Fun in the sun.....and snow

After a few really nice family Christmas days Eric and I dropped off his parents at the airport in Phoenix last Sunday and went on to the Grand Canyon.







After seeing this wonder of the seven wonders of the natural world we continued on to Flagstaff, AZ. Yes!!!!! We got to snowboard!!!! We both were thrilled when I found out that one can do winter sports in AZ- it's called the "Arizona Snowbowl"!!!!! Here're some pictures of the fun we had:

A real Bavarian "SKIHASERL"!












That's what we looked like after one day of Krause-Jankowski-Extreme-Boarding:

Promotion

Yesterday Eric got promoted to MAJOR!!!! I will let the pictures speak for themselves.......but I have to say that I am very proud of him!!!!!!

LTC Monnard, who conducted the promotion, and Eric


Then it was my turn. I took off the Captain's bars and stuck the Major bronze oak leaf to his chest.....smacked it real hard and kissed him -> one of the few situations where you are allowed to kiss a soldier in uniform!




Then his parents switched the bars for the oak leaf on his beret (hat).









My brand new major!!!


.....still has to grow up....

Weihnachten-Christmas

Merry Christmas- Frohe Weihnachten!!!

Eric and I spent our first Christmas just the two of us (+ Nelson of course)! Here's our tree:





I've never been without my German family for Weihnachten- so it was a bit weird at first and I missed them very much. Eric made my day though. He played lots of music and we made some chocolate- yummy- balls (thanks for the receipe, Michelle!!!), had champagne, went for a walk through our neighborhood full of Christmas lights, cooked dinner together, watched "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", skyped with Germany for their present opening while having brats for lunch, cuddled, had cookies and opened some presents.
Nelson had a lot of fun too- he even dressed up:


"...did Santa come yet?????...did Santa come yet????....did Santa come yet????..." He got to open his present in the afternoon (I hope you all can see the video- we both were very proud of our pooch):



He got a new blue Mini-Kong-Wubba!!...and was very excited about it all day long!

All in all we had a great Christmas!!!!! I hope everybody had a good day as well!

My sister's pregnant again!!!

Yesssss!!! She is in her 5th month already!!!! And they recently found out that they're getting another boy!!!!!!!!! I am soooooo happy for them!!!!! Congratulations, Nelle- Maus & co.!!!!

home sweet home

Friday evening Nelson and I finally made it back to Sierra Vista. We both were glad to be home and sleep in our own beds...

...well, Nelson's bed is portable so he didn't really care.... but he sure liked the bed in one hotel:



That night (Wednesday/Thursday) we stayed in Winnie, TX. When I took Nelson out before it was time for bed we both were surprised by SNOW!!!!!



It felt and smelled great. Man, I miss the snow!!!!!!

Back home I immediately started to decorate!!!!! One of my favorite things to do around Christmas. During our travels my Mom and I picked up some pine cones and other seed- containing dry pieces of plants. I spray- painted them silver and gold.





I also did my present wrapping for my family in Germany!!!



It didn't look that nice when I had to squeeze all the gifts into priority mail boxes or wrap them in brown packing paper because they didn't fit into the boxes. Well- last year the presents were all squished from being in the suitcases -> something different every year! I just hope they make it in time.

The tree still has to wait to be put up. In Germany we usually decorate our tree on the 24th!!! Maybe this year I can't wait and put it up on the 20th when Eric comes home!!!! I just enjoy all the festive glitter and atmoshere so much!!!!

Merry pre- Christmas time to all of you!!!!!

Simulator

Tuesday Eric arranged for me to get a tour of the flight simulator which he's "flying" everyday. The program manager, Pete, and Eric showed me what there is to see at FlightSafety International.



I really enjoyed to get an insight on what Eric is doing. Here's the simulator from the outside. It's sitting on spider-y, hydraulic legs that move the cabin/cockpit up and down giving the pilots on the inside a more realistic flight experience. In the picture the cockpit is on the left. 4 screens, in the bubbly looking part, show what the pilots would see when they look out of the windows. This thing is huge!!!



Here Pete opens the door to the simulator. One has to walk across a little bridge to get inside. The bridge removes itself once the cabin is "loaded".



Once inside you first see the instructors "station" with computers, etc. to the left before you get into the cockpit (which was taken from a retired real aircraft):



We all sat down- I sat in the pilot's seat!!!!!! Eric sat in the co-pilot's and Pete in the instructor's seat. He used the computer to put us on the runway at Dothan airport. From here on Eric took over!!!! He did a take off, then Pete used the computer to put us at the Washigton/Dulles airport so we could see the memorials and Potomac river. After flying around a bit Eric performed a beautiful but a bit wobbly landing.

This what you see when you look out front (the instructor can change the weather conditions or make the aircraft malfunction, etc. from his station at any given time):









Although the tour was only about 45 minutes long I really enjoyed it.

Sunday

Sunday Eric and I decided to go to the aviation museum on Post (Ft. Rucker). It was very exciting since I've never really been that close to so many different aircrafts...and my very own tour guide made it really enjoyable as well as informative.



Man- if you think that in just 100 years we went from bicycle-wheeled- paper-kite-like constructions to superfast, sometimes even unmanned, computerized, gigantic or super small flying machines. If it weren't for those inventions Eric and I would probably have never met. Thanks Mr. and Mr. Wright!!!

Here's a huuuuuuge helicopter- the ...... ( I still have to ask Eric for it's name, sorry)...it had a big jeep coming out of it's belly under the cockpit!!!:



The museum also had the helicopter which transported many presidents of the past (like Eisenhower, Nixon or Kennedy)- "Army 1":



Here's Eric in/with a Chinook, that transports soldiers/cargo (he and his students flew in this aircraft while working at Ft.Louis in the summer):





...and with "his" Apache:





Here's a helicopter that rescued the wounded in the Vietnam war - it's unbelievable, the patients were strapped onto strechers which were attached to the outside of the aircraft:



And here're some fun pics of old/newer but still old simulators:

Daleville

Hello from the worldfamous and exciting city of Daleville!

Here's how we spend our days:

I usually begin the day shopping at the one real supermarket here called "grocery outlet". Everything is dirty and smelly- just how I like it! After I got my goodies home to our lovely hotel room I put it all away in our spacious and very modern kitchen.



Then I go and get a tatoo at one of the thousand tatoo parlors while I talk on my cellphone nonstop to random people.



After smoking 9 1/2 packs of cigarettes, browsing the "as seen on tv" website, drinking 15 cans of beer and watching tv Eric finally comes home and we have dinner.



After dinner we try to decide to which stripclub of the 11 choices we want to go that night while drinking some more beers by our christmas tree.



On the way to our evening activity we normally stop at one of the 16 pawn shops to look at guns and electronics.
After we get home (usually a bit tipsy) Eric and I fight over random issues until he falls asleep (because I had mixed some Ambien in his drinks before). Then I steal my husband's credit card to order the "incredible warm Snuggie" (for people who don't know how to use a blanket) online and finally get to knit some on Eric's new itchy underwear until I fall asleep as well.



What a good day in Daleville. The city really is a lot of fun!!! Tomorrow I will participate in a work shop called "how to be a good Army Wife- living in Motels made easy".