We've Made It!

I can't believe it--we're finally settled at Edwards. Moving out went very smoothly, and everything got packed up and on the truck with no problems.

Evan even got to help!



We arrived Nov. 8, after 7 days of driving and a little bit of time visiting with family, and are very happy to be here. When we got on base and checked in at lodging we were expecting our TLF (temporary living facility) to be just another hotel room, maybe with a kitchenette, but were overjoyed to find that it was more like a two bedroom house--complete with fenced yard, full kitchen and plenty of space to relax. It was such a blessing to be able to be out of hotel rooms!

We only stayed there for a few days, and were able to move into our brand new (literally!) house Nov. 12th. Apparently we're pretty good at moving, because we had everything that needed to be in the house unpacked that day, and as I sit here now, the house is clean (mostly--it's amazing how filthy a house thats never been lived in can be), things are in their places, and the house feels like our home. We are very, very happy.


Mike has slowly been getting acquainted with his job, which is with the 31 TES (Test and Eval Squadron) and does operational testing on aircraft including unmanned aircraft, fighters and bombers. Most likely he'll be working on the B2 bomber , although nobody has really told him yet exactly what he'll be doing, and he's still mostly working on getting his boring inprocessing done.

Evan loves his new house. He seems to really like having so much more space to run around in, (much, much more--I think we've upgraded from having around 700 sq. ft. to a little over 2000 sq. ft!) and he really likes to be able to go off and be by himself. Ithink we all do! Our yard has some grass and a lot of sand, and he has been playing out there quite a bit with all his diggers and dump trucks. I like that it is completely fenced, and I can see him from inside so I know he's safe out there. Cody is enjoying the yard as well!




Edwards is a little remote, but not as bad as everyone made it out to be! There is quite a bit of open desert, but we can see mountains off in the distance which is really nice. To get to the freeway we have to drive for about 30 minutes across desert and a dry lake bed, which is a little weird because there is literally nothing out there. From our house to the kind of things that we might want to get to off-base (Costco, Target, etc.) takes only around 45 minutes, which to us is not bad at all! I don't see why everyone was telling us that everything is so far away (with dramatic emphasis), especially because once you've driven that 45 minutes there are more stores and restaraunts than we even had access to in Massachusetts. Plus, it only takes about two minutes to drive to the commissary and BX on base, so you won't hear me complaining!

All in all, we are pretty excited to be here, and for the most part, Edwards has exceeded our expectations. And yeah, it is exceptionally sunny here and the sky is blue beyond belief. Ha!


So, all is beyond well here. On another exciting note, we are planning on driving to the Corvallis area for Thanksgiving, and we can't wait to be home for a bit! We haven't figured out what days we'll be there yet, but we are definitely coming! Yay!


Also, I'll send out change of address cards as soon as I have the time to sit down and do it. :)