Look at my new statuettes!

I just had to show off what came in a little box for me earlier this week.....

Look at these two little wooden statuettes that my father in law made for me! It may not show well in the photograph, but they stand up and can be displayed on a shelf or in a cabinet. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM!

The left one is my son Josh at his recent (March 4) Army boot camp/AIT graduation at Ft. Benning, GA and the other is my precious, precious Minnie Mouse; my little female long haired chihuahua whom we lost last September due to heart failure at age 12 1/2. (((breaking my heart)))

To say that I was surprised by the box is very true. To say that I was brought to tears by these adorable little figurines is also very true. Do I wish I had taken a better picture of them instead of with my cell phone on top of all of my clutter with my uber funky brown blanket in the background? - Well, uhhh...YES!! But I couldn't wait to show you all and waiting for me to get organized enough to get some real images on my blog may have taken awhile.

My world misses Minnie & Josh every single day. Thanks, Jack, for making these for me. I will treasure them forever and ever. I mean that from the bottom of my  heart.

And quit making me cry xoxo

PVT Josh Davis, Graduation ~ The 3rd generations

Yay, He did it!

I am so proud to share with everyone that Josh graduated boot camp & advanced infantry training on March 4th!!! We got to spend several wonderful days with him at Ft. Benning, GA. The 198th Infantry Brigade put on a very impressive ceremony at the National Infantry Museum and I enjoyed the speech from Batallion Commander LTC Hastings, quite memorable.

At Josh's repeated requests, Johnny dug his uniform out of retirement to wear ONE LAST time for the ceremony. He was thankful (and proud) that it still fit after 4 years! He did say not to make him laugh or he'd have a problem, haha!

3 generations of military in our family: Left to Right: Allen/Dad (Air Force), Josh (Army), Johnny/Step Dad (Navy, Ret.), My Dad Jerry/Grandpa (Army, Ret. Master Sergeant).

I have plenty of pictures to share in the coming weeks of the ceremonies and of Uchee Creek Campgrounds ... (I took 472 pics & Johnny took 83....umm...and that doesn't count the rest of my familys' cameras AND cell phone pics). I sure have my work cut out for me in creating a memory scrap book for Josh from when he raised his right hand to graduation day. But I can handle it :o)

Can you believe that out of hundreds of photos there is not ONE image of just me and my soldier? And not ONE of Johnny, me & Josh; a family photo. In all of the excitement it didn't occur to me....I am stunned. Oh well. What's a Mama to do now?

Thanks so much for your support everyone!

Wooden Spoon Trick

I've always wished that I could pull practical jokes on people. I'm not a funny person, I don't think. I inevidabley ruin the punch lines of every joke I try to repeat.

I wish I had the ability to have a dead pan poker face when I'm trying to trick someone, but instead, my big, dumb, cheesy grin gives me up within seconds every single time.....so I can appreciate this video. It made me laugh so hard, and I can't even understand a single word the guys are saying!! It's probably due to the fact that I have a nearly 20 year old son and this is something he and his friends would do! When Josh sees this I can bet you $100 he will pull this on one of his buddies....

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo

This year Johnny & I celebrated Valentine's Day early on Saturday night with a group of about 30 friends. My girlfriend Pam's son is in culinary school and we were treated to "Italian Night with Chef Brendan" (I will be blogging those pics shortly).

SOoooo....I actually forgot that TODAY was Valentine's Day (Doh!) until I came down to the kitchen this morning.

My sweet Johnny left me a beautiful, romantic card on the kitchen counter before he left for work. He left me TWO cards, actually, but the second one is not G rated for my blog viewers, haha. (It's very funny! But for my eyes only *wink*)

 

That's what I love about Johnny. No matter what we're doing or where we going, I know we will laugh. We've laughed our way through 13 1/2 years so far.....

 
We truly are the best of friends.

 

Johnny likes to say that we could go to the city dump and still find a way to enjoy ourselves. I say, that's fine, as long as he packs me some sweet tea before we head out.

I can't imagine going through my life without my Johnny. I mean, who would I watch CSI reruns with and who would I give the run down of what today's Dr. Phill & Oprah show was all about every night? Who would squeeze Johnny's toothpaste tube all crazy & crooked and who would be his back seat driver? I mean....oooh...scary thoughts.

 ♥  I heart him ♥



There was also another little surprise on my kitchen counter. The man knows me ♥ Oh, how I wish this were smell-a-vision... I hope you all have a wonderfully loving Valentine's Day and that your heart flames are burning strong. 

Air Force 2 Tour, Andrews Air Force Base

How lucky are WE??

Our Army wives club was treated to a very special tour last week at Andrews Air Force Base that is not available to the general public because one of our members' husband is the pilot of......    can you guess??? ............

Air Force Two! This is the Vice President's (& Secretary of State's) plane. To say it was impressive in person is an understatement.

Photos via Kris Needham

Our tour started off at the 89th Airlift Wing where AF2 pilot, Lt. Col. Needham set up a film for us to watch on the history of the squadron and the fleet of planes. I was surprised to know there are several Air Force Two's in different sizes...sorry, but I was not aware!  J

After the film our pilot answered questions from our group then gave us a shopping opportunity. AF2 t-shirts for sale!! There I am with the girls (bottom right) waiting to go out to the plane (it was so cold!!). 

All of the ladies were in a long line to get their photo made in front of this seal on the plane. So....monkey see, monkey do!

"Ummm....hello? Can someone please take Mr. Biden some coffee?" Tap, tap, tap...is this thing on? 

Sorry, Mr. VP, Sir, no more coffee today. All my girlfriends cleaned you out. Guess I'm fired on my first day on the job.

 Group photo with AF2 pilots on the left.

Will you look at these 3 cuties? My friends Pam, Debbie & Lori, slightly frozen, but always beautiful.

Photos via Kris Needham

Top left: The AF2 flight attendant (I'm so sorry I didn't get her name!). She's been working for the VP for 5 years. Top Right: One of the kind crew members who answered the hundreds of questions hurled his way. He was so patient!

Afterwards we all went over to the Officer's Club and had a delicious lunch, complete with ice cream bar & cake for dessert. Yum.

What a fun tour this was! We felt very honored that the 89th Airlift Squadron took the time to secure a plane for us to tour and to show us around.

Have a great week everyone!