Christmas 'vacation' a la house hunting in Yuma, AZ

Our time at Cherry Point is ending soon as evidenced by us looking at housing options in Yuma, AZ these last few months. With house hunting leave looking like it wasn't going to happen for Dave, we decided to use his Christmas vacation to fly to San Diego and then use that as a staging area for us to make some excursions to Yuma to buy a house. All of that and hopefully try to enjoy some down time with Dave's family. Glad to report that we were successful in all of the above! We are now in the process of owning a brand new four bedroom home with a pool. They are putting the pool in now. We close on March 4th. Should be a crazy couple of months coming up. There is a lot of work to be done with the landscape or lack there of - should be a challenging project that we look forward to.

Christmas was great - good to be with family as last year we had just moved to North Carolina and spent the holidays unpacking boxes. Brenden loved the warmer weather and spent most of the days outside in the yard at Nana and Papa Slay's house. He was showered with gifts from both sides of the family. We opened the gifts that my parents got him before we left and that was fun. He got an awesome circus tent that he basically won't get out of now that it's set up. From Nana and Papa, he got his first airplane which he loves!I managed to be able to spend one afternoon with my buddies at Wine Steals - yeehaw! :At Cherry Point.. a bit more low key:

Thanksgiving is the best time to ...well give thanks!

What a great time we had at our friends Jeremy and Allyson Lee's house this Thanksgiving 2009. They are friends from HMLA-169 at Camp Pendleton in California from a few years ago and it's a total twist of fate that they landed here at Cherry Point the same time we did. Allyson cooked and I am not kidding you - a killer killer meal! Everything was fresh and not out of thebox and the turkey was the moist moist moistest ( I love saying that in three's) I have ever had.
Here is to good friends and good times -we will miss them when we move away from good ol' Cherry Point .. Dave and The Cute enjoying a long weekend together:

BOO! - well a week late but hey we aren't perfect..

We drove back from Washington D.C on Oct 31st only to arrive at the house at dusk when the kiddos were in full force trick or treating on base at Cherry Point. A mad dash to find the candy we had bought three weeks before and all was well...ahh whew. Dave and his Mom were a few hours behind me in his car with Brenden and little did I know that night would be the start of a week of him being the sickest he has been in his 18 months of life. No "Halloween" for the Slay family with Brenden dressing up - until seven days later. He didn't get any candy but truth be told he doesn't eat that stuff anyway so really he didn't miss out on anything right? Here is the Lion King :

Cherry Point on a balmy November day.. ahh!

Catching up

The last part of October took us once again to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. where we did IVF #5. An unsuccessful treatment but a very memorable trip with the family. I will focus on the positive with this post because I really got some great photos of everyone and they are worth their weight in gold. Dave and I are so thankful to have our one and only fireball of a son. He makes us laugh every day and amazes us with the little things in life that one usually takes for granted as an adult. Cliche as it is... it really does pay to look at life as the glass is half full. Ask David for he reminds me of it often!

I have to give thanks as well to my good friends Marilet and Perry Waters for opening up their home for me for 8 days in Virgina so the hotel bill wouldn't be such a sting in Washington. Perry is a fellow Marine and Marilet is an old friend from San Diego. They have a nine month old baby girl named Ava who is as precious as can be. It is always good to reconnect with a bit of my San Diego past and Marilet was just as eager to reminisce as I was about the past in So. Cal. Enough chatting now and onto the pictures - the autumn leaves were at their peak when we were there which made a photo opportunity every time I stepped outside:

Trip isn't complete without going to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - Look! Look!

Marilet and Ava girl in historic Fredericksburg, VA.

Greenville, South Carolina

I had the opportunity to attend the South Atlantic Region AIA conference this year in Greenville, South Carolina this past weekend. It's a four day event that takes place every three years with the South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia state chapters of the AIA getting together and discussing the current hot topics that are of concern to architects in this region. Sounds boring, right? I was sceptical too but in the end, I was glad I made the effort. Indeed I do miss architecture and indeed I learned a lot about this region that we have only spent one year living in. My mother in law so graciously agreed to fly out from California and take care of Brenden while I was gone which of course is the only way it was possible for me to make the trip. I am so lucky to have family that is willing to do that!

Greenville is an up and coming town that has recently undergone a complete downtown revitalization over the past 25 years. The redevelopment has focused on a vision to have "a thriving Downtown which is recognized nationally as an example of a 'state-of-the-art' community in which to live, work, and play...which serves in itself as a national attraction." The walkability of the area was very refreshing. The city has a great unique feature that has also been addressed in the Downtown area - the Reedy River which runs underneath the downtown streets and pops out at the west end. An ambitious $70 million plan for a world-class public garden with a one-of-a-kind pedestrian bridge over a waterfall has been built and it's fantastic. Overall this city is a great example of modern urban life. Something which is sorely lacking in this region.

The Falls over Reedy River

The bridge overlooking Falls Park:

Train track fountain on the river walk:

North Carolina Critters

Looking back at this last year we have spent here, I think I have had some memorable photos - of critters that is. Our backyard is an ecosystem in and of itself complete with an American alligator. A look back at some of the more remarkable ones which were all taken at our house:

I have no idea what this thing was but it was about three inches long and just sat on the screen for several hours.. weird!

We have scores and scores of caterpillars that are on the siding of the house, cars, sidewalks, etc. They are so beautiful and so are the butterflies:

This spider which was the size of a golf ball decided to park itself across our backdoor for three days and bounce down like a yo-yo when I opened the door to let the dogs out. I don't think I have ever felt that close to passing out before..This spider was living at the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and I kid you not - it was a good 10" across. Creepy doesn't begin to describe him...

The ladybugs here are extra large :although you can't see that from the scale of the photo:

This was so cool. The dolphins were swimming up the Neuse River out our front door:

There are countless species of birds here:

The tracks of the endangered American alligator in the swamp in our backyard. Haven't yet seen him though:

End of the Summer

The weather is finally cooling off here which is such a welcome relief. We have really been enjoying the outdoors here (see previous posts) and now with autumn around the corner, we can do it with a little less sweat appearing on us. Not much has gone on in the month since I posted last. Dave's health has gotten better and he started flying again a few weeks ago. His month out being sick has set him back in his training and thus our moving out to Yuma, AZ. Probably going to be in the winter sometime now.

Dave took a three day training trip to Wilmington last week before Labor Day and he was able to take some pictures from one of his flights. It's a perspective one doesn't get to see often. I have chosen some of the more interesting shots to put up so enjoy. Savor these last days of summer and remember today marks a day to always remember and never forget....be thankful for our all volunteer armed forces defending our freedoms.

Doggity Days of Summer

It's HOT here but we can't help but venture out around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m and enjoy a beer or a glass of wine and watch Brenden romp around the giant yard with the dogs. He loves looking at the water, birds, sailboats, bugs, puddles, etc. We even go out in the rain showers which tend to happen here every afternoon. There are so many wonderful things to enjoy right out our front door. I think we will miss this place when we leave in a few short months.

Here is a video showcasing Brenden's infectious laughter. Man he is cute!

Here is my attempt at a self taken picture of both of us..doesn't he looked thrilled to have me do this??
Playing with one of many Tonka trucks he has:

Trying the beer koozies out as mittens:He loves loves loves water in all forms: White caterpillar on our front storm door: