VisiT FroM my MoM & CarLy

It has been so fun to have my Mom and Carly here the last two weeks. Gabe's had a ball having Carly around to play with and I have thoroughly enjoyed my Mom's company. Here are some highlights from their visit:
1) Gabe locking himself in our house: this involved a lot of tears and screaming (from both me and Gabe), a brave neighbor with a ladder, and a second story window. Enough said?
2) Visiting Young's Dairy Farm: one of Dayton's top tourist attractions. We had fun feeding the goats and seeing the newborn baby farm animals.
3) Trip to St. Louis to visit the Mortensen family: we enjoyed seeing the St. Louis Zoo and just spending time with the Mortensen family. Gabe especially loved their dog Kitty.
4) Touring Frank Lloyd Wright's Westcott House in Springfield, OH.
5) Celebrating 6 Years. John and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on May 1st. My Mom was very sweet to stay home with the kids so John and I could go out and celebrate. We had dinner at Outback Steakhouse and then we went and saw a movie. It was soooo nice to have some alone time and not have to worry about Gabe! THANKS MOM!!!
6) Wearing the kids out! Check out how Carly fell asleep on her last night here. . .

Movie Time!

I was laughing with a friend the other day about how this should be called "Gabe's blog", not" John, Rachel and Gabe's blog".  But, he's pretty much my life right now so he's really all I really have to blog about.  Besides, he so cute, I can't help but show him off!  And Nancy, I even included a clip of Gabe AND ME at the end just for you!  Enjoy.

The Church Grandparents

One week while sitting in sacrament meeting a women behind us leaned forward and informed us that she was in love with our baby.  Fast forward a few months and we now call her Grandma Jan.  Jan and her husband, Jim, just adore Gabe and he adores them back!  In fact it's a struggle to get Gabe to sit with us at church because he would rather be sitting with Jim and Jan!  Last night Jan made a comment about how interesting it is that the Lord makes peoples paths cross at certain times in life.  When she said that I started thinking about how blessed we are to have crossed paths with them at this time in our life.  More than once Jan has dropped everything she had planned for her day and come to watch Gabe when I really needed some help.  And Sunday after Sunday, Jim patiently sits with Gabe in his lap, showing him the scriptures and helping him turn the pages.  He even shared his frosted brownie with Gabe at dinner on Sunday. Now that's love!
Jim and Jan, you have been such a blessing to us! Thanks for falling in love with our baby!

Gabe - The Attack Baby

Gabe's uncle Matt calls Gabe "the attack baby" and today Gabe lived up to the name. While we were walking to the park Gabe actually attacked his own shadow. His shadow was right in front of him and he just went nuts! He got down on his hands and knees and started smacking it and then chasing it on all fours! Once he calmed down a bit I tried to teach him about shadows, but I think he is still quite determined to catch his.

The Classics

I love to read, and I read a lot of books.  I love a page turner, something that grips you from page one.  However, I have this huge list of classic novels that I want to read before I die.  I force myself to pick one up at the library and read it along with those page turners.  Sometimes I really enjoy them and sometimes I feel like I am torturing myself with this goal.  Just recently I have finished Emily Bronte's, "Wuthering Heights" and Jane Austen's, "Mansfield Park."  During both of these I asked myself, "Why do I do this to myself?"  Then just the other day while watching a movie a reference was made to a character being just like Heathcliff.  It was then I had the Ah Ha! moment I needed to know why I torture myself so.  Knowing who Heathcliff was in that moment was totally awesome!  I also love it when I find myself using phrases like, "Pray, Mr. Heaton, do tell me how was your day?" So I continue diligently with my goal of reading the classics (intermingled with mysteries, love stories, vampires and werewolves . . . is anyone else dying to know what happens to Bella, Edward and Jacob?).

Enjoying some spring!

