Team Monty's Expedition: San Antonio, TX

Texas off ramp :)

Everything is bigger in Texas!

Our campground in San Antonio.... Fort Sam Houston

Site #17... The kids loved this metal pole. Can you see Jolie swinging from it?
They played firemen a lot!

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetary

Ft. Sam is a big training post, with lots of students walking around the post in formation. The kids thought this was great and were acting like the students by marching around the campground in formation. Our neighbor saw them and said they were doing a great job. He rewarded their efforts with a coveted Commander's Coin! We had no idea who he was! Turns out he was a very special soldier.

The kids receiving a Commander's Coin from the Sgt. Major Academy Commander, who just happened to be our neighbor in the RV park :) We meet amazing people on this trip!

School time

We celebrated New Year's Eve in San Antonio... see all the candy on the table?
Yup, we were trying to stay awake until midnight :)
We did!!! We played lots of games, watched a movie, and crashed into bed at 12:05am!

The first day of 2012 was a Sunday. We were so excited to attend The Summit, with Pastor Rick Godwin http://summitsa.com/. The last time Jon and I attended his church they were in a different location. It was was during an Air Force move from Montgomery, AL to El Paso, TX...before kids. His New Year message was awesome, as always! We're so looking forward to living out God's plan for us this year. After service, as we were leaving... we discovered THIS next to the foyer!!!

The kids had a blast and rode it at least 5 times in a row!
The pastor purchased it from a mall that was getting rid of it. What a unique vision!

Our warm days in San Antonio were filled with activities. We took advantage of the beautiful weather with many trips to a huge playground and the volleyball courts. We ran errands, including another stop at Apple. We turned in our older laptop hopefully for the last time....all repairs are finally done and it seems to be working great now. I'm so thankful for Apple Care!

One errand that we had to do, I wasn't looking forward to... at... all. We had to go to Verizon because it seems that some how our Mifi was accidentally thrown out! Yup... we think it happened when cleaning out the truck when we first got to Beaumont. Good items were thrown in a plastic bag and granola wrappers were thrown on top. The bag was put in the camper. Then someone saw the trash on top and threw it out. We didn't discover this until the end of the week though because the RV park had free Wifi, so we didn't miss our Mifi.

So... we prayed that God would give us favor and the cost wouldn't be too severe. We told the Verizon rep what had happened and that we needed to replace the Mifi. We didn't carry insurance on it, we only had it 6 months, and we had just renewed our phone contracts the month before. Bummer.... we were looking at an early cancellation fee of $145 to stop service on the missing Mifi and $279 plus tax retail price for a new Mifi. Ouch! Well, we didn't have a choice, we need internet service. The rep went to the back to get a new device and came out saying that his manager is waving the early termination fee and wanted us to start a new 2 year contract with the new device, making it FREE! We just stood there, jaws on the floor! We DID NOT ASK for any of that! We knew it was our fault and were willing to own up. So, our potential $424+ mistake, ended up costing us nothing... AND we got a new upgraded beautiful 4G Mifi! Whoop, whoop!!!! God most definitely works out all things for our good, even our Verizon mistakes :) We're so thankful for His favor!

Since we didn't have cable at the camper, Jon and Daniel had to find a place to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes play the Florida Gators in the Gator Bowl. They went to Dave and Busters and stumbled upon a group of OSU alumni that were there to watch the game! The boys had a great time watching the game with a bunch of wild fans, even though the Buckeyes lost. Daniel told me when they got home that there were people there that cheered even louder than daddy during the game. :)

Some of you know that I'm an Air Force veteran. I enlisted in 1989, while a student at Chico State University in California. I attended Basic Training at Lackland AFB, June-July 1990. I'm so thankful that I had an opportunity to serve my county. I'm also thankful that my service allowed me to complete my Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and to meet my amazing husband. :) I was on active duty for 2 years when I met Jon. When we got engaged, I moved from active duty AF and joined the AF Reserves. This allowed me to move whenever and wherever Jon was reassigned and to earn an officer's commission. I was honored to have my husband commission me. I resigned my commission when I got called into a new service...motherhood. I served America honorably for 2 years active duty and 6 years in the reserves.

The base where I attended basic training is in San Antonio. I graduated one month before Desert Shield started!

I lived in the dorms in the background. I marched endless laps around this same area that those current basic trainees are marching.
Believe it or not, in the Texas summer heat... I actually fell asleep while marching! :)