Christmas Party

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas day yesterday. If your day was anything like ours it was full of excitement. We hosted Christmas at our house and had about 25 people. Like always we had enough food to feed an army. We had a cooked 0range glazed ham, fried turkey, mashed cheesy potatoes, stuffing green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, bread, salads, and way too many desserts. It was wonderful and everyone had way to much to eat. :) We also played white elephant and had lots of crazy gift given. One guy got and ate a dirty diaper (corn, peanut butter, and nuts), well just some of it. We played scene-it as a big group and some of the guys played darts. We had a fun filled day but missed seeing everyone back home.

Main Meal Spread

Part 1 of the Appetiser and Dessert spread
Part 2 of the Appetizer and Dessert spread
These are some of our friends who we hang out with quite a bit.
Christina, Bella, Sarina, Jake, and Kyle
Dan, Carrie, Emma, Owen and James
James eating the dirty diaper

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope this finds you all enjoying the Christmas season. I was going to send out a letter like everyone else but kept finding myself procrastinating, so instead I am sending out a Christmas email/blog and since everyone I was going to send it to in the mail is on my email address I figured it would work just fine.

Well 2007 has been a crazy year for the Walker's. It all started really the end of January when Owen went to Altus, OK for 5 months to train on the KC-135 plane. While he was there I stayed in Enid and continued teaching my 4 year olds. By the end of February things started to get to crazy for me at work so I packed it up and went to Altus to be with Owen. We were there until mid June. He was flying and I was enjoying my time off. We still had our place in Enid and were basically living out of suitcases in Altus. In May our mom's came down to Enid and helped me pack up the house and send all of our stuff overseas to England, so it would be there when we arrived in August. It was a busy time but I was so thankful for there help and company. (Thanks again mom's)

In June Owen completed his training at Altus and then was off to water and land survival training. He first went to water survival in Pensacola, Florida for 1 week and then flew to Spokane, Washington for land survival, which was 19 days long. While he was there I went home and spent time with family and friends. When he returned from survival we had to return to Enid and finish up some paperwork and a few last minute things for a couple of weeks. Keep in mind we had no place to stay, all of our stuff was on its way to England, and we had been staying in hotels and living out of a suitcase since February. By the end of June we were ready to be in a home and have our stuff back but we still had another month of moving around.

July wasn't so bad, even though we still had nothing, but we were in Kansas and with family for a while. We got to spend about 2 weeks at home saying our goodbyes and taking everything in for one last time before we were off to England. It was wonderful. Our parents even threw a going away party for us. Well those 2 weeks came and went fast and by the time we knew it was over we were on a plane headed overseas.

We arrived in Mildenhall, England the 10th of August and spent another 3 weeks in a hotel room. We had to buy a car and look for a house before we could really do anything else. It took about 2 of those weeks to find a house that wasn't extremely small and we could get all of our stuff into it without problems and find a car that would get us around safely. We did ship my car over here but it wouldn't arrive until September. But as you all know we successfully found both and are doing well now. Our landlords are great and we enjoy going to there house and learning about the English ways and foods.

As you can see from the blogs I have posted, we have done a little bit of traveling since we have been here. We haven't done a whole lot lately because it has just been way to cold to do anything outside. Owen has been flying a little more than he was when we first got here but they have been keeping him busy at the squadron. As for me I have just been working at the child development center and doing things with other wives when work allows it. They finally placed me in a room with 6 months to a year old children. I really enjoy it. I miss teaching and hope to maybe teach over here before we leave but I don't know if that is going to happen or not.

We hope you all have a safe and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. Miss everyone dearly but hope to see some of you soon. COME VISIT anytime. The house is always open.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Owen and Sara

Owen's Travels

Last week Owen went on a TDY to Sigonella, Italy and Souda Bay, Greece. While there he and his crew refueled some German Tornadoes (fighter planes). He also had the chance to do a little site seeing and experience some of their culture. He flew over the Italian Alps, Egypt, The Nile River, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean sea. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

The Red Sea

Light House in Chania, Crete

German Tornadoes

Egypt and the Nile River

Chania, Crete

The Italian Alps

Poor Bird

This is a really poor poor bird. Owen took these pictures the other day. They were taxing down the runway and this bird just fly right into them I guess thinking he could go through or something :) Well now you all know what happens to birds when they are hit by a plane, they are smeared to smithereens (lol) I thought it was pretty gross but wanted to share some of Owen's flying experiences with all of you. So enjoy.

London

We finally made it to London. We haven't been since we arrived here. We went last Saturday and spent the whole day there walking around and seeing the sites. We drove to a town just outside of London and then caught the underground tube into London. We went to the British Museum. It was full of all sorts of artifacts from around the world. Things like the Rosetta stone and some mummy tombs. All sorts of sculptures, things from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Africa, and Europe. So much to see!!!! Then we went and ate at a hamburger joint called the Ultimate Hamburger. It was really good meat for over here. After lunch we ventured off to the Tower of London. It was getting late so we just looked around the outside. We will have to go back and get a tour of the inside. Being so late and most of the museums were closing we decided to take a boat tour down the river and see some of the popular sites that way. We saw London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, The Eye, Big Ben, and many more sites right there on the river. It was a good time but bitter cold. Here are a few pictures of some of the sites for you all to enjoy.

