Halloween Party

Chris's command through a Halloween Party for the kids of the command. We took Braydon to it and he wowed in his aviator costume.

He even won one of the best costume awards. This is actually one of his costumes for Halloween he has another which he will wear for the Autumn Fest we are going to tonight. Braydon was able to play games and get candy, which he attempted to eat all of last night.

If this is the amount of candy from one night I can't imagine how much we will have after tonight and the actual Halloween trick or treating on Monday.

Back in Sicily - Now a Recap

We are back in Sicily! I know the posts haven't been coming lately, and that's because I've been home relaxing and enjoying myself. Now that I'm back and there is a lot of changes happening soon, I'm back to posting. We've been back in Sicily for a week now and it feels like we have never left.  Some things have changed but for the most part everything is the same.

A little recap on our trip home. Braydon and I visited Uncle Dan and Aunt Kelly in Seattle and had a great time with them. We went on some camping trips with Mimi and Papa. Saw Thomas the Train, the zoo, children's museums, the pumpkin patch, and experienced a lot of new and exciting things. When Chris arrived we went to Kentucky to visit family and Braydon got to spend time with his cousin Hayden who is only 5 months older then him. We also took him to Gatti-land (like Chuck E Cheese) and to see Disney on Ice.

After our fun in Kentucky we went to Norfolk, Virginia to try and catch a flight back to Sicily. We met up with our friends Charles and Shane, their son Zachary and their twins Molly and Austin. It was great seeing them and I really miss spending time with them. Zach was 1 when we left and know he will be 4 in a few months!

Now after being gone for two months we arrived back in Sicily and back to our life here. We only have three months left and have a lot of things going on in those three months. I know because of that that our time will fly by.

Finally In The States

So this is going to be a lons story. On Tuesday the 2nd I decided to try and get on a military flight going to Dover, Delware. I was successful in getting a sit for myself and Braydon. Our plane was going to fly from Sicily to Spain and spend the night then fly to Dover on Wednesday. We arrived in Spain and Braydon and I went to our hotel and got some sleep. Then on Wednesday we went to the air terminal and got ready for our flight. Our flight kept getting delayed because they were working on the auto pilot. Eventually our flight got cancelled and I found out that all of the hotel rooms were booked. Luckily another couple who had a room offered me theirs. It all worked out in the end because they were able to get a room too.
On Thursday I went to the terminal and was told our plane was fixed and we would be leaving that night. They boarded us on the plane where we sat for 1 1/2 hours only to deboard because the fuel pump to the engine was not working. They informed us this would be a quick fix. After two hours of waiting in the terminal they canceled our flight. There was a flight going out to Hopkinsville, KY which is Fort Campbell and 35 mintues for Nashville. The flight had 17 seats available and so a bunch of us waited around to see if we could get on that flight. The flight was carrying about 58 soliders back and so we had to wait to see if they would open the extra seats. We overheard the troop master of these soilders say he didn't want to open the seats and intermingle with us. So Braydon and I headed back to the hotel and had some really good pizza and went to sleep. 

Friday morning came and I was talking to another gentlemen who was also waiting for this flight and he informed me the plane was fixed. He offered to drive Braydon and I to the terminal so I could save money and not get a cab. Then after he dropped us off at the terminal he drove us to the Commissary and Exchange. Braydon and I did a little shopping and ate lunch and headed back to the terminal. Original our flight only had 29 passengers on it, so that meant a lot of room to spread out.  Now our flight was completely full.  I really didn't care as long as the flight left, and it did.

We arrived in Dover at around 9pm. We sat on the plane for an hour waiting on the customs offical. Finally we deboarded and got onto the bus. While we were driving to the customs office, we noticed that there was a plane unloading caskets. Come to find out that a plane had just arrived from Iraq with five soliders who were killed. That puts everything into perspective and the waiting didn't matter anymore.  We had to wait 2 hours for our luggage because of the terminal shutting down to perform a homecoming service for the soliders who died. After I received my luggage I called all the names on the taxi list and no one would come get me.  Finally an Air Force guy called for me and found someone to take me to my hotel.  I checked in and we went to sleep at 1am.

On Friday morning I went to pick up my rental car and drove the 2 hours to Baltimore Washington International airport. Braydon and I checked in, ate lunch and then boarded the plane for Chicago. We arrived early and got our luggage right away. We walked out front and there were Dad and Dottie waiting for us. I have never been so happy to finally be done with traveling. That is until Braydon and I make the trip back to Sicily.

Sesame Street Live

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/thehughesfamily1/SesameStreetLive?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Last year the USO put on a tour with Sesame Street. I was upset because they never showed up to our base. But this year was different, they put on two shows this year. I was so excited because Braydon loves the show and really loves Elmo and Cookie Monster. The show was designed for the military child. The theme was military children and the moves that happen and leaving their friends. Braydon probably didn't get the theme but he enjoyed the characters and the singing and dancing. Can't wait till we move back to the states and can take him to more shows like this.

4th of July / Malta

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/thehughesfamily1/Malta2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

To celebrate the fourth we decided to head to Malta, which also happens to be where we spent the fourth last year. Our flight was scheduled for 5:15pm on Friday night. We got to the airport to find out our flight is delayed till 9:30pm. We received vouchers for food from the cafe and went to wait. While we were eating we noticed the board change our delayed time to 11:30pm! We got told the plane was delayed in Munich. Finally we ended up leaving at 12:45am!!!!! We arrived in Malta to see that our car service was still there waiting for us. We headed to our hotel and got checked into our room and all went to bed at 2am!

On Saturday we slept in and I had a massage and pedicure scheduled for later in the day. After that we headed to the pool and then into St. Julians to have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Sunday was pretty much spent the same way of pool and food. We had an early flight scheduled for Monday morning so we tried to get to bed early.

We traveled back home on Monday. Our car service was scheduled to pick us up 2 and 1/2 hours before our departure time. Since Chris didn't want to get picked up at 5:30am, he lied and said our flight left at 9am. They were to pick us up at 6:30 am but got their 15 mins late. Then we traveled all over the island to pick up three more people. All the while we kept looking at our watches hoping we would make it to the airport on time. We did make it on time and the flight actually left a little early. When we arrived in Catania we had to wait about 45 mins for our luggage.

After the airport we headed to the store to get food for the week, then home to all take a much needed nap. That evening we enjoyed a barbeque and a game of corn-hole with some friends.

My Graduation Pictures

A few weeks ago I had my friend take pictures of me in my cap and gown. I didn't want to go all crazy with graduation portraits since I usually don't even put them out. They are nice to have though so we set a date and I brought my cap, gown and degree.  Here are some photos from our session. I think I may even put some in frames in our house!

You should see the other guy!

So this morning I woke up to see this face. Braydon had gotten a scratch on his eye last Saturday when he ran into a chair. Then on Wednesday night he got a mosquito bite above that same eye. Last night his eye looked a little swollen but we figured we would just watch it to see if it got worse.  This morning it definitely had gotten worse! He couldn't open his right eye at all! I took him to the ER and we saw his pediatrician. He explained to us that he had gotten an infection from the cut on his eye lid. We were prescribed some meds and sent home. Tomorrow we have a follow up and if it doesn't look any better we will go back on Sunday, and if he still isn't any better he may be admitted to get an IV inserted. Here's to hoping he gets better soon.