Long time no see!

Hello Everyone,
So its been awhile since I have been able to update the blog. We have been busy with trying to get ourselves organized.

Olivia turned 5 this year and Bo and I having a hard time grasping our baby girl is going up. Not only did she turn 5, but Bo taught Olivia how to ride her bike with training wheels. She caught on so quickly, but was very upset about throwing the training wheels in the trash. Gymnastics is going great and she is really having to pay attention and concentrate. She's also excited about starting school this coming year with her big brother.

EJ is doing great as well..His teacher continues to update us with excellent reports. I was really happy to hear how well he is doing with math...I hope he keeps that up..Maybe he'll be able to help me out. He has also read a couple of books to us, which is so awesome. Its amazing what they teach the kindergartners now. Hopefully this summer EJ will be able to get involved with some sports or swim lessons so he's not so bored at home.

Bo finally got a set in stone graduation date. April 17th he will officially be an A-10 pilot!! He is currently learning to fly and refuel at night...He said its a little nerve racking, but pretty awesome with the night vision goggles.

I'm still just trying to keep the house running and everyone else in it on track. I thought I would have some free time, but its turned out I'm a lot busier now then I ever was. The best news of this year by far is my brother and sister in law had a beautiful baby boy. Michael Hamilton Dickinson is the newest addition to the Dickinson clan.

I hope everyone is well. Please keep us in your prayers as you all are in ours.

Love,
Nicole

Happy Halloween

Hi Everyone,

Well.....We are staying in Tucson!!! This was our first choice and we got it...Thank you Lord!! What a relieve to know that we will be staying in one place for three years...I will probably start to get the moving itch around one year, which will be great because we should be able to move into new base housing around then too.

EJ, Olivia, and I got to go on EJ's first field trip to a pumpkin patch about 45 minutes out of town. It was a beautiful day for a hayride out to the patch to pick out our perfect pumpkins. I could not believe that pumpkins could actually grow in the desert but I guess with alot of water anything can grow. We each pick out a pumpkin and then went home to spend the rest of the day outside. Bo helped the kids carve the pumpkins on Sunday and by the following week they were already moldy and rotten. Thank you Tucson for the 95 degree heat in October, that cooked our pumpkins. So on Saturday we attempted to pick out new pumpkins at another pumpkin patch with friends of ours. We did get to have Jack O Lanterns for Halloween night, but that's about how long they lasted.

Bo's work had a great kids Halloween party, where the kids got to get all dressed up and play games and eat lots and lots of candy before we went out trick or treating. After the party we met up with some of our friends on base and went around the neighborhood. There were so many trick or treaters that many houses ran out of candy before the night was through.

Bo found a new sport this last couple of weeks...He now is into off road biking...well I guess technically there is a dirt road (with tons of Cati). He has a ton of fun, but I don't think it would be all that enjoyable dodging cat us and rocks. Ill leave the extreme sports to him.

Well that's about all to report here. We hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.

Love to you all,

Nicole

Hello Everyone,

A lot of excitement for this week. We start off the week with me, going to a doctors to find out I have a sprained back(I think it sounds worse then it is) but this now includes me finding time to go see Physical Therapy a couple of times a week.. Oh well.

We then decide to end the work week with a trip to the ER with EJ...He was complaining of stomach cramps all day Friday and then by Friday night had a temp of 101. At that point I thought appendicitis. We rushed to the ER only to wait 5 hours in the waiting room..Let me take that back...Bo waited 5 hours in the waiting room..It was a busy night at ST. Joseph's. When they finally got back into a room, he got some Tylenol and started to perk up....Ready for the diagnoses......Constipation...yup..Now I know what your thinking...He had a fever..The doctor told Bo that kids get fevers for several reasons but because there body is not mature enough to regulate as well as adults, it can cause temps. I don't get it, but he has not had anymore issues since Friday. I think there is some weird bugs here in Tucson.. We just cant seem to stay healthy....

Olivia is doing great...She's been pulled in so many different directions this last week but was a trooper. She already has picked out her Halloween costume and is so excited to be an Angel...Before we got the costume she made sure to tell me every detail the costume must have..She is my detail orientated child.

On Sunday we got to go to the Rodeo. It was the first for EJ, Olivia, and I. We had an awesome time. We got to see bare back riding, roping, barrel racing, and bull riding. Those people are absolutely crazy, but it was so entertaining. I really enjoyed people watching as well. All kinds come out for the Rodeo.

We find out this week what our assignment and Bo's new nickname will be...I hoping he doesn't come home to tell me its Hairy and Germany..I don't want to be known as Hairy's wife. He also finally got to fly against the F-16...He had a blast but came home with a neck ache.

