Matt's SURPRISE 30th Birthday Party

Last Friday, March 16th, I hosted a surprise 30th Birthday party for Matt in Kirn, Germany. Along with 10 other friends, I was able to completely surprise Matt (which is rare) with a Whisky Tasting at the Kyrburg Whiskey Museum, one of the largest whiskey museums outside of Scotland.

The Kyrburg Castle was built in the 900's and destroyed by the French in the 1700's. The only things

that survived the French invasion were the remains of the castle and the first floor and cellar of the Whiskey Museum. Upon arrival in Kirn, Matt didn't seem very excited that I had 'kidnapped' him from work (I had everything planned with scheduling so that he would be finished with work around 3pm) to take him to this random town. So, to increase his excitement, I finally told him why we were there--for us to go to dinner in the castle and have a scotch tasting. That brightened him up a bit, but he was clueless about the events to come.

Complete with a 3-course Scottish dinner, the night was nothing less than spectacular. The night started with a greeting of a bagpipe rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and 2 of our good friends waiting for us inside the castle with champagne. After another aperitif and bonfire reception, we pushed inside the restaurant for the start of the dinner. It was at our own reserved table that Matt was then surprised by 8 of our other close friends. He thought the night was just going to be the two of us, so having 10 other friends there was such a surprise.

After dinner, we were escorted down into the 400 year old cellar for the formal Classic Malts of Scotland tasting. The cellar held over 3,000 different scotches from around the world. It was unbelievable. None of the girls tried the single-malt scotches (we stuck with wine), but all the guys loved it.

The night wasn't complete without a Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse birthday cake adorned with candles and a Fresh Fruit Tart which I had made (I had a friend bring them so Matt wouldn't see them!) especially for the party. As a gift from the Whiskey Museum, Herr Kroll, the taste-master, gave Matt a sampling of a single-malt scotch from his birth year, 1977 (which is very old, since it had already sat in a barrel for many years). I thought about buying a bottle to give Matt, but it was 320 euro, so I decided against it!

At 0130 in the morning, we all made it back to our hotel in Kirn and woke up the following morning to lots of funny stories and re-caps from the night before. In all, everyone had a great time and my mission was accomplished--to truly surprise Matt.

The RIP...

On Friday, March 16th, Matt got news that his RIP (report information) was ready. So, he picked it up and called me with the news. Our Report No Later Than date to Las Vegas is 31 August 2007...which made us both VERY happy. We're happy because we will get to spend one last summer here in Europe before coming back to the States. We were told that our report NLT date could be anywhere between 01 June-31 August, so getting the news that we would be here until the end of that window was wonderful. We were kind of hoping that we would get to stay until later in the fall, but we're content with August!

So, any of you who want to come visit us over the summer while we're still here, you still have the chance!

Micah and Maura

MICAH...

Here are some recent pictures of our nephew, Micah, and our niece, Maura. Micah turns 2 in May and Maura turns 1 this month. They have both grown so much and are solid handfulls! Apparently, Micah loves everything and anything having to do with the outdoors and Maura is obsessed with ducks. Hopefully we'll get to see them both a little more once we're stateside this year.

MAURA...

Meow...

Aren't we photogenic?

Well, I've convinced Matt that stray cats are lovable. He still isn't a huge fan of cats, but he tolerates the handful of barn cats that call our house 'home' in the morning and evening. The first time I fed the kitties, he got mad at me..but slowly, over time, he has come to accept the fact that I am going to feed them regardless of what he says. He's actually re-named my barn cats (my original names were pretty boring--i.e. yellow kitty, tiger kitty, black kitty, etc.) and they seem to like their names.


Meet "Kitler"--he was born last spring and is very skittish. He will come inside and wander around, but the second he hears a loud noise or you approach him, he runs outside. He's named Kitler because of his famous mustache. He has a pink nose, which is my favorite color nose and he LOVES to eat.






Then there's "Marty Jr."--he was also born last spring and is Kitler's brother. Like Kitler, he is extremely skittish and gets freaked out easily. He's named Marty Jr. in honor of the late Martin Luther King Jr. because of his race and his loud voice. You can see him in the background and in the large picture above (on the day I took these pictures, he was being a little camera shy).


Next, there's "Rocket." Rocket was born 2 springs ago and is my favorite kitty. He looks just like my childhood cat, Frisky. Rocket is very outgoing and LOVES to be petted and rubbed. We call him Rocket because he is a) an un-neutered boy cat and b) because every time we open the front door he come flying inside under our feet. He is very loving and has the loudest purr I have ever heard. The best part about Rocket is that he'll sit in your lap or at your feet and meow at you. In this picture, he's sitting on his favorite rug.

