newest feature on the blog

as you can see...i added a new map to the blog. the little green house shows where we are, here in washington. the blue arrow shows where travis is, at keesler afb in biloxi, mississippi.

i hope this sheds a little more light on where travis is and the kind of distance we are dealing with right now. if you click on the blue arrow, then look to the top left of the map you can click + to zoom in and see a satellite view of the area where travis is.

why it says "i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart) above the map???: this is from a poem that we had read at our wedding ceremony. here it is in it's entirety.

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate
(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world
(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Edward Estlin Cummings

Trav's Graduation from BMT: Lackland AFB, TX

On August 5th, Parker and I started our journey to see Travis. We began our morning by flying from Pasco to Seattle...where we met up with Trav's parents. Then, we all flew from Seattle to Austin, TX...where we rented a car and drove to San Antonio, TX (where Lackland AFB is). We finally got to San Antonio around 7:30 PM and were not able to see Travis that night. So, that night seemed to last forever while I waited for morning when I would FINALLY get to see my husband after 2 long months!

It had been insanely hot in San Antonio the last couple days, but because the Graduation Ceremony was at 9:15 AM the temperature was actually not that bad. It helped that we were sitting in covered bleachers right next to a mister fan!!! Parker was such a trooper and I was so lucky to have Trav's parents (Gma Jammi & Gpa Lee) along with their very good friends (Jack & Anne) who were all amazingly helpful. Thanks again guys...I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. The Ceremony was wonderful and it was so hard to pick Travis out of the bunch when they were out so far! Everyone was in blue and had hats on!
{parks and mommy in the bleachers}
{the graduating flights...trav's is the 2nd from the right...i think, it's hard to tell now}

{trav's flight...WARRIOR FLIGHT}
{trav's flight walking by...we were so busy trying to find trav in the flight that we didn't even manage to get good pictures}

After the ceremony was over they had all the flights lined up again and in order for your Airman to leave formation you had to go down onto the field and "tap them out." Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG! From up in the stands we could see Trav's flight just fine...but once you were down at their level (not to mention that I am all of 5'1"...and that might be pushing it) and everyone is wearing the same thing, there are so many other families trying to find their husbands/sons/etc...that it was very hard to find Travis. I was starting to get to the point where I felt like I was looking forever and I was never going to find him...but I finally did. It was so great to see him after so long!
{parks was so tired and hot...the sun was so bright and we could barely see}

{daddy holding parks...parker just wanted to cuddle with him the whole time}
{SSgt. Hite--Trav's MTI--Military Training Instructor}
It was so great to spend time with him and have his show us around and what he has been up to! We really missed him! That night we were able to go to a baseball game. It was fun to get to meet some of the guys I had heard so much about! They were all such a blast!

The next day was bittersweet! It was great to spend more time with Travis, but we knew that it had to end that day. We were so sad to get in the car and drive back to the airport without him. Two days is almost like a tease...long enough to give you a taste of what life "used to be like"...but not long enough to keep you from feeling devastated when it was over.

Trav's Coins:

Words cannot express how proud of Travis I am. He is such an amazing man. Not to mention what an amazing husband and father he is! I cannot believe how well the 3 of us have been doing with this new chapter in life. Now that Basic Training is over we get to talk several times throughout the day and it isn't nearly as hard of a situation anymore.

Travis is now at Technical School at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He will be there until the beginning of October. After that he will finish Tech School at Shepherd AFB in Texas for probably 4 months. At least we know he will be able to come home for Christmas. Travis is doing great and gets to hang out with some of the guys that were in his Flight at Basic Training and are also stationed at Keesler. In September I am going to Mississippi to visit Travis for our anniversary. Parker is going to stay with my parents for the long weekend and I am excited to go on a plane...toddler-free!!! Plus, I'm really excited to get to see my hubby again!

See you in 10 days!

