Dear Family and Friends,The past few years have been a crazy, yet exciting time for our family. In 2009, Matt was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force and we officially joined the active duty military. That means we spent four months apart and were then quickly moved to Meridian, Mississippi. Moving to the south was quite a culture shock; however it has been a fascinating and rewarding experience.
When we first arrived we couldn’t understand most people and they were using phrases we had never heard before. We were not prepared for the heat, humidity and giant, man-eating bugs that live here. But we were also overwhelmed at the beauty of the landscape and the hospitality of the people. It seems like everything slows down a bit when you cross the border into Mississippi and we have yet to get stuck in traffic. We’ve had experiences good and bad; but we have found friends for life.
After having lived here a few months, we found out that we were expecting a new addition to our family. That news was quickly followed by Matt leaving for another four months for MORE training; leaving Brittany a pregnant single mother in a strange land. But thanks to friends and ward members she was able to get through it without losing her mind… mostly. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.
In 2010, Matt returned and we officially joined the mini-van club. We welcomed our new baby boy, Caleb Matthew, to our family on March 4th. Even though he was 8 lbs 9 oz, he was 3 weeks early and his little lungs weren’t quite ready for the outside world. He had to spend a week in the NICU, in which time we experienced many little miracles and are so grateful for all of the prayers offered in our behalf. We are happy to say that he recovered well and he is the joy of our lives. He has the best big sisters a little guy could ask for and will forever be spoiled by them.
Elleigh is our amazing little dancer and continues to become quite a performer. She entered 2nd grade and now has the true toothless smile characteristic of that age. She has a wonderful teacher, great friends and loves going to school each day. She was placed in both the Intellectually Gifted and Artistically Gifted programs at her school and loves the new and inventive projects they get to do. Currently she has a dream of becoming Taylor Swift and has asked us if we can find a rock star school to attend. As a back-up plan, she would also like to be a veterinarian. She is a little spitfire and life would be boring without her.
Sophie is also becoming quite a beautiful dancer & is officially in kindergarten this year. In Mississippi, kindergarten is full day which was hard for Brittany to get used to. Her wonderful teacher said she would like to clone her and have a classroom full of Sophies, because, in Sophie’s words, she would like to “obey all of the rules of the world.” Sophie continues to dream of becoming a mermaid when she grows up and can’t understand why Jesus just won’t make it happen. Sophie is our heart and is always ready to give hugs and cuddle, as long as she can have her teddy bear with her.
Matt is almost done with training and will soon be a rated Airfield Operations Officer; despite having to suspend training for several months to resolve a medical condition. Training has resumed and we were selected to move to Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV in the spring. We are very excited to be closer to home, dry air and civilization.
With Love,
Matt, Brittany, Elleigh, Sophie, Caleb