This past week 5 of the 12 families in our cul de sac moved.  There was one day when there were 3 moving trucks parked in our circle at once (and these aren't little Uhauls, they are semi trucks).  We weren't close to any of the families that moved from our circle, but we lost 20 families from our ward all at once.  Including one of my good friends, Tammy, who is moving to Germany.  I am sad to see them go, but that's the Air Force life we chose.  They will just be the first of many good friends we will have to leave.  I ended up watching her little boy twice last week while the movers were packing her house.  Her husband is already in Germany leaving her with the job of moving and caring for their 1o month old baby.  And she's 7 months pregnant. So getting her little boy out of her hair for a couple of days was the least I could do to help her out.  But, HOLY COW two kids was a handful.  By the end of the first day I told John "I don't know if I can do this again tomorrow."  I survived and thankfully both boys did too!
We listened to General Conference this weekend and it was wonderful as always.  I especially loved Elder Ballard's talk to the young mothers of the church.  I love being a mom, but it does get hard some times!  His talk was a good reminder for me that the joy of being a mom comes in moments and those moments are what make all the messes, tantrums, cooking, cleaning, etc. worth while.  I love being a mom and I love those moments of absolute joy that I feel!  I truly am blessed to have such a wonderful kid.  He has such a bright happy spirit and is constantly bringing a smile to my face.  It is great to be a mom!    
Listen to conference: www.lds.org

Tis the Season to be Grillin'

Well, not quite, but I'm wishing! We bought a BBQ grill a couple of weeks ago and I've been hoping for beautiful spring weather so we can get outside and grill.  However, it hasn't worked.  We are still being blessed with cold, rain and wind.  Yuck!  Sunday we planned to BBQ with Ryan and Katie but of course it was cold and rainy.  So we grilled anyway!  True my dream of a beautiful spring  BBQ did not come true, but we still had fun eating indoors and playing cards.  Gabe even ate his first hot dog.  A true childhood milestone.  

Hoppy Easter

Holidays are strange without our families, but we've been trying to make them special and fun nonetheless.  Since Gabe isn't much of a "hunter" yet, we just threw a bunch of plastic eggs out on the lawn for him to pickup. He was cute wearing his basket around his neck while he picked up his Easter eggs. John got bored after a while so he "helped" Gabe pick up the rest of the eggs with his golf driver.  So thoughtful that husband of mine. . . 
We had Easter dinner with Dale, Alva and Abbey.  We had a yummy lamb roast for dinner and some very rich, but delicious chocolate cheese cake for dessert.  Alva loves to bake and claims it is her way to relax.  John asked me why I don't find baking relaxing and I couldn't say that I don't. I actually think it could be very relaxing . . . if only I had a house elf to do the dishes afterwards.

I'm Learning That's Just Life

"I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.”
~Walter Anderson
One of these days I will learn how to roll with the punches. Until then, thanks to all of you who have been so supportive of my struggle to deal with this thing we call life. Learn, grow, move on. I'm working on it. If only I'd been blessed with a more "cheerful disposition". . .

Due to snow Ohio is closed

The weather has been crazy here lately. Just last Monday it was beautiful and spring-like outside. I had all of the windows in the house open to let the warm, fresh air in, Gabe and I even played at the park, it felt like spring was here! Then we got hit with freezing temperatures, ice, and a huge snowstorm. The snow started Friday and didn't stop until Saturday afternoon. I guess it was a record snowfall for Ohio. Most areas received about a foot of snow or more. Needless to say this place shut down! John came home from work early on Friday. We would have stayed bunkered down for the night, but we had dinner plans with a guy John works with. We had cancelled dinner the previous Friday because Gabe was sick, so we really didn't feel like we could cancel again due to snow. Besides, where we're from a mere foot of snow is barely worth mentioning. So ignoring the "blizzard warnings" on TV we braved the snowy roads.
Thankfully we travelled safely and had a fun evening. We had dinner with Dell, Alva and their daughter Abbey who is 18 months old. The kids had a great time playing together and it was fun to get to know some new people. After dinner Del and John played a game of pool that was really funny to watch since the kids would throw the balls back onto the table after they had been sunk into a pocket. Apparently "house rules" at their house are that those balls are now back in play wherever they land. This made for two long games of pool, but we had a fun time.
Church was even cancelled on Sunday because of the snow. As much as I love church it was nice to have a break. It was great to have John get to be home and sleep in a bit instead of being at 6:30AM meetings. And I didn't mind not having to wrestle Gabe through the meetings. He is a challenge at church right now, only two more months and he can go to nursery!!! (But who's counting?) The sun came out on Sunday and it ended up being a chilly, but beautiful day! We even went on a walk as a family to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful white snow.
Quite a bit of the snow is melting with the sun and it gives me hope that maybe spring is not too far off. As wonderful as this last snowstorm was I can't wait for the day that I can open the windows and play outside with Gabe again. BRING ON SPRING!

