Saying Good Bye to Luke Air Force Base

Wow, we can't believe it has been almost two years here at Luke Air Force Base. We have enjoyed our time in the military and are blessed to have the experiences we have had here. We have gained more appreciation for our country and those that serve our country. We will miss F16 jets flying over us - it is fun to see their formations. We will miss taps playing at 7am and 10pm and we will especially miss the national anthem playing loud at 5pm on the speakers around base, I often feel teary eyed when we are out side and see all the kids hop off their bikes, jump out of the swimming pool or put their hockey stick down and turn and face the flag with their hand on their heart for the national anthem to be played (even little Sophie puts her hand on her heart). It is great to watch them learn and show respect for our country and our flag that represents freedom. (Isaac often draws the American Flag in pictures- so I know he has a respect for it.) We have meet some great people in the military and will miss our friends in the "Zuni neighborhood". We will miss showing visitors the model fighter jets, we will miss story time at the library, dance play group, all the playgrounds and swimming pool. We will miss having the Luke Elementary 3 houses down- it has been so convenient to have Isaac walk to school. We will miss all the security we have living on a military base. We will miss the 15 mph speed limit and letting our kids play in the street! We will miss the great running loops with no traffic to worry about -just an occasional 4 foot jack rabbit! The White Tank mountains just West about 10 min. away. The kids have grown a lot over the last two years and I know they will have many memories at Luke Air Force Base. We are thankful for our time here where Dusty has served in the Military -Thanks Dusty for giving us this opportunity.

New Shoes New Shoes Isaac has New Shoes

A couple of weeks ago I took all three kids to Payless to buy new church sandals. Isaac saw these "awesome high tops" and ended up buying them with his own money. . . .not because he needed them, but because EVERYBODY HAS THEM - right! He had been saving up for a DS, but apparently fashion is more important then entertainment - for a kindergartner. He is also sporting some Phoenix Suns sweat bands.

Speaking of Isaac he has informed me that he wants to be the Florida Gators mascot when he grows up! He had seen a funny clip on YouTube about a mascot. Which lead to a list of questions as to what those funny animals of people dressed up are called (Mascot). Which lead to how can you be one of those. When he found out people get paid to do that he became really interested and said "how much" I told him I didn't know maybe 5 or 10 dollars and hour, I explained if the person was dressed up for a basket ball game for 3 hours the mascot might get paid $30.00. He got really excited and said I want to be a mascot when I am older, I ask what mascot would he be he said "The Florida Gator"! Go Gators and good luck Isaac!

The girls go to the museum . . .

Emma, Mara, Sophie and Alli all enjoy a day full of fun downtown at The Children's Museum in Phoenix. They have all been best little buddies this past year and enjoy weekly play dates. We will miss these girls.
They all had a fun time playing in this tent and being silly while Anne (Mara and Alli's Mom) and I enjoyed visiting.
My two girls nice and clean driving through the car wash.
Go Sophie!
The girls enjoyed a little arts and crafts (Sophie enjoyed licking the glue off the styrofoam peanuts). They also enjoyed play dough and painting.
Dog food . . .we don't have a dog.
Alli leading the way as Mara takes Emma and Sophie for a ride.
Sophie is looking so big doing some grocery shopping.
The next door neighbor Grace whom Emma is friends with was also at the museum the same day with her school class on a field trip. Fun times.

The boys go camping. . .

Dusty and Isaac went camping on Friday with Dusty's cousin Brent Anderson and his two boys Mason and Ian. They camped at "Garcia's Island"- it is only about 20 feet by 30 feet so lucky no one went sleep walking! The Garcia's are a nice family in our ward who have pond on their land and were kind enough to let a bunch of Andersons camp out. They all had a great time, from canoeing out to the island to carving with pocket knives, playing in the water, making smores and and finding treasure (fish bait - really exciting for a some 5 and 6 year olds). Good Times.

Emma Learns to Ride!

Last week Emma (age 4 yrs old) learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. She has been asking to take them off for awhile, so one night Dusty finally took them off for her to give it a try. Isaac gave her a little tip, and Dusty held onto the back of her bike to explain a few things, she simple looked at her Daddy and said "just let me go!" He did and she just started riding like she has been riding for years, she rides around the neighborhood with Isaac and his friends and you can tell that she is so excited to be with the "big kids". She even rides down hills with rocks. The day after she learned she asked "when will Daddy take me mountain biking!" Way to go Emma!
We are so proud of you Emma!
In this picture she had just braked quickly to make a skid mark on the side walk!

Soccer Season

It's soccer season! Isaac and Emma are both on the same cute team "The Hot Lavas"! It is so fun to watch them play. Isaac is a bit more experienced and enjoys being one of the older kids on the team, where as Emma thinks she scores whenever she kicks the ball- you go girl! Go Hot Lavas!
Best Buddies
Cool soccer banner!
Crazy kid
Nice kick Emma
This is tough stuff!
Go Team!
If only Sophie were old enough to be on the team!
Future soccer player!

Family Pics

Last week we were able to get our family pictures taken before Dusty headed off. Natalie Godown from our ward took them and she did such a great job, I recommend her to anyone in the area. We had them taken at Litchfield Park Elementary and Litchfield Rec Center. I posted a ton, because so many of them turned out. :)

Luke Air Show

This weekend their was an air show here at Luke Air Force Base. It was very exciting to watch. The kids were able to go inside some of the planes they brought in for the show. It was amazing to watch these planes go up and down and spin all around I can't imagine how dizzy those pilots might get. Our favorite was the new F22, it is awesome to watch. It is almost completely silent until it passes you, then the incredible sound of the engines about blow you away. We went on Saturday as a family and the heat was on- welcome to Phoenix 95 degrees already! Isaac and the neighbor boys played "air show" when we got home, they all brought out the model planes and had a good time. Our friends the Brown's and Westwood's drove out from Mesa to see the show, but after waiting for an hour and a half to get shuttled in they decided to leave -sorry you guys, we feel so bad. We are hearing from a lot of people that parking and shuttling people in was very inefficient and they didn't have enough buses. Here is a clip of a couple of planes from the show.