Bo and I also got to share an amazing experience together. 40 days for life is going on right now and they asked for volunteers to stand and pray silently outside the only abortion clinic here in Tucson. The clinic was closed but the emotional and overwhelming sadness that was felt was almost unbearable. We were told that due to construction the "doctor" was only able to work 2 out of the 5 days. He performed 28 abortions in those two days... IN JUST TWO DAYS!!!

Please remember the unborn in your prayers...

Love to you all,

Nicole

Student of the Month!!

Hey Everyone,

Another great week and so much more to be grateful for.  We are so excited...EJ was chosen by his teacher to be Student of the Month.  He will be announced on Friday at a Flag Ceremony his school has every month.  Im so glad that EJ is starting to really enjoy school..He loves learning and absorbs everything.  

Olivia has become more daring at gymnastics...She has walked across one of the higher balanced beams and loved it.  She has also become my little helper...asking to help make dinner and help clean...who could resist that kind of help.  Also her test results officially came in and she was cleared..YEAH!!!!  

Bo got the chance to do his first refueling in the A10 with a KC135...He said it was very weird having to get that close to another airplane.   However he had an amazing sight with 7 A-10s all in formation waiting to refuel.  (wish he could have taken a picture)

Nothing new with me...Im just keeping this household going :)  

Love to you all,

Nicole

What a week!

Hi Everyone,
This week was wonderful. We had 5 awesome days of dropping EJ off at school and he would go outside with all his friends with no problem. YEAH!!! I also found out that EJ has is first girlfriend. Her name is Gabrielle and she is in his class. He is allowed to talk to the other girls in his class but not allowed to smile at them. My little boy is growing up...and hes a stud!!!

We also had some excitement with Olivia. She had a UTI about two months ago and because of her age they decided to do an ultrasound. The ultrasound came back with a sight inflammation of the right kidney...This could mean a couple of things...First that it was from the UTI, second thats how Olivia was "made" and third that she has some sort of issue when she urinates. So because there is a chance for problem number three they decided that we need to go in for a VCUG...For all of you who do not know what this is, its a procedure in which the patient has to get catheterized and then they fill the bladder with dye. They take pictures of the bladder filling and emptying to see if there is any signs of reflux of the bladder or if she is not emptying her bladder all the way. So on Friday we went in and Olivia had the procedure done...She did amazing. She was so brave!!!. I however was a mess so it was a good thing Bo was able to make there. As of right now there is NO signs of any problems!!! THANK YOU LORD.

We also got a chance on Saturday to take EJ and Olivia to there first NBA baseball game. We saw the Diamond Backs vs. Colorado Rockies. We had such a fun time that we are hoping to get the chance to do this again.

The count down begins for our next assignment...Hopefully soon Ill be blogging about what our next adventure will be.

Take care and we love and miss you all,
Nicole

TGIF

Hey Everyone,

Another week behind us and another week to look forward too. This week has been busy with parent/teacher conferences and all the other activities. We met with EJ's teacher this week to see how well he is doing academically. We got nothing but great things said. He already can recognize and write most of the alphabet including lower case. He knows what sounds the letter makes and can tell you the letter some words start with and end with, which is hard for this age. Im so proud of him...I know he would love school. I just wish we could get to mornings to be like the rest of the day.

Olivia is starting to recognize and write letters as well...She wants to do homework with EJ, so she has her own notebook. I love how she is catching on to everything. She also did a back somersault by herself at gymnastics...She was so happy, it was adorable.

Ive joined Facebook for all that dont know. A few friends have encourage me to try it out so I am. I cant believe how many people belong to it.

Alright, so we will hopefully find out around October what our assignment will be. We are finally going to get to stay some where for 3 years...Im so excited about that. Our choices are Germany, Valdosta GA, or Tucson AZ. Great choices, huh. Im a little nervous about going over seas, so Im hoping for either GA or AZ. Please keep us in your prayers that we get an assignment thats right for us.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Love to all,
Nicole

BULLSEYE

Hey Everyone,

So this week has been great...EJ has been doing so awesome with school in the morning which makes life easier on us all :)

Also my grandfather was able to return home after some major heart surgery and weeks of cardio therapy. Ive learned that health is something to be grateful for.

Bo fired the gau-8 (A10 gun )for the first time wednesday and had a blast. He said he could smell the gun gas after firing. He was also this week suppose to fly against a German Tornado, but it broke the morning of. Hopefully he will get another chance to fly against either the F16 or the Tornado.

Today we went up to the Colossal Cave here in Tucson...Its amazing all the hidden treasures and adventures you can find in a big city. Im really enjoying being able to, on a whim, go and see all that Tucson has to offer.

Oh yeah, and I would like to also say that allergies and mosquito exist in Tucson. Don't let anyone fool you.

Love to everyone,

Nicole