Head wounds bleed (a lot).

Just yesterday I was talking to my sister about how I haven't posted anything on the blog for a while because there's been nothing to post about. Well, Gabe cured my "nothing to post about" syndrome this morning when he cut his head open on the entertainment center. The gash was only about 3/4" long, but WOW did it bleed! I was panicked at first when he turned around and had blood streaming down his face. Holy crap what do I do? Have you ever tried to assess the damage on a 15 month old who's screaming, gushing blood and won't hold still to let you look at his head? Do I take him to the ER? Does he need stitches? How the heck am I going to get him to the ER with all the blood? Etc. Etc. I finally decided to try and get the bleeding stopped at home so I could determine how bad the cut really was and if we needed to take him to a doctor. Finally got a bandaid on the cut and thought the bleeding had stopped, but it soon soaked through the bandaid. John came home from work and thought we should probably take him into the ER and have it checked out. So we took him to the ER and luckily they were able to close the gash with purple wonder glue. Not a stitch needed! What a relief it was to know that Gabe wouldn't have to endure the trauma of getting stitches! A latex glove balloon from doc and we were on our way . . . but oh what a day!

Hello, Hollywood.

Holy cow, hot dog, and yippie skippie I finally figured out how to post video on our blog!

Look out Hollywood, Gabe has made his Internet debut! This movie is just a bunch of cute video clips of Gabe from the past few months. So grab your popcorn and enjoy the movie!

A First Time for Everything

I made my first box of Macaroni and Cheese this week! I detest the stuff and Gabe loves it! So I finally broke down and made it for his lunch the other day. And, yes, I ate it too. The sacrifices we make as parents . . . : )

Gabe attended his first swimming lesson on Thursday. My friend Tammy signed up her 8 month old little boy and she invited Gabe and me to come along too. So we are now members of the YMCA and enrolled in swim lessons. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a great class! They taught the kids how to put their faces in the water, kick their feet, move their hands like they are paddling, etc. It also helps them to get comfortable on their backs and tummies in the water, something that Gabe is not comfortable with. So I think this will be a really good experience for us.

Last, but not least, Gabe ate his first Crayola marker this week. I didn't worry since the box said it was non-toxic, but that produced a diaper I will never forget!

As for John and myself we are staying busy with church callings, work and trying to keep up with our little boy! John is the executive secretary in our ward and I am the relief society secretary. It's been good for both of us to be put into positions where we've been forced to get involved and get to know people in the ward. John's also been playing basketball with the ward and it's always funny to me how serious everyone takes church basketball, especially my husband!

Now that John is finally done with all of his training and traveling (for a while at least) he's also gotten a lot busier at work. He's had several late nights of staying at work to perform tests on the scram jet engine they are developing. Now I'm not the scientist, but I'll try my best to explain what he does. The scram jet engines travels at very high speeds, like mach 5 or faster. So in order to test the engine you have to make a lot of wind . . . A LOT OF WIND! So they have these huge machines that make wind for the testing, but it sucks so much power from the base and the city that they would cause "brown outs" if they tested during the day. So they test the engine late at night after people have turned off lights and computers, etc. so they don't cause power outages across the base and city. I'm sure John would love to tell you more about it!

Anyway, life is good and we are doing great! We love and miss all of our family and friends and would love to hear from you anytime! We're also up for visitors anytime!!! Just imagine telling your friends you'll be vacationing in Dayton this summer! They'll be so jealous!

