Updates on the past 4 months

Wow, I am sure am amazed that time flies like it does without posting. I am horrible I know. Things have been very much on the hectic side.

Since the last post in August we had a wonderful visit from aunt susan and uncle chuck whom she loved at first but after a week Ruth began to not like Chuck. I was busy getting things out of the car after a long day trip and Chuck was outside chatting with me. Ruth came running down the driveway and fell and skinned her knees pretty bad. She was crying so hard with big gator tears rolling down her face. Susan came to the door and said "Chuck what did you do to her!" I stated "Oh he pushed her down". Of course Susan, Chuck, and I knew we were just kidding but Ruth, on the other hand, thought we were 100 percent serious. This led to Ruth being scared of Uncle Chuck after loving him for over a week. She kept telling me "Uncle Chuck pushed me down!" LOL. Eventually she loosened up but it sure was hilarious. We went all over the island and saw so much while they were here: Palermo, Agrigento, Catania, and so much more but what I will always remember is "Uncle Cuck pushed me over!"

Just a few days after Susan and Chuck left we had a nice, but too short, visit from my Mom, Grammy Eck. Grammy Eck came bearing an entire suitcase of clothes for Ruth as usual and she absolutely loved that. We again hit Palermo, Agrigento, Catania and more just the next week. Ruth was such a good sport to see the same things all over again and do the long car rides all over again ultimately resulting in the usual car sickness.

You thought our crazy hectic time stopped when our company left? Oh no. Just a few days after Grammy Eck left we headed on an interesting trip to the states. The hectic part began right after Grammy Eck left when we tried to find a flight. We had it all planned that we would leave on the third of October however we soon find that there are only 10 seats left on the military flight...this is the flight that EVERYONE wants because it is a commercial 767 that is so very nice with great service...better than a regular civilian commercial flight. Because it is so wanted it was NOT going to happen that we would make it on with 10 seats. Not to mention we were traveling with our friend Carol and her twins as well as our friend Mandy with her son. So it was immediately watching for the next available military flight. When I say military, I mean military. We stumble across a flight on the 27th of September almost a week before we planned to leave. So we scrambled our bags together and headed off to the airport, three adults and four kids. Interesting I know. So there we are...standing on the flight line looking at this huge grey plane that is much bigger than anticipated. A C-5 cargo plane that is absolutely gigantic. The seating on the C-5's have only 76 seats and they face backward at the very top of the airplane...what a hike up!! We get seated and strapped in and soon after get ear plugs and realize their are no windows, no food or drinks, and no flushing toilet. Oh boy..... Spain here we come. We make it safely to spain in the middle of the night and spend a night in a hotel in which the kids will NOT sleep. Then have to check out of our hotel room to wait about 7 hours in the airport waiting for a 9 hour flight in the same C-5 headed to norfolk. We made it safely and spent another night in the hotel in which we got in the middle of the night again and got up at 430 in the morning to head to the civilian airpot. After three days of travel and 4 take off and landings we FINALLY make it to San Diego.

Almost three weeks with our friends from San Diego was great. Ruth had a play mate she shared everything from bedroom to sippy cups every day. Ruth grew up with Baby Charles when she was a baby. We lived just a few paces away from eachother in the same complex and spent every waking moment together. When we first arrived it was as if they had completely remembered eachother even though they hadn't seen eachother since they were 10 months. Toward the end of the visit Ruth's other best buddy, Kylie came to San Diego to see us. Kylie's mommy, Lorraine, and I were best of friends from before the kids were born. Our husbands left us when we were just first pregnant on deployment and returned after the kids were born. Lorraine and I will always have a special bond as I was there for every moment of labor coaching her through it and in return, she was there for me during my labor, leaving her three month old with family in the waiting room to make sure that I had someone special there. We had a great time for the three short days we had together and the kids got along great.

After three weeks we got on the airplanes again headed for Philadelphia. Grammy Haueisen was there to greet us along with Derek...Roberts 6 yr old cousin. We spent two days in Philadelphia swimming in the hotel indoor pool and spending both days at Sesame Place!! Ruth was fascinated with Elmo, Zoe, and her all time favorite...Abby Cadabby. Ruth was in awe with live shows, chances to hug all of her favorite characters, and ride all the fun rides. Her favorites were dinner with the characters and the parade afterward. I was so happy to be able to give her the opportunity to experience seeing live what she watches on TV every morning.

We then went to spend the time with Grammy Cline as well as many visits to Grammy Haueisen. We had a great time and wished we would have had more than 8 days to spend with them.

Then it was heading back to Norfolk Virginia to try and catch one of those "nice military flights" again meeting Carol and Mandy while reuniting all the kids together for yet another long trip. With only 35 open seats an airport full of people we can only pray that we will make this flight. After all this traveling we are sure that our nerves are way too shot to handle a C-5 again. While sitting there for hours we patiently waited to hear the magic words over the intercom system, "Rebecca Haueisen you may proceed to luggage check in." We made it!!! Which made every bit of traveling so much easier and it only took 15 hours to make it back. We made it home just two days before Halloween after 30 some days of travels across the world and back.

Things have calmed down greatly since we have been home however our lives are still busy.