The Whole Claywardcrew poses for a picture!!! It's a miracle we are all looking at the same place! Whew!
Proud Daddy with his two boys!
Proud Mama with the two boys!
Here at Vance, when a new baby is born, they put their name and birth date on a sign to announce their arrival. As a family, we went and captured Preston's debute!
Here is just another cute picture of Preston!

More Pictures of Preston

After things had settled down a bit, Clay went home to get CJ and introduce him to his little brother. for the past couple of month's we've been trying to explain to CJ that he was going to be a big brother, and he must have understood because he took no time warming up to Preston.
Apparently he's not yet suffering from 'Attention Diversion Syndrome'.





OK, so maybe dad is a little bias!

Three Men and A Tough Lady!!!

He's Here! Little Preston John Ward was born this Afternoon, 11 April, at 2:55p.m.
He is 8 lbs, 12 oz and 20 inches long. All looks good and the ClayWardCrew will keep you updated on the updates!

Easter Bunny.......Hunting?

Despite the snow on Friday, and the significantly cooler temperatures since, it was a fun weekend with all of the Easter festivities. On Saturday we were happy to get paid a visit from Mike and Adrianne Richards and family, who are currently stationed down at Tinker AFB by Oklahoma City. Except for a quick visit by Laura and CJ a few month's go, we hadn't really seen them since the good 'ol days at BYU. It was a short visit, but we managed to all attend the Base Easter Egg Hunt (although the hunt was more of a toddler shopping spree that lasted about twenty seconds!).





This afternoon after church CJ had another little Easter Egg hunt here in the backyard with Brian. There were much fewer kids and the eggs were a little better hidden.

Visit From The Smith's

Last week we were visited by Mom & Dad Smith and Bryce for a couple of days. Clay went up to see Bryce graduated from Army MP School in Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri along with Stan and Nancy, then afterwards they all drove down together to hang out with the ClayWardCrew. We were able to go for a ride in the T-1 simulators, check out a rather disappointing Assignment Night, and head down to Oklahoma City to check out the Bombing Memorial. It was their first time on an Air Force base, and the first time Clay had seen then in a year and a half, so it was nice just being together.

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.