Winter Blues

Now that the holidays are over I really don't see a point to winter. It's just cold and no fun! We've had record cold days here in Dayton and without any snow it's just cold and miserable.
This Saturday John and I went to the Columbus Temple to see our friends, the Hollands have their little boy sealed to them. What an amazing experience to witness a family be joined together for eternity. Gabe stayed home with his first official babysitter "Grandma Jan." I was worried about leaving him and being so far away, but he did great and it was nice for John and I to enjoy the morning alone and attend the sealing.
We drove to Cincinnati for the afternoon and took Gabe to the Aquarium to look at the fish. He had a ball just running around and banging on the glass at all of the fish (I'm sure the fish loved that!). It wasn't really a relaxing day, but nice to just spend time together as a family.
Gabe has learned all sorts of fun stuff the past few weeks. He is signing all sorts of new things like: cracker, juice, water, bird, hat, & airplane. He hears the planes from the base flying over our house and signs airplane without even seeing them. It amazes me how smart he is! He also is great at sustaining people in church, although by the time he gets his hand raised it's usually time for the opposition vote, so adorable! He is talking more too. He of course says, "no, no, no." Hmmmm. . . I wonder where he's heard that before? He also says Mom, Dad, Dog, Diaper, and "Burrrrrr!" when it's cold. He also gives great kisses!!! True, they are usually slobbery and really gross, but I love them! John and I compete for kisses from him (and just for the record, Mom gets more kisses!).

Happy New Year!

We brought in the new year by driving to Washington DC on New Year's Eve. Asleep in our hotel before midnight it wasn't much of a party, but we needed our rest since we had a big day ahead of us. New Years Day we left our hotel in the historic Foggy Bottom district of DC and boarded the metro to go do some sight seeing. Gabe was a fan of the metro and quickly learned the sign for train. It was a beautiful day to be outside so we decided to tour the monuments on the mall. We saw the Washington Monument, the new WWII monument, Korean and Vietnam memorials, as well as the Lincoln Monument and White House. From there we headed over to Arlington to see the Changing of the Guard. Exhausted and hungry after a long day of walking and being out in the cold we headed back to our hotel, but not before stopping to have dinner at the George Washington University Hospital Cafeteria. I know what you're all thinking . . . "yuck, hospital food." But, it was really good! And affordable! After paying $5 for a hot dog in all of the touristy places it was great to have a meal we could afford to eat . . . and actually get full!
Wednesday was cold and windy so we hit the museums. I drug John to the Natural History museum to go see the Hope Diamond and he loved the museum and could have spent all day there. But, with so much to see we headed off to the Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Gabe loved the sound of his voice echoing in this building . . . enough said? We then went over to the Air and Space Museum which after being in so many awesome Air Force museums this one was kind of disappointing. However, the one cool thing we really liked was seeing the original Wright Flyer. (Gabe and I also enjoyed Boston Market in the food court!)
Thursday we visited the Holocaust Museum. This was a first for both of us so we took our time there. After grabbing some lunch it was back on the metro and over to Arlington to see the statue of the marines raising the flag at Iwoa Jima.
Friday was our last day in DC so we sent on a tour of the Capitol building. Wow, I actually got to see more of the capitol than just the basement and Brigham Young's back this time!!!
We really had a great trip and made some good memories. What a great birthday present, thanks John!!! Oh, and thanks to Dad and Cheryl for your Christmas gift - I think the GPS may have saved our marriage while driving in DC!

Merry Christmas

We hope you all had a happy Christmas! We enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home here in Ohio. We woke up and opened our presents and then enjoyed lounging around the house relaxing. Gabe enjoyed pulling the bows off all the gifts and unwrapping them too! He got a bunch of new toys that kept him occupied most of the day. John and I missed being with our families, but enjoyed the time together at home. Thanks to all of you who sent cards and gifts, it sure helped to make our Christmas nice. I love looking at our fridge and seeing all of the Christmas cards and photos! We love you all and hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Okay, we are home safe in Ohio after our trip to Alabama and Utah. I wrote a huge long detailed description of our trip home to Utah, but it was huge and long and boring so I just trashed it. I just want everyone, friends and family, to know how much we love you and enjoyed our time with you! Thanks for all of the efforts you made to spend time with me and Gabe! We love you all and hope you can come to Ohio and visit sometime!!!

He Speaks!

It's official, Gabe has spoken his first word! DIAPER! True, kids usually start with a simpler word, but other than Mama and Dada this is the only word he speaks that means something. It's so stinking cute! (No pun intended.)
It's been a quiet week for us so far. Gabe and I are both getting over our first colds of the season. Best to get them out of the way before we come visit! I am anxious to see all of you and leave the South! You know this is an interesting spot when John (who has lived in Ukraine in some pretty scary places) says, "You know this isn't the worst place in the world, but it's a close second." We are not sad to be leaving. Poor John has to stick it out another two weeks. Ohio never looked so good!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving Day here in Alabama. We had our turkey dinner courtsey of Cracker Barrell. It was actually very good. However, it just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving without being with our families. We sure missed all of you today. So keeping with Thanksgiving tradition here are our 5 thankfuls (well, mine at least, John is being difficult...)

