More Majors

As I previously posted, majors boards came out and quite a few people became "major selects". When that happens, you traditionally put down some money to "buy the bar". We did this the Friday we found out that the hubby was in fact a "major select", however, there were only a handful of us at the O'Club. Oh well, we had fun.

So proud of my hubby! I love him!

Ok, so I guess the whole ruining picture thing runs in the family?!? :) I miss taking pictures with her already :(

Yea, so we took a trip to the women's redecorated bathroom in the O'Club and came back out with this empty frame. Our challenge became to see how many random pictures we could take with it. I think we succeeded :)

Of course I needed a framed pic with the hubby.

And yea, randomness at it's best :) I had fun and that's all that matters.

The night the rest of the major selects bought the bar.

Some gals I will most certainly miss. Just too bad they all bleed blue. I won't hold it against them :) Hopefully the AF will have our paths cross again.

Today, we salute you.

My hubby isn't one for praise or one to want attention brought to him, but I am proud of him and what he has accomplished. I think far too often our spouses get passed over when we are saying how much we care about people. Spouses don't hear often enough how much they are loved or cared about (in a public forum). Not that I need to rant and rave about the love I have for my hubby to everyone and their mom, but this time, I get to :) As of today, he is officially a "Major Select". That's the cool name for, hey, we're going to promote you and we're letting you know, but you won't see the pay raise for a while yet. He has traveled a long road to get to where he is and he has had to fight uphill on some things, but he's always been a fighter (ha, no pun intended on the fighter pilot bit). When others have tried to get him down, he's pushed on and pushed through. I guess the real congrats will come in a year or so (hopefully less) when he actually pins on. So today, we salute you Major select "pain in the butt" Music ;) Congrats and can't wait to enjoy this step in our journey together!

Hold Us Together

I should be working. But I heard this song on the radio the other day and with all the turmoil and strife going on in people's lives, sometimes our life depending on the day you talk to us and the in world, I wanted to add this song to our blog. I couldn't add it to the playlist b/c it wasn't available, so click pause on the song playing on the right hand side and click play on this one. It's a great message. And just continue to pray for people. You never know when the person beside you may be having one of the hardest days of their life. Even if they don't show it, people face inner struggles daily. A smile or a simple hello can go a long way to brighten someone's day. It's the little things in life that matter and that will "Hold Us Together".

Love notes.

The other day I wrote both girls a note to put in their lunch. I hadn't done that with Nichole in a while, so I wrote "Hi Nichole! We love you! Love, Mommy and Daddy" I had to chuckle when she got in the car Friday afternoon and handed me the following note back. Was too cute. I will keep this around for when I need a reminder that she isn't always the pistol she acts like :)

Random shots with Leah.

We were planning to take our neighbors up to the flight line and it was a perfect time to ask Leah to bring her camera along again. I've got a frame that I've been wanting to fill and Leah helped us fill it by taking some cute family pictures. We of course had to stop by the jets for some quick family shots.

That's an awful lot of gas Nichole is sitting on!

I despise wind and cold when it comes to taking pictures. Guess I need to resort to indoor pictures. But the girls did well considering the hour at which they woke up that morning.

Apparently we didn't have to ask her to pose for us.

Homecomings rock.

So it's one thing to have your own husband come home from being gone on a deployment, but it's a whole different set of emotions when your friends husbands get home. I always wished I had caught our deployment homecomings through a lens a little better than we have, but it's hard to fully capture the moment unless it's a third party. There are other things to focus on obviously. So once I knew my friend Ryndee's hubby was heading home, I told her I wanted to come up (with my friend Leah that was in town and happens to be a great photographer) to the hanger the night they got home, which was last night :) Anyway, we drove up and anxiously waited with the other families who were excited to see their loved one returning. It's one set of feelings to express the emotion with your kiddos, but it was so much fun to see the delight and joy in my friends kids as they saw the plane land. Kylynn who is just a few months younger than Emily I could have swore was going to jump out of my arms as I held her up to get a better view. She was waving and yelling to her Daddy as the plane made its way by all the families waiting. Was so cute. Anyway, I was glad Leah was there to help my friends capture these moments that no one can understand unless they've been in this position. I'm so glad all my friends have their hubbies back. Wonder if I'll see any of them anytime soon ?:)

Me with Kylynn as we waited inside the hanger.

