Howdy Yall!

Now that we are settled in, let’s catch everyone up. James and I have moved, once again, and are stationed at Fort Rucker Alabama. James graduated from Warrant Officer Candidate School and is now going through the Army Aviation program. He hopes to fly Black hawk helicopters. Training is going to be intense, but he is looking forward to flying. We have made some great friends here and look forward to exploring all that the south has to offer. Of course, we will be doing as much as possible on the motorcycles. Now let’s back up.

On November 5, 2009, Angie and Kevin welcomed their new daughter Chloe Ann Murdock into the world. We were excited to share in their joy. She is so cute; we just love her to pieces.

Isn’t she just a bundle of cuteness? We can’t be happier for Angie and Kevin.

Before we went home for Christmas, James and I stopped in Vegas to celebrate our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. Since we didn't get a chance to celebrate our anniversary last year, we figured we better take advantage of the opportunity. We stayed at the Excalibur and went to the Tournament of the Kings dinner show. Talk about fun! If you’ve never been to the show before, there are several sections and each section represents a kingdom with its own king. You also get to eat your dinner the old-fashioned way, NO SILVERWEAR. It really was a treat. We were given the villain as our King and got to boo the audience the entire time. If you are ever in Vegas, we suggest you check it out.

Christmas seemed to come and go. This year my whole family was able to get together, first time in who knows how long. We played games, an absolute must, and went sledging with the kids while their parents took the night off. I wish I had pictures for you, but my camera ate them. Yes that’s right, it ate them. It’s too bad, because I had some really good ones.

After Christmas, it was back to Alabama. James had only a week or so left of Warrant Officer Candidate School. I was able to spend a day with James learning about Army customs and traditions. Karen was able to fly in just before James graduated. The day before the Graduation Ceremony, the class put on a graduation reception. Here we practiced some quick rules of etiquette when it comes to formal army functions and were able to see what the guy’s had been up too. It was especially nice to see James get selected by his class for the Leadership Award. I am so proud of him.

Graduation was held at the Army Aviation Museum. After James was sworn in, Karen and I were able to pin James’ rank on him. It is a tradition that when a soldier gets his rank, you are supposed to slam the pins into his shoulders. Of course, their leaders do it so hard that it draws blood, but I decided to try it. Needless to say, I didn’t draw blood, but I did have everyone laughing. Congratulations WO1 (Warrant Officer) James Ginocchio!

After graduation, it was back to Texas for the remainder of our stuff. It’s funny; you never really realize how much stuff you have until you have to pack it. We were able to fit most of our stuff on the trailer, but near the end, what didn’t fit went to Goodwill. As you can see, we were LOADED!

The drive was slow, but we made it in one piece.

James here – Since I graduated from Warrant Officer Candidate School I have been waiting for my next class. I think I have about a month left. They have us doing several different details around post. Currently I put out traffic cones in the morning to close down a road that the post uses to run on. I work maybe an hour and a half and I’m off the rest of the day.

I’ve been spending a lot of my free time riding motorcycles in the surprisingly cold weather. I can’t wait until it warms up. I realized that I wasn’t happy with the bike that I bought last July. Tami let me trade it in and I bought a new one instead. It’s a Suzuki V-Strom. I’m really enjoying it and I’m looking forward to warmer weather. I'll take some pictures and post them up after this weekends ride!

Kind of cool huh?