Rachel's thankfuls:
1. My boys - there isn't a day that goes by that I am not thankful for John and Gabe. They are what keeping me going. I am grateful for their "enthusiastic" attitudes. Their happiness is contagious and always brightens my day.
2. My family - it was hard moving away from home this year. I miss seeing all of you and I wish you were closer to see Gabe grow up. However, I appreciate all the effort that has been put into visits, phone calls, packages, and emails. It's nice to still feel connected to you at home. I sure love all of you!
3. The Gospel - I am always thankful for the gospel in my life. I am thankful for the light and direction is gives in this crazy world. It gives me the hope and comfort that I need. Without it, I think I would find this world far too scary! I am grateful for my Savior, for His Atonement and for the chance we've been given to repent of our sins and be forgiven. What would I do without second chances?
4. Freedom - I love America! I am so proud to have a husband that is serving our country. I know he would give everything he has in order to preserve our freedom. It scares me sometimes to know how dedicated he is to this service, but I couldn't be prouder.
5. Eternal Families - I know I already listed John and Gabe as a thankful, and I already listed the gospel. However, this one is important enough to me to list by itself. I am grateful for the principle of eternal families. The other day John, Gabe and I spent the day on a beach in Florida. It was such a peaceful day and I felt absolutely content and at peace inside. As I watched my husband and son playing I think God gave me a glimpse of eternity. It was a moment I wished would never end. But, it did. However, it's one of those moments I'll never forget. I was in my own personal "heaven." It couldn't last, but I know we'll be there again someday, and we'll be there together, forever. And until then I will continue to hold onto those glimpses of heaven that God blesses us with in this life.

Birthday Boy

I am floored that a year has gone by so quickly! And what a crazy, eventful year it has been for us. But, it's true. . .my baby is a year old today! We celebrated last night by opening presents and having cake and ice cream. Gabe was a pro at unwrapping his gifts. The only problem was once he got one open he wanted to play with it instead of opening the rest of his gifts. We invited two of the families we've made friends with here at Maxwell over for cake and ice cream. The Fish's have a little boy who is 15 months old and Gabe plays with him every day on the playground, and I go walking with his mom every morning. The other family is LDS and they have a little girl who is 14 months old. So they all came over for cake and ice cream on Sunday night. (They were all impressed that I was able to pull off baking a cake with the limited supplies we have here in the kitchen.) Gabe had chocolate smeared all over his face, in his ears and up to his elbows by the time he finished with his piece. (He even kept his party hat on all night!) What a good boy he is! John and I feel so blessed. We are constantly in awe at how fast he is learning and growing. And we're always appreciative of his cheerful countenance and easy going demeanor. He is such a good kid! We are truly blessed.

The Officer's Club

Wednesday night we got our first taste of the Officer's Club. This was a recruiting event trying to get all of the new lieutenants to join the club. The Club itself reminded me a lot of the Riverside Country Club, very nice, very elegant. I even asked John if I needed to wear a dress. (We always had to wear dresses when we went to the Country Club!) But, tonight was casual. So we go and I'm a little nervous to be taking Gabe to the club, but as I ask around it seems like there will be a few other kids there too. We get there, get in line for the taco bar and find a place to sit amongst the throng of new lieutenants hooting, hollering, and cheering at the "jausters" who are in the middle of the room hitting each other with sticks on a giant blow-up boxing ring looking thing. (It reminded me of the TV show American Gladiators, only there were crystal chandaliers in the room.) Remember how I was going to wear a dress to this thing? Right. We eat our tacos and watch the jausting. Gabe loves every minute of it! (All the other kids are crying because of all the yelling and the Jock Rock that is blasting over the speakers.) But, not our Gabe! He's jumping and clapping and would probably be in on the betting if I gave him a little cash. So anyway, that was our O'Club recruitment. It was actually fun, but I thought it was probably a slight misrepresentation of what the O'Club is really like. But, I guess the Air Force thought this is the best way to get a bunch of slightly intoxicated new lieutenants to join the club!
It has been so hot here the last few days. The other night it was 80 degrees outside and in our room for that matter. They have shut the A/C off for the winter so there is no relief from the heat. We try to sleep, but you just lay there sweating. It feels like it's summer and not the middle of November! Tonight it is supposed to freeze though. All of the housekeepers are walking around in winter parkas today and it is a wonderful 60 degrees outside. They think it's freezing. I think it is fabulous!!!
I finally got the balls to leave base by myself yesterday. I'm getting stir crazy. I figured I would risk getting shot. Gabe and I drove over to the mall and picked up his pictures. (We had his picture taken last week for his 1st birthday.) They turned out so stinking cute! Can't wait to show everyone!

