Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving up in Louisville, Kentucky, with Drew this year. It was a lot of fun to be up at his house and get to see more of where he lives and works. We took our kitten, Ivy, up with us and she got acquainted with Drew's boxer puppy, Josie, throughout the weekend. That was a really funny experience, to say the least. Ivy established who was boss pretty quickly. She enjoyed using Josie's nose as her pin cushion and chew toy, and Josie smothered Ivy with love, taking whatever abuse Ivy chose to bestow on her. They became friends in about a day and both of them were completely exhausted when the weekend was over.
Drew is living in a really beautiful part of the country; we got to see Southern Seminary, the school he is attending, and we also went to Abraham Lincolns' birthplace and boyhood home while we were there. The picture to the right is the house that Mr. Lincoln remembered when he talked about living in Kentucky (I guess we're not sure if that's the exact house or just a house from the same era, in the same place).

This year was the simplest Thanksgiving I remember: just the three of us. But we had a great time together, as usual. There really is nothing that compares to spending time with our family. We live in a great era of travel: it's so much easier to see one another, even when we are spread out everywhere and John & I definitely love taking advantage of that. We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! God has blessed us greatly in this country.

Surprise Baby Shower!

A few of my friends here put together a surprise baby shower for me. It was so fun! Hilary (bottom right, in the brown) and Rachel (bottom right, green and brown), organized everything from the decorations to games to "inviting me over for coffee." When I walked into Hilary's apartment, an entire group of women that I have grown to love so dearly were there to wish me happy baby-ing. Needless to say I was very overwhelmed (in the best way). Of course John was in on it: he supplied them with a baby picture of me and one of the girls contacted my mom to get some answers about my childhood years. It was a little embarrassing but mostly really really fun. I was so touched that anyone would go to this much work for me (and baby).
They invited John over to open presents when it was time so we had a good time doing that, too. A lot of the girls pitched in and bought us a glider/rocker for the nursery. That will come in so handy for those late nights! And we also received some really special handmade blankets, pillows, and fun little rattles, pacifiers, and bottles. This is a great big thank you to all of the girls who participated in making last Saturday so memorable...and to my mom who supplied them with the lowdown on what I was like as a baby/child. And to my husband who understood how special this would be for me and cooperated in the secret-keeping.

**Sidenote** To all of you who have asked to see pictures of my changing "figure," this is probably the closest you're going to get unless I see you in person. :) Baby is growing: he/she is very active and comfortable, and John and I are continually blown away by the thought that we get to meet this little person in just a few short months.

My Aviator in Training

John was just issued his flight gear. Here are a couple of pictures of what he is "required" to wear from now on while in flight school.

So, I think I'm a pretty lucky girl getting to walk around with this guy. API (the 2nd phase of training out of 4) is going really well for John. He is excelling in his classes and by Thanksgiving he will be finished with the academic portion of his studies. The last two weeks of API will be spent in a helo dunker, land survival, the beloved "spin and puke g-machine", hypoxia chamber, and what is lovingly referred to as redneck parasailing (parasailing off the back of a chevy pickup). John is really looking forward to what's coming up. And I'm really looking forward to all of the stories he will have to share. :)