Thursday, December 31, 2009

traditions.

I love traditions. I love that this year we got to make new traditions, our traditions. Our first Christmas as a married couple and being away from both our families meant we had to come up with something! We have been blessed with wonderful, godly friends and enjoyed spending our Christmas together.

Christmas Eve we made homemade pizzas. A HUGE first. It was somewhat of an all day affair, but the end production was delicious!! It's our new Christmas Eve tradition. We also exchanged gifts with the Vents!

Here is Sharron creating pizza numero uno.

Finished pizza!

Sharron and Chris opening their gifts!


Sharron didn't know what poppers were, so I got her some for Christmas.. notice the hat.

Showing off their hats!


Mr. Samson hanging out..


Jery getting ready to open his!

We got up Christmas morning to open our stockings/gifts and cook Eggs Benedict for the Vents and the Meyers. I have never known an Christmas morning without Eggs Benedict! It was wonderful to share my families traditions with friends - and boy it was yummy!!!

Our stockings, filled with goodies....


Here's me with my gifts!

Miss Harlii and her stocking..

Jery trying to convince Samson to get his stocking stuffers out himself... he wasn't to sure about it..

Jery with his Eggs Benedict!!


Mr. A man didn't get any Eggs Benedict, but he had a good time hanging out!

His sister on the other hand, loved her breakfast!

The group in our pjs!!

Christmas night we spent down that the Meyers house enjoying a Christmas Dinner and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior..

The only picture I took of Jery and I on Christmas.. how sad is that..

The toddlers!

And again.. they have this pose thing down...

Thats what the Huddleston's did for Christmas.. It's only taken me almost a month to get it posted.. but hey! better late than never! I hope everyone enjoyed whatever they did on Christmas! We are excited about what 2010 is going to bring us!!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

merry Christmas eve.

This morning I woke to watch this: http://www.communitybible.com/troops.php a video from a church back home. It made my morning and made my Christmas - it also made me cry.

Being away from family during the holidays makes being military feel real. When we were in Texas we were always able to be around family. It was just Jery's job, and we lived basically normal lives. Being half way across the world, being military is our lives. It's made this job, this career, become real. My husband serves our country, and I support him in every way possible - it's just what we do! We could not possibly be more blessed to have an amazing group of Jesus loving friends to spend the holidays with, this year they will be our family. Our military family. Our British family as one of our friends like to put it. It's what you do, and those of you who are military - you get it. Those who aren't, just trust us, we aren't alone for the holidays. While our hearts at back home with our families, we're here and we're having a blast.

I know our families are missing us this holiday season, and we only dream of being together one day. We miss you terribly and can't wait to celebrate the holidays with you again. So do something special with us in mind! Know that we love you and miss you too!

We pray all our friends and family - no matter where in the world you are - have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Celebrate our Saviors birth. For HE is the reason for the season!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

a christmas party.

Who knew that you could realize so much through a little ol' Christmas party. God is good. He is everywhere, and He is teaching me lessons wherever I am in life - including the squadron Christmas party.

Over the weekend we went to Jery's squadron's Christmas party. It really was a nice night out and a good excuse to get dressed up! What I wasn't prepared for is the lesson God was going to teach me. Shortly after we found our seats they "began" the party with a slide show. It probably lasted 8 minutes or so, but it taught me a life long lesson.

The last Christmas party we were at I could name everyone in every picture they showed. We knew people. People knew us. We wandered the room and chatted all night with people we KNEW.

I saw two pictures of people I knew. One was my husband, and the other was our good friend who was sitting next to us. In a room full of 200+ individuals I knew three people. We are the newbees. For the first time in almost 7 months, I felt NEW. For the first time in almost 7 months, I realized what my husband felt in our first weeks here. He was he one who had to walk into a NEW building, on a NEW base, and meet all these NEW faces. I just went along my merry way learning how darn inconvenient this country is, and complaining about it. Complaining about how long it took to get Internet, how empty our house felt without our belongings, how I would probably never learn to drive on the wrong side of the road or how to count pounds. How silly I was. My husband never complained once. Never hinted at complaining about being the NEW guy, about leaving all the guys he KNEW and having to learn to work with a group of strangers, he never said a word about how difficult it must have been to leave a plane he could have worked on in his sleep and coming to a plane that is completely NEW.

