elk hunt

Passing through San Angelo, TX on way to first elk hunt in Colorado!

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San Antonio Missions

Today I finally took a few hours to visit the remaining four San Antonio Missions that I missed when we visited the Alamo.  The first stop was the main visitor's center for the San Antonio Missions National Historic Sites at Mission San Jose.

San Jose was the first mission on my trip, though it was situated in between the other missions on the map with Mission Concepcion to the north and Missions San Juan and Espada to the south.  My favorite part of the entire tour was the flour mill at Mission San Jose.  There the San Antonio River is channeled to the oldest active grain mill in Texas where the water is held in a 9-foot deep reservoir before it is allowed to power the mill stone in an outlying building.  Inside, the volunteer working at the site was actually milling actual grain into actual flour!  It was basically awesome.

The next stop was Mission San Juan, on the south end of the Mission Trail.  This mission was under renovations and it was difficult to get a decent picture with the lighting and the construction equipment in the way but I think this one turned out OK.  What is interesting about the 200+ year old missions is that they all have an active parish with regular services.  The parsonage for Mission San Juan is actually just to the right of this picture and is still serving as a private residence.  Cool.

 

Between Mission San Juan and the next stop was a slight detour to visit the Espada Aqueduct.  It's pretty amazing what cultures were able to figure out so many years ago to solve problems like irrigation and diversion.  There are very few places in the U.S. to see this technology functioning as it did then.

Here is the "Where's Waldo" moment for you... See if you can find Mission Espada...  These are mesquite trees and they are pretty amazing.  If you look closely you can see the Mission peeking through the branches.

The last stop on the trail was Mission Concepcion, a few miles north from where I began the journey.  Concepcion had amazing paintings that had been preserved on the walls inside several of the rooms.  I did not take any interior pictures out of respect for the active parishes that these buildings represent.  I also did not get any pictures today of Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo) but I did drive by just so I could say that I saw all of the five San Antonio Missions in the same afternoon. And what a beautiful afternoon it was!

Top Ten List for 2011

10. Christmas Letter

The pain and suffering that goes into writing a Christmas letter is hard to fathom (we know you secretly agree!). Trust us though, when we say that getting this completed at all easily qualifies it as a "top ten" moment for our year!

9. Chapel

Despite waning numbers of families to fellowship and grow with as well as waning numbers of chaplains, along with the indefinite end to children's church, we committed to staying with the base chapel. God brought a new chaplain on staff, committed to our service and ready to work. Since then, the body has grown inwardly and outwardly, children's church has been re-established, and the Holy Spirit is moving. Praise God!

8. Dignified Transfer

The war(s) has taken its toll on our family as well as many others. This was more apparent than ever late April 28th when David stood in the rain with hundreds of other service members to honor eight fallen Airmen during a dignified transfer at Bagram Airfield. He remembers where he was when he found out about Bin Laden's death and where he was when the last Airman left Iraq, but no time stands out as poignantly as those cold moments that brought a pause to the six and a half month deployment he was engulfed in day and night.

7. Travelling/Visiting with friends

Arguably the best aspect of the military life is the potential for finding old friends just about anywhere one travels. This was certainly the case during a 4700-mile, 13-state road trip we took during October and November. Spending a week at the Sulhoff Family Cabin in South Dakota's Black Hills was a much needed respite for everyone. And seeing firsthand the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding in New Orleans brought great perspective to us and the kids. Still, the true highlights of the trip came from visiting Rachel's Grandmother, many dear friends from our first assignment (the Rensch's, Cecilia, Leonard) and multiple families who have grown with us (the Chambers, the Eckarts, Geof and Kyle. Our only regret is that we could not visit with more!

6. Giving

Giving has always been a priority for us, but being released from the bondage of debt in 2006 provided more opportunities than ever to share our gifts with so many others. In that regard, this has been an exciting year for us as David promoted to the rank of Major, bringing home a little bit more "bacon" to share. In addition to financial gifts that will go without mention, David was blessed with the opportunity to give his time in service to the Bagram chapel as a Praise Team leader and Rachel was likewise blessed to share her time as a teacher for AWANA. This is a conviction and a joy for us and we pray that even in these lean times, your family will discover new and exciting ways to increase your joy through the sharing of your God-given time, talents, and "tokens."

