Marine Corps Retirement

Last month, Josh officially retired as an active duty United States Marine.  I would love for him to sit down and write about his thoughts on this and what the last 11 years have been like for him, but I don't think that will happen, so this will have to do. :)

We have reflected a lot about what path our lives might have taken had we not decided to take the plunge and head off to Quantico in October of 2002.  When Josh first presented the idea of pursuing a career as an aviator in the Marine Corps, I really hoped it was just an idea that he wouldn't really pursue.  I was scared for a lot of reasons - scared to be so far from my family and out of my comfort zone, scared to have no control over where we live, scared of the deployments.  It turned out that those were all valid concerns.  Those three things presented significant challenges for us over 11 years.  Going through three cycles of IVF away from my family, and one while Josh was in Iraq, being on bedrest, having premature twins, living in places like Meridian, Mississippi - they were all very trying times for us.  But we got through it and it made us stronger.

I really have no idea, but I will say that I'm SO glad we did it.  It was even harder than I suspected it would be, but it has strengthened us as a couple, family, and as individuals.  We also met some of the best friends we've ever had.  We opened up to people who were different than us, who came from different places, backgrounds and had different perspectives.  I learned how much can be gained from a friendship by loving someone for who they are, and appreciating their own unique perspective, rather than always sticking to people who were more like us (not that I don't adore those friends too).

Also, I couldn't be prouder of Josh for taking the steps to make his dream come true.  It seemed a little "out there" to a lot of people when we told them what we were doing, but everyone thinks its pretty darn cool now.

In recognition of Josh's retirement, his command at RS SLC had a going away dinner for him.  Here is his CO presenting him with a retirement plaque.

Then, later that month, we had all of our family over for a little retirement party.  Nothing too crazy, but it was nice to have everyone there to recognize his service.  We put out a lot of his awards, patches, and a picture book that I made.

 That's it for now.  Now to figure out our next adventure...

Goodbye (for now)

I'm not quite ready to sit down and write a recap of the marathon yet and since running the race on Monday, we have officially left New Bern, so I thought I'd recap our last days/weeks there.  The girls and I flew into SLC yesterday after some final goodbyes.  To say that it has been one of the more eventful weeks of our lives is a huge understatement.  We've driven through 10 states (up along the whole east coast) and flown across the country.  Everybody is tired and out of whack and I'm not sure it has really sunk in yet that we are now Utah residents. 

We'll miss a lot of things about New Bern, but as with most goodbyes, it's the people we will miss the most.  A few weeks ago, some of my sweet friends planned a goodbye dinner.

We also said goodbye to Brooke, our babysitter who was with them almost every afternoon while I work for the past year-and-a-half.

I went on one last run with my buddy Cailin.  We have covered a lot of miles together since we started running together when the girls and her son Reed were both about five months old (very flattering sweaty post-run picture). 

And, on our last night there, we had one last dinner with the Hall family (at least for now!).  The Halls were the first real friends we made after joining the Marine Corps.  Patrick and Josh were in the same OCS and TBS class in Quantico, VA, our very first duty station.  Kenzie and I were two lost souls who were, quite honestly, kind of miserable.  I knew when I met her that I would be okay in this community - as long as there were more people like her.  We moved apart for several years for different flight school duty stations, but luckily we came back together in New Bern.  It was very hard to say goodbye, but we know we will see them again soon. 

And then we went by and said goodbye to our house.  It was so weird to walk through it and know that someone else will be living there.  It's the house we brought the girls home to, so it's hard not to feel some sentimental attachment to it.  One last shot in front of it, with that huge yard Josh wanted so badly.  We won't be doing that again. :)

Goodbye New Bern!  Thanks for a great five years! 
Hello Utah!!!

For Jackson

We knew this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier.  We said goodbye to our sweet Jackson on January 6th, his tenth birthday.  We decided to let him go after a week during which he developed a bad infection on his foot, continued to deal with pain from his surgery, and after which it became apparent that he was no longer our happy boy.  It was the right time and now we can focus on all the happy times we had together. 

Now that a few weeks have passed, it is easier to focus on being grateful for the years we had together, rather than being sad that he's no longer with us.  What a good boy.  I can't even imagine how many times we said that during his life.  Good boy, Jackson, good boy.  

This post is for Jackson.  Here are some of our favorite memories of him.

Jackson with his stick.  He loved to fetch!  He would fetch until he keeled over if we let him.  This picture was taken at Deception Pass in Anacortes shortly after we moved there.  Once when we were camping in Shenandoah National Park, he fetched a huge tree out of the swimming hole, worked very hard to free it from a bunch of other tangled trees, swam over and plopped it down in front of Josh.  He was definitely a retriever.

These two pictures are Jackson welcoming Josh home from each deployment - Iraq and Qatar.  I decided to put these up because he made the time pass so much more quickly and kept me from getting too lonely.  There were nights when I talked to him and I'm pretty sure he knew what I was saying.  He was always invited to sleep on the bed when Josh was gone, but didn't mind at all when he was relegated to his dog bed when Josh came home.  He was so easy going. 

Jackson was a true military dog and traveled the country.  Here he is home in Utah one Christmas with Marley and Hank.  He crossed the country with us from Utah to Quantico, Meridian to Utah (and back), Meridian to Washington, Washington to North Carolina, and lots of shorter trips.  He was such a good traveler and just laid down in the back of the car, and hopped out to play some fetch at rest stops.  We could always sneak him into hotels if necessary because he never barked, ever. 

Jackson also took lots of vacations with us.  Here he is tired after hiking up Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island.  Over the years, he has been to Moab, the Wind Rivers mountains, Shenandoah National Park, Smoky Mountains National Park, and lots of other fun trips. 

Could there possibly be a cuter puppy?  We brought Jackson home to our first house in Salt Lake, shortly after we bought it.  Truthfully, we bought the house so we could have a dog.  Jim and Rebecca were breeding Madie and we knew we wanted one of the pups and needed to buy a house in time.  Josh was teaching him how to sit here.  As a puppy, he had lots of fun in Salt Lake going to Tanner Park, Dog Lake, hiking in MillCreek canyon and going on runs with me.  He retired from running when he was about 8, but we put in lots of miles together and he was always good company.

This is one of the last pictures we took of him.  His adjustment to being a big brother was a little rough at first.  He lost his appetite for awhile there, but eventually adjusted and loved the girls.  He started taking naps outside their door while they were napping and wanted to be wherever they were. 

We are going to miss that sweet face.  We love you Jackson! 

Goodbyes

Josh left for somewhere in the middle east for 3.5 months. Goodbyes are the hardest and saying goodbye to two sweet babies is no fun! We are hoping the time goes by quickly.


Saying goodbye to Piper


Saying goodbye to Josie


Sad daddy and sweet girls


Can't forget Jacksonboy


At the squadron getting ready to leave


Daddies and babies


I love this one!!