Mother's Day & Meredith's Baptism

 Mother's Day was very special for me this year, because we had Meredith baptized.  Several of our extended family members were able to attend and we hosted a luncheon in our backyard following the church service.

Meredith was able to wear the dress I wore when I was baptized.  It was actually worn by myself, my sister, and cousin, Samantha.  My mom made the dress and bonnet and they are completely hand-stitched.  She surprised me by having all of our monograms added to the bottom of the dress (see picture below), including Meredith's.  It's such a precious, sentimental family heirloom.  

Our church, First Presbyterian of Goldsboro.

 It's so important to Aaron and I to commit before our family of faith to teach our children about Jesus, so that they will be encouraged to one day put their faith in the Lord.  If we do nothing else as parents, that is what we hope for.

 Although, Will was clearly not in the picture taking mood, here are the best family shots we were able to muster.

 It was a beautiful day for a backyard luncheon, and thanks to some fabulous helping hands we had a delicious spread.

 Will was happy to have some playmates, as a couple of other Air Force moms, whose husbands were deployed and would otherwise be "celebrating" Mother's Day alone, were able to join us.

It was a sweet, sweet day.  Here are a few more pictures of Meredith along with the words from a hymn we sang, Child of Blessing, Child of Promise.  This is our prayer for her life.

 

 Child of blessing, child of promise, baptized with the Spirit's sign; with this water God has sealed you unto love and grace divine.

Child of love our love's expression, love's creation, loved indeed! Fresh from God, refresh our spirits, into joy and laughter lead.

Child of joy, our dearest treasure, God's you are, from God you came. Back to God we humbly give you; live as one who bears Christ's name.

 Child of God, your loving Parent, learn to know whose child you are.  Grow to laugh and sing and worship, trust and love God more than all.

The Graduate

After years of hard work, cramming in schoolwork in the evenings after his "day" job and on weekends, Aaron finally completed his MBA at Mississippi State University in May!  We're so proud of him!!!

Even though he didn't get to participate in the graduation ceremony, we were able to visit the campus during our trip to Mississippi in April.  Here he is in front of "The Hump" or Humphries Colosseum where the event would have taken place. 

 Although, we didn't really take enough pictures to do it justice, the campus has a really beautiful landscape.  I particularly enjoyed being back, as I spent a good deal of time there while I worked for Quest Group, researching/writing articles for the College of Business and Industry's alumni magazine.  We laughed that I actually knew my way around better than him, seeing how his courses were all online.

All in all, he's glad he did it, glad he learned some good stuff, glad he can "check the box" for Major, and glad to say he's DONE! Whoohoo!  HAPPY GRADUATION!!!  Go Bulldogs!

Laundry Basket Fun

Big Brother/Little Sister

Oh, these two!  I love them.  Not too keen on modeling their shirts initially, but we regrouped and at least got some cooperative-looking, "ok, Mom I'll play along" ones.  

Warrior Banquet

The base held a Warrior Banquet at the end of April .  Even though the first wave of Rockets had just deployed, there was a great turn out from the entire fighter wing.  As you will see from the pictures, it's a very informal event where pretty much anything goes...

 Many of the ladies wore flight suit dresses!  A huge thanks to my mom for whipping up a dress for me!  She said she felt like she was on "Project Runway"...literally, haha!

 The banquet was held in a hangar with the mighty Strike Eagle parked right beside us.

 Here are the Rockettes in all of our various flight suit fashions!  It was so cute to see how each squadron put their own spin on them.  We obviously accessorized with our squadron color, yellow, but my favorite were the Chiefs, who had beads and suede fringe on their dresses with feather headbands and warpaint.

 Dinner was pretty crazy! Imagine a cafeteria full of grown-ups in a food fight.  People were being sprayed with water and my friend next to me was hit in the head with a flying chicken wing...all in good fun of course!

 The speaker for the evening was incredible.  He was a pilot shot down in the Gulf War, taken prisoner, escaped, and taken prisoner again.  It was a riveting account, including how his faith played a major role in seeing him through.  He spoke some really encouraging words to both the "warriors" and "warrior wives."

 We feel really blessed to be in a squadron with such a great group of people.  It was a super fun evening to celebrate together!

Our family

This was just a couple of months ago, and I can't believe how much the kids have already grown since these were taken.  Still, I love the moments my friend Liz captured for us during our trip to Mississippi.  Thanks, Liz!

Spouse Appreciation Brunch

Once a year the base organizes a spouse appreciation day, and this year's event was pretty cool.  They cancelled flying for the day and hosted a brunch for us out on the runway.  Thankfully, the weather was lovely and it made for a pretty awesome setting.  

                                      

My hubby.  He was one of the coordinators of the event, so we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time "appreciating" during the brunch, but at least we managed a few photos. 

 It was a pretty crazy perspective of the runway that the wives rarely get to see.

 The Rockettes were well represented!

 I think he has a pretty cool office if I do say so myself. *wink*

Back in Mississippi

At least for a brief visit.  We had been planning on visiting in May so that Aaron could walk in his graduation from Mississippi State, but the Air Force had other plans. So, we hightailed it down to Columbus in April to rendezvous with some dear friends and enjoy some of our favorite things.  First stop, a burger from Mugshots in Starkville.  Hands down the best burger we've ever eaten, and it was every bit as good as we remembered!  

 I loved driving through Columbus downtown (while sipping my Chick-fil-a milkshake, a very welcome addition to the town since we left) taking in the sites of the beautiful antebellum homes.  

 This first one is White Arches, my favorite inside and out.  This one is just across the street and has been renovated since we moved.  It was fun to see the house and grounds restored to it's former beauty.

 And this is Twelve Gables.  So Southern!

 The cute, colorful downtown.  Good memories of working at the bakery here, and shopping and lunching with friends.

 While Aaron went to pick up Joshua in Alabama, I was so excited to meet up with Tiffany and Teresa in West Point and introduce them to Meredith.  Will enjoyed playing at the park in Kid Town while we spent some time catching up.

 Meredith enjoyed the extra cuddles.

 They are such sweet ladies, and I really miss living near them.

 We also took Will to his old stomping grounds, Freedom Park at CAFB.  This time he could really appreciate all it had to offer!

 And I'm kicking myself for not getting a better picture, but he got to play with my sweet friend Liz's kids who have since come back to Columbus for an instructor assignment.  She is an amazing mom and photographer.  I can't wait to share the family pictures she took for us.

Thankfully, we were able to see several other sweet friends that we really enjoyed catching up with, so much so that I never even pulled my camera out.  I guess we'll have to go back!

 Finally the Bibb's arrived from their cross-country journey... with their newest addition....and the party began!  The babes became acquainted and Will and Isaac picked up right where they left off.

 It was short visit, but we packed in as much fun as possible in our little TLF.  I DO NOT miss those bathrooms... but I digress.

 We played some Settlers, ate some Sushi and all in all had a lively time.

 On the way off base, we drove by the 50th...

 And caught a glimpse of the T-38.  It looks so small now compared to the Strike Eagle.

 We all went to church on Sunday, and it was nice to be back to worship among so many wonderful folks.  Afterwards, our last stop before leaving town was lunch at Proffit's.  

 Always hard to say good-bye, but it helps to know we'll be seeing them again soon!

 Well, at least the kids and I will be travelling to Utah for a deployment playdate in October.  Can't wait!