Well, we’re here and enjoying our stay with Thomas, Anna, Elijah, and our new granddaughter Marilyn Elizabeth. We just got back from a visit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Union Station. Enjoy the pictures here.

God's newest little blessing!

Welcome to the world — Marilyn Elizabeth Hendrix! Marilyn was born at 5:05am this morning and weighed in at 8 pounds and 20 1/4 inches. She is doing great and Anna (mom) is doing fine as well. We will be leaving Friday (yipee) to visit with Thomas and Anna and help out with the baby! They already have an 18 month old named Elijah. It is all Jo Ann is talking about — finally a girl. Thomas is currently stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia where is in the 3rd US Army Infantry Regiment, 4th Battalion, 529th Regimental Support Company of the Old Guard as a Combat Medic. Here’s their website — Old Guard.

Found this site while doing some flickr updates and have been having a blast every since. It gets me back doing photography and Jo Ann and Timothy are even helping me look as well.

Noticings

Timothy and I had a wonderful time today. We stopped by Loveless Cafe and had lunch before heading out to Nashville and the Somet Center where we attended the “Star Wars in Concert”. It was incredible — great music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from London. They use a 3 story screen for the movie clips and lasers for effect. Here is the link to pictures on Flickr:

Loveless Cafe

Star Wars in Concert

Enjoy!

Well, it’s taken more than 6 months but I’ve got what has been a labor of love. I ordered the military records from the National Archives, and also got a lot of documents and pictures my Mom had during a vacation visit. I’ve put all this together in two places — first, in a binder over 4 inches thick and second, on the website USAFSS Dad. It was an absolutely neat and incredible journey to follow the documents and pictures. His story was my story because we followed Dad to every location. It stirred up memories I’d forgotten and showed me some I didn’t remember.

With all it’s negatives and downsides, I still wouldn’t trade being a military brat for anything in the world. I also will never forget my Dad’s selfless service in far away places defending our country in the USAF Security Service.

I am so looking forward to going and visiting Mom, brother Andy, and Uncle Richard. It’s been quite awhile. We leave tomorrow very early and have a 13 hour drive to Mom’s house. Not sure how long we’re staying but it will be a much needed break. We have a few things scheduled — Timothy is so looking forward to flying in Uncle Richard’s plane. He’s going to take his camera up with him for some great shots from above! We might go see Shamu but I got a feeling Shamu is a lot more expensive than when we went over 20 years ago!

We had a really good time today. We woke up in Foley, AL and took a beautiful drive down the coast to Fort Morgan, AL. They had a ferry from there over to Dauphin Island. We drove the entire length of the island and enjoyed the beautiful beaches. We then visited the Estuarium. We left Dauphin Island across the bridge back to mainland Alabama and drove to Birmingham. We’re in the same hotel and even the same room. Not sure what tomorrow brings but we’ll be back in Tennessee.

Pictures — Day Three

What a day! We drove from Birmingham, AL to Florida panhandle for 8-9 hours just looking at old places I used to live (Crestview, Niceville, Eglin AFB, Fort Walton Beach) and then some neat time at Navarre Beach. We crossed over from Florida back to Alabama and are spending the night north of Gulf Shores.

Pictures — Day Two