My Parent's Visit

This past Wednesday my parents touched down in Birmingham AL at around 8:15 PM. After getting their luggage and me driving around in a circle for about a half an hour (because you can't stop your car anywhere, without having to go into the parking garage. Grrrr!) we were on our way to Columbus Air Force Base!

We had a great visit...it was so nice to see them and introduce them to all of our friends and co-workers! We arrived at CAFB late Wednesday night and stayed up to see Todd when he came home. On Thursday we went out for breakfast and I took them for a tour of the base and part of Columbus. We ate at the Grill and then just hung out outside on our back patio, catching up! On Friday I showed them where I volunteer at the Lowndes County Humane Society, we took some of the dogs for a walk and then headed back to clean up. Unfortunately Todd had to go on his cross country this past weekend so he was gone from Friday to Sunday evening. So, my parents did not get to see him very much and he missed my birthday!! It did not really bother me that he was not there for my birthday (I understand life in the military by now...always changing! I am used to it!). The part that bummed me out was the fact that my parents missed out on seeing him! I know how hard it is for them to get off work and the sacrifices and money it takes for them to come down to visit! I was very happy though that they were here for my birthday, it made it a lot better!

Since they were not going to see Todd very much I tried to think of something that would be special for them that they wouldn't normally get to do...so I thought it would be neat for them to see the plane that Todd is training on now (the T-6) up close! So after a few phone calls, we met Todd at work and got to see one!

We found out around what time he was leaving and we went to see him take off. We couldn't tell which one was him (but he said he saw our car and waved to us!). So that means that one of the 20 planes that we saw take off was him! I took a picture of him taking off (I think...we will just say it was him!)

After we saw him leave on Friday, we decided to come back and color my hair. For those of you who don't know, my mom is a beautician and has her own salon back in PA. Well, she is the only person who has ever professionally done my hair and it was a little overdo for color. (Before I left to come down here, she hooked me up with all of the "stuff" to do it and Todd was going to step in and give it a shot! He hasn't tried it yet...but he might have to because I will not be able to wait until Christmas.) Anyway, its kind of funny because I guess you can say we did it "Mississippi Style"...we colored it and cut it (I had her cut about 3.5 inches off!) out on our back porch. The hardest part was rinsing out the color...I never really appreciated the whole beauty salon set up until my mom had to rinse it out in our bath tub (while not getting it in my eyes). I was laughing so hard I could hardly hold my head up and my neck hurt so badly the next day! It was worth it though...thanks mom!

Then on Saturday, my mom and I got up early and went to the Farmer's Market and looked for this guy that sets up a fruit stand on Main Street. My goal at the farmer's market was to get fresh corn and we were able to get 2 dozen!! (We also got some blueberries.) We gave up looking for the fruit stand and went into a grocery store for watermelon...on our way back we saw him and bought another watermelon (so we could compare!) and cantaloupe. All of it was good! A little later in the day we stopped by the grocery store again to pick up food so we could grill out on Sunday!

On Saturday night, a group of 14 of us went to Harvey's, one of our favorite restaurants down here. I had to stop by Rory and Michelle's house before we left because they all had presents for me to open! (The kids were so excited...it was cute!) Here is a picture we took after dinner...we came back to our house for some birthday cake. My husband forgot to order one (it's ok babe, I know you were busy!), so my mom made me a homemade cake...thanks mom! (Sorry you had to "work" on your vacation!)

(Me, Anna, Stephanie, and Michelle)

Sunday was another nice day, I took my parents to the church that Todd and I have been going to down here. We knew that some of guys that went on their cross country trip were scheduled to land around 2:30ish, so we went to catch a glimpse of them landing and then we kind of hung out outside until Todd got home. We had a nice dinner and played some cards! Monday I took them into my work to show them around and also Todd's work too. We also stopped by Belk (a department store), again! (We went there 2 days in a row!) If you guys know my mom, she does not really like shopping but Belk was a different story! We both got some good deals! My mom and dad found these chairs there (they are called anti-gravity chairs)...and they are sooo comfortable! My parents said that they would buy them for Todd and I for our birthdays. We all tested them out on Monday...



We played one more game of cards on Monday night, when Todd got home, and then had to go to bed. The next morning we had to leave at 3:30 A.M. to head out to the Birmingham International Airport for their flight home. :(

I must say, the weather and the company was awesome! (Other than about 3 minutes of rain that we got stuck outside in...but that was it!) It was so nice to see them and we miss them already! Now when we tell them stories, they can put names with faces! Here are two random pictures of my parents and I (I was usually the photographer but we made it a point to get these shots in)...

Mom and Dad...thanks again for coming to visit! I am truly blessed to have you two as parents! We love you lots and hope you guys had as much fun as we did...come back soon!

Love,

Tara and Todd