Had to still represent with my Gambler Gal tshirt even though it was a Tiger homecoming :)

And finally Roto is home, after 6 months!

He can go back to taking care of his wife. I tried to help out where I could while he was gone :)

Chaustin, Ryndee's oldest son, loves hugs from me... typical 12 year old boy :)
The lady behind the camera all night! Thanks Aunt Leah Peah!

Double Down!

So when we thought Double Down had their last show, we were wrong. They had another one on January 15th :) Eric's dad had training in Charlotte the next day so we figured we'd convince him to come visit for a night and he could see some of his old buddies. I think he had a good time and felt like he was right at home. This is most certainly an aspect of the AF life I will miss over the next few years. The O'Club is where it's at... at least in the last few months or so :)

Double Down groupies

I'm with the band.

Fini flight and farewell

When leaving a flying squadron, it's tradition that you have what's called a "fini flight". With our squadron headed out for a deployment soon, Eric wanted to make sure he had a fini flight with them before it was too late. I had been running behind schedule since in the middle of getting ready I got a phone call about someone wanting to come see the house to rent, but we made it to the base in time. During a fini flight, you go out and watch the pilot land, get out of his jet, be tackled and taped up by the other pilots and then get sprayed down. It's a rite of passage and just part of the game :) Anyway, I prepped the girls once again since last time when we left Hill they were traumatized by "Daddy's friends tackling him and not being nice". I explained once again that his friends were just going to be silly and that Daddy would be fine. Emily was all excited and wanted to wear her flight suit to school. I picked up the girls and headed to the flight line... without our coats :(

The girls always have fun when we go up to Daddy's work.

It was a bit chilly, so our neighbor that came with us let the girls borrow his coat while we waited since there was another guy besides Eric doing his fini flight as well.

Daddy pulling in with his jet.

He's been tackled, let the spraying begin.

Don't worry, I hid his other flight suit so he would have a dry one to put on.

Eric with our neighbor, Steve.

Family photo. We were a bit cold by this time and didn't want a wet boy standing too close to us :)

Later that afternoon, we had our farewell. During that time, they presented the squadron with a painting (done by one of the wives in the squadron) of Captain Nicholas Giglio. It will hang on the wall in the squadron. I think it turned out great.

A farewell is always bittersweet. Both squadrons we've left have been preparing for a deployment just as we've left making it even more bittersweet. I know Eric wishes he could be heading out with his fellow Gamblers, but since we're moving not long after the deployment begins, it just didn't make sense to go for even a short time. We know the Gamblers will do great things! Double Down!

A few of the Gambler gals! Great group of ladies.

Dolphins football!!!

There are few things I love. Ok, well more than a few, but up in that list is NFL football. It's been years, over 6 actually, since we've been able to go to a game. The last one I went to was when I was 9+ months pregnant with Nichole. San Diego was dealing with their wildfires so the Monday Night game was moved to Phoenix and after having gone to the Cardinal vs 49ers game, we decided to hit up the Monday Night game for San Diego vs the Dolphins! I had Nichole that Thursday! Back to 2009 though:) When we knew we'd be home for Christmas, we saw there was a home game on the schedule, so I asked my uncle if he thought he could get tickets. A few days before the game, he texted me to let me know we'd be able to once again enjoy a Dolphins game! It has changed quite a bit since we've been there, but it was still just as fun to watch the game from the stands (even though they lost :( ) They play Jimmy Buffet as part of their game time music or whatever it would be called, so that was a nice added bonus.

Before the game!

With my cousin Jen before the game! Thanks for letting me borrow the jersey. I <3 Jason Taylor!

Just part of what I love about actually being at the game... the beginning.

I wish I had gotten my camera out quicker. These players came down the end zone to kneel and pray. Jason Taylor straight ahead in the pic was already done.

"Yes we're the Miami Dolphins"! The original Miami Dolphins song! Love it!

Fins up!! The things I get my hubby to do ;) I love him!

Thanks so much to my Uncle Stu for the tickets. We had a blast getting to go to the game. Hoping we can catch a game or two in Kansas City since that's only 2 hours away, but we'll have to see.

