This is the last 4 month deployment for Ken's career field

they will be going to 6 month deployments after this cycle.  so, while i am not happy that he has to leave again so soon, i am so thankful that he is getting this deployment, bc i just know he would be deploying after getting to alaska.  and then he would be gone for at least 6 months.

still no word on the report no later than date.  apparently, the colonel the request was sent to is just sitting on it at this time.  he has pushed other requests through.  ken's shirt (first sergeant) is now trying to get it pushed through.  hopefully we will know something soon...before he deploys. 

we had our "physical" today.  which doesn't mean what it implies.  no doctor asking ken to turn and cough.  no listening to our chests.  no ear checks. 

the 4 of us sat in front of 3 people.  this is protocol for anyone pcsing (military word for moving) to an overseas assignment (which alaska is.)  i forgot that we went through this when we got our orders to misawa, japan back in 05. 

they ask us questions concerning our health.  ask us to go and get all medical records from the facilities we have each been seen at.  none of this applies to ken, really, bc he is seen on base for his needs almost always. 

due to the "medical" issues i had in 04 (no need to go into detail), i was put on the EFMP (exceptional family member program...hey, i knew i was exceptional.)  i was taken off this past year.

however, bc of the circumstances involving those medical issues, we had to fill out more paperwork today.  the doctor overseeing this meeting has zero doubt that this will affect our orders.  it's just something he had to do.  the paperwork, that is.  we will wait for up to 2 weeks to find out the results of it. 

for those of you who i've not explained it to, the EFMP has information about a special need for the family member on the program.  we lost our orders to misawa, japan bc of this.  they did not have the facilities to treat me.  however, where we are going in alaska is anchorage.  they are well equipped to handle anything.  but, it's just part of the process.  take for instance, if a child has spina bifida, that child would need to be within a certain proximity of a facility that can treat anything relating to that condition.  whether it is just for routine checkups or for problems due to the condition.  it is to protect the person on the EFMP. 


on a different note, emma starts kindergarten next week.  she has to go in this friday for an assessment, but next thursday, the 6th, is her first official day.  she is so excited.  thankfully, ken will be here to see her first week of school.  he left the day before she started preschool last year.  we're all happy he will get to be a part of this big milestone!

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New Picture Site!

i have decided to ditch fotki due to server issues, and i am now using flickr. on the left side of this page, there is a link to the family pictures under "visit frequently."

i am working on moving all of my pictures, so it will be a few days before they are all moved. i need to do all of 2007 now.

Out of the mouths of babes

today, emma was playing salon with me. this involves much patience on my part. and a tough scalp. she was tugging and brushing. over and over. putting my hair up, etc.

spencer joined in. because one child wreaking havoc isn't enough.

after a few minutes of pain, i said, "you guys are killing me."

they continued. i sucked it up.

another few minutes pass, and i made a sound that i assume is because of the trauma i'm enduring.

"i'm NOT killing you!! CALM DOWN!"

the love is almost tangible.

Naps=happy. Not always true.

half of the time, spencer wakes from his naps very groggy and very grumpy. sometimes, it's not even worth putting him down for a nap if we know we might have to deal with the grump immediately after. sometimes the grump that is due to no nap is better than the grump that comes after the nap.

oy.

Emma's school got extra funding!!

sooo, emma is now going to be going to full day kindergarten instead of half day.  ken said that her class was the only one out of 4 classes that would be half day.  they were the more advanced students.  we were really bummed about it, because with ken being deployed, a full day of kindergarten would be wonderful for emma (and for myself.)  it will break up her day and give her so many things to do with friends. 

i am so excited about this.  this means that when she switches from the school system here, it will be so much easier for her when we go to alaska where they have much better schools that are also full day. 

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also, i am realizing what pull this whole "orders to alaska" thing has.  i called this morning to schedule emma's 6 month checkup at the dentist.  they had nothing available until late september. 

"oh, really?  if you have any cancellations, please call us.  we are moving to alaska, and my husband is deploying, so we need to get her in so he can have the paperwork done."

"how old is she?  let's see if we can squeeze her in."

VOILA!  i should feel bad.  but i don't. ;)

Stitches are out

ken took emma yesterday to have her stitches removed, and he said she was scared at first.  that is because of how traumatic the shot was for her when she got the stitches.  but once she calmed down, she was fine.  she said it tickled.

she came home with a sucker and a smile, so all must have gone well.

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ken put in for a pushed back rnlt date.  we chose march 31st, because we didn't want to push it so far back that they deny it.  he (and a colonel he spoke with) are pretty confident that it will be approved.  what this means is that ken will deploy.  but like i've said before...better to assume he's deploying than not.  that way we don't get our hopes up for nothing.

march would be a better traveling month, bc the winter there is going to be colder and darker.  it would be nice to be able to travel and not worry so much about the weather. 

This monkey needs a new blog.

because i cannot stop taking pictures of my food. it should come as no surprise, since i like food. and i like my camera. seems quite fitting.

so, i made monkey bread tonight. i've never had it before, and many people had declared it worth trying. they were so right. very sweet. very rich. i ate only a little before the stomach ache came on. ken persevered and had seconds.

here it is in all its glory.
so, i feel as though another blog is in order. if not for you all to read, then so you don't have to look at food pictures on this one.

while not entirely cheap, still better than i originally thought.

