I will miss my Grandma

My grandma passed away today. It was not sudden so it seems easier to take with preparation. I am very sad I can't make it back for the funeral. It is hard for me to get closure being so far away, but what can I do. I love my grandma very much and will miss her! I am glad she will be reunited with my grandpa,her mother, father and siblings. The phone call I had with her a few weeks ago will be my last memory, but a good one. She knew she was dying, but still wanted to know how life was in Germany and talked of seeing us again. I know we will see each other again, we just have to be patient.

Field Trip to Helicopters!

Okay so I need to figure out the collage thing in picasa, but I just haven't had time so I won't add anymore pics! Wednesday for scouts we went to see the helicopters! Let me tell you, we have some awesome connections in our ward! Billie Passmore helped set it up since her hubby is a pilot along with another guy at church. It was so much fun! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted becuase Cody was clinging to me and frankly once they told the boys to go check out the helicopter they were moving so fast I got a bunch of blurred messes of kids all over! So anway here are some I did get though. First Bro.Passmore gave the boys an intro about the helicopters and answered some questions. He did an awesome job with that! During all this helicopters are flying round and we even saw the two from church fly! The kids got to climb all over and play with the gear. The helmet was a highlight as the kids each tried it on!

It was pretty windy when the helicopters would come in to land, but that was part of the thrill. One of the crew chiefs did a demonstration on their gear and showed the guys what all the pockets had in them. Then we saw Bro Passmore fly a training exercise where he as the pilot had to keep the helicopter steady as other guys lowered a cable simulating getting gear or even personnel into areas that a helicopter could not land. These helicopters are medivacs by the way and they just came home last October from a 15 month deployment to Iraq!

It ended with a helicopter being towed into the hangar which was not really part of the demonstration just normal business to attend to. It was so much fun and we were all very appreciative they would take time to let the boys have this great opportunity!

New pictures of Lucy

I found some pictures on the camera Zach must have taken over the weekend of Lucy so thought I would post some. She is three months old now and growing fast! She chews everything in sight, (prefers paper, cardboard and bark) but a good dog still. I just keep things picked up I don't want her to chew up and we are good. The kids have lost some things to her sharp teeth, but we have told them to pick up so oh well! She still loves to be outside and since it is warming up she can be out for longer periods of time. She still thinks she can get under the couch, but gets stuck. Guess she doesn't realize how big she has gotten! And as you can see she has decided the recliner is comfy. I don't care as long as she is not sitting in my lap! Life is busy with her, but fun for the most part.

Shh...it's a secret.

Zach has been in the NCO academy for 4 weeks now with 2 weeks to go! It has been a rough 4 weeks! The NCO (Non Commisioned Officer)academy requires tons of homework as he prepares his speeches and other assignments. Last night we stayed up practicing the commands for when he leads the flight in marching. When he initially started he said he wanted to get it done, get his certificate and move on! Part of this comes because way back in 2002 Zach went to ALS (Airmen Leadership School)and did really well. Unfortunately they were needing to get so many through the program that his graduating class was (at the time) the biggest the base had had. He found out the day before graduating that he qualififed to graduate with honors and extra awards however instead of letting each instructor select a person they lumped the entire graduating class together and took the higher scores from everyone! He was beat by 1 point so therefore lost graduating with honors and was angry about it. That left a bitter taste in his mouth heading into the NCO academy.

For starters you always have those that are brown nosers, will volunteer for every tiny thing just so they will earn and award. Zach is not that way. He picked a volunteer job, shows up for class study groups and marching practice, but really just does what is required. Academically he thought he didn't have a chance at anything until last week. It was made known to the class that he had aced every test except one (he missed one question on it) and was leading in points.

So now he is hoping (and this is the secret part) that he gets "distinguished graduate" meaning he will graduate with the highest scores in his class. He doesn't want to get his hopes up, but hey there is only two weeks left and he is on a roll. The stuff he is learning is not easy. The air force has to make everything complicated! And boring I might add! (I read some of his required reading and let me tell you...BORING!)

