Ben's RIP

No, this does not mean "Rest In Peace". His RIP is the "unofficial" orders we get with the "tentative" dates for the rest of his training. Everything with the Air Force is subject to change until the official orders are in his hands. I promised to keep y'all updated when we found out more information, so here it is:

Sept. 28-30 is Centrifuge training at Hollomon AFB in NM.

Oct. 8-30 is Parachute/Land Survival training at Fairchild AFB in WA.

Dec. 8-10 is Water Survival at Pensacola NAS in FL.

Feb. 4-April 9 is IFF at Columbus AFB in MS.

After all this is said and done we have to report to Klamath Falls ANGB, OR no later than April 30. He starts his F-15 training on May 10 and finishes fully mission qualified on November 26, 2010.

All of the above training things are done as TDYs so Aubrey and I will stay in Columbus. We get to be with him while he is doing his IFF training since it is here. Only seven more months and then we get to see a new part of the country...Oregon, here we come!

SUPT Graduation

Well here it is, the end of a long year. Ben graduated from pilot training on September 4, 2009. The morning started out with a breakfast and then a briefing by Col. Watkins (the base commander). After that we headed over to the base theater for the official ceremony. This first picture is right after Col. Watkins pinned Ben's wings on and gave him his "diploma".

After the formal ceremony they have the traditional "Breaking of Wings".

"Since man started flying, he has taken to the air with a certain amount of risk. To counter that risk, a tradition was established years ago when the Army Air corps first started issuing pilot wings to their young aviators. This tradition is called 'Breaking of Wings'. At every UPT graduation, the Air Force issues the pilots their first pair of wings. As tradition has it, that first pair of wings should never be worn by the pilot. To bring good luck, the pilot should break the wings into two parts. One half should be kept by the pilot, the other half should be given to the pilot's best friend or relative. To preserve the good luck, the two halves should never be brought together while the pilot is still alive. After death, the two halves are once again united with the pilot for good luck in the next life." -Annonymous

This picture is of Ben breaking his wings. They have to hold the two halves over their heads to prove they broke them. It's always a joke to see who the last (weakest) person will be.

Ben came and found us pretty quick and wanted to hold his favorite girl! We just had to make sure she didn't spit-up on his uniform.

After the ceremony we went over to the wing plaza and I got to pin on his first official pair of Air Force Silver Wings!!

This is Ben's Flight Commander, Capt. Venable. Ironically enough his name is Aubrey too! This is where they received their actual "diploma". It is their Aeronautical Ratings saying they are a pilot!

After all the stuff in the squadron was done we got to head out to the flight line and see a static display of the T-38. I think Aubrey is going to follow in her daddy's footsteps. She is already mesmerized by the jet.

This usually doesn't happen, but there was an F-15 Eagle there for Ben's graduation so we had to get a good picture of him in front of "his" jet. Now you can see how much bigger this jet is from the T-38.

It's official...1st Lt. Benjamin C. Kempen is an F-15 Eagle fighter pilot for the greatest Air Force in the world!!! We couldn't be more proud.

Aubrey's Adventures

The other day Ben and I were sitting around wondering what to do. It was a beautiful day outside, but we were getting tired of our usual walks on base, so we decided to venture out to the River Walk downtown. It is a really nice new path that is two miles long. We probably walked about a mile and a half out so we did three miles. It was a lot of fun.

This was the bench we stopped at with the sign right before we turned around and headed back.

Aubrey had a good time laughing a smiling most of the way.

Aubrey had her 4 month check up at the Dr. on Monday, and we started her on rice cereal! Here is the perfect picture of her after our first try. She is getting so much better at eating from the spoon, but now she wants to help and tries to grab at the spoon before I can get it in her mouth.

Now that Aubrey is moving around a little I'm not comfortable leaving her on her boppy on the couch without me right there so we pulled out her Pack'N'Play. It is the perfect place for her to be while I'm in the kitchen or cleaning up the living room. She has a bunch of toys in there and I know the dogs won't step on her. In this picture she was busy having a conversation with her Bunny-Bear.

Life is changing everyday with our little family. Aubrey is now eating rice cereal and we introduced Sweet Potatoes tonight. She seems to like them. And....she rolled over!!! It took a few times of coxing, but she was on her tummy and when I turned around she was on her back! I was so sad I missed the first time, but I put her back on her tummy and she did it again!! I am having so much fun with her and I can't wait for her to wake up from her nap in the afternoon to play with me. We have a great time together. I hope you enjoy watching her grow through our pictures!

