Benscoter Family: August 2013

Life has been hectic in the Benscoter household over the last several months, as you may imagine. Now it is time for me to play a little catch-up with our family blog. Here is a look at how we spent the month of August:

Joe and Patrick flew the night of August 1st which was their second of three flights to finish their C-17 training at Altus AFB, OK. From what I can remember, all went well with that flight so Brittney and I spent the next week obsessing over what-might-be with the guys' final flight. What day would their check ride be? Would they pass? Should we start packing? Is Patrick going to make it to Florida in time for his water survival class? These are just few of the many questions that surfaced during our conversations...

As it turns out, Joe and Patrick successfully flew and passed their check ride on August 8th. The next morning, August 9th, we packed up the UHaul and said "see you later" to the Dixon's. What a bitter sweet day that was as we headed for our new home in New Jersey and they drove to Florida for a week before they flew to their new home in Hawaii. We made it to St. Louis, MO before stopping for the evening. The kids were tired of being in the car and they were both very cranky! We left early the next morning and were able to stop in Greenfield, IN for lunch with Brittney's Mom, Beth. She made us a wonderful home-cooked meal and we all enjoyed getting out of the car for a while. That night we stopped at a hotel in Triadelphia, WV and we all went to bed early. We finally made it to McGuire AFB on August 11th! We checked into our TLF appartment on base and then enjoyed dinner with some of our best friends: Johnny, Patrice, and Jay Grimes. Joe turned 30 on August 12th and we celebrated with a surprise party at the Grimes' house. We ate pizza and wings with the Grimes Family, Lusignan Family (whom we met during Joe's pilot training in MS), and the Rappa Family (whom we met during Joe's assignment at Cannon, AFB in NM). The following day, August 13th, I interviewed for a job at Capital Health hospital which is where I now work.

On August 14th we drove to Cape Cod. That evening we had a big birthday party to celebrate all of the July/August birthdays in our family (Tyler turning 1, Evan and Joe turning 30, and me turning 29). That day was also very special because Tyler cut his left front tooth! August 15th was filled with appointments at Boston Children's Hospital. We saw his feeding specialist in the morning followed by meetings with both his GI and Cardiology doctors. Bottom line: Tyler was doing GREAT! We were all ready to transfer his care to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) since our new home is less than 1 hour away. On August 16th I turned 29! I enjoyed cinnamon rolls made by my Mom and Sophia...they did a lovely job! Then Joe and I drove down to Otis AFB with the kids to have lunch with Benjamin, Evan, Erin, Ava, McKenzie, and our great friends Joe, Megan, and Orya Chapa! The lunch was followed by an outdoor adventure for Joe and I lead by my awesome brother Benjamin. That night Joe and I went out for a date to see Hello Dolly! It was so much fun! August 17th was another amazing day as we spent the morning at Skaket Beach. We spent that evening with family celebrating my cousin Grant's High School graduation.

Joe and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on August 18th. We spent it in a really romantic way: we had the National League of Lagasse NFL fantasy football draft. It did turn out to be a pretty awesome day for me because (spoiler alert!) I won this year!! We drove back to McGuire on August 19th and on the way home I got an amazing phone call...we were pre-assigned a house on Fort Dix in the same neighborhood as the Grimes', Rappa's, and Lusignan's! On August 21st Tyler cut his right front tooth. In other news, that night Joe tried to make pasta for dinner and he almost started a large fire in our hotel room so...we ate out that night ;) On August 25th our dear, talented friend Amanda Rappa took family photos of us in our new neighborhood (see photos below!). Neither of the kids were really interested in having their pictures taken but we got several precious photos.

On August 30th we signed the lease for our house! It was perfect timing because Nana and Papa came that day to visit for the holiday weekend. Over the next couple of days, we were able to paint all of the bedrooms, the kitchen, and living room. As I mentioned before, Tyler had a big month because he cut both of his top front teeth. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Sophia learned to sing several short children's songs and really developed a love for playing games; I spy and Hide and Seek were two of her favorite games. Enjoy the photos and videos below... hopefully I will get several more posts up soon!