For Sale…sigh

It seems bittersweet to sell our house. It is the first that Rachel and I have “owned” together…we have lived all over, but this was OUR house. Part of the fun of the military is moving to different countries and all, but the sad part of that is that you have to leave behind something in order to do so. Sure, our house has creaks, faults, hiccups, groans…just like every other house. But we love it.

We are really hoping that we are able to sell the house prior to Rachel heading to California and I to Korea. We would appreciate your prayers to that end. In the meantime, we continue to try and make it just a liiiiitttllleee bit nicer!

Re-Enlistment

In order to go overseas with the Air Force, you have to have enough time left in your enlistment to fulfill your full tour at your overseas base. As we are headed to Italy after my Korea tour, I had to re-enlist and add 3 more years to my contract so that I would have enough time for the Italy assignment. I have always considered enlistment, or re-enlistment for that matter, as a serious, honorable and memorable occasion.

For this new enlistment, I had my Captain, Josh Schneider, do the honors for me. Our entire squadron stood at attention as I raised my right hand, faced Captain Schneider and stated the following oath:

“I, Joshua Roberts, do solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

After the Oath is administered, I got to say a few words about what enlisting means to me, and then we had some cake and punch to celebrate.

It is an incredible honor for me to serve my country in the Armed  Forces, and in the Air Force in particular. I don’t always agree with everything our country does, nor do I always WANT to obey the orders of the President, or even the officers appointed over me, but when you take the Oath, it is of your own free will. No one forces you to do so. You willingly make that choice without coercion or threat, and to be a person of honor and integrity requires that you do as you have sworn.

Thanks to all of you who have and continue to support my family and I, and the families of my brother Micah (US Army National Guard) and brother-in-law Matt ( US Navy). A special thanks to my brother-in-law Zac, a fire fighter in Tennessee…you guys don’t get the credit nor appreciation you deserve.

Josh the Arab

I got to go out with Air Force Special Forces and pretend to be a terrorist to help give our guys the most realistic training possible. It was a really neat experience and not one that I’m sure I’ll ever have again. Being able to help out our guys was a privilege and honor for me, and it greatly increased my already sky high respect level for them.

The kids thought that my costume was great, so I decided to take a picture.

Packer Game

Rachel and I both got new computers with our tax return, so we have been a bit remiss posting pictures...sorry about that. I realized that I hadn't ever posted any pictures from our awesome Packer game that went to in Phoenix. It was awesome.

The University of Phoenix stadium is definitely worth going to. The Packers won the game as well, which made it that much sweeter.

The kids stayed back at the hotel with Grandma, but they had a great time also. Especially Grandma :)

Visit with Grampy and GranJan

We had the opportunity to take the kids to see Grampy and GranJan on their way in to Mexico. It was a great day. We went to the El Paso zoo, ate at Texas Roadhouse and got to play outside a lot. There were some invigorating games of soccer, Red Light/Green Light, and of course the standard "throw rocks at things" for CJ. We will definitely miss them, but hopefully we will get to see each other again here pretty soon.