Mom and PJ come to visit!

Josh and I were fortunate enough to have two visits from our parents within weeks of each other! No sarcasm here. Josh and I LOVE it when our friends and family visit. We were sad that Dad couldn't be here :(, but still happy that Mom and PJ were able to come out. This trip wasn't as packed as the trip with Mom and Dad Downing, because Mom was a little handicapped. She dropped a bottle of San Pellegrino on her foot back in the beginning of April and broke two of her toes! They still haven't healed to the full extent, so we had to take it pretty easy. We hung around the house most of the time. Mom helped us organize and decorate...moms are always great at that :). We did manage to take a day trip down to Sedona and celebrate Mom's birthday. It was a fun and relaxing visit. As always, we were sad to see them go :(

Kept on smiling despite her injury!

At Three Dog Bakery in Sedona. PJ went crazy! We spoiled him :)

The boys took an afternoon nap while mom and I shopped

Happy Birthday Mom!

Moving Day

Josh and I have been living in a tiny apartment since I moved out last December. It was a nice little apartment...not to mention our first home together :)...but we were more than ready to move into a house. Half of our furniture and other items were in storage (to include my wonderful, oh-so-comfortable, PERFECT, couches). As you can imagine, we were excited to move to a house so we could enjoy all of our furniture/household items AND have a kitchen I could actually move in!

Moving helpers!

Took a break for Chipotle

We love the house! Plus it's twenty minutes closer to the base. SO NICE! More pics soon to come...

Mom and Dad Downing's VIsit

Mom and Dad Downing were able to come visit us for a weekend a few weeks ago. It was a very fast and packed visit! We all had a fabulous time and didn't want it to be over :(. We started off the visit with a tour of where Josh and I work, followed by a trip to Sedona, a trip to Cave Creek, and finished off with a show by the McMorrows at Lis Doon Varna.

Josh's office

My cubicle...not quite the same as Josh's office, but it works for me!

Sedona is absolutely gorgeous! Red rock and evergreen... can you think of a more beautiful combination? It's the first on our list of sites to bring visitors and we never tire of it. It's only a 2.5 hour drive from where we live. A perfect little getaway!

Sedona

Sedona

One of our favorite activities at Sedona is to rent a four-wheel drive jeep and go "jeeping" (as I call it) through the trails. A lot of fun!

Stopped on one of the trails and took a short hike to some cliff dwellings

Steep!

The next day we went to a town called Cave Creek. It's a quaint little town close to a lake. The desert landscape is beautiful.

Had to get a picture with the Saguaro :)

Lis Doon Varna is one of our favorite restaurants in AZ. Odd, since it's an Irish pub. It is one of the best Irish pubs I have been to. It was built in Ireland to ensure authentic architecture and piece-mailed to the U.S. They have excellent food and TRUE Irish bands. Another visit on our list.

The McMorrows

Time to depart :(. It was a wonderful visit. We can't wait for Dad to retire so they can stay longer next time!

Allardice Family Trip for 2010

Most of you all know that I leave for a deployment later this year. My family tries to have at least one family trip each year. This is extremely difficult since we are all active duty military. We managed to coordinated our schedules and planned a family trip to Colorado Springs this coming July. But, as always, the Air Force had other plans. Around the first week of April, Angela received a short notice deployment (which was odd, because she just returned from a deployment in August before our wedding). She was tasked to leave in the beginning of May, which meant our family trip was not going to happen in July. Furthermore, I leave for my deployment before she returns and I don't get back until spring 2011. Which also meant our family would go a year and a half without seeing each other! We didn't like that :(. So, we all decided last minute that we would fly out to VA for the weekend. Angela is currently stationed at Langely AFB, VA and my parents happened to be TDY to Bolling AFB, VA for two weeks during the time she received word of the deployment...perfect timing (which we all know is rare). So Amber and I flew out to VA. We were almost a complete family...Josh was TDY, so he couldn't go. BUT, at least the five of us were together. It was a VERY short visit. We enjoyed every minute of it :). Our family owns property out in VA (hopefully our parents will retire on it one day!). So most of our time was spent hanging out on the land.

Family pic...minus Joshua :(

Dad and his beloved tractor

Cute, cute, cute!!!!!

Hunting for a mouse

The property

Dad and Ang

Beavers at work!

A view of the lake and a bratty pup! But we still love him :)

TDY = Family Trip

TDYs can be good or bad. Sometimes the Air Force sends us to unfortunate places, such as Kettering OH (yes, that would be MY TDY). Other times, they send us to amazing places like New Zealand (that would be Joshua's TDY...jealous? Yes!). This time, the Air Force sent Josh to San Diego for two weeks. Not quite New Zealand, but it's still a great location! A TDY to San Diego meant a weekend trip for me :). (ummmm New Zealand please?) I packed up my bags and flew out there for the weekend (8-10 April). It was a fun little weekend get-away. And Josh definitely loved the break from Luke.


Our first stop...San Diego Zoo! FYI, San Diego zoo is free for military members. You should stop by if you're in the area!



This Panda was adorable. I could have watched her for hours! I'm easily entertained :)




Joshua was super excited to see the Galapagos tortoises...then he was extremely disappointed to find he was one month too early.

Isn't this face so cute?

Next stop...Seaworld! Another park that gives free access to military members.

Our little dolphin friend :)



Shamu in action!



I love flamingos! And they loved me because I had food :)

The next weekend Josh spent with the guys in San Diego and I took a last minute trip to Virginia (featured in the next post).

A Navy aircraft carrier ported in San Diego that weekend (I missed all the sailors). Joshua and his guys were able to take a tour of the big ship. Pretty neat experience.










They finished off the weekend with a ride around San Diego. Yes, they all brought their motorcycles out. Josh always gets his ride in :)

Our first Easter!

Spring is here! And so is Easter :). One of the most significant holidays in our lives because it celebrates the day our Savior gave His life for us. Thank you Jesus! Along with the spiritual significance, Easter brings spring cheer! Don't you think so? Flowers (daffodils!!!!), chicks, bunnies, easter eggs, I love it :). Unfortunately, I didn't get to decorate any easter eggs this year :(. I try to every year, but just never manage to find the time; HOWEVER, I did manage to find time to make Easter brunch! And yes, I made a feast...for two. It was worth it :)




Post service picture. Josh and I had planned on attending the sunrise service...didn't quite make it. The 0900 service was just as good!

Prepping brunch!

Josh helped too :)

Brunch is served!

It was a wonderful first Easter. Very relaxing Sunday...reflecting on all of the Lord's blessings. He is so good to us!

A Break

We're back! Busy, busy, busy...three words that best describe the months of April and May. Easter, a trip to San Diego, follow-on trip to Virginia, visits from both sets of parents, and a move out of our apartment into a new house brings us to the current date. I'm going to post the events separately...just know they're a couple weeks behind :). Here we go!