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I am so far behind in posting that I am now going to play catch up....

Back in NOVEMBER, (I know I am so late), Troy reached the end of his first enlistment with the Air Force. The thought of separating with the military and moving back to Arizona seemed so great. With so many of our friends moving away the past year, I was loving the idea of being close to family and friends again. However, Troy and I were both in agreement that this is where we are suppose to be right now. I love being able to stay home with the kids and separating from the Air Force would not give us that option. To make a long story short, it didn't take much to decide the best thing for our family was for him to reenlist.
It was a great experience because one of our friends, a long time family friend of Troy's, was able to swear him in. It meant so much more this time around. It was great knowing we had the support of a good friend and the time he took to do this for us.

The swearing in...
...The happy family (and friend).

(Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, a good part of the reason Santa brought me a new camera.)

We have got another six years of military life ahead and we look forward to what those six years will bring to our family. We continue to meet new, fun people all the time and I know we will have long lasting friendships with a lot of the people we have come to know and love. You all know who you are! ;)

HUNTING

This past fall, Troy earned the title of "Big Game Hunter"! Many weekends were spent out in the mountains hunting antelope, deer and elk. Thanks to a couple of good friends, Troy had a great first hunting season. He was able to bring home all three animals and stock up the freezer. He vows to NEVER hunt antelope again because they stink so bad but I know he would love to go for deer and elk again. The antelope provided some very tasty jerky. The deer gave us steaks, roasts, ground deer, loins and stew meat. The elk gave us 30 pounds of ground meat and seven roasts. We are very excited for the meat in the freezer and thankful that Troy made it through without fainting, throwing up and no injuries in the process.

Digging out from one of the many time's they got stuck.

Troy shot his Elk, 50 yards from the truck. He took one shot and it stopped but was afraid it might run over the hill so he took a second and dropped it instantly.

Troy's Elk (bull-calf)

Troy's Deer, not the worlds biggest but we are grateful he shot this one because it was the only Deer they happen to see, his friends were happy because it was 30 yards away from the truck when he shot it, when it died it ran to only 15 yards away from the truck. Lucky boys didn't have to carry it very far.

Troy's first hunting shot was this beauty, 276 yards one shot one kill. His Antelope was in the valley right where the sun was starting to shine.

Taking a break to fish.

Troy's Antelope