Goodbye Altus

What a great assignment this has been for us. It didn't turn out to be anything I imagined for us before we arrived... it ended up being much much better! This was our fourth after the Academy: pilot training at Vance AFB Oklahoma, KC-135's at Mountain Home AFB Idaho, KC-135's at Fairchild AFB in Washington and then the KC-135 school house at Altus AFB Oklahoma. I arrived as an instructor pilot with a precious 4 month old baby and I'm leaving as a stay at home mommy with a precious 4 month old baby and a equally precious 3 and 1/2 year old! Marc gained a new rank (he's now an old Major :)), a lot of great work experiences, and will be leaving with a new plane. Pretty cool.

We had a GREAT house... a 3 bedroom brick rancher with an eat in kitchen, dining room, living room, den, laundry/craft room, and 2 and 1/2 baths. It had a fabulous pool that we were in nearly every day all three hot hot summers there. And best of all it was older, but relatively bright and homey with a fireplace, covered porch and good interior paint scheme. And how could it not hold a special place in my heart when my first baby learned to walk up and down it's halls and I brought my second baby home there!

And the town quickly endeared itself to us... with our blessing of a church - First United Methodist, and favorite "hot spots": Grapevine Restaurant, The Backdoor Steakhouse, Roma's, Happy Doughnuts, McDonalds, the Reservoir for duck feeding, Altus gymnastics Academy and Altus Christian Academy. And we easily made due with the tiny not-at-all sound proof movie theater, the frustrating but ever convenient Walmart, a pleasantly surprising choice of quaint little shops, a rather nice little public library and the good 'ol redneck racetrack/rodeo arena.

Lastly the people... such wonderful wonderful friends I couldn't even begin to name them all but they were THE BEST part of the assignment for sure.

So, on the way out of town, Ben and I sang the goodbye song to the above mentioned great places and people. God prepared a place here for us before we arrived and blessed us more then we could have dreamed... so even though it's hard to leave, we're trusting in Him to do the same at our next assignment. So we bid a fond farewell to 1000 Trail Drive South and look forward to placing our welcome mat out at our next abode.