Ol' Alabama Town

We toured downtown Montgomery today. We were a little worried about going downtown since the areas we've experienced off base so far have been pretty rough, but it was actually really nice. We rode trolleys around town and saw several historical places, such as the Alabama State Capitol building where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy. We also saw the First White House of the Confederacy, a church where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor, and the place where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. Montgomery is a very historical city and it was amazing to see the places where so many events took place in the Civil Rights Movement. We were hot and exhausted after our day of sightseeing and all we could think of was getting a coke. We are sure glad we are here in Novemeber and not in the middle of the summer. It would be unbearable!

Life's a Beach

Well, it was for us anyway this weekend. No, really, we spent Saturday on the pristine white sand beaches of Florida. We drove about 3 hours from where we are staying in Alabama to Eglin AFB in Florida where we spent Friday night and all day Saturday. We spent Saturday near Destin, FL where the Air Force has a private beach on the Gulf of Mexico. The water was a little chilly, but it was probably one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever visited. The sand hurt your eyes it was so white and we practically had the beach all to ourselves. I'll post pictures as soon as we get home. It was a great day at the beach! There's nothing better than a beautiful day spent with your family in paradise!We had lunch at a little seafood place where John downed a dozen oysters on the half shell. Maybe downed isn't the right word, he tolerated a dozen raw gooey oysters. I tried one and it was enough for me! I was just grateful they provided horseradish, cocktail sauce and saltines to eat with the oysters so you actually didn't have to taste it if you put enough condiments on it!

Gabe has started signing really well since we have been here in Alabama. He now can sign: milk, mom, dad, dog, all done, more, diaper, and fish. It was amazing to see him start signing. One day he didn't do it and the next day he did! He's picking up new signs all the time. It's cool to see him communicate these words to us. On Friday when we walked into our hotel room in Florida there was a framed picture of a fish on the wall. He looked at the fish, looked at me and signed fish! Wow! I didn't even have to point it out to him, he just recognized it and showed me! So cool!

Sweet Home Alabama?

Well, we're here in Montgomery, Alabama and there is nothing "sweet" about this place. The area around base is really a rough area and we basically don't leave base unless we have to. And then we drive several miles to get out of this area. Just recently they had a marine shot at a Taco Bell and another Air Force guy shot while going to get diapers for his kid at the store. At church on Sunday we were informed that just this past week all 9 air conditioning units had been stolen off the building. Yikes! Oh, and they still fly the confederate flag. Interesting.
However, it's not all bad. Maxwell is a very nice base and we feel perfectly safe while on base. We are staying in a tiny studio apartment. There is a great playground right outside that Gabe has had fun playing on. There are a couple of other kids his age here too so it's been nice for him to have some kids to play with outside. He fell yesterday while he was playing and since it was 80 degrees outside he was wearing shorts, so we officially have our "first skinned knee" bandaid and all! It was very tragic and devestating to Gabe. He wouldn't stop crying, that is until he saw all the fun things to play with inside of the First Aid kit, so he played happily while I doctored up the knee.
On our way to Montgomery we stopped and stayed one night in Nashville. We had a great time walking around the city. We were travelling with another Lieutenant from Wright-Patt and he really wanted to go see the "night life" of Nashville so we tagged along. I felt like the lady in the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" where Reese Whitherspoon walks into the bar and sees an old high school friend and says, "you have a baby, ...in a bar..." Yeah, I felt a tad bit out of place pushing my baby around all the bars and clubs on Broadway Street in Nashville, but we really had a fun time!

Thanks for the visit!