Fresh pepperoni bread

while most of you will not be interested in this particular entry, i am doing it mostly for myself.

today, i made pepperoni bread with mozzarella cheese inside. it is pure heaven, and the kids and i have already polished off 1/4 of the loaf in an embarrassingly short period of time. i might have to make another loaf after ken gets home.

i've become obsessed with my bread machine. i used to only bake in it, but i have fallen in love with using it to make dough. i am not completely at ease making dough on my own with the yeast and the kneading, so this is good in the meantime. ken bought me a kitchenaid stand mixer for my birthday, and i hear it is perfect for making dough, so i need to give it a try.

here is the dough after a long rise, and after baking.



if you lived closer, i just might share. or not.

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Hurry up and wait. The military way.

ken spoke with the chief this morning. ken has to put in a request for his rnlt date to be pushed back, but we will not know the answer to that for another 2-3 weeks. ken is due to leave in 4 weeks.

so, as of right now, we are just assuming he is deploying. otherwise, we will get our hopes up for nothing. we are also going to go ahead and do what we can before he leaves to prepare for alaska. we'll have a yardsale, get paperwork started, etc.

what this means for visiting south carolina, i'm not sure. bc we are planning as though he is deploying, we are also planning that i will not be flying out with the kids. i guess we can all discuss this later.

on a different note, emma goes in today to get her stitches removed. i'm praying that she doesn't feel anything. or at least nothing that hurts. i will post an update to that later, as i'm sure you're all dying to know. ;)

spencer has croup. it seems as though he always starts the sickness season earlier than other kids. he went to the dr at midnight last night...he wasn't himself, and his breathing was not normal. he got a steroid shot (which he had this past april as well for the same reason), and he is much better. the not so great thing is that he becomes a miniature incredible hulk after these shots. he is short tempered. he hits. he screams. a lot. he gets dark circles under his eyes, and he eats and eats and eats. i'm looking forward to the next couple of days. :-/

Picture Testing

making sure my picture site works properly. here are a couple of emma and spencer.

it was a wet and dirty day. just like it's supposed to be.











one that i really like is this one of ken and spencer. ken accidentally knocked spencer over, and the face is priceless.

to deploy or not to deploy? that is the question.

the question on everyone's mind, more specifically, mine.

ken has a meeting with the chief on monday morning to discuss the orders to alaska, and whether or not that will prevent him from deploying. alaska is considered an overseas tour. and people are usually given 2 months to outprocess for overseas tours. much more needs to be done. the travel time alone will be almost 2 weeks.

if ken deploys, he will return mid to end of january. leaving 2 or so weeks between arriving here in utah and getting in our van to drive to alaska. not very much time at all.

most overseas rnlt (report no later than) dates cannot be pushed further away. if the chief cannot push the dates, ken will probably not have to deploy. however, ken believes that the chief will try to push before canceling the deployment. another thing we have no control over. we aren't sure when we'll find out for sure. it is possible we will find out on monday. or we could have to wait a week or so.

ken is set to leave september 17th, so hopefully we will know something sooner rather than later.

First things first

we have orders. to elmendorf afb in anchorage, alaska. our feelings are mostly all over the place. we are elated at the thought of living somewhere that we would never have lived had it not been for the air force. however, we are definitely saddened by the fact that we will be so far away from friends and family. grandparents. best friends. cousins. siblings. it's difficult. and while we know this is part of the military life, it doesn't make it any easier. just gives us someone to blame. ;)

our report no later than (rnlt) date is february 29th of 2008. you would think that that is a long time from now. it is, and it isn't. it is in the sense that when you find out you are going somewhere, you want to do it that moment. just to get it all over with. to start making friends. set up a home. get adjusted. but it's not that long in another sense. much needs to be done. yard sales. researching. planning. saving money. almost 2 weeks of traveling. outprocessing.

we have lived in utah for 3.5 years. and it has become our home. we actually love it here, despite being among the minority in religious preference. we've grown accustomed to the way of living. the weather. everything.

we have watched so many friends receive orders and leave us. each time got harder, not easier. and we are left with no close friends. everyone is gone. so, that makes it a lot easier to be excited about leaving here. we are ready to start over. even if we are a little scared.

we have done much reading in the past 2 days about what to expect when we get to anchorage. the most pressing issue is the cold. and the hours of sunlight. that is what everyone wants to know about. so, i will tell you what i know.

we will be in a sub-arctic climate. it means what it implies. cold. very cold. in the summer, the average temperatures are in the 60s. the summer isn't very long. in the winter, which is long, the temps range from 30s to double digits below 0. it will definitely be an adjustment for all of us. perhaps God was preparing us for alaska by sending us to utah first. we have cold winters here, dipping into the negatives. but our summers reach triple digits. much wider variation here. if we'd moved from south carolina to alaska, i'm sure it would be a lot more traumatic.

as far as the hours of sunlight? that is where things get crazy. the shortest daylight in the year is about 6ish hours. 6 hours of sunlight. and not always bright sun, either. in fact, there will be a period of time where emma will get on the school bus in the dark. and she will return from school in the dark. there is also the opposite...a period of time in the summer has an amazing number of hours of sunlight. up to almost 20 hours. many websites tell of people being able to read books at midnight outside. in celebration of 4th of july, many people wait until midnight to do fireworks, bc it is just too bright outside before that.

one great thing we have found out is that we will have larger housing than we currently have. 600 sq feet or more than what we have. and basements. heated garages. mudrooms. actual laundry ROOMS. that alone excites me beyond words.

another surprise is that flights from anchorage to charlotte are almost the same as flights from here (utah) to columbia. that is wonderful for those who will be able to visit.