5. School's In

Home education is a full time job with a crummy benefits package. There is no paid leave, no medical benefits, no additional staff to assist with the load and the hours are at best fluid and unconventional. The home educator is principal, teacher, hall monitor, nurse, lunch "lady", coach, cheerleader, and friend all rolled up in one – oh, let's not forget parent as well (makes for some interesting parent-teacher conferences…) This new year brought great growth by way of kids who have finally "bought in" to the idea and a fabulous homeschool cooperative we joined this fall. Here we met with like-minded and driven families once a week to provide some semblance of a structured schooling environment while capitalizing on the strengths and experiences of every parent to serve as subject-specific teachers.

4. School's Out!

For the first time in 28 years, David has zero school hanging over his head and keeping him from being available mentally, emotionally, and physically to the rest of the family. This happened after he completed Air Command and Staff College via correspondence, a mandatory Professional Military Education course that all Majors should complete. Halleluiah!

3. Homefront growth/healing

Rachel discovered the cause of several health issues she had been facing. God has begun healing her body through informed friends, even more informed doctors, medicine, nutritional supplements and changes in diet. This change alone has given her so much more energy and mental capacity, leading to a much more productive homeschool. After pushing a year and a half, Hannah Joy Sulhoff has finally decided to be completely potty-trained. Her parents are very relieved!

2. Family Gatherings

Over all the years and duty stations, we have only grown closer to our families. Though it is sometimes difficult, we make it a priority to spend time with both of our sets of parents and siblings. This year Rachel and the kids spent July in GA and AL visiting mostly family, but a few friends as well. Cousin's Camp was the highlight of the trip. Riding a four-wheeler, playing foosball and ping-pong in the "man-cave", shooting at targets, swimming, jumping on a trampoline, campfires, skits and just pure playing with their cousins could not be beat. BorderTown, a weekend retreat focusing on God and men/boys encouraging one another was an event this fall at which all of the male Sulhoff's were in attendance. Since moving to the southeast, we have always shared in Christmas traditions with both of our families and will this year as well.

1. Reunion

Living months on end without your spouse is difficult. Sometimes, living with them is difficult, too, and we (like everyone else) are not exempt from miscommunication or arguments. However, being together as husband and wife/father and mother and operating out of the same home, is the best thing in the world. Our family has begun a new chapter and David being home with us daily, being the man he is, has changed everything for the better. His homecoming was unequivocally the best moment of our year.

David's Telling of the Trip

Our recent tour of America's heartland is over and we racked up some serious miles and lasting memories. I am continually in awe of the great land that we inhabit and of the Americans who keep it great. Some facts from the trip:

States traveled through: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana.

Friends/Family visited in: Sedalia, MO; Rapid City, SD; Albuequerque, NM; Clovis, NM; and Bossier City, LA.

Interesting detours: Bellevue Bridge over the Missouri River in Nebraska (my Grandfather's A/E firm designed/built that bridge over sixty years ago); Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (my AF Squadron forged the path to turn these facilities over to the National Park Service during my time at Ellsworth in the early 2000s); New Orleans, LA (we followed a driving tour of the significant Katrina event locations - a very sobering glimpse of a very devastating time)

The route we took was 4,000 miles even (by Google standards) and we actually covered a little over 4,700.



Seen throughout New Mexico and Texas, these wind generators dominated many of the horizons during several long drives.



The South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB replaced a previously displayed 1/3rd scale B-2 Stealth Bomber model with this full-scale B-1B Bomber, retired when the B-1B consolidation took place.

One of our huge tasks as the cabin was to replace a set of two 12-foot blinds with canvas coverings - the job was a huge one and Rachel was well up to the task to make it happen; we even lugged her sewing machine all the way from Florida specifically for this.

