We went to the BX ( Base exchange) to look for anything we couldn't live with out... Well Sam found a foot ball and Emily found a Soccer ball they couldn't live with out so we got them and headed for lunch... When we got the the food court. there was a military police officer standing in line, he was tall, in uniform and had the same short hair as Stuart. Emily ran up to him wrapped her arms around his leg, screaming Daddy Daddy the whole time. and of course all of this happened so fast I couldn't stop her. but Once she looked at his face, she started to cry... I felt SO bad... the officer was SO nice... but after a few more tears and some hugs from mom... all was ok... She was pretty teary for the rest of the day, Poor Girl... Sam got his second tooth today...

Saturday January 12th

Sam has decided to grow up over night. This morning (the 12th) his first tooth broke through...he decided he would crawl up on both knees, before he was doing the Army low crawl. And if that wasn't enough for 1 morning he decided he would go from crawling to sitting and back to crawling again. Today we went to see Enchanted... My mom and I took the 4 kids, Emily loved it... we also decided that we would make fleece blankets. so we went to the fabric store and in the check out line Emily got sick... spent the rest of the night with a fever and chills... but snuggling on Daddy's side that night made it all better...

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's man

Sam has just learned to play patty cake... he can't clap yet but he can roll it and toss it in the oven...I have even found him rolling it in his sleep...

We were able to see Daddy last night on the web-cam and it was great... The kids and I have missed him so much but it was a huge help for Emily. Since she could see him and he could talk back to her she was sure he was closes enough that no monsters could be in our house and hide under her bed. It was very nice for her to have some much needed rest.

One night only, Emily Mackey is performing

Emily as many of you know is a attention junkie so tonight she put on a short performance... Hope you all enjoy... oh and yes that is Sam in the back ground trying to sing along with her...she got side tracked so she made a quick exit and was off to save a toy from Sam....

January 8th

Stuart is doing well. the class was put into teams today so he will be working with 12 other people for the remainder of the training. We are able to talk to him every day so that has made it nice and we are trying to get the internet camera set up so we can see each other... Emily has really started to miss him, she is not sleeping super well at night and keeps asking if we can go on a plane to Texas to school too... I sure wish we could. He has a few friends in Texas from the All Guard Rifle team so they have agreed to keep him out of trouble on the weekends. Thanks guys...:) On Monday night Emily invited my parents and nieces over for a chicken nugget dinner, cooked in her new kitchen. my dad agreed to bring the kool aid and my mom the ice cream. We decided to have an "iron chef" competition... she would cook in her kitchen and I would cook in mine the same meal. chicken nuggets and french fries... for those of you who don't know there are 3 categories in Iron chef challenges. 1 Taste 2 presentation 3 originality She won hands down in the presentation and originality categories but my score was much higher in the taste category. So I edged her out by 1 point... I guess I will keep my chef's hat and we won't rely on her kitchen for meal yet but we sure had fun...

Daddy left.... We Miss him

Stuart left for CATM School yesterday. He drove to Lackland AFB in San Antonio. Well is technically still driving but has less then 300 miles to go... He will be in school fromt he 4th of January until the 10th of March. We are sure going to miss him... but thanks to technology it is so much easier to keep in touch so he won't seem so far away...

This was just such a cute picture I had to post it.

New Years Eve 2008

For New Years we threw a raging party... My sister in law Paula, My mom and I. We had snacks and music and games... Drinks and movies... We spent all day preparing and we invited the Coolest Cats in town...

Top Row: My brother Brian's boys Carson ( Bubba Lou) and Tyler (Jabronie), My sister's Daughter Kendalle (Magillicuty Snicklefritz)

Bottom Row: Sam ( Sam-a-licious) My sister's daughter Mikalle ( Ma-killer Spike) Emily (Emmy award winning drama Queen) Her name is still under debate...

Oh, it wasn't quite the rager that I used to go to but the kids had a great time...Paulla and the boys left at 10pm when it was new years in the east coast... They had to get up to drive home to kansas the next day.

Sam, made it to 9pm which was super late for him and the girls and Grandma and I all made it to about 12:30... We even did poppers on the front porch to ring in the new year... It was a good night...

Kendalle, watching a movie

Emily and Grandma playing

Mikalle Coloring

Sam meets Sabrina...( the Dog)

Sam is finally aware that Sabrina ( my dad's dog) is around. He has never cared up until now... So on New Years Eve, we decided to make the proper introductions...

Sam Checking out Sabrina... She wasn't too sure she liked him messing with her ears.

Sabrina's turn to check out Sam... He definately wasn't liking her sniffing his face... but all is well, now they are the best of friends. He gets so excited when she comes in the room.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Flash back to 1979 I was 2 years old and a cowgirl... I even had a pistol... (Don't worry my dad was right there)

Flash forward to 2007 ( just hours before 2008) Emily was playing on my parents bed running in circles yelling Yippee Cowboy... Yippee Cowboy... with my dad's hat on. Well we couldn't resisit the mother, daughter compairison so...

Again no worries, my dad was right there, she was lucky, she got an actual cowboy revolver... I was amazed to see how much she actually looks like me when i was that age... She made Daddy So proud!