I Have WINGS!!!

It seemed like this day would never come, but after many early mornings, long days, and late nights of studying, flying, and planning to fly, That ClayWardCrew finally got what they were working for; a shiny new pair of silver wings!!!
Below is a picture of Clay with his first pair of wings.....broken into two pieces! No this wasn't the result of a tragic fit of rage, but a longstanding Air Force tradition. It's considered bad luck to wear your very first set of wings, so to ensure that none of that bad luck finds it's way into an Air Force Pilots coffin, he is to break that first set of wings into two pieces. One half is to be kept by that pilot, and the other half is to be kept by a friend/relative, and the two halves are never to be rejoined until after the pilots death.

All around Vance

The day before graduation, Clay was able to take us (Amy, Stan, Vera, Laura and CJ) around to the different areas on the base - the tower, simulators, planes, etc. It was fun to see what Clay has been doing for the past few months!
Here is Vera after she successfully flew a T-1 simulator! She took off and landed and didn't crash....how hard is it really? (Ok, ok...Clay helped just a little!!!)
Here is Amy and Stan Ward inside an actual T-1 cockpit.

Happy Birthday CJ!!

Since CJ and his good friend Ty have birthdays within 2 weeks of each other, we had a combined birthday party for them!
Here is a picture of the whole party clan...from left to right, Zach, Brian, Lisa, Clayton, CJ, and Ty. The boys were busy painting trains, which is a favorite of most boys here in Enid because the train goes right behind our houses!

CJ loved to blow out the candle!! Luckily Clay was right there with the lighter to relight the candle as many times as was needed until the air in the little lungs ran out!
Stan, Amy and Vera Ward (Clay's parents and grandma) were able to be here for the big party since they were still here from Clay's graduation!
A picture of the proud parents, who can't believe they have a 2 year old, and the man of the hour!

Laura, Clay, and Amy Ward (Clay's Mom) helped make the airplane cake!

Who Are the REAL Animals?

In between finishing flying and graduation, Clay had a few days to "chill." So, we decided to head down to Oklahoma City Zoo and spend an afternoon looking at all the fun animals. They had anteaters, flamingos, and a HUGE Gorilla (he was sitting on a swing and just stared at us...he was great!!! We could hardly believe he was real!). Since the Ward Family was having Kilgore Family withdrawls since they have now moved from our neighborhood to Oklahoma City, we met up with them at the zoo and had a wonderful afternoon together!!

Assignment Night Results!!

We have had a few exciting weeks in the Ward home!! We found out what aircraft Clay will fly for the Air Force and where our first duty station will be! If you have good eyes and look closely at this first photo...you can see that we got KC-135 (tanker) to Fairchild, AFB in Spokane, WA. We are all thrilled. We will be heading back to the Northwest sometime this fall!!!

33 Weeks and Growing

Laura is now 33 weeks along and feeling great...well, big and great. We can't wait to meet the new little guy. We can hardly believe it is just a few weeks away! CJ is very excited about the idea of having a baby in the house. He loves the neighbor's, the Monks, little baby Clayton. Sure, maybe it's because they share the same name, we are hoping he just likes babies! CJ is still a little puzzled with Laura's big belly. He lifted her shirt up the other day to see what was under it and realized...its just BELLY! When we ask "Where is our baby?" He points to Laura's belly, but we just aren't sure how much he really understands....but for now - it works and we are all getting excited. Now...if we can only finalize a name for the little man, we will be set.

WIND....What Is It Good For?

President's Day came around with not a cloud in the sky and a stiff westerly wind, so the ClayWardCrew decided to put that wind to use! With a quick trip to Walmart, and a small glance at some assembly instructions, we set off for the soccer fields and put our Oklahoma wind to work. With this being our first experience with a steerable kite, and with "Danger" being our middle names, the natives fled for cover as the Ward Crew Wonders zoomed overhead.

Snow or Ice anyone?

The Big Ice and Snow storms here in Oklahoma did not stop or hinder the Ward family from playing....oh no! CJ wouldn't stand for it...we were all outside bundled up playing on the snow, slipping on the snow and even eating the snow. We were shocked to see how much snow and ice CJ ate - he ate more than he played...but, don't worry, we made sure to steer him away from the yellow snow or ice (or at least we tried!)

Icy Fun!! (I See Fun!!)

CJ had fun over at Zach & Ty's house in the afternmath of 'The Ice Storm Of Doom!!!'. They had fun sliding down the driveway on cardboard boxes and various other implements of danger (Those boys Live For Danger!)