Anyway we will see what happens in the next two weeks. I would like to see him get it since he earned it once before and had it taken from him all because the of the number graduating. And afterall it is costing up $60 to eat at his graduation so if he got an extra little award it might make the evening more enjoyable!

Scariest Moment of My Life!

Being a mom comes with lots of worry, tears, embaressment, laughs and even scares. You worry when your child is learning to walk and takes a nasty fall leaving a goose egg the size of a golf ball on their head. You laugh when they learn to talk and mix words up making the funniest sentences. You cry when they have to get shots because you know it's going to hurt them. You are embaressed when they strip in the grocery store or tell complete strangers they know how to poo in the potty and sometimes they are big poos. Motherhood has few, if any, dull momemts! Last night I experiecnced the scariest moment in my life and hope to never repeat it. Zach was running late from work and we were trying to wait to eat dinner with him. The boys were taking turns on the Wii Fit to entertain themselves and forget they were starving! Cody had been waiting and finally got his turn. Tyler disapeared upstairs and Ryan was.....well I am not sure where Ryan was.

Anyway Zach called a few minutes before 7 and said he was on his way. No big deal, it's Friday we can stay up late! I sat down to read on the couch and Cody had started a short run on his profile. Basically what you do is run in place following a Mii, then eventually a dog for a certain distance. Cody loves to do this! He thinks it is funny to run past the guide and win the race since he thinks they are racing. AS they run there are sound effects on the wii and soon I realized the sound was gone, but Cody hadn't said "I won!" like normal. I look up and he is laying flat on his back starring at the ceiling. I say "Cody what are you doing?" No response. I kneel down beside him and say louder, "Cody what is the matter?" and grab his hand. His eyes move back and forth, but he doens't respond. Soon the dog is crawling all over him, which he hates and he is still not responding and his arm is limp. His eyes roll back into his head. I shake him a little and call for Ryan. His eyes roll back forward, but he still is not responding. I tell Ryan to stay with him and keep calling his name and talking to him. I go find the phone and realize I can't call 911! I am not in the US! So I get the find it guide and open to the first page where emergency numbers are. I go back to Cody and his eyes roll back again, Ryan is yelling, the dog is crawling all over Cody. I tell Ryan "Throw Lucy outside." then I yell for Tyler who is not hearing me. I dial the emergency number and tell them what is happening and then Cody's fingers start to turn blue and his face is white as a ghost and losing color. I get off the phone then dial Zach who doens't answer. Ryan is on the floor praying at this point "Please don't let Cody die." I tell him Cody is not dying, it has to be a siezure. I had learned about the different types in one of my classes and heard other parents tell of thier experiences. He was still with us, just not with us. By the time the fire dept. showed up Cody's color had come back and he rolled to his side. He laid there for a minute then went back on his back and his eyes rolled back again. They gave him oxygen and tried to get vitals, but the machine wasn't getting his pulse for some reason. We could feel a pulse.

They took him to the hospital here on base and did a good work up but found nothing. It's not uncommon for a short seizure like that to not show up in labs I guess. So we go see the pedactric neurologist on Monday and he will decide if he wants more testing, but like the ER doc said, kids may have one seizure and then never have another so that is our hope. It was still a very scary experience and not one I ever want to repeat! Zach followed the fire truck to our house not knowing it was coming to our house so he was trying to figure what had happened in the short time since he called.

I am afraid to let Cody play the Wii even though the doctor said that she does not believe that is the cause since he has been playing it with no problems for over a year now. Nevertheless the mom in me will be watching him like a hawk!

Happy Ten Years to Zach!

This is actually a few days late, but Zach had his official ten year anniversary this week. Ten years ago he left for basic training while I took on role of working full time single mom. My brother and I were able to go down for graduation so Zach could see Tyler before heading off to tech school where once again we would live apart. Looking back I am glad we did things that way. It helped me prepare for the many separations ahead and gave family more time to get to know Tyler before we left for Florida.