Jenny and Lexi,
Thank you for coming to visit us! We had such a fun time with you guys and we miss you already! Can't wait to do it again with Philip and Adyson too! We especially want to thank Philip and Adyson for sharing your wife and mother with us for a week! We had such a good time with her and Lexi!
Come see us again soon!
Love,
John, Rachel and Gabe

Highlights from Jenny and Lexi's visit:
1) Hiking at John Bryan State Park
2) Bodies Exhibit: check out the website...this was sooo cool! http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/intro.html
3) Dublin Irish Village
4) Longaberger Homestead: yep, we saw the world's largest apple basket!
5) Berlin, OH - Amish Country!!!

My favorite holiday

Columbus day. Yup, it's my favorite. Wierd, I know, but it's only because my birthday is on Columbus Day. I had a fantastic birthday, thanks to my hubby and my sister, who both worked hard to make my big day special! Jenny and I spent the day shopping for new curtains for my family room, something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but needing someone elses opinion on the matter. She helped me select some beautiful drapes that really transformed the family room. I love it! When John got home from work he suprised me with his birthday gift which was a trip to Washington D.C. over New Years! I am super excited to get a Do-Over in D.C. since the trip I took in 1998 went so horribly wrong. My birthday truly was wonderful and I love my family for making it special for me. I feel loved. Thank you.

Gabe's 1st Haircut

I'll admit this was a hard thing to do. I loved Gabe's wild curls, but it was time. He suprised us by not minding having his haircut. In fact, he had a great time playing with the cape, watching himself in the mirror, and having Nemo to watch on the TV didn't hurt either. I got teary eyed watching my baby turn into a little boy. John thinks I'm being ridiculous, but this was a BIG emotional mommy moment that I don't think I was quite ready for. I kind of wish I'd held out a little longer to do this, but it's done now. And Gabe still is adorable, he just doesn't look like BABY Gabe anymore. He looks all grown up!

Everybody nose what Gabe's up to!

Big milestones! GABE'S A WALKIN'! True, we are still in the phase where we are counting the number of steps he takes, but he's doing it all on his own! It won't be long before he's up and running full speed. I can't belive my baby's walking. He is getting too big, too fast!
He is also teething right now. He has had just his two bottom teeth for so long now, we were starting to wonder if he would ever get more teeth. But, they're here. He has at least four coming in on top, and two on the bottom. It's like we went to bed one night and the next morning he had a full set of teeth. Wow, can't imagine that feels great, but he's no complainer.
A couple of my favorite things that he's doing right now is: 1) Using our kitchen chairs as a walker by pushing them around the kitchen wherever he wants to go. 2) Climbing up and down the stairs. It's so cute to watch him come down the stairs. He has to very carefully position himself in front of the gate to come down backwards. Once he is through the gate he always has to shut the gate which can be tricky for him, but he won't come down until it is shut. Once it's shut he has to give it a good violent shake to make sure it's locked and not coming open, and then finally he can descend. He comes down and what seems like 90 mph to me, but he's only fallen once so far, so I guess he's got it pretty well under control. 3) And last, I love when he puts his finger up his nose! Really cute, but now that I have a picture I think we are going to have to break this habit.

A Week in Virginia

John was sent TDY to Langley AFB in Virginia last week. Gabe and I were able to accompany him, and it sure beat being home alone for a week! The Air Force put us up at the Hilton Hotel (your tax dollars hard at work) and we were just minutes away from lots of fun things to see and do. Our first night there we drove to Buckroe Beach and Gabe experienced the great Atlantic for the first time. He was scared at first of the waves, but by the second night when we went back he was enjoying playing in the surf and of course the sand.

While John was in class at Langley Gabe and I would go do a little sightseeing and touristy stuff. One stop we made was at the Berkeley Plantation: Site of the First Official Thanksgiving in America in 1619, birthplace of William Henry Harrison, 9th U.S. President and Benjamin Harrison V, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, ancestral Home of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd U.S. president, “Taps” was composed here in 1862. Quite the historical plantation and very beautiful! There is actually a cannon ball still stuck in the side of the house from the Civil War. Very cool!

Another favorite that John was actually able to visit with us was Colonial Williamsburg. Once the capital of Virginia this is one historic city. It's amazing to walk the same streets that Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and so many other famous Virginians walked too. One evening we even enjoyed a "Ghost Tour" of the city. For this we went to the Govenor's mansion after dark and heard myths and legends from the time period. I'm sure it was really good, but I only was there for about half of it, since Gabe apparently doesn't like ghost stories. . .