Crazy Horse Memorial, a monument to all Native American tribes still in the making after over fifty years, is an awe-inspiring carving of an entire mountain. The picture doesn't do complete justice to this massive project but to give you an idea of the size - imagine a four-story building fitting inside the hole in the mountain, because it could if they tried it.

The mountains of Southern Wyoming loom high at the end of a long two-lane highway that took us through the quaint town of Lusk.



No, it's not Las Vegas - this is the Memphis Pyramid Arena, aptly designed as a reminder of the town's Egyptian namesake.

Andrew and Hannah rake up leaves at their Great-Grandmother's house in Sedalia, MO.

The massive door, adorned with the art from previous crews, would seal off the missileers during the Cold War alert days at this Launch Control Facility for the Minuteman II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile outisde Rapid City, SD.

I loved the contrast from this picture take on the interior loop of Bandlands National Monument.

Distance signs from Wall Drug have adorned wooden signposts all over the world and here the kids are, riding a Jackelope at the infamous watering hole on I-90.

I took several pictures in the Badlands, but none were as seemingly "set up" as this one - the Bighorn Sheep is framed perfectly by the Badlands and the horizon - all I had to do was take the picture.

The Shrine of Democracy (known as Mount Rushmore) is one of my favorite attractions in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I've been visiting my whole life and it's a wonderful thing to share now with my own children.

Of course, nothing worth sharing is worth sharing without my favorite travel companion of all-time - Rachel. She has put up with my "detours" and crazy mileage days beyond my understanding.

Interestingly enough, it's not over yet - though we are back in Florida, we will leave in one week again to drive to San Antonio where we'll spend a month while I'm on temporary duty at Randolph. The fun never stops!

Distance

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

Hogwash.

I'm currently far from the woman I love most, and the limitless temptations surrounding me and the many other Type-A males in the same position are only increasingly facilitated because of the distance.  See, the distance is merely a facilitator for growth or decay.  Some choose to grow, others do not. Regardless, the choice to grow is often the by-product of a heart that understands that thru Christ, all things are possible.

As I mentioned, the temptations are fairly limitless - even in a training environment.  Today we have media and images freely available that are a magnet to a wandering eye.  Additionally, the mind itself is constantly seeking some satisfaction and infidelity can occur without any notice given to peers or passersby.  This, Christ said, was equal to the physical sin.

The shame shreds self confidence as a sinful life lived internally gradually moves outward, breaking through the masquerade.  Soon, there is nothing left and the mind is exposed.  Relationships crumble and reputations are built.  The "A" may never be visible, but its burden on the broken family will be impossible to ignore.

On the contrary, there is a moment when God calls to satan and says, "Consider my servant....(fill in your name)...he will not be shaken."  Although the struggle continues in the mind, the successes of overcoming temptation taste sweeter than the greatest fulfillment imagineable.  This success develops into a deep longing for the wife of one's youth and the joy unspeakable that comes with reunion - on God's terms.  Then, the soul is not lost (as before) with nothing to show for it in the end, but freely shared.  This is a great hope.

So, in reality, distance does not make the heart grow fonder.  Distance does, however, facilitate the growth or decay of a heart hanging in the balance.

Holding tank headaches!

Sunset over St. Andrew's Bay from the cockpit of our 1976 Irwin 28 MkIV

Rachel piloting the Irwin through the Gulf swells - that's Panama City Beach off her right shoulder

Hannah asleep in the v-berth, Rachel asleep on the starboard settee, and A&E watching a movie on the port settee

Rachel and the kids at the drop-down table after night fell

In case you aren't aware, we decided that one sailboat wasn't enough so we spent some savings on a craigslist post for a 28' sloop just a couple up the miles from our home.  The boat is overall in great condition considering the price and the age (1976) but there were some maintenance things that needed to be taken care of and the toilet holding tank was at the top of the list.

The Irwin smelled even after a good airing out, new dehumidifier, clean carpets, and washed seat cushions.  All that remained to clean out was the flexible holding tank which more than likely held sewage from when the boat was first commissioned 34 years ago.  The problem is that you can't just dump that stuff overboard - you have to either find a dumping station at a marina or go three nautical miles offshore to be legal - guess which one I chose. . . 