Finally, there's "Mommy Kitty." Mommy gets her name due to the fact that every fall she gets pregnant and has a litter every spring. She is the mommy to Kitler, Marty Jr., and Rocket (not to mention several other kitties in the town). She is calico and also very sweet--she'll also let us pet her. She comes to eat breakfast every morning and prefers the wet food over the dry stuff. I don't have a good picture of her, so one will come soon.

Each night, Matt and I crack the living room door open and let our 'kids' come inside for a few hours. They eat their dinner and then play in the living room (sometimes they will just sit and stare at us on the heated floors). When it's time to go back outside, we give all the kitties treats (either actual cat treats or left over meat/meat goobers that I cut off of our chicken breasts or beef before cooking it). They've gotten really spoiled, as I always cook the meat goobers so that they don't get sick from eating the raw meat. Matt says that they kill birds and mice and it that meat raw, but it grosses me out to feed them raw stuff. I made the mistake of feeding them the American cat food, 'Friskies,' at first, so now they turn their noses to the cheap German stuff on the economy. Since the American food is more expensive than the German stuff, I now mix the two together to get the Friskie's food to stretch a bit. The brown pillow that Kitler is sitting on is one of their favorite resting spots. Each night, Marty Jr., Kitler, and Rocket usually play 'king of the hill' and try to knock each other off.

It is going to be really hard to leave my kitties when we move, so I'm trying to get Matt to let me kidnap one of Mommy's new kittens from this spring's litter to take back to the States with me. He says NO, but I'm still working on him. Regardless, our kitties have become kind of like kids to us and they keep us in constant laughter. They aren't the smartest cats--but we still love them like they're brilliant. Doesn't Kitler have a great smile?

Vegas...Baby...Vegas...

At about 10:45 pm on Wednesday, February 21st, Matt called me from his TDY in Turkey to tell me that he had assignment news for me. Ends up, the news was FANTASTIC. Sometime in the coming year, Matt and I will be moving to LAS VEGAS, where he has earned an assignment with the 422nd F-16 Test and Evaluation Squadron. We are both so excited about the assignment (it was Matt's first choice) and can't wait to live within quick driving distance of my brother, Goat, again...not to mention so close to all of our other family and friends.

We don't have any word on a report date yet, so as soon as we find out, we'll post it to let all of y'all know. Until then, start saving your quarters, nickles, and dimes...

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Snowboarding in the Austrian Alps...Again

Over the Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, Matt and I went on our squadron's ski trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Since we've had a strange winter with not much snow, we weren't sure how much snow would be on the slopes. It turns out, there wasn't any at the place we had originally planned to snowboard, so our group ventured off a bit to a mountain with a glacier about 45 minutes away from our hotel. The snow at the Stubai Glacier was awesome and we had a great time snowboarding over the weekend. The weather was beautiful (we took our coats and hats off and ate lunch outside) and the slopes were fairly empty, so everyone had a fantastic time. The above picture is of Amy and Rylee, our squadron commander's daughter, out on the slopes.

For our apres ski (after ski fun) on Saturday, we found an Irish pub not too far from our hotel and managed to drink a few pints of Guiness and hang out with everyone in the group. This picture of Matt and Boose (Boose is obsessed with the 80's--which explains the Kiss shirt) was taken inside the pub.

On Sunday afternoon, a group of us went to watch a national league hockey game in the Olympic arena. The game was anti-climactic, but we were able to chuckle for a while about this advertisement painted on the side of the ice rink. We all agreed that you couldn't write something that funny!

On Sunday night, Matt and I went out for Indian food and afterwards found a great wine bar near our hotel. We tasted a few Austrian wines with some friends and of course, told lots of stories. This picture of us was taken inside the wine bar.

Lucy

Surprise!!!

Around Thanksgiving, my parents bought a new Scottish Terrier puppy to provide Maggie, our bulldog, with a friend. Well, Maggie doesn't like Lucy very much and my parents are exhausted trying to house break Lucy. She's a handful...so much so that at school, my mom puts her in the trashcan so she doesn't run around the room like a banshee.


Over Christmas I got to finally meet Lucy and she is precious. I love that dog...and she loves me. All I wanted to do was hold her when I was at the house. My mom says that she bought Lucy for me but now she can't give her up...so I will have to keep dog searching so that when/if we move back to the states, I can get a puppy. Lucy has doubled in size since I saw her at Christmas, so this is the most recent picture of her. When Matt gets home, I'll update the post with some of her 'puppy' pictures I took at Christmas.

Home for the Holidays

For Christmas 2006, Matt and I were very fortunate to get to come home to see both sides of our family. We started the trip by visiting my parents and family in Tennessee. My brother, Matt arrived a few days after we arrived, so we had a blast telling stories with him and spending time together. Then, on Christmas Eve, Brent, Julie, and Maura made it into town. They were in Colorado the week before Christmas and got stuck due to the huge snowstorm. After renting a car and driving for over 20 hours straight, the tired Allen family finally arrived. We had to head out to Texas on Christmas Eve afternoon, so we only got to spend a few hours with them (and playing with Maura), but we were so thrilled that we were able to even see them due to the bad weather circumstances. The other days were filled with last minute Christmas shopping, trips to Starbucks, and get togethers with my grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. Not to mention, lots of time playing with my parent's new puppy, Lucy, the cat, Iddy, and Maggie, our bulldog. Here are some pictures of Lucy and Maggie.


