Long over due!

MAN ITS HOT!- This squirrel found a cool spot on the concrete outside our bedroom in Enid.  He would bring his nuts over there to eat and cool down!  He was very interesting to watch!!

We know its been a while since our last blog and we apologize for that!  We have had a lot going on these past few weeks and we have lots to share!

Matt graduated IFF training July 22. It was a nice small ceremony- with two graduates (Matt and Brandon).

 Matt and Brandon

Matt getting his IFF certificate

Before the ceremony, Matts flight commander had a Finny Flight.  A Finny Flight is a pilots last flight in that aircraft and/or squadron.  When they land, they are sprayed with a water hose, champaign, and fire hydrants.  Captain Markowski is being deployed to Afghanistan.   Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.  Here are some pictures of Captain Markowski.

getting sprayed by his wife and kids

We were scheduled to close on our new home July 11; however we didn't close until the 19th.  It was an extremely LONG and frustrating experience but totally worth it in the end.  We LOVE our new home and we cant wait to have people visit!  This past weekend we had lots of family and friends help us with yard work, remove wallpaper, and paint the house.  Here are some pics of the hard work that took place:

Mackenzie was even hard at work!

The most daunting task was the wallpaper.  We used water with fabric softener and a steamer and still had a tough time getting it off.  All we have left is one boarder that will require some sanding.  Here are before/after pictures of some of the rooms (the before pictures are from when the previous owners lived there).  **all of our furniture and belonging don't arrive until next Monday

This is a formal dining area.  It is a real small room and we had a hard time finding a formal dining table to fit so we decided to convert it into an office.  We chose a blue color (granite peak) that goes well with our diplomas and all of Matts Air force certificates 

This is the Master Bedroom.  It was a light purple color.  We removed the curtains and changed the wall color to latte.

Here is the Master Bath.  It was covered with a nice textured flora wallpaper.  We removed the wall paper and painted (latte)!

This is the living room.  It was an off white color with a hint of pink.  We decided to pull a color from the stone fireplace and paint the walls (restrained gold).

Here is the Kitchen!  Everything in it was fairly new except for the wallpaper.  As you can see, we did a lot of wallpaper removal!  We had a hard time finding a color for the kitchen.  We decided to pull the living room color in there to see what it looked like and we ended up really liking the outcome!

Here is a snap shot of the front and back of the house.  Its very spacious

We still have some work to do upstairs but we made a lot of progress in one weekend thanks to all of our helpers!!  Once we get completely moved in and situated, I will post more pictures!!

Thursday- the movers come to pack and Matt will leave for SERE training in Spokane, Washington.  He returns August 27 only to load up his car and make his drive to Tucson, AZ for 6 months!

More to come later!