December in Cambridgeshire

     Wow! December has come and gone so quickly. In our Christmas card I wrote that I update the blog at least once a month, which I really try to do, but December has been a busy one for us. The first weekend kicked off with Sam's squadron Christmas party, which was planned by the three new co-pilots (Zack, Mike and Sam). They did an excellent job! Everyone had a blast, people were even saying that this was the best Christmas party the squadron had had yet. That's a great compliment since it was planned by three men who had never been to a 351st ARS Christmas party. I am pretty sure, since it was such a big hit, they will be asked to plan next years Christmas party as well. We got dressed up for this occasion, I was able to put my $140 bridesmaid dress to use and Sam looked dashing in argyle...however, we were both too busy that night and didn't get a picture...boo! This is why we need a full time photographer to follow us around.

My first ever real Christmas tree and the second one in our house!

     The beginning of December was filled with Christmas shopping and trying to get presents sent back to the states...it was a bit stressful. Mainly for me, as I am pretty sure Sam doesn't have the slightest idea what presents we sent, but he did help me get the two boxes to the post office, complaining of them being heavy! Next year, hopefully we will be in the states for Christmas, but if we have to mail anything then we are doing it by Thanksgiving so it will fly space available, which is the cheapest way to mail packages. Our little town of Chippenham had their own Christmas market inside the church behind our house. There were maybe twenty stalls, but it was very cute and I bought a clutch purse for fancy evenings out! They also had the smallest horse, named Bambi, but I didn't have my camera battery so I couldn't get a picture...epic fail again.

Hercule's loves walking in Chippenham even in the frost

     At Thanksgiving we met some people who invited us to their weekly Bible study. It meets every Wednesday night and there are about six couples who participate every week. It has been such a blessing to us and everyone has been so open and welcoming. Each week the Bible study meets at a different persons house. It has been so great to get out, fellowship, and be challenged by God's word every week. We are currently studying Romans, and like I said it has truly been a blessing to meet these new friends and join the Bible study. We have also started a tradition of eating lunch every Saturday at La Houge. La Houge is a cute little farm shop/tea room here in Chippenham and we love going there.

One of the horses we feed on our walks

     We haven't experience a lot of snow here, but there was a week where we got frost. It was absolutely beautiful on the trees. Hercules and I loved walking through the fields and seeing the frost. I am praying for a white Christmas, how wonderful would that be?! Sam and I finally broke down and got new phones! So now that I have an amazing phone, that actually works, I will be able to capture more moments, like the frosted trees.

Hercules- "Hey you smell weird"

      Sam is officially MCT complete! Yay! Which means he is done with training and he is flying real missions.This past Sunday he left at 4pm and flew all night, getting home at 8am. Then on Wednesday he had to leave at 4am to fly and he didn't land until 4pm, but he still made it Bible study that night and didn't fall asleep! Now that he is an official co-pilot he will be completing a deployment that is two months in length. This will help him to get lots of flying hours and starting working his way up to an air craft commander. He is an alternate to deploy in January, however, the only way he would go is if someone couldn't go for some reason, so each day it is less and less likely that he will live. He has had to go through all the pre-deployment things to get prepared to go, so they told him he will be going in March since he has already gone through the pre-deployment steps. I have heard from other wives that the first deployment is the hardest, but I can't complain, he will only be gone for two months and I have had friends who have gone through a much longer deployment then that. Plus, with him leaving in March it means he will be able to come back to the states with me in May! YAY! Though, Sam has been busy with missions he has still done many things for me around the house, like build a loft ladder, hang pictures, and most recently cleaned out our junk room!

Sam's hand crafted ladder

     As Christmas time has been approaching quickly, and we have been receiving lots of yummy treats, we are reminded of how much we love being stationed at Mildenhall. We have already made very special friends and we feel very blessed to be station here with them! Sam's sister, Rachel, and brother-in-law Josh will be visiting us for Christmas! We are so excited to have family with us! We will be attending an American Christmas Eve dinner at a friends house and spending Christmas day in our English Cottage enjoying yummy food, and of course thanks to technology we will be able to talk face to face with both of our families back in the states! We are so excited for our Christmas plans! Sam's partner from Altus will be stopping through here on the 27th of December, from Washington, on his way to his deployment, it will be great to see him. Then on December 28th we are flying to Denmark for three days and then spending New Years Eve in London with Rachel and Josh! It will be a wonderful first Christmas as husband and wife!

Rachel's stocking

Josh's stocking

     We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year! I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for these wild newly weds, but I will be sure to document the year through the blog!

My favorite picture of the year! Merry Christmas from Dipper Claus and my beautiful bestie, Anna. I love that I still get silly pictures from home. Cat Santa!