So, we left at around 2 PM and returned by 8 PM and although we didn't sail a whole lot, we returned with an empty holding tank and some valuable experience.  See, the marine head on this boat has several "Y" valves which allows me to dump my toilet into either the holding tank or straight into the ocean or dump my holding tank into the ocean or a deck cap for dockside emptying.  It is complicated and messy so we've decided that the six hour jaunts just to legally empty our holding tank are not worth it.  We will be replacing the entire marine head system with a Thetford 155 Porta-potty with removable holding tank.  Yes, we'll have to empty it every time we are gone for more than a few hours but we can empty it into any toilet rather than specific dumping stations.

I hope it all works out!  I'm sick of telling my two year old, "no, you can't go potty".

The Last Few Weeks...

David's family to support him being awarded the Bronze Star

Cole and Nathan Bergren back from DC to visit us

Rachel cleaning her dirty kitchen floors--what a difference!

All three sleeping as we drive from one family's home to another.

Elizabeth riding a dirt bike with her cousin Caleb

How have we spent our time? Packing, cleaning, painting, swimming, traveling and visiting friends and family. We've had a really blessed time. Thank you, Everyone, for making time to work us in to your busy lives! We enjoyed our time with all of you! Here are just a few pictures. I really regret not having a picture with every single one of you!

Tyndall AFB, Florida

Our three foot snake skin
The view from the back porch

Our new Home

Hello to one almost empty kitchen...

...good-bye to another.

Where do I begin? After three weeks of living out of suitcases, the day before we arrived we realized we'd be living out of them for two more. It has been a good experience to be sleeping on mattresses on the floor, having limited toys, and enjoying the wilderness of Tyndall AFB, FL. And by wilderness, I really do mean WILD! This morning, as I went out to our lovely screened-in back porch to enjoy the gorgeous, wild forest and pond that are behind our home, I looked down into the grass immediately outside the screen and there was a freshly sloughed snake skin wound through the grass blades. I carefully went out to get it (after putting tennis shoes and socks on!) before the ants devoured it. The ants around here are crazy! The other day, they devoured a wasp I killed in an hour. We saw deer out the front upstairs window this morning, along with a Great Egret. We have seen deer all of our six days here so far.
And the noise! All the bugs loudly buzz all day and into the night. And, not just bugs. At night, behind our house, we hear along with the bugs frogs and toads, a large group of some kind of wood duck or ground bird quacking madly, and then over it all, another unidentified (thus far) bird in the trees bugling/honking. Others around it answer for a little while and then all gets quiet except for a few bugs. Soon the whole symphony begins again, starting with more bugs, then frogs and toads, then the quacking then the bugling/honking.
I have failed to mention the enormous black widow spider that somehow got her body under our screen porch door sometime today and made a web in a corner behind a patio chair that we bought. That shook us a little, especially because I was making dinner and the kids were playing on the patio (in my sight) and Hannah is potty training and had just peed, and I hadn't bothered dressing her again quite yet. David found her hiding behind the chair, not more than a foot away from this 1.5 inch monster. The patio has virtually nothing on it and is very clean, so we're very puzzled why she chose that spot to make her nest. David squished her, we ate dinner, then he borrowed a lawn mower to mow the grass. We think the long grass is the root of the snake and the spider--along with the fact that we live 20 feet from the woods.
I also have not mentioned the gators or the bears, but we're still waiting to lay eyes on those! We'll let you know!