On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Matt and I jumped on a flight headed south to Texas to visit the Garrison family. After Matt left me inside the airport terminal, (Casey was able to find me) we headed home to see Mom G...and of course, we had to stop at Sonic on the way home. The following week was filled with a great Christmas morning, fun times playing with Micah, and a Christmas lunch with some of Matt's extended family down in Duncanville. Matt and I had a fantastic time seeing everyone and getting to spend some quality time in Texas. We already miss the brisket! Here are some pics of Matt and Micah on Christmas morning...Micah loved Matt's crocs and Dad G's glasses!

For New Year's Eve, Matt and I met up with our best friends from Germany, Paul and Janna, at none other than Billy Bob's Texas in Ft. Worth. Paul and Janna (along with her twin brothers, Brady and Chandler, their wives, and a few other friends) and the two of us went to dinner at Joe T. Garcia's and then headed over to Billy Bob's for the Jack Ingram concert. We had a great time hanging out for the last time with the Willingham's...so much so that I cried the whole drive back to Matt's parent's house. Paul and Janna moved to Phoenix, Arizona, a few days after the concert, so we had to say our 'see you soons' in the parking lot of the hotel. These are some pictures from New Year's Eve. The one on the top right is of the whole gang and the one on the far left is of Matt and Wyatt at the Flying Saucer down on Sundance Square in Ft. Worth. The rest are from inside Billy Bob's during the concert. In addition to seeing Jack Ingram at Billy Bob's, we were also able to meet up with Aunt Chop during the concert. It was great seeing her there and also at her ranch in Argyle (Amy had to go visit Turbo, her bull terrier!). Here's a picture of the three of us.

It's been really hard without Paul and Janna around, as Janna has been my best friend here...but we're hoping to move to Vegas this year (it's only a 4 hr drive from Phoenix), so God willing, we'll be close to them once again. Here's a picture of Janna and me from the concert. I think it was taken a little bit before we rang in the new year.

On our way back to Germany after having a wonderful Christmas, Matt and I stopped through New York City for a few days. Matt's parents went to the Big Apple with us, so it was great to get to spend a little more time with them while in the States. In New York, the four of us got to go see the Broadway musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," eat at all of our favorite restaurants, and sight see the whole island. Needless to say, we had a great time.

Thank you to everyone back home for making our trip home so great!

Ghent

(from left to right: 'Slick' Rieck, 'Trap' Nichols, 'Nomad' Baumgart, Matt, 'Vandal' Mann, 'Q.' Quadri, 'Chewie' Murray, & 'Wyatt' Willingham) Sorry about the 'birds' flying in the photo.

The first weekend in December, Matt and I travelled to Ghent, Belgium, with a group of 15 friends for a quick get-a-way weekend. We had a blast hanging out with our friends and Matt and the fellas took the opportunity to try out some new Belgian beers. The story behind Matt's shoe-less foot (picture on the right) and the basket of shoes (picture below) is this: the hole-in-the-wall Belgian pub that we were hanging out in had a beer they served that came in about a meter long glass. If you dared to try it, you had to give the pub your shoe. They would then put your shoe into this basket that suspended from the ceiling. Once you were finished with the beer, you could get your shoe back. If you didn't finish the beer, you would spend the rest of the night shoe-less, because they kept your shoe...for good. Needless to say, Matt got his shoe back a little bit later in the evening before we headed off for dinner at the fondue restaurant (where the top photo was taken). You can kind of see Matt's shoe on the far left if you double click the photo to enlarge it (the pub was dark and his shoe was a chestnut color). His shoe is hanging out of top left of the basket. Sorry for the blurry photo... the basket was on its ascent to the ceiling.

Christmas Tree Cutting

Another Hawk tradition is our annual Christmas tree cutting in a local forest. Matt and I were in charge of the cutting this year but didn't actually cut a tree (we were coming home to the States for the majority of December and it didn't make sense to cut one). As always, we have a great time in the forest trying to find the 'perfect' trees. On the left, you can see one of the stumps we created from all the sawing. This particular tree was a bit difficult to cut down, so Matt got to help knock the tree over to snap the final bit of trunk that they couldn't saw through.




Here are some other pictures of Matt helping some of the guys cut their trees. The last photo is of one of Boose's truck (he's one of the guys in A-flight). I think they managed to stuff 10 trees into the bed--and of course a few fell out on the drive home--which made for a long journey for Boose!