As I sat and watched the slide show I wanted to cry. To ask for forgiveness for how selfish I was. And to trust the Lord that next year I'll know a few more faces.

Our God is an awesome God. He met me where I was and showed me an area in my life that I need to become more selfless and more supportive of my airman. I was speechless as I leaned to kiss his cheek and thank him for the man of God he is. I am so very blessed.

Here's a couple pictures for you to enjoy:

My handsome husband and my new hair do!!


These guys rock our socks off. Just don't know what his face is all about.


The AMU singing us some songs...


I pray you are all having a wonderful Christmas week!! Remember our Savior's birth.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

just a little snow.

Thursday night as I was at working helping the kids pull off their "Cookies and Cocoa" service project it started to snow. Of course working with 9-12 year olds there was plenty of screaming and running towards the windows to watch it snow. There's something about snow that makes kids act as though they've never seen it before. I wish I could live my life through their eyes sometimes. All I could think about was the ice that was going to be covering the roads that lead to our little bungalow. But at some point I did leave, and I drove very slowly, but safely, home.

Friday morning we woke to a snow covered ground. SNOW. In our front yard!!!! Being from Texas this is a first for me. For Jery it's no biggie. He'll even drive to the BX in it.

This is the kind of snow I like. Snow where I have no where to go. I can bundle up in as many layers as I possibly can, and head outside with our pups. Samson LOVES the snow. As we figured he would - he LOVED the sand volleyball court in Abilene. He would run and frolic all day if we would allow him to. Harlii sticks her nose out the back door and makes a run for the bedroom. But can you blame her - her 12 pound body can't possibly keep her too warm! Jery had a test schedule this morning, but they cancelled it and sent him home. We had a wonderful time enjoying our first snow in England.

It could be a white Christmas for the Huddleston's!

our precious snow covered bungalow.


down the road..


i LOVE the way the snow rests in the trees..


they are the bestest.


he's trying to figure out whether he could make it to the neighbors without getting caught.


I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. We miss everyone back home, but are blessed to be where we are.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

it's the best time of the year.

The holiday season is upon us, and the Huddlestons couldn't be more thrilled! We will be spending the holidays in England this year and we are delighted!! This is by far Jery and I's favorite time of year! We both thoroughly enjoy decorating for Christmas and all the hustle and bustle that goes along with it!

On Black Friday while everyone in the states was out shopping - we were decorating for Christmas!!! And we had a great time doing it! Last year we splurged on the after Christmas sales and bought almost all of our decorations at 50-80% off! It was so much fun to unwrap everything and get the house all set up! Here are some pictures of our little bungalow all Christmasy!

From the outside at night..


Jery and I stumbled upon this nativity scene at a store in our village.. and we fell in love!


it is the most unique one I've ever seen!


snowman..


The cutest door stopper ever!


Mr. and Mrs. Snowman!


This is my favorite. My mother-in-law hand made our stockings! They are perfect!


I have decided this year to start a collection of Nutcrackers.. the one on the left came from Germany and the one on the right is from England!


Mr. Huddleston putting the angel on our tree! *which was also hand made by my mother-in-law!!!*


The finished product!



We have mailed all our Christmas gifts and stamped all our cards! We give Jesus the praise for the joy in our hearts - for he is the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas friends!

what happened.

What happened to November? - Better yet - what happened to 2009? I mean really, it's December already?!? I can't believe it!

A year ago today we had no idea about England. We had a 5 month old Great Dane and Jery had just re-enlisted and bought his dream truck. This Friday will be exactly one year from this - a few prizes. Oh the things that can happen in a year!

It's been a year of amazing blessing, breathtaking experiences, and dreams come true. Although it hasn't been without difficult times I am in awe of God's goodness.

So here's to November - because it was an incredible month!:

On the spur of a moment {and boy do I mean spur} Jery and I decided to take a trip here. And yes - it is as breathtaking as it looks. It is an Army Lodge and Resort - any of our military friends out there we HIGHLY recommend it if you're gonna be in Germany - or need a reason to go to Germany!