Yeee Haaaa...Cowboy

I think these pictures pretty much speak for themselves... while in Dietrich, CJ had a great time dressing up as a cowboy.....yee haaa. These pictures were just too cute not to share!

Reunited for Christmas

On Christmas Eve, after having been separated for a week, the Clay Ward Crew was reunited in Idaho, or paradise, as Clay calls it ... however, coming from the Caribbean - Laura had a little different opinion as to what Paradise really was... but, nonetheless we were happy to be together again!

We had our own version of the Christmas story, narrated by Grandpa Stan Ward and enacted by CJ (the shepard), Evan (Joseph), Taylor (Mary), and Maydin (the angel). The kids did a great job. We had to take the picture quick because the costumes didn't stay on long!



Here we are Christmas Morning in our new Christmas PJs. If it looks like we just woke up... well we did! CJ's all perky, I'm not quite sure about Clay and Laura.




Here is the Family...Stan, Amy, Grand dad, Janie, Joslyn, Rhein, Leslie, Josh, Clay, Laura, CJ, Maydin, Kastin, and Kelly. (from left to right, starting with the top row)












Clay was very excited to be in the snow again and couldn't resist hitting the slopes while we were in Idaho. So, Matt (Joslyn's boyfriend), Joslyn, Janie, Dad, Patrick (Clay's long time buddy), and Clay all went to Pomerelle and skied until they couldn't stand up any more. Thank goodness there were no casualties, well, except for Dad's new camera...oops.

To the Caribbean and Back

On December 15th, CJ and Laura strapped on their packs and headed to New Orleans where they met the Smith Clan, boarded the Royal Caribbean Cruise ship and headed off. CJ had a great time not only packing around his back pack, but Mommy's too! What a man! That's what I call "Gentlemanly Like Behavior!" (for all those Pride and Predjudice nuts).


Laura and CJ had a great time hanging out with the Smith Clan for a week - the cruise was just an added perk!!




They went swimming, watched dolphins, met the natives, ate fabulous food, met one of the original Monkeys (the drummer, I think!), went snorkeling, etc. What a tough life.

From the report, Laura and CJ had a blast, but next time Laura said she is going to exchange Clay for CJ and have a RELAXING vacation.

Christmas Time

Well, it's been a busy few weeks in the Ward house. Laura and CJ headed off to New Orleans and met the Smith crew where they all boarded the 'SS Caribean Cruise Ship'(or something like that)and from last report are having a great time out in the Gulf, hanging out in Mexico, swimming with dolphins, parasailing, and doing whatever else goes on out there. Clay, in te meantime has been very busy with flight training back in Oklahoma. His flight commander was really pushing him and three other guys in his unit to finish their Navigation Checkride before Christmas (The Nav Checkride is the last really big hurdle to get through before graduation). So in other words that meant that Clay would have to forego the cruise for training. The unfortunate thing was the weather came in this week right before the checkride and cancelled all of Clay's sorties(flights)for the rest of the week. Needless to say it's been a lonely week or so without Laura and CJ, and since training was halted, it's been a really slow week. Neighbors have taken pity on Clay (he's been invited to dinner about four of five times this week) and helped keep him company. Clay, Laura, and CJ will all meet back up in Idaho on Christmas Eve and spend a week or so with the family. I'm sure CJ and all of his cousins will have a blast over the holiday, and it will be nice to get back home after being away for over a year.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

With our 75 degree weather days in November, Clay was a little worried that he would have to wait until our visit to Idaho to experience snow. To all of our surprise, Clay didn't need to wait after all, last week....snow came to Enid! (just after a 75 degree day too...weird). Not just a trickel either...we got about 12 inches! Clay was excited beyond words. (PS..no we did NOT get a dog...it's the neighbors!!)

Clay was especially excited to get CJ outside and experience the snow. After an hour or so of dressing CJ, he was finally ready to meet the storm. (Laura demanded that he wear at least 20 layers! Just kidding.) But, after all that work, we stepped outside and CJ started screaming. It was still snowing and blowing - right in his face and well... let's just say, he wasn't too happy. So, the first outing was a short outing. But, we ventured out for outing number 2 the next day when the sun was shining but there was still plenty of snow on the ground. CJ was much happier!
It was so nice to have a couple of days as a family where we were snowed in and all we could do was play, play, play. Clay even got a couple of days off (now that doesn't happen very often!)