Promotion day/ Stuart Little

Today, June 30th, I had a promotion ceremony where Airmen who have earned the next rank and pay grade were presented in front of the whole Wing (a 1/3 of base). We were assembled by rank starting with the lowest rank (Airman Basic E-1) and ending with the second to highest enlisted rank (Senior Master Sergeant E-8), nobody made Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) this month.

After everyone arrived at the ceremony, it began with greetings and introductions of Wing and Group Commanders. Than the German and American National anthem was sung. and after that began introductions of the promotees.

I got to be part of an Air Force tradition, where back in the day rank wasn't sewn on to your sleeves, it was pinned to the uniform. Therefore, when you gained rank you would get your rank "tacked on" (literally). Meaning, everyone from your shop would line up and get to punch your rank. Now a days during the promotion ceremonies promotees of Staff Sergeant (E-5) through Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) have 2 people come up on stage and get to "tack on" their new rank by slugging them in the arm.

Now I don't put my rank on officially until July 2nd, which is Saturday, so my new rank won't get "tacked on" until Tuesday. In my shop with people who gain rank have to walk through the guillotine, as we call it, which is everyone in the shop line up in two rows facing each other and the newly ranked person will walk down the middle of them one step at a time and get slugged in the arm by everyone, and once they are at the end of the line they turn around and go through it the other way so everyone can "tack on" both sides. Typically leaving you with some very nice battle scars for a few hours.

Here is the link to our video of me receiving my new rank certificate from Brigadier General (O-7) Dillon.

Link-- http://vimeo.com/25832194

This is my certificate for gaining rank from Airman (E-2) to Airman First Class (A1C, E-3). The stripes in the right hand corner are what are on my uniform. :)

Tonight after dinner we went on a walk through Rodenbach which is a kilometer away from our village, and here are some pictures of the view. The village is a small quite farming village not large and noisy city like Kaiserslautern. Enjoy. :)

Beginning of the walk Scarlett was wide awake and talking to us about her day, and how nice the village was.

Scarlett is still awake mid way through our adventure through Rodenbach, but slowly falling to sleep.

An amazing bell tower next to the village church.

AND NOW FOR STUART LITTLE!

This is a dead mouse on the sidewalk. Alysons new friend. She didn't feed him like she should have, so unfortunately he passed away from starvation. :( poor Stuart Little.

And then Scarlett fell asleep on the way home.

A Family Walk on a Friday Night

Yesterday, Joe and I both got off work early, which made for a great family day. :)

I wasn't even scheduled to go in, but my boss needed some extra help, so he told me to bring Scarlett and his wife would hang out with her for a while. She slept all day, minus 20 minutes to feed and a dirty butt. 

We were both off by around 12:30. Where after we came home, changed out of our work clothes, went to lunch and did our long needed grocery shopping. We hadn't bought any food for the house since my parents were here --oops. We have survived, but have just been so busy with life we hadn't found the time yet. But, we have a house full of food now! Yay! :)

Last night after we got home, we were waiting for my grandparents to get done with lunch so we could have a skype date and we decided to go on a walk. We walked the trail behind our house, which goes through some fields, leads to the other side of town, past the village church and swings back to our place. We walked it when I was full term (hoping it would induce labor, but with no avail). It is about an hour long trail, with beautiful scenery along the way. 

So, we loaded up Miss Scarlett in the baby carrier and headed out on the walk....

This is a hill up through one of the fields. It is at the base of some mountains...

This is the same hill looking back down... Our house is back down the hill and back to the right by about 20 minutes.

This is the side of our village, opposite of our end --the far end. We think its kind of a wealthy part of the local villages. The houses have two car garages, which is rare to find. Even having a one car garage is somewhat rare, but much more normal.

Joe and Scarlett all loaded up, walking through the fields... It was a bit chilly, but they still looked pretty cute! ....and this also might be as close as we ever get to seeing Joe pregnant. ;)

These next two pictures are of the village church and the super super steep hill that brought on non-progressing labor contractions every time I walked it...

At the back of this picture is the hill --it is essentially straight up.
Great exercise, but we didn't walk it this night.

Village Church. Pretty. :)

Scarlett fell asleep in her daddy's chest while in the carrier. It was precious. 

All of us on our walk... :) 

Once we got back home we were able to skype with Grandma and Grandpa Boudewyns. Scarlett was tired and cranky, but did show off and talk to them for a bit before Joe gave her a bath. It sounded like the conversation was very insightful. :)

This must have wore the little girl out as she slept the whole night through again... Made for a restful nights sleep for Joe and I. :)

Baby Babbles

We have created a new blog for everyone to follow --and now that we are back together, hopefully with 2 of us (and Alyson not pregnant and sick in Denmark), we will be able to keep this updated easier for all the family back home to see our lives here.

Just a short note and video for you tonight, as its late, but wanted to share this video with you.

Scarlett is almost seven weeks old --will be this Thursday (June 23). Seven weeks have gone by since our lives changed. Crazy how fast time flies now that she is here... :)

Tonight as we were putting Miss Scarlett into the bath, we were able to catch some of her babbles on camera. The video we uploaded, however the sound isn't the best, so if you're really quiet and listen close you should be able to catch her random baby-talk.

ps. She doesn't talk the whole way through, so there isn't sound the whole way through, just little bits here and there.

Link to the video:  http://vimeo.com/25322050

We think its cute, but we aren't biased at all. ;)
Enjoy!