We are thankful for....

Happy Thankgiving to all of our family and friends. We hope you have a wonderful day and have a chance to reflect of how truly amazing life is.

We are first and foremost thankful for our freedom. Without the freedom that most of us take for granted we would not have many other blessings in our lives. We are forever in debt to all the men and women who protect our great nation and wont be able to be home with their families this holiday season. Some will be home to celebrate a little late and some will not come home at all. On this day 2 years ago Kurt lost an amazing friend and fellow pilot in Iraq. His family lost an amazing son, husband, and father. Sadly, the story of Troy "Trojan" Gilbert is one all to familiar for so many military families. Our military members are ordinary people making huge sacrifices and doing things that most of us would not ever have the courage to do. So, as you are sharing the reasons you are grateful this year around your dinner table, dont forget to say a little prayer for all of those in the past, present and future who have given you the ability to have such a wonderful day with family and friends today and every day.

Kurt and I have so much to be thankful for this year. We have each other and two amazing children. While amazingly stressful, watching a baby grow into a child is the most amazing experience in the world when you have the front row seat.

We have the most amazing and supportive family who loves us even more from thousands of miles away than they did when we were all in the same town. I hope you all know what a hard choice it is for us to live the crazy life we do. The AF seems to take us further and further away from home and there isnt a day that goes by that we arent homesick or dont wonder how things would be if we were right next door. Somehow we just know that we're where we are supposed to be in life even though at times it is challenging and might seem crazy to the rest of the world. Knowing that we can come home and pick right back up where we left off and that we are loved so much is wonderful feeling. THANK YOU!!!!

Our friends are phenominal and make our life so much more exciting and fun. We know we dont see all of you as much as we would like due to a silly thing called geography...but we are so fortunate to have such amazing friends who love us no matter how many miles are b/w us. Seriously...you know we value our friends when we cry about leaving Clovis NM just b.c we dont get to see you...and start to plan trips to non exotic locations just to catch up!!! For those of you at Luke with us, we truly couldnt do it without you guys. Whether it is a phone call or sharing a laugh...you are all a constant reminder of why we love life in the Air Force so much. You have gotten us through tough times and even more importantly provide us with life long memories. Now Keegan and Reese are lucky enough to share is such an amazing group of people and begin making lifelong friends that will be all over the world.

Keegan is thankful (and yes, these are his own words!!!!) for turkeys, airplanes, BMW's, Reese, going outside, his Rescue Heros, Buzz Lighyear, ice cream and cupcakes, soy milk, his tricycle and tacos.

Reese (again, in her own words) is thankful for airplanes, doggies, milk, bananas, cookies, shoes, Elmo and babies. She also screamed and threw herself on the floor during this questioning...so you can interepret that however you like:)

We hope you all have a wonderful day full of big and little things to be thankful for. Kurt and I dont put it into words enough...but our life is amazing and we are thankful for each and every day!!!!

Lots of love,

A, K, K, and R