Here we are sitting in the subway station! Our first time to mainland Europe!!!!!


Classic picture opportunity with the sign..



The lodge's lobby - beautiful. perfect. amazing. pictures don't do it justice.


This is what we woke up to every morning. AAMAZZZING!!


My cute husband and I our first morning in Germany- getting ready to go see the castle! It was snowing!!!


Our first stop along the way - a German wood shop.


Our second stop was this church. Which has an incredible story behind it and was beyond beautiful. It's called Wieskirche.


From the road..


Just a glimpse inside..


And our final stop. Neuschwanstein Castle. For those of you who don't recognize the name of this castle, maybe the pictures will help. It's a castle we all know and love.


Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig who has a very unique story, his family's castle was Hohenschwangau. You can see them both from this little German town.


This is for my brother. This is said "Yager House" and my brother's friends call him yager.


Our friends - Sharron and Chris - with Neuschwanstein in the background. King Ludwig couldn't have chosen a more beautiful location.


Between the tops of the mountain on which the castle was built Ludwig's father built his mother this bridge as a present. A pretty incredible present if you ask me.


Jery and Chris made it out first.


Sharron and I standing in the middle of the bridge.


Looking at the castle from the bridge.


Looking over the side of the bridge.


Jery and I with the castle in the back ground.


We stopped for a group photo while we walked down to the castle..


The front of the castle.


Here we are standing just inside the castle's gate.. in the far background you can see the bridge. Breathtaking.


Our second full day in Germany we spent exploring Garmish. This is one of the number one tourist attractions available - besides skiing of course! This is the ski jump arena for the 1936 Winter Olympics. One of my favorite things about it is that it is still being used today! A pretty neat thing to see.


One of the highlights everyone told us about this arena was that Hitler attended the events that took place here. Not that I am a fan of Hitler, but to stand where he stood was pretty spectacular. Here I am wondering which seat was his.


Once we left the arena we set out to see this gorge that we were told about. We were informed it was just a bit up the road from the arena... it was much longer than a bit, but worth the hike!! Here we are standing at the edge of the gorge wondering how we convinced ourselves to walk this far!


And here is my handsome husband inside the gorge. I think it was ready for me to stop taking pictures at this point.


After our long day of walking we decided we needing some drinks with our dinner..


The boys thought they needed some too..


The next day we decided to venture to the top of the highest mountain in Germany. We took a train up most of the way then jumped on a cable car to take us the rest of the way. Here's Jery and I on the train. Please take note of what you see out the window.


And Sharron and I in the cable car.


The view was pretty cloudy, but incredible. Jery and I with the Zugspitze sign!


Jery and Chris took pictures of each other on the top!


We took a cable car and down and walked back towards the hotel, but stopped to take this amazing picture!


And here's the side of the lodge with the mountains in the back ground.


That pretty much captures everything we did during our five days in Germany. For those of you who didn't recognize the castle.. does this help!?


Walt Disney choose King Ludwig's castle to model his castle after. Here's another look..


While this was a huge part of our month, we also celebrated Thanksgiving. Our first Thanksgiving in England!! We had our friends Sharron and Chris, Quiana and Craig, and four of the guys from Jery's shop over to our house! My amazing husband deep fried some turkeys for us while the girls took care of all the sides. We ate turkey dinner a total of four times before all the food was eaten. It was a great time of fellowship with friends!

This year I am thankful for the goodness of our God - without it we would be nowhere. I am thankful to have an incredible family that supports me in all I do. I am beyond thankful to be married to such an incredible man who loves me no matter what. I am thankful to have the opportunity to live in England and experience all there is here. I am also thankful for the friendships we have in our lives - for those we've known for years, and for the new friendships we've made since we moved.

These are just a few pictures of our Thanksgiving Day.

Sharron and I busy making some potatoes!

Will carving the turkey!


Harlii waiting for someone to drop something!

Samson was very tried.. be the center of attention is hard work ya know.

Sharron and Quiana!

Jery and I about to break this wishbone.. too bad he won!

Here's the second turkey.. boy they were yummy!!

And now it's December...