The Great Send Off

We had the most wonderful send off from Altus. Three of my dearest friends and their families joined us at the Wolfe Lodge and indoor water park for two nights before the boys and I got on a plane for Grandma's and Grandpa's... where we'll stay until Daddy finishes with training and whisks us away to Europe! I like writing it like that because it makes it sound like an incredible adventure - which it will be :) - instead of a sad departure from such a wonderful home, town and an especially wonderful group of friends. Who would have thought I would feel this way about sleepy little Altus, Oklahoma... certainly not me - 3 years ago when we arrived here to be instructor pilots with our cutie pie little four month old Benjamin. And now we're leaving as one Major (wow he's getting old :)), one stay at home mommy, a 3 and 1/2 year old cutie pie Ben and a four month old precious little Liam. Anyway, back to our great send off...

The Petersons (Cory, Jill, Sydney and Brenna), the Schierberls (Ed, Maggie, Annabelle and Jacob) and the Rivards (Joel, Jenn, Isaac and Olivia) joined us for some great splishing, splashing, playing and laughing! We took turns supervising, and yes joining in, the kids' fun at their own mini water park while mommy and daddy groups broke off to try out the "big people" slides. The mommies had one last big bonding moment on the twisting tornado and some kind of crazy canyon super slide. Nothing like a big dark scary spinning plummet to bring you closer :) As if we needed that, we've had plenty of scarier experiences to bond us such as: pregnancy, child birth, weening, sleep training, potty training, first day of preschool, puke fests, playground bullies, mommy bullies, temper tantrums and meltdowns... just to name a few!

We had a few fun meals together, again so nice just to be together (and to know that there are 8

mommies and daddies available to parent your children and give you a hand and a break). We played at the arcade and waved our magic wands around (a Wolfe Lodge special attraction). It was a great weekend.

And, when the time came, these dear dear friends gave us big warm hugs and promised that this was only an "I'll see you later" not a goodbye. Oh geez, I'm crying just writing this... 6 days later. I already miss these special ladies and their families more then I could have ever imagined. I've left friends before: when I went off to college, from college to pilot training, and each assignment we've had since... and all those goodbyes were quite sad. But not like this. We have dear forever friends from each of those also, who I still miss terribly and work to stay close to despite the distance. In fact, we're celebrating because we're actually meeting up with one of those dear families at our next assignment... but there was something extra special about this Altus group. And I think the best way to explain it is that not only do I have the most wonderful friendships with each of these ladies... but the way they love, truly love, and adore, and care for my children has bonded us forever in a very special way.

There's nothing that touches me more deeply then knowing someone really loves Ben and Liam and is concerned not only for their well being but are willing to... wipe their butts, catch their puke, serve special food they know they like the way they really like it, understand the best way to discipline them and aren't afraid to bring it, but do it in the most understanding and loving way because they know my boys well enough to know what got them started down the path of destruction and how to best bring them back, stick up for them, teach them, play with them, take them at a moments notice, give me a break from them, truly celebrate each of their accomplishments and convince me that their failures are just golden opportunities for us to all do better tomorrow :). And I can't believe how much I truly love their children, and have done the same for them.

(Sydney, Annabelle, Olivia, Jacob, Brenna, Benjamin, Liam, Isaac)

I know that a little distance won't stop us from staying close, that we will work hard to see each other as often as possible, and that this is part of the AF way of life (meaning that they'll all move on from Altus themselves in the next year or two so if we stayed there they would still have to leave some day)..... but man did it just STINK to leave! But it wouldn't have been so terrible if our friendships weren't so great, so that's definitely something to be thankful for! OK, enough of the sobbing, time for some pictures of us with these dear dear forever friends! My Altus Club, I've affectionately coined Sparkalicious :)