Zach's first assignment was working with the AC-130H Gunships at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The Gunships were much more exciting than regular 130's! We loved being close to his grandma and enjoyed visiting her many times. As we were preparing for Zach's 2nd deployment the end of May 2002 we recieved a call from work letting us know we had been given orders to Alaska! I was getting ready to drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming for a visit while Zach was gone so all plans went on hold. By the end of June all of our belongings were pack and gone and a week later we hit the road for the next big adventure!

Zach worked on C-130's once again, just not the exciting Gunships! Elmendorf AFB, Alaska is nestled right next to the mountains and I am not sure there is anywhere more beautiful! Zach was able to participate in some interesting events such as the yearly visit to Arctic Village, Alaska. Each Christmas the C-130's deliver gifts to the children to the village. He also deployed 3 days after Christmas in 2004 to help in the relief efforts after the tsumani in Indonesia. He also was part of the crew that brought the C-130 that now sits in the base air park. It was supposed to be a week long trip to get this particular plane that had been grounded for quite some time. A month later they finally got the thing to Alaska! Ironically that plane was from Ramtstein AB, our next assignment. We made very good friends while in Alaska and we felt like it was our home, not just a temporary assignment. Alaska will always hold a special place in our hearts!

September of 2006 we stepped off the plane in Frankfurt, Germany. It had been a long week of botched up flight iteneraries (courtesy of incompetent people) so just getting to Germany was an adventure in itself! As we stepped into the muggy unairconditioned airport with people smoking to the left and right of us, we were not sure what to think! We were exhausted from flying overnight and changing time zones, but of course this was just the beginning. Out of all our luggage, my bag was lost! LOST! I could've sat down and cried, maybe I did....I don't remember. Tears would not be for the loss of the clothes because an excuse to buy new would have been more than welcome, but it was for the loss of CD's full of pictures and a gift from my best friend, a beautiful necklace! And not to mention the fact Zach's blues were in that bag and those things are expensive!!!! Fifty euros in phone calls and a week later a guy from worked came by our TLF room at almost 10pm. Zach stepped outside to talk to him and in he came with my suitcase! I wish I could say that our initial welcome to Germany the worst of our time here, but it was only the beginning! The squadron Zach is in has been tough to deal with, but he has made the best of it.

So ten years down, at least ten to go! Where we will go next? Well that is still to be determined......be looking for that post between April 15th and May 15th!

Did I really say yes to this?

(No this is not a picture of how much the scale reads when I am on it!)

Yesterday at 2:30 I made the mad dash to collect the boys from their classrooms and rush over to Ramstein for Tyler's appointment at the HAWC to enroll him in the LESTER program. As we are driving Tyler points out that we are 2 minutes late to which I reply "I know, I am doing the best I can!" Being late to appointments in the military is never a good thing. Lucky for me I was only 2 minutes late for the arrive 15 minutes early part! So as we are sitting and waiting in what seemed to be a deserted Health and Wellness Center the boys start pestering each other. I am already nervous becuase Ryan is famous for giving the best answers to doctors and such. At his recent physical the doctor asked what foods he likes to eat that mom makes. He replied "Oh my mom only buys junk!" Nice!

Finally two men come out and ask us to come into a classroom so they can go over the program for Tyler. They ask what my biggesst concerns are and what they can do to help. So we talk for a bit about the LESTER program, they do Tyler's first weigh in and then they tell me:

"Now as part of the committment to this program we are asking you to be here every Wednesday for the next 6 weeks."

No problem, Wednesdays will be packed with scouts, but it's doable! Then they say:

"Since this program is geared toward the whole family your other boys are more than welcome to join in the activities without having to do the weekly weigh ins. However we do require mom and dad or whatever parent is present to participate in the weekly weigh ins."

What!!! I just say yes to what!!! Good thing I have the Wii to check my BMI before I get there! I am not too thrilled that these two strangers are going to be weighing me each week, but whatever it takes to help Tyler! Just remember if I am a bit grouchy on Wednesdays, well you can understand why!