The Big Move!

We left Flagstaff, AZ and continued heading east. The next day we stopped just east of Albuquerque, NM for the night. Not the greatest hotel, but it was just for a night, and we did not really care. Anything to not be driving at that time. The next day found us heading for Denver, CO. Little note, this was Sunday, not just any Sunday, but SUPERBOWL Sunday....and where was the Superbowl being played....DENVER.
We pulled in to our hotel in Denver, and it was surprisingly quiet....give it a few hours, the game is still in progress. We relaxed, grabbed a bite to eat, and called it a night...we knew what the next day would bring, and we wanted to be up early for it.
On Monday morning we woke up early, walked the dog and hit the road. We were making the longest trek of the trip....Denver to Omaha....10+ hours of flat, boring, nothing....ok not nothing, random corn fields, cement mixers for landmarks, and yea not a lot.
We finally came to what we thought was our stop....

Offutt AFB is located in Bellevue, NE, which is a suburb of Omaha. Jon's office is actually located in Bellevue, NE, so this makes it a little bit easy. We arrived on base, and immediately went to check into the base lodging, so we could call it a day....Nope! Since we had the dog with us, they could not give us a room on the base, but they did have a dog friendly accommodation for us, about 2 miles away....we will take it!



 

Yep, this is the Air Force's version of pet friendly accommodations. We were given a 3 bedroom house in their base housing as a temporary house until we figured out where we were living....I could have stayed there and never moved again!

 

 

As you can see, Em and the dog are happy about no more travelling too!

 

Our temporary housing last a whopping 3 days, and we were moving again....yea, I didn't count how many times we moved in that short time frame....I was a little too preoccupied with a baby and a dog!

We accepted base housing, and were given the keys to a different 3 bedroom house in the same neighborhood. Moving day was a little hectic, as not only were our belongings that we shipped from CA coming, but so was our shipment from Japan. Oh, and the weather, well it was cold....



 

The move went smooth, nothing came broken and the house is full of boxes! Em didn't seem to mind, she was her happy self!

 

Now comes the fun part.....putting furniture back together and trying to make this place feel like home....for the next 3 years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

January 2014....We are moving....AGAIN!!

It's January 2014, and we now know where we are moving. We had an idea that we might be moving to Las Vegas, NV and everyone was OK with that idea...we would be only 3 hours from home, so that was OK. Well, in true Marine Corps fashion, we DID NOT get Las Vegas, NV, but instead got orders to Recruiting Station Des Moines, IA, and more specifically, Omaha NEBRASKA (Tracy's first thought, "where the heck is Nebraska"). Did I mention we were leaving in 17 days....grrr!

 

 

Before we moved to Japan, we stored a lot of our belongings in Granny's back garage, so before we could move to Nebraska, we had to pack up what furniture and appliances we did have, and get those shipped. Emmalynn joined in on the packing fun...poor girl has no idea (and neither do we) how many more times she will move.

 

 

 

 

Just before we left for Nebraska, Em turned 6 months old. As you can she, she is sitting up on her own, and has started to feed herself some solid foods.

January 17, 2014....Not only is it our 4th anniversary, but it is MOVING DAY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We loaded up both cars, the baby and the dog, and headed east to Nebraska. We had a plan that we would go to Flagstaff, AZ for the first night. We pulled in a little late, and were a little worried that the weather might get bad...heck, it is January and we are up above 5000ft, and it is known to snow in Flagstaff. We met up with Tracy's cousin Tricia and her family for dinner, and a familiar face. We had a good night, and all were ready for bed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



October 2013 - California

October was a month of adjusting. Jon was off to recruiting school in San Diego and Tracy & Emmalynn were adjusting to living at Nana & Papa's house for the next few months.

As you can see, Emmalynn adjusted just fine. She made herself right at home, and approved to napping at Nana & Papa's.

October would be Emmalynn's first Halloween, so of course we had to go to the pumpkin patch

Emmalynn also had to have her first pumpkin carved....thanks to mom!

 

 

 



November 2014 - Not super busy. Jon attending classes Monday - Fridays, and came home on Friday nights for the weekends. Emmalynn and I spent our time going for morning runs, and visiting with family and friends.

December 2014 - Another month that was not super busy, other than the holidays. Emmalynn grew like a weed, and started to become very active. We were given an exer-saucer, and so Em was able to work on her standing, jumping and hand-eye coordination.
The flu ran through the house, and everyone except Jon and Emmalynn got the flu. Unfortunately, Tracy got the flu on Christmas Eve, so she missed out on family visiting, and had to be quarantined away from the baby for the day (not fun at all).

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014-2015 Updates....I am so behind!

Where did I leave off....I guess I should retitle my blog....The Macdonalds are BACK!!!

September 2013 (Iwakuni, Japan) - Emmalynn was almost 6 weeks old when we got a phone call from his mom in Iowa letting us know that his dad was in the ER with a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). Unfortunately, Jon's dad Mike did not make it. One thing the military does efficiently, is get overseas family members stateside in emergency situations.
Luckily for us, Emmalynn's passport arrived several days prior, and the entire family was able to fly home the next day to be with the family. We flew from Hiroshima to Tokyo to Seattle, WA to Las Vegas and then on to Omaha, NE. We were able to be with Jon's family for 10 days before having to return to Japan.

Jon and Emmalynn were able to get some father/daughter cuddle during a thunderstorm in Wisconsin

October 2013 (Iwakuni, Japan) - October was a crazy month for our family. We found before Emmalynn was born that Jon would be going to CA for school....what we did not know was that Emmalynn and I would be going as well. That's right, the entire family was leaving Japan. We sold some furniture prior to moving, and figured out how everything would be packed.
When the day came, we found out that Tracy & Emmalynn would be flying out of Hiroshima on the 18th, but that Jon would be flying a military flight on the 19th....that's right, Tracy was flying 16 hours with a 3 month old by herself!

Our pack-out date was scheduled for October 18th....how does this work! The movers came at 0800 and started packing very quickly and efficiently. A friend took Tracy & Emmalynn to the airport, so Jon could stay back and help with the pack-out.

Tracy & Emmalynn made the long flight to LAX, and were met by Tracy's parents. Jon followed the next day, with a long flight and several delays, but made it to San Diego in one piece!

As you can see, the family is back together again, and Bugsy was getting used to his new sister.