Jiujitsu Competition

This past weekend we traveled to Phoenix to watch Bucky's first jiujitsu match. We have been very fortunate to have found a gym here that works for us. The instructors are fantastic and Bucky has grown so much in this sport since beginning here. When he found out his friend, B, was going to compete, he decided that he would like to be in it as well. He lost his first match 2-0 but he got his nerves out and realized these folks weren't playing around. He won his second match 10-0. Not only did he win in points but we could tell he had learned from the first match and was much more aggressive on his second go. He was very proud of himself as were we :).

Bucky's friend, B 

Guard

Sliding out

Completing a throw

Mount and checking with coaches

Trying an arm bar

The winning smile

Cheering for Bubby

And...she's spent

Group Photo of the kids who competed and coaches

Our New Adventure

A lot has happened since my last post so this will, again, just be a recap. Since I last wrote, we have visited PC for the holidays and traveled cross country to PCS to Arizona.

Bucky got his Orange Belt in Jujitsu.

We visited Florida before heading west.

Visited the battleship in Mobile Bay.

We spent a couple of days in Tombstone.

We rang in the New Year at a hotel in Tombstone.

Moved into our house at Fort Huachuca, AZ. 

And, of course, enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Now is where I promise to stay caught up and blog every X amount of days but between 2 kids, a husband's erratic work schedule, my school and continuing to set up a house for us for the next few years (hopefully), I'm a little busy. It's a good busy, but busy nonetheless :).

Visiting Great Grandma

and Kira's first trip to the fair. After hubby returned from ALC in AZ, we made a short trip up to visit his grandmother. She had not seen Kira yet so we were all excited. Although it was only overnight, we were able to get in some quality time with her and hub's cousin. 

The night we came back home, we also went to the Georgia National Fair. We didn't get there until around 430 or 500 but we closed the place down around 1100 or so. While Buck and I were in line for our first ride (our neighbor-friends were watching the youngins), we heard a girl freaking out because her buckle didn't latch. This mama got out of line and did not ride anything that night that left the ground. And I was perfectly fine with that. BTW - the ride was functioning again within the hour. Hmmmm... But anywho, the kiddo had a great time and baby girl slept and ate through it so all was right with the world.

St. Augustine

On our way back from Melbourne, we decided to stop in St. Augustine to show Bucky around and explore the Castillo de San Marcos. Buck and I went many years ago and thought the kiddo would really enjoy it. We got there just in time, too. There was a cannon demonstration about 30 minutes after we arrived and a tour starting a little bit after that. We stood on the to of the structure to see the cannon and then headed downstairs to wait for the tour. While waiting in the breezy entryway, I was downing water like there was no tomorrow. It was sooooo HOT; I think it was about 100 degrees in the shade. We started the tour and went into a room for the guide to start her speech. I lasted about 10 minutes and then returned to the entryway to sit. I was just about miserable and there wasn't a breeze in the other room. It felt like the air was being sucked out of the room. Anyway, the boys kept going in the tour until Buck realized the lady was pretty much just repeating what the signs all say. So we did our own (very quick) tour and headed out to get some lunch. Thank goodness there was a place right across the street. After we ate, we went back to the car and came home.

Enjoying some Ice Cream

Preggo Pic - almost 34 weeks

Family Pic

View of the Top

Cannon go Boom!

Making Sure there are not any Pirates

Water Wheel outside the restaurant

Happy Halloween!!

After we made it through the rest of our trip, including the never-ending state, and seeing a few more sites from the road, we made it to Panama City for Halloween festivities. Bucky decided to be Luigi this year...saved me money since I had purchased it for $2 the prior year after Halloween. We went to the mall for him to go store to store. He really enjoyed it and then he got to ride some ride and play in the balloons. I carved him a jack-o-lantern since it was so much fun last year (not really) but I knew he would like it.

Grand Canyon

Our next touristy stop was the Grand Canyon. A very good friend of mine had suggested that we go to sunrise at the canyon. We didn't get to a hotel until late the night before and there are not many things I will get up early for but I thought this might be worth it. It was about 35 degrees the next morning when we headed out but still we went ahead with it. When we got there, we were quickly reminded of the stereotypical vacation when you are surrounded by Asian folks talking 90mph and clicking away. We both started laughing when we turned around and saw nothing but that because three or four tour buses had just pulled up. We waited it out and let me tell you it was definitely a wonderfully splendid view! I didn't think we were going to make it the whole time because the kiddo was very cold and almost miserable but he hung in there like a champ. We even got to see some deer on the pathway right in front of us as we headed back to the car.

After sunrise we went back to the hotel for breakfast and some more sleep before viewing the canyon during the day and heading out for another day of travel.

Four Corners

On October 26, we headed out from Colorado towards Georgia during the day of the first snow and boy was it a rough day of travelling! We only had a couple of hours behind us from the first day of travelling because we left late but decided that we did want to start the trip no matter what. When we woke up the following morning, our car was covered with snow. We knew snow was expected but had no idea that it was going to be that crazy. Buck did a great job driving up and down and around the mountains but I think I held my breath the whole time.

That afternoon we arrived at our first touristy stopping point, Four Corners. This is a very unique area in that Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona all meet at this one location and join together at the same spot. You can actually jump from one state to another to another to another without taking any steps in between. It is quite amazing!

Block Leave

At the end of July, we went on yet another cross country road trip. You'd think we would've learned our lesson the first time, but when you have several places to visit and are on an Army budget, driving is the most economical choice. We left and headed toward Georgia first to visit B's grandmother and some very good friends of ours. We also got to visit with his cousin while we were there so that was a bonus. We were there for a few days and then went to Crawfordville, FL for B to recertify for his SCUBA Instructor card. We met up with Gregg Stanton at Wakulla Diving Center to catch up with him and his family and so B could complete his in-pool and open water training. From there we headed to PC for the open water portion. This is where I became involved in the training because I got to do some diving also. We saw our friend Trey and were able to catch up with him . That was awesome because we haven't seen or heard from him in quite a long time. He was the captain for the dives in the gulf. After the diving was completed we headed back in and stopped in a bay to see some dolphins. If I had not been behind the camera, I would've jumped in with them just like the boys did. Still kinda upset I didn't but such is life. We stayed with my parents and it was nice spending some time chilling out with them and my bro's family. During this time, we trekked over to ValP to visit with B's aunt and uncle. B and I left the kiddo with my parents so we could take a cruise with just the two of us. It was nice to be able to stay up late and do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. We went diving in Cozumel and visited the Mayan Ruins from Calica. The water was so clear and our tour guide was so great. Wonderful excursions! We also met a couple at dinner that were great company during some of the shows and entertainment. We are now FB friends with them :). After we got back to PC, we headed home. The trip was long and hard at times but we were all glad to be back home.

Georgia

Diving

Cousins

Cruise

Bucky Swimming Underwater

Fishing

Playing with Grandaddy