Wichita Falls

Today we decided to head on down south to Texas for a little family fun (and shopping!). Our first stop was Kids Hair Safari for Madilyn's very FIRST haircut!!!! She was sooooo good. I thought she might be afraif of the clippers, etc, but she was a real champ. They every had super cool seats for the kiddos and everything.  As you can see, she had quite the mop of hair in need of some serious attention:

In the middle of her haircut:

All done! What a sweetie :)

Next stop was Hobby Lobby. BUT, we were hungry so we stopped on by IHOP for a bite to eat along the way. Here's Madi enjoying the candy bracelet she picked out of the prize bucket at the Salon. She kept looking at me and shouting "mmmmmm, Mommy, NUMMY!!!!!"

Then we went to Best Buy (can't bring Daddy along to the city and not go to Best Buy!), the mall, and out to dinner at Olive Garden; yum! Madilyn saw the camera while we were at dinner and immediately posed with Matt. She's such a little ham!

Madilyn Picasso

It seems we've got a budding artist on our hands these days. The sight of crayons, markers, paints, or anything similar make Madilyn go crazy. This girl LOVES to color.

I have her art table sitting in the kitchen so I can let her color while I'm cooking dinner, but every so often I have to take my eye off here for a moment to grab something out of the fridge, etc...

Well, I think Madilyn has finally had enough of all the "white" in our home. The other day while I was cooking, she decided to add a little color to our home:

Don't worry, they're very washable crayons and everything has since been cleaned up. I just had to snap a few pictures first. I knew it would happen eventually!

Welcome Home Matt!

What a busy day we had today!

Our day began at 5am when I woke Matt up for our flight to Phoenix. He sure was confused! He had no idea I'd been planning this surprise for him for so long. I don't think he really knew what was going on until we were almost halfway to Phoenix. All of a sudden he turned to me on the planed and said, "hey, we're going to Phoenix!". Why yes, yes we are!

Once there we were so excited to see everyone, especially miss Madilyn.

The surprises just kept rolling for Matt all day long. Around 230 this afternoon I told him I was going to bring some things over to my brother, but I was actually headed to the airport to pick up a Adam, a good friend of his. The look on Matt's face when Adam walked through the door was priceless. He was in total shock (success!). The guys hung out for a while and Matt seemed to be having a great time. Around 5, ding dong....... lets get the party started! Matt's extended family along with my immediate family and some of our local friends arrived. I think poor Matt was a bit overwhelmed at this point, but he took it in stride. A big thank you to everyone for coming, I know it meant a lot to Matt to see you all there and it was wonderful seeing you!

Just when he thought we were done and people headed home, another friend of Matt's, Mark, showed up.  It was really all by accident that he was able to make it ( Mark is a pilot stationed in northern California who just happened to have made a trip to Tucson, where the plane broke down. Since it was going to be a while, they decided they'd wait to take-off again until morning. Upon hearing this, Mark knew about the party for Matt and decided to rent a car and drive up for the night.) We had not seen him since our wedding more than 2 1/2 years ago.

Madilyn then went for a sleepover at my parents house and a few of us went out down on a Mill Ave.

What a great day!!!!

Ps.....Heather, we should have taken a pic together too....what were we thinking?!?

What a Storm!

This last week has been quite the adventure. On Wednesday we heard they was a storm that might be making its way through Altus. I don't think we really had any idea what to expect.  Either way, I thought it might be a good idea to grab a little extra milk, bread, eggs, etc and put gas in the car. 

Thursday morning we were woken up to a phone call from the base pediatrician's  office alerting us that Madilyn's appointment had been cancelled due to "extreme weather conditions". Of course, we decided to get up (this was only 7am and Madi was still sound asleep at this point) and see for ourselves. I guess they knew what we didn't, because at 7am it just looked cold. 

We spent the morning inside, playing with Madilyn.  It seems that whenever there is a cold or dreary day, I'm suddenly inspired to bake. So, chocolate chip cookies it was! 

By 10am, the ice was coming down pretty hard. This photo is of our neighbors tree.

and across the street:

I'm so grateful Matthew moved our car out of the driveway before the worst of it hit. Just a few hours later, this was what we found in our driveway:

It would have crushed our car!

Around 4pm Thursday base housing lost power. We were hopeful that power might return, but tried to remain realistic as well. By Friday morning, we still had no power and it was getting pretty cold in our home. The base opened the gym as a shelter in place. They had generators running so people would have a nice warm place to hang out (and charge their cell phones!). The chow hall was also opened up to  serve warm meals.

We stayed in the gym most of Friday, but Madilyn was having a very hard time settling down with so many kids running all over the place squealing and running, etc. We decided to try and get some rest at home again, but it sure was COLD!!!!!! We all piled into one bed, with several layers of clothing and hats. We also opened up the down comforter and another sleeping bag on top of that. We were able to get a *little* rest and stay fairly warm this way. However, by the time we woke on Saturday morning, the house was in the 40s!!!! BRRRRR

Saturday afternoon, we left Altus and made the trip up to Oklahoma City. Here are a few pictures as we were leaving the base.

Don and Sandy joined us here on Saturday night and we were able to spend some great time with them. It was also wonderful to be in a place with a warm room and power (and internet!) again. Don and Sandy left this morning and have graciously taken Madilyn back to AZ with them for the week. She thrives on routine, and we know she'll be very well cared for! I'm certain she'll be out at the park enjoying the 70+ degree days there while we try and clean up the mess this storm has left behind.

