I am writing to y'all almost a month exactly since my last post. Too many things have been happening this fall and it's hard to remember to sit down and type. I am thankful though for relatives like Mary LaRoche who prod me into writing and remind me that people do really want to know what is going on with our family :) So thank you…we feel loved!
Normally I don't start off with Stephen news, but I have been over the moon ecstatic with new developments so I will start off with the hubs. Stephen is doing well. He just turned the big 3-0 a few days ago. He wants to thank everyone who sent him a package…it made his day, literally. From the Post and Courier newspaper, to the home baked goods, to the package stuffed with all kinds of snacks, the lovely cards and of course the cheesy 30 year old paraphernalia ;) …he felt a piece of home 3,000 miles away. I know most of you didn't know about this, but the past few weeks Stephen has been busting his…booty…studying for the biggest test in his career. It's called the TAC board. What it comes down to in a nutshell (Stephen if this doesn't sound perfect, sorry :) is: Stephen is a co-pilot. There are two pilots in the Osprey and the main pilot is the one who signs out for the Osprey and is responsible for it. You have to have…so many hours and qualifications to become the main pilot. But on top of those checkmarks, you have to go through a grueling process of becoming a TAC. Don't ask me the acronyms…I never asked about them :) So, Stephen is in the process right now of going through his TAC board and checks. There are four checks he needs to become a TAC. The first check is passing your TAC board. Stephen's TAC board was a week ago today. The TAC board consists of the CO and a couple of other "uppers" sitting in a room in front of Stephen grilling him on every question about the Osprey they could think of with Stephen having to answer everything perfectly. His board lasted 2 1/2 hours. It sounded like a verbal SAT with all open ended questions and your "professors" sitting and staring at you for 2 1/2 hours. Well, Stephen passed!! Praise the Lord! So that is check number one. His second check is his day check where they will fly and test him on his skills during the day. The third is his night check where they will do the same thing, but during the night. And his Final Check will be with him and CO doing whatever our amazing initial Osprey pilot tester wants. :) We're both hoping he finishes this process before he makes it home, because so much time is spent studying that there isn't time for much else. So keep Stephen and his TAC process in your prayers until I know that he's finished with it. Lastly, Stephen has a window of returning home. I know the window and definitely cannot say it here, but it is much much sooner than all of y'all where initially thinking. Things are in the works and all I can say on here is that within Stephen's squadrons' 13 month deployment, Stephen will be deployed twice with the second deployment being longer than his first. Contentment contentment contentment. :) Stephen has also asked that I let y'all know that packages cannot be mailed out after November 12th. After November 12th, the packages will not arrive until January due to so many packages being mailed to deployed service members during the holiday seasons. So November 12th is the cut-off date!
As for our family of three here, we are just chugging along. Porter's doing well in school. I just had his parent/teacher conference on Monday and they said he is great! He likes to sit in the front of the class and always has a question for everything. (Sounds a lot like the person I knew in high school…Stephen :) He loves science and discovery center…especially the magnifying glass! So far so good pre-k! Joshua is doing amazingly! He is growing up way to fast. He is hitting his 4 1/2 month stride and can roll from his back to his tummy and tummy to back proficiently now. Only on our bed, not the floor…he can push himself into a crawling position. This kid is a fast learner and I'm sure will be crawling and walking MUCH sooner than his older brother. I just need Stephen to get home so that he can have some recollection of Joshua before he turns one! I know I don't usually talk about me too much, but things on my end are doing great! My Mom came and helped me a few weekends back completely organize my garage, rake out my pine straw in beds, lay down some mulch and plant some flowers. I will say, I feel like a new person and my house looks AWESOME!! I'm trying to get the last few things done around my house to make it perfect before Stephen gets home. So much to do and so little time! We are counting down the days everyday and I can't keep a smile off my face :) All Porter and I talk about now is what we are going to do when Daddy gets home. Porter finished his last session with FOCUS last week. They made a Secret Daddy Jar for Stephen when he gets home. In the jar are pieces of paper with different things Porter wants to do with Daddy when he gets home. So every time we think of something, it goes in the jar. This is supposed to help with reintegration and helping out Dad with already having a list of things to do with Porter instead of scratching his head for ideas. Our new favorite thing to do is going on "long runs" as Porter calls it. I decided to start my Couch to 5K with a girlfriend of mine and Porter is doing it with me. Porter said, "Mom! When Dad comes home we can go on long runs togethers. All of us!" Ahhh, I love this kid. I think all three of us (mostly two of us :) are excited about Stephen's upcoming homecoming :)
Well Port, Josh and I will be coming down to Charleston on Wednesday, November 27th and are heading back early on Sunday December 1st. We would love to see as many people as possible during this time, but I know holidays can get pretty congested for everyone with families visiting and travel, etc. Give me a call or text if you want to meet up with us sometime during then! I hope everyone stays healthy and safe during the holiday season. We love y'all and can't wait to get down to Charleston in the next couple of weeks to see everyone :) Happy. Thankful. Content.
This is our neighbor Aubrey and Porter watching a movie one night while I babysat her. Aubrey's Mom said that she always is creepin' on us and tells her when we get home, when we're outside and that Porter is playing…needless to say I think these two are tight :) haha
This is Porter at Mike's Farm where we got our pumpkins, rode the hayride and ate wonderful family style country food with BeBe.
Joshua and I with his pumpkin :) P.S.-LOVE my Boba!!
This is the only one who would cooperate for a photo on Halloween :) Porter fell asleep because of our Halloween party that afternoon and barely trick-or-treated long enough to say we participated. This little man had fun though and dare I say was THE cutest cow ever!
This is Porter picking out his favorite leaves for his collection during one of our long runs on the trail on base. Such a boy :)
Porter for some reason has decided to start drinking "coffee." His "coffee" consists of one part coffee, 2 parts milk and sugar and one part marshmallows. His special coffee cup was my special cup when I was little too :) Memories!
Oh these two! Brothers? I think so! Porter does love to get down and play with Joshua sometimes on his own. So glad to have such sweet loving boys.
Typical crazy face photo! Thought I'd throw in a selfie of all of us to give y'all a glimpse into our everyday lives ;)
And Stephen, I had to throw this pic in! I sent Stephen a box full of cheesy, probably mostly feminine, turning 30 accessories. He indulged me for a moment with throwing all of it on for me! Enjoy :) haha
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