Christmas in review

As I sit and look back through pictures from our Christmas, it reminds me yet again how truly blessed we are and especially this year. It brings tears to my eyes to think of the hurt and loss we as a family went through back in May and the hurt we've shared with other families the past few months. For some reason, it all still seems so fresh, hence why I picked the current song on the playlist, "Always" by Building 429. I think I've hesitated blogging about Christmas b/c I just can't put into words how I feel. Shoot, I STILL have a blog that sits in the "draft" section from the few days following my dad's double lung transplant that I still to this day feel too vulnerable to actually write. It saddens me that not everyone can have the relationship with their family that I have with mine. I loved this past Christmas, moreso than the past few years. Yes, it was a pain to cart the girls home and all their stuff, but it is a Christmas I won't ever forget. We were given one of the greatest gifts ever for Christmas this year by getting to have my dad share it with us at home less than 3 months after having his transplant and after wondering in September if we'd even have him here with us for Christmas. I love that I got to cut up with my cousins, little sister, older brother, parents, grandparents, aunt and uncles. What more could someone ask for? There is never a dull moment when all our family is together b/c someone is always playing some prank, telling some joke or reminding each other just how blessed we are. Have I said that already? Ok, well I'll try to sum up the few days of Christmas and then, enjoy the pictures. We drove into Jensen Beach and got to Eric's dad's house where we spent our first few days enjoying the Florida weather. It was nice to be able to have down time and the girls were wanting so bad to go swimming. Giga, Eric's dad, decided he'd make the effort to get the girls each a wet suit to have upon arrival. Yea, well, unfortunately even a wetsuit wasn't going to keep them warm enough. They sure tried though. Oh well. Another time. On the 23rd, we headed down a little further to Fort Lauderdale to spend the next 48 hours with my family. As I've mentioned, this year Christmas was extra special and therefore we were wanting to soak it up and celebrate with my dad. The girls had a blast making Christmas cookies and a cake for Baby Jesus. Oh, and getting "sugared up" by G-Man. I am pretty sure one of the funniest things my husband has ever said to me came on Christmas Eve when we were deciding whether or not to let the girls stay with my parents or take them back to my aunt's with us. He came in where I was situating the girls stuff and said "Christy, we need to make a decision about what we're doing with the girls, b/c your dad is out there sugaring them up"! Oh the life of a grandparent! Needless to say, I think the cake had the opposite reaction with the girls, b/c they stayed with Aunt Kylie and had a sleepover but I had to wake Emily up to open presents on Christmas morning. Prior to Eric saying this to me though, we did Christmas Eve service with the family at church and again it was a service I won't soon forget. I was again thankful to be with not just my parents but my extended family... I love you Uncle Steve! After church, we all went over and had a dinner with family and friends we consider family. It was great to see everyone. Once back at the house, we did the birthday cake for Jesus and shuffled the girls off to bed, but not before they wrote their letter to Santa and left out the cookies. Santa even wrote back... "ho ho ho" :) or something like that :) HA! Santa and everyone was good to the girls with all their gifts, so thank you everyone! We made it back to Giga's house later Christmas Day and celebrated Christmas with him as well.

I was given Grandma Hornsby's love of pictures, so I've tried to limit the blog to only a few of the ton that were taken, but be sure to check out the link on the right for more.

People kept throwing things at us during our picture taking adventure. Then again, with the Hornsby girls, there can never be enough pictures so we kept taking them :) Christmas Eve before heading out to church.

Daddy helped Nichole write the letter to Santa. Emily was waiting her turn to sign it. What a ham! The family on Christmas afternoon with the "Operation Breath of Life" golf flag from Sheridan House. Sheridan House is a ministry our family has been a part of for many years and my dad usually gets us a flag with either our name on it or the girls names and this year was busy in the hospital so I took a turn and had one made for him as well. It was great to be able to surprise him with it.

We love being Daddy's girls! I think my girls are following right in my footsteps with their own Daddy:)

We played a little joke on the girls. Giga had some heel issue and so before we went to Ft Lauderdale, we told the girls Giga was going to the doctor and he was going to have his foot chopped off. Emily went around telling everyone and was convinced that they were just going to "throw away his foot or something" once it was cut off. So we had Giga welcome us with crutches when we got back to his house. It was comical. Here is a video clip of it.


Needless to say, we had a great Christmas!