Whew! Traveling Family

My mom, Pam, me and my sister Julia at the Resilient Women's Conference

Our little model, Hannah Joy

A trip on the train at the Montgomery Zoo

A great symbol of our great nation

The last 5 weeks have been full of a lot of miles. We've had two conferences (one women's with my mom and sister; one Home School), two RV trips with David's parents (one of which we are on right now) and a trip to FL to look at housing on Tyndall AFB. Yes, for anyone who does not already know, the Air Force will be moving us there in June. We are excited! We've also made extensive improvements to the outside of our Montgomery home. The impetus for these improvements was, ironically, a root from our crepe myrtle growing into our sewer pipe and causing a sewer back up in our house. David's time home has gone so quickly and we've been so busy! For about six weeks we had a date night once a week. We'd eat together and talk and go shopping for various items. One week we went and saw "How to Train Your Dragon," which we enjoyed a lot. We are currently on our way to Lynchburg, VA for David to graduate from Liberty University with his Master's degree in Christian Leadership. He's been working toward it for quite a while and steadily persevered while in Afghanistan also. All in all, it was really a blessing for our family, being that David was required to read such a large number of books on marriage and family and God's Word. We are so blessed! But, we are thankful that this season is over, as well!

Hooded Sweatshirt

Every once in a while, an article of clothing comes along that is of very little consequence at the time but ultimately becomes a cherished item.  That is the case with regards to a gray hooded sweatshirt that we bought at a small local dive in Northern Canada.  We were driving through the Yukon Territory on our way to Alaska when we stopped to stretch our legs at a small diner/gas station at one of many continental divides throughout North America.  The sweatshirt was hanging and seemed like a fitting purchase to remember our trip as it not only bore the embroidered logo of the place we had stopped but would also keep me a little warmer considering the more northern latitudes we were entering.  So, I bought the shirt, put it on and we went on our way.  That was the summer of 2003 and seven years later the sweatshirt is still keeping me warm and casual.

You may have seen the above picture in the slideshow on the right but there is really a lot more to the story that meets the eye.  Yes, I'm in the photo with Rachel (my wife) and I am wearing what I now call my "concert shirt" - the aforementioned sweatshirt.  From the picture you can tell that we were probably at a concert and we left with a few souvenirs.  This is all true.  What is not shown is that it is a Third Day concert - the first one ever in Fairbanks, AK and the second one ever in the entire state (the Anchorage show was two days earlier).  We bought front row tickets the minute they went on sale without knowing we would be hosting the band themselves for a base tour on the eve of the concert.  The tour went well and it was a real blessing to give back to a group of men who have given us so much.  The pick, drumstick and program with guitar chords to "Cry Out to Jesus" were tokens of appreciation from the band that we'll always cherish.

The sweatshirt has accompanied me to several other concerts including Jeremy Camp, Bebo Norman and the Music Boat.  I wish I could hear the stories of those days and nights from the sweatshirt firsthand - I imagine it would have a slightly different perspective.

In Him,

Christmas Time is Here

This is the lovely tree that was sent to me by some dear friends in Montgomery. I decorated it and put it in my office much to the delight of my office mates also longing for home.

These mountains are just outside our base and they have been dusted with snow for a couple weeks now - we are slowly seeing the white creep down towards the base and soon we'll be in the thick of it! That building in the middle on top of the shorter hill is an old Russian officer's club with a pool and a lot of marble. It's pretty fun to explore but a little cold to venture out to these days.

Where to start?!?!? Gifts in the Mail or Tampa?

OK. I will start with the totally awesome care package I received today from my office back in Alabama. Besides an assortment of food goodies specially selected to meet my tastes, my office (and I can take a good guess who specifically) decided it would only be more perfect by plastering half of the items with the face of a personal hero - David Hasslehoff. Yes, the "Hoff" made it all the way across the Atlantic and several continents to bid me a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Does it really get any better?



How about this? We had to take a detour through a portion of Kabul we rarely frequent due to serious traffic issues and lo and behold, there's KFC! That's "Kabul" Fried Chicken, in case you were wonderin'. . . .

Finally, I'll leave you with this shot. The 2008 ACC Player of the Year consoles the 2009 ACC Player of the Year on the sidelines shortly after the clock ran out. The ACC Championship Game in Tampa proved to be a lot more exciting the the SEC Championship Game and brought out the very best in both teams. Thankfully, Tech's best of 39 points was better than Clemson's best of 34 points. How about them Oranges?