Well...this will be my last post for a while! Tomorrow morning Parker and I are headed to Texas to see Travis graduate from Basic Training WITH HONORS! After Texas, Parker and I are headed to Hawaii with my family...while Travis is headed to Technical School in Mississippi!!! I think I have the better end of that deal! While he heads to classes, I will be tanning myself on the beach/ziplining/water sliding/hanging out in the pool...all the while I will be missing my husband and wishing he was there!

Today Travis called with super exciting news! Not only did he earn every possible ribbon he could earn while at BMT, but he is an Honor Grad. Not only is he an Honor Grad, but he is part of the Warrior Flight (that is the top flight of all the graduating flights). When he walks through graduation he will already have 4 ribbons on his dress blues!

Words cannot tell you how proud I am of that man. He is amazing and he worked so hard! I know that it was hard on him to be away. I just goes to show how hard work pays off!

I couldn't be more excited to say that I am an Airman's Wife!

What We've Been Up To While Daddy's Been Gone

While Travis has been away at Basic Training we have been up to what some days feels like too much and other days feels like absolutely nothing! It is a hard feeling to explain...but in the past two months I feel like we have gone through so many emotions that are impossible to explain if you have never gone through them. Having your husband gone, not knowing what he is doing everyday, not knowing when you'll get to talk to him next, and when you do get a weekly phone call only being able to talk for 15 minutes, and parenting a toddler going through terrible 2s by yourself all at once is a lot to take on. It is so great that we have been able to count on family while Trav is away and I feel very blessed to have such a tight-knit family (immediate, extended, and my wonderful in-laws). Some days are better than others/easier than others/longer than others/shorter than others...but not matter how they go, we still miss Travis every minute of every day. It is so hard to do things that I know he would love, or to experience things and want to tell him all about it...but have to write him a letter about it instead. Parker has been doing so many new things and saying so many new things and it is hard to write about it to Daddy. I know that he enjoys hearing about all the things we are doing...but I am sure it makes him miss us a lot at the same time! We are down to less than a week until we fly to Texas to see him. I can't wait...but I know how hard it will be to say goodbye again after only a short 2 day visit with him. We are still not sure where Travis will be going for Technical School after Basic Training, we also do not know what job he will be doing during his time in the Air Force...or how long the training for that job will be. Hopefully we will know more once we get to Texas and see Trav for the first time in 2 long months! As soon as we know something we will let everyone know. Thank you all for your prayers...they are keeping us all moving along during this journey!

Here are some pictures of some of what Parker & Mommy have been up to lately...in no particular order:

--Going to the Sprinkler Park--





--Swimming in the (cold water) hot tub...during the summer we call it a pool--
parker is swimming really well by himself with the assistance of water wings...it is hilarious to watch. he jumps in and can swim from one side to the other like it is nothing. i love seeing the new things he learns all the time.




--we went boating with family and friends--


--getting out of the house a little--



{we taught parks how to "salute like daddy"...this is what we got}

{parks thinks that anything his cousin caleb does is hilarious...here he is laughing at him across the table at dinner}

--taking a trip to snohomish to visit "the uncles" (trav's brothers)--
parker had a blast with shane, tyler & amber (tyler's girlfriend)...plus amber's dogs diesel & pookie...parker called pookie "poo poo" all weekend, so funny.


{watching his dvd on the drive, even using headphones like such a big boy}
{carrying diesel around...poor puppy tolerated this so well...parker just wanted to carry him around all weekend}
{showing uncle shane that he knows how to turn on the dishwasher}
{sitting on the counter with uncle shane...parker followed shane everywhere he went saying "shane" around the house...he wanted to do everything he did!}
{this toy used to be uncle ty, uncle shane, and daddy's...gma jammi knew he would love it, it was so thoughtful of her to make sure it was there for him to play with!}
{again carrying diesel around}

{putting poor diesel in the box}
--mommy even got a night out with friends--
the jaeger's (my best friend ashley & her husband luke) came to visit. we went out to dinner with the gussenhoven's (david & jessica) and then ashley and i went to see a movie together. it was so great of my parents to watch little man so that i could get some time in with friends. i don't see ashley nearly enough, but we slip right into laughs and conversations like we see each other everyday...that is one of my favorite things about her!