The Garrison's European Reunion

Here we are in front of one of Prague's famous churches

Well, this year for Thanksgiving, we were blessed with a visit from the Garrison clan. John, Laura, and Casey packed their bags and headed east to spend some time with us work-aholics in Germany. Like all family visits, we didn't let them un-pack for long, as we made them jump onto another plane and head further east to Prague, Czech Republic.

Before heading to Prague, we took the family to Ernie's for a wine probe. Every time we visit Ernie, our intention is to chat a bit and pick up a few bottles of wine. Each visit then turns into a 3-hour event full of wine tasting. With the Garrison's in tow, this visit did not disappoint. Eight bottles of wine and eight crossed eyes later, I drug our poor family out of the cellar and into the car. I think there was actually even a point when Casey and Mom G. asked if the room was fuzzy. I felt badly because the lengthly probe wasn't what they were expecting, but Matt thought it was funny.

We finally made it to Prague...after participating in nothing less than a circus. Our intentions were great, as we were to get to the airport about 2 hours early. However, our first train to the airport was delayed, which caused us to miss our connecting train en route, which then caused us to get to the airport with less than one hour before take-off. After standing in a slowly moving check-in line, what seemed like a mile-long security line, and then the passport control lines, we still hadn't made it to our gate. For some un-known reason, there was another security checkpoint located in front of our gate, so we had to endure another long line. Once through this line, we finally made it to our gate--5 minutes before take-off. Oh, and did I mention that Matt and I lost the rest of the family somewhere in between check-in and the gate? Matt is a speed demon when he travels, so he just takes off and leaves everyone behind. Luckily, I know his travel style, so I was able to keep up with him. Unfortuantely, the Garrison clan must have forgotten about Matt's urgency when travelling and we lost them along the way. Crisis was averted, as they caught up to us at the gate, and all 5 of us made it onto the plane (nice and sweaty, of course).

Once in Prague, we had a great time seeing the sights of the city and trying Czech food. Paul and Janna Willingham (and family) happened to be in Prague the same time we were, so we were able to meet up with them and have some gluwine and dinner one night. Here is a picture of Prague's famous astrological clock in the main square.

Prague isn't a huge city, so after seeing the castle and all the other tourist things, we managed to also visit a Communist museum (it was a lot of reading) and take a Ghost Walk one evening. The Ghost Walk was Casey's idea and an experience we probably won't ever let her live down. Our guide's english was shaky at best and the tour was filled with ghost stories followed by people dressed up in sheets who would jump out in front of us to try to create a shock factor. The group with us who had also purchased tickets started off with about 30 people. By the end of the walk, the group dwindled and I think we were able to count maybe 10 of us (including us 5 and a freaky German man with a chin-hawk). Given that we're Garrisons, we just laughed and made fun of the 'scary situations.' If you ever find yourself in Prague and interested in participating in the Ghost Walk, we do have a 10% off coupon for you! The picture on the left is of Amy sitting in a gigantic chair she managed to climb up into...we were thinking that maybe Gulliver had been in town before us.

Overall, we all had a great time in Prague and enjoyed spending some fun time together.

Happy Halloween

All we can say is TRAILER TRASH. We were a little late at ordering costumes from the States, so we had to be creative and come up with costumes using things we already had and things we could buy at the BX. So, after much pondering, we decided to be trailer trash. Matt was happy because he could pull out his old monkey and lube tech shirts. I think we did a pretty good job putting random crap together, all things considered. What do you think?

For Halloween, we went to a party at Kash's house (he's a punk in the squadron). There were about 50 people there clad in various costumes, so we had a great time laughing at what people managed to put together.

The picture on the left is of Matt and a fellow A-flight member, Chewie, at the party. Chewie showed up as an 'athletic coach,' and I think we're all still laughing about his costume (the shorts were Janna's and he was wearing an ace bandage around his left knee...not to mention white athletic tube socks and old sneakers). The stop watch just completed the outfit.

The Air Force Ball

We had made it 2 years without having to go to the Air Force Ball, but this year we weren't able to miss it. The squadron made a big push to the Ball, so in good fashion, we got all dressed up and joined in on the 'fun.' The speaker was actually the best part of the ball--he was a POW in Vietnam for 7 years and a Medal of Honor recipient. The buzz kill for the evening was Wyatt getting kicked out of the Ball. As you can see in the picture, Wyatt wore a Hawk bow-tie...and some enlisted punk went to the Vice Wing Commander and told him that Wyatt was out of protocol. So subsequently, the Vice Wing Commander 'excused' Wyatt from the remainder of the Ball. All 30 of us contemplated leaving with him, but decided to stay in order to hear the speaker. It was a stupid call on the leadership's part and even our Squadron Commander was outraged by the action taken. In the end, the night made for a good story and we all joke about it still.