Early on in the season, I hosted a night at my house for the spouses in our squadron. We drank wine, ate dessert and made two fun "pinterest" crafts. I wanted to do it before all the Christmas chaos would start for everyone!
On 12/18 we hosted a dinner for the Airmen in our squadron. 6 came, plus one wife and one child- it was a great night. This is the 3rd dinner we have hosted since taking command (eventually we hope to have all ranks, departments over) and even though these were Brian's youngest troops- I think we both enjoyed this group the most! I sent each Airmen home with a bread I had baked and the ornament my mother made for each of them. One guy, 21 yrs old, had just moved out of the dorms on base last month, hadn't yet gotten a Christmas tree and said that that ornament would be the first Christmas tree decoration he had ever owned! Who knows if he will cherish it or lose it in a future move, but I know that we had ornaments on our tree from the squadron Brian was in 15 years ago still!
The final, and best, thing we did with Brian's work, was going Christmas caroling. This started last year under the then commander- and Brian was in AR so he didn't get to experience it with us all. Last year we got together as a group and went caroling to the homes of our deployed members. It was so much fun surprising everyone and bringing them a gift too, so I knew it was something I wanted to continue to do when Brian took command. There was a group of about 20 of us this year and we went to 3 homes-
We visited two homes of guys who are sick- one battling cancer the other complications/hospitalizations from a knee surgery gone bad. I swear that I might have seen a few tears in those guys eyes when they opened the door and heard us begin to sing! (and not because it was awful singing either!)
This event was the perfect conclusion to all of our holiday "duties!" That night I went out with 3 friends to dinner and the play "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and it was a fantastic way to kick off the beginning of our family Christmas!
Side note- for several years, Brian has gone to a paint your own pottery place and surprised me with a Christmas plate for years when we have had memorable Christmas'- Our first, when I was pregnant with Tate, the year we went to England, Paris, etc etc. This year I did not expect one... But he made me one! It is titled "A Mastermind Christmas," which was SO fitting of our life right now. (Brian's squadron is the 15th AMOS "Mastermind's") And get this- not 2 hours after I opened that gift, Brian's work phone rang and he had to go into work! (He was too busy to return to the pottery place before Christmas, so I only received a photo of my plate! When he finds time to actually go pick up the plate, I'll post a picture of it!)
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