Our original plan was to make our way back to Altus today, but we have since been informed it doesn't look like Altus will have power any sooner than Wednesday. We have extended our stay here another two nights at this point.

We are very thankful to be able to get away to a warmer place for a few days and continue to pray for those families who remain without power. Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers as well.

It's been a while!

I guess you could say a lot has happened since my last post. I'm going to do my best to fill in all the details, but it sure has been a whirlwind.

I'm VERY happy to say that Matt made it home late on January 22nd. We spend several days leading up to his homecoming not knowing when exactly we'd see him. Every time we would talk, the times and dates would change again. Of course, the more things changed, the less we were able to communicate. Needless to say, this left me pretty stressed and constantly wondering. Luckily, I had my good girlfriend Megan here to keep me grounded and remind me that "it will be what it will be".

During this time of stress, Madilyn and I were both battling sinus infections and ear infections. We were really hoping to be better by the time Matt got back. For the most part Madi was doing much better. I however, still sounded like a chain smoker :)

Since Matt arrived back, we've been enjoying our days spending time as a family. He spent most of Monday in-processing again, followed by a welcome home party at his squadron. I know he is happy to be back and I think they're pretty thankful to have him home too. Now that all the paperwork is taken care of, we're loving the two weeks of leave that follow a deployment. Our days are all spent together and we're having a great time! It is so wonderful and such a blessing to all be in the same place again.

Supposedly, we are going to have some ice storms and snow blowing into town tomorrow through mid-day Friday. Because of this, we made sure to take advantage of the almost 70-degree day today and went to play at the park. On our way home we ran into our good friends Natalie and Isabella.

Here are some photos from our fun afternoon!

Who do I look like?

This week I thought it would be kind of fun to compare pictures of Madilyn to pictures of Matthew and I around the same age. Here is a photo of me and one of Matt:

And here is Madilyn just a few days ago:

I don't have a copy of Matt at the same age yet, but hopefully will soon. So, what do you think???

Mom's Day Out / Preschool !

Our little girl had her first day of school today!

She did awesome! We started the day with a big breakfast. Then we got dressed and did our hair. Before we knew it, it was time to go! Here is Madilyn modeling her new backpack (which she was happy to carry on her own!).

Once we arrived to her classroom, Madi was more than ready to jump on in. She saw some new friends in the room and lots of new toys. I got a quick "bye mommie" in before she ran off squealing "wheeee!" at the assortment of new fun things to play with!

When I arrived to pick her up, her teachers said she did wonderful! She even laid out on her new nap mat and slept! I must admit, I wasn't sure if she would take to napping sans crib in a room with other kids, but SHE DID IT!!!! Go Madilyn!  Here is a brown bear she painted today!

After we got home we had a little snack, and decided to go to the park. It was in the upper 50"s and sunny here in Altus today. We had to take advantage of the sunshine and play!

After the park it was time for dinner. Madi sure was happy about a dinner of homemade chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and fresh kiwi. Yum!

After dinner she took a nice long lavender and vanilla bubble bath (she has it oh-so-rough.. don't you agree?). Once she was finished in the tub she promptly asked if we could watch a little Barney. After a long and busy day, I thought that sounded like a great idea. Here's out princess relaxing with a cup of milk and a movie before bedtime :)

A Vagt Family Visit

This week, among many visitors, Shelley, Taylor, and Jordan came to stay with us for a few days. They also brought Duke back to us!

The original plan was to meet them down in Albuquerque, but when Madilyn came down with croup and ended up needing breathing treatments again, we decided it would be better if she and the girls came here instead.

Jordan's 12th birthday is coming up soon so we decided to have a mini surprise party for her on Friday night. She had no idea we had been planning her favorite dinner followed by yummy birthday cake!

Shelley, Taylor, and Jordan... Thanks for making the trip. I know you all took wonderful care of Duke and he is missing you.

Shiloh and Duke were great buddies. I wish we could have kept them together!

On The Move

We're baaaaaack! Back in Altus that is. What a whirlwind of adventures we have had while Matt has been away. We're still a few weeks out yet from his return, but Madi and I are getting settled and preparing for him to get back. We can't wait!

My sister Brianna and I left Phoenix on Sunday, December 27th to start the journey. We stayed the night in Albuquerque  and arrived in Altus on the 28th. On the 29th we signed the lease to our new house on base. Madilyn was staying with my parents and she and my mom arrived here on New Year's Day. Since then it's been pretty insane here unpacking and trying to set up house.

Don and Sandy arrived here in the wee hours on January 3rd. They kindly offered to haul our trailer full of goodies from Phoenix back for us. Don got right to work setting up our new washer and dryer (which proved to be quite the project!).

Don and Sandy left on Tuesday, and my mom and Brianna left yesterday.

We were supposed to be meeting Shelley and the girls in Albuquerque yesterday to pick up Duke, but Madi came down with croup. So, Shelley and the girls made the trip out here too and arrived last night around 1030. (Look for a new post in a few days with pictures from their visit too!).

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our dear friends and family. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives. We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Luke 2:9-12
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. (10) And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”


We have been very busy spending time with friends and family and will continue to do so throughout today.  Much love to you all!