We also visited Jamestown Settlement. Very cool museum and reconstructed fort and ships as the settlers would have built/used. We learned a lot of history about how the English lived and tried to survive, as well as how the Indians lived at the time. It was real "woodmansy" stuff, the whole time we were there we were thinking it was something that John's dad would really enjoy seeing.

I think our favorite stop had to be Monticello. What an incredible place. Beautiful, ingenious and 100% original from the construction to the furniture and paintings on the walls. If you ever have a chance to visit - do it! We are so glad we stopped here! Jefferson was such an amazing man, the house really gives you a sense of who he was and what was important to him. Besides the framed copy of the Declaration of Independence that he kept on the wall, he actually kept a rough draft in the house for his grandchildren to read.

And finally another favorite stop was Virginia Beach. Gabe and I spent all day here and John, Matt and JC (the other Lts. from Wright-Patt) joined us in the evening. Beautiful sand, great waves, and a "noisy atmosphere." (There were Navy F-18s flying overhead all day long making quite a rucous, but with John's love of jets he was in 7th heaven!) We loved the beach and wished we'd had another day to spend there. I even saw a family of about 7 or 8 dolphins swim by while I was there. It was so exciting to see dolphins in the wild, I just wish someone else was there to see it. . .Gabe just didn't appreciate the moment.

Labor Day Weekend

Checked out the Columbus Zoo this weekend. Loved it! This is a zoo we will be going back to. Watched an RC Airplane show on Saturday for a couple of hours, too hot to stay any longer. It was neat to see 7 or 8 planes up at one time, kept waiting for a crash, but left disappointed. John loved the jet planes (yes, rc planes with real jet engines) as well as the choppers. Monday we just hung out around the house and spent the evening with our neighbors, the LeMaires. Katie made awesome hamburgers. . . probably the best homemade burger I've ever had. The secret? Some special creole seasoning she gets at home in Louisiana. We played several games of Bocce and we learned how to play Corn Hole. Never heard of Corn Hole? Neither had I until we moved here. But, it is very popular here and everyone seems to play it. It was fun evening and a great way to end our long weekend.
Gabe's latest "funny" is taking off his bib while he is eating. John and I have gotten so tired of puting his bib back on him that we've just stopped making him wear one. So now he trys to take off his shirt while he is eating. He hasn't succeeded in getting his shirt off yet, but boy does he try. We're not sure why he has this obsession, although I'm thinking maybe it's not a bad idea to let him eat in the nude. . . less laundry for me in the longrun!
Today we got word that Gabe and I could accompany John next week while he is TDY. So I am excited not to be home alone all next week. As well as now we have the chance to do some sight seeing in Virginia. We will be in Hampton, VA at Langley AFB. Lots of fun historical things to see in this area as well as the fun of having the beach near by. Hopefully, John will have enough free time to enjoy some of it with Gabe and me.

Too Cute!

This picture is just too cute not to share. I think Gabe looks very grown up.

Lions and Tigers and Bears. . . Oh, My!

Visited the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday. It was a great zoo and Gabe enjoyed watching the animals. Yep, that's a baby rhino behind me and Gabe in the picture. So cute! We also loved seeing the Giant Anteater, the Polar Bears, and John loved the insect display, personally it made me sick.

Gabe has started climbing the stairs and spends a good chunk of time each day going up and down the first three stairs. He has also discovered the toilet paper and loves to unroll it any chance he gets. He is getting so big and doing so many things now. I went visiting teaching this morning and the lady I visit has a 10 month old baby boy. Gabe basically ran circles around this kid, (as well as running over the top of him). It's amazing how different kids are!


John finished the 3 week long training he's been in on Friday. So he is back to work on Monday. Sounds like he may be going TDY for a week in Septemeber, but we haven't heard final confirmation on that yet. We'll keep you posted. We're also talking about the possibility of me flying home for a week or two in November while he's in Alabama, so we'll let everyone know dates for sure when we get that scheduled!

Home Sweet Home

Many of you have asked to see where we live. So this is it, home sweet home. Hope it helps you to picture where we are.