The British Museum

Two Story Bus

English Taxi

By the Tower of London

(Tower Bridge in the back)

Tower Bridge and an old retired war ship

The EYE

Big Ben

As for an update on the both of us; we are doing well I am still working at the child development center everyday. It seems to keep me pretty busy. I am suppose to start working with the 6month to 1 year age group next week. I am ready to be in a permanent room instead of floating from room to room. As for Owen he is currently on his first TDY back to the states. He went to New Jersey for the week and will be back on Saturday. He is getting to fly everyday while he is on this trip so you can say he is probably enjoying himself. As for here the weather is cold and wet. It gets light around 7-7:30 and dark around 4-4:30 now but we are informed it is only supposed to get worse as the winter goes on. So pray we make it through the winter without losing our minds. Hope you all are well and are enjoying your holiday season. Talk to everyone soon.

Love,

Sara and Owen

Happy Thanksgiving

We wanted to say Happy belated Thanksgiving to all. We hope you had a great day yesterday and enjoyed the day with family and friends. We enjoyed the day with friends from Owen's squadron at another couples house. We had a great time. Owen was in charge of frying the turkey in his new fryer and boy was it moist and delicious. We of course had way more food than we needed and ate until we were all full. There were around 25 people. We had football to watch all day and some played poker. It was just a great day to spend with everyone and get out of the house for a while. But still it didn't compare to spending the time with all of you, we missed seeing everyone but you were all thought of often. Here are a couple of pictures of our day, enjoy. Miss everyone and happy holidays.


Love,
Owen and Sara

Cooking Away!!!

The boys standing around the fryer.

Sleeping Away!!!!!! (too much turkey)

Owen's Birthday

Owen celebrated his 25th Birthday on the 1st of November. We didn't do a whole lot, supper and presents just the two of us. He is such a sport for pictures so I am attaching a few for you all to see him enjoying his presents. :)

We are doing well. Owen is still flying but only about once a week :( He wishes for more but I guess it will come with time. I have finally started work at the child development center. I work there everyday watching over kids from 6 weeks to 4 years old. I love it, getting to play with babies and toddlers is great.

Hope you are all doing well.

Love, Sara and Owen

Surprise!!!!! - Happy Halloween

Well we finally did it. OWEN DRESSED UP FOR HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!! It all started a few weeks ago when a friend of ours wanted to have a Halloween party at their house. She said it had to be dress up. I just knew Owen wouldn't go for it but I still tried to convince him it would be fun. The next thing I knew he was on the Internet looking for ideas :) I was so excited. I have never seen Owen dress up in costume EVER. Well the next step was for him to decide what he wanted to be and then I would go off of his idea to decide what I wanted to be. As you can see he decided to be a knight and I a damsel. He said he wouldn't dress up unless I made his costume because he wasn't going to pay a lot of money for one. So we went to the store and purchased some fabric. ( I would do anything to get him to dress up) Then we spent that afternoon sewing him costume. He then made himself a shield and a sword out of cardboard and gray tape. (No money involved :) ). He looked great. We had a lot of fun and hopefully Owen will dress up again next year.

Sir Owen and Lady Sara

Owen all dressed up!!!!!
These two kids I wanted to put on here because they were just so cute.

This is Kyle. The little vampire.

This is Bella. The little Peanut.

Football

At each base they have intramural sports for you to participate in, well Owen's squadron put together a flag football team. They started the playoffs last Saturday with double elimination. Owen's team lost the first game but one the second which they played yesterday. So they get to play again next Saturday. Owen usually plays defense and rushes the quarter back. He is not to bad. We think if the grass wasn't so wet and he had cleats he would get a lot of flags (sacks) because he is so close every time. When he misses it is because he has slipped from the wet grass and is laying on the ground :). He seems to enjoy it and the team isn't that bad. Hopefully they will win next week and get to go on in the playoffs.

These are pictures from Owen's 2nd flight, a nice day out for lunch. He forgot the camera when he went on his first flight, oh well. He got to fly to a place called Lajes Air Base. It is located on the Azores, which is a group of 9 islands out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Island he went to was called Terceira Island. http://www.oceandots.com/atlantic/azores/ I found a little information about the Azores. If anyone is interested just go to the above web address.

The island with runway in view.

The runway, the base is to the left of the runway.

An ocean view

There supposedly is a mountain hidden behind all the low clouds. :)

Yesterday we went up north to King's Lynn and saw a couple castle ruins, The Wash (sea coast), and an ancient Priory (Monastery). I have posted some pictures below.

This is Castle Rising. It is located on 20 acres and was built in 1138. It has a very large mote surrounding it. For those of you who don't know what a mote is it is a large ditch or trench built up around the castle area.

Entrance to castle across a small bridge

Side/ Front view of the castle We are standing on top of the mote.

side view of the castle

This castle was three levels but the floors are all gone and you can see all the way to the basement. The small three holes to the left of the picture is where the beams used to be that held up the floor.
Face on the wall. Most of the castles we have been to have these. Not sure what they represent.

Mote (looking at the entrance of the castle)

The next place we went was Castle Acre, built sometime during the 11th and 12th centuries. There was no castle just the wall ruins remained. In this picture we are standing to the right of where the castle was.

Part of the wall

The last place we went to was the Priory (Monastery) It was established in1090 . This is where the Cluniac monks lived.

This is a side and front view of the remains.

Back view of monastery

Dormitory: It was originally 2 floors

Back and side view of the main building

Part of the bathroom which drained into the stream below hopefully not into their drinking water:) .

The Wash (North Sea coast)- not much to see but thought some might like to see what the coast looks like over here.