Assignment Night Pictures

I'm sorry I don't have more pictures for y'all, but like I said in my last post I completely forgot about the camera. This first one is priceless.

Ben's reaction. (Let's not be stupid...hold on to the beer).

My reaction. (and a few Japanese guys)

From left to right: 1st Lt. Benjamin Kempen - F-15C, 1st Lt. Lawson Cass - F-22, 2nd Lt. Jeff Blaufuss - F-16.

Here are the three fighter guys from our class...we couldn't be more proud!!!

The happy family...well, almost happy. Aubrey was about done by the end of the night.

F-15C in Oregon!

Ben had his Assignment Night last night, and I'm sure many of you have heard that we are heading to Klamath Falls, OR. Ben got his dream to fly a single-seat fighter, the F-15C (pictured above). We are both so excited to see where this jet will take us. I promise to put up pictures when I get them. I was so nervous and excited that I completely forgot about my camera. I'll keep updating as we find things out. Here are a few of the questions we get asked all the time with the answers we have.

FAQ:

1. Do you know when you are leaving?

- No, we wont know until he gets his orders and we don't know when we are getting those.

2. How long will you be there?

- We have no idea. We have heard anything from 6 months to 2 years. It all depends on the training.

3. Where do you go after training?

- No clue. There are going to be a lot of options opening up in our future, but we wont have much say.

4. When will he do his survival training?

- Either before or after we move. It all depends on how quickly he can get into IFF.

5. What's IFF?

- "Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals". He will do this 6 week program here in Columbus in the T-38, but the wait list for this can be up to a year.

Sooo.....the big picture is we really don't know anything except that we will be in Oregon sometime in the next 2 years, and Ben will be flying the F-15C. I hope this answered some of your questions! Sorry we don't have very good answers, but when the Air Force says "jump" we simply say "how high?"

Growing Girl

Aubrey is growing more and more each day. There are so many things going on in our lives right now it is sometimes hard to keep up. Ben has his Assignment night coming up two weeks from Friday. This is where he is going to find out where we are going next and what kind of plane he will be flying. We are so excited to find out where the Air Force will take us next. Right now anything is could happen and we won't have any idea until the 5:00 on the 21.

Ben is working hard, but comes home and always wants to spend time with his little girl. He was so impressed when she sat in her chair that he had to take a few pictures. This is the best one we got.

Daddy and Aubrey

Aubrey is so animated these days and loves to play to her toys. Her laughs and smiles are priceless.

Here's her little smirk. I think she is going to be a mischievous little girl.

Aubrey always has her bunny-bear with her. She likes to chew on the ears, but struggles getting them in her mouth. She grabs the whole thing and tries to shove the whole thing in her mouth.

Aubrey is already such a studious little girl. She loves reading the book Gail gave her! (I think she likes the crinkly noise it makes more than anything).

The Zoo...

No, I'm not talking about the zoo with the animals in cages...I'm talking about our house. I love having things going on and I couldn't imagine going back to the time when it was just Ben and I.

Here are a few pics of two out of our three girls. Sadie and Maggie know the rules about having to sit when they are on the furniture. They like to look out the windows and watch the guys next door renovating the house. Maggie can't figure out that they aren't coming into our house so she barks a lot at them.

Sadie and Maggie wear eachother out a lot during the day so they spend a lot of time sleeping. Maggie is still trying to figure out where she is allowed to sleep on the couch since Sadie has her space, but she still likes to snuggle.

Maggie looks guilty...she's learning that it's ok to be on the furniture.

Sadie is wiped out after playing all afternoon with Maggie. We thought of her as a puppy still, but she is starting to look like the old dog.

Maggie is so sweet. She is definitely a people dog and loves to be around us. She is constantly climbing on the couch and snuggling with either Ben or I and she loves to give Aubrey kisses. She's just one of those dogs that really wants to make her people happy.

Of course....as soon as I pulled out the video camera Sadie stopped her whining. You have to watch it for awhile before you see why I took the video. Maggie is chewing on the little bone that Sadie loves and instead of getting up and taking it from her she just sat there and complained. It went on for about 20 min. Finally Sadie realized that the bigger bone was just as good and started chewing on that one.