The Schmidts

After graduation we celebrated by making a trip to Utah in order to visit family. This was after we received our predicted dates. We started by driving down to Dallas, TX to explore since we hadn't been there. We got to see the JFK memorial, which was really neat. I had forgotten that that was where President JFK was assassinated. We stayed at a hotel and hit the airport in the morning.  We stayed just a few days at the Schmidts then headed up camping with the Barfuss'. As you can imagine Sam loved camping! We all got to meet the newest member of the family - Lucie!  Sam fell in love with the tractor!  We got to visit Grandma and Grandpa's new place!  Sam was entertained for hours with the puddles and rocks Justin and I were also able to get away for a night to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary. Wow! Time flies and yet it seems we've been married for longer than that -- in a good way. We stayed at the University Inn going back to th...

Wow! We did it! Justin made it through "the most intense year of his life" and I have only begun to understand the life of a military spouse. :) My hat goes off to my hubby. He has worked so hard! And through it all he has been an excellent husband and father to boot. He handled the stress like a champ. I love him sooo much! I am truly a lucky lady. This year has definitely stretched all of us but we are better for it. T-1 Class 13-13 He gave me his broken wing. :) - I love him! Cockpit of the T-1 All of Class 13-13 The T-1 Graduation breakfast The ceremony T-1 Jayhawk  Thank you Richard and Jo for coming to celebrate with us! Congratulations Justin!

On Friday, August 2, 2013 we arrived at the Vance Collocated Club to find out where we will be living and what Justin will be flying for the next 3 - 6 years of our lives. Not a big deal right? The nerves got to me dang it! How do you prepare yourself for a night like this? The last time we had done this (track select) it had been a discouraging experience for us both. Justin went and stood at the front, and 3 airplanes appeared on the slide. The KC 10 dropped, it was between instructing T-1s here at Vance (our 10th choice) or C130 in Germany (our 1st choice)! Yikes, my heart was pounding. . Finally the T-1 dropped and yes -- the map of Germany came up! We are going to Germany -- true we won't be there until next June but that's where we are headed. It's nice to know what we will be doing for more than a year. We can really settle down for 3 years. :) This year has been a melting pot. Okay, not sure what word to use to describe our year of moving 18 hou...

Sam and Leo found it fun to throw the dirt from our flower beds on our cement pad in the front. I just didn't have the heart to stop them today even if it was getting quite messy. :) I let them be boys!  Hopefully I'll add the video soon.

A few other fun days in our lives recently:  1st bowl of cold cereal:Honey Nut Cherrios!   Oh yes, he loved them    Finished it all with drinking the left over milk, mm mmm good. Sam sleeps with his binkie and after his nap he got mom to give him another one which he found a way to get it in his mouth too. Made me laugh. He's quite the clever little fellow. He knows what he wants and is figuring out how to get mom and dad to help him get what he wants. Sam loves reading -- I watched him as he picked out this book, climbed up on the chair and started flipping through the pages. Obviously as parents we love to see this, plus it was just so cute to watch. You may wonder what in the world this is. We finger painted for our FHE activity except mom did not realize we were out of food coloring so the paint is colored with sprinkles. Didn't do the job quite as good. We'll have to try again. But Sam sure had fun though. Below is our fina...

Last week, July 25, 2013, Sam and I had a wonderful adventure to Oklahoma City. We enjoyed visiting with our neighbor Melanie Zambrano all the way down and dropped her off at the airport. After that, we went and grabbed lunch. We first went to Qdoba, but the burrito I ordered was a little too messy and spicy for Sam. Across the parking lot was Chick-Fil-A! We stepped on over there, ordered Sam's very first meal of his own chicken nuggets and fries -- not exactly the healthiest but sure fun. He loved them as you can imagine. We happened to sit next to the play place. Sam was watching all the kids go in and hearing all the screaming going on inside it. We took a break from eating to go explore. He stood like this for a good minute or two. Checking things out, in aw of the crazy and loud fun going on in this colorful room.....  With my encouragement Sam started to explore.  I need to expose him to other kids more often, it was quite shocking to him and he let me...

The last month has included Justin's big Nav Check ride, getting our Drop/Dream sheet - due tomorrow, Samuel starting to run, jump and turn around and I've babysat several other kids and taken an online class. Pictures and blogging have been nonexistent. Justin has been great in helping out as I have had a crazier schedule. What an awesome husband I have. Samuel has been a trooper through it all as usual. I figured I better post before the big days come -- next we have our Assignment Night, August 2nd and then graduation August 16th. How the year has flown by! Justin has worked so hard this year. As we have discussed and drafted our drop/dream list, in preparation for our next assignment, our hopes and fears for the future are ever prevalent in our minds. We really had no idea what we were signing up for with the US Air Force. Whatever happens we will make the best of it and know that God is behind it. A little update on Sam He loves when we chase him, and...