When the PBR is in town, the riders will go to local stores to meet fans and sign autographs. When I found out some of our favorite riders would be out and about in Albuquerque, we headed down the hill to meet them.

My mom and dad were married 50 years ago on February 18th.  My brother and I wanted to do something for them, but logistically we were having a hard time coming up with a time.  Until that light bulb went off and I knew they would be in New Mexico for the Ty Murray Invitational PBR event.  My brother, Jeff and his family traveled from California plus my Uncle Ron, cousin Christie and her two boys were able to come out from Reno. A small, but fun group!  Mom and Dad were so surprised to see my uncle, cousin and her two boys show up on a rouse they were here looking at colleges.  Then my brother and his family showed up posing as the pizza delivery crew.  We had a great time reminiscing, laughing and enjoying being together. We had a dinner for mom and dad at the County Line BBQ and they had a great time.  Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Our holiday season started a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.  The best present we got this year was the return of our missionary, Jessica. She served honorably in the Florianopolis Brazil mission.  It was so great to see her. I had to pinch her to make sure she was real.  She had a hard time speaking English at first, but it all started to come together for her.  We loved having her for the month of November.  She is now back in school at BYU.  We miss her, but are so happy she is home.

I have fallen off of the blogosphere and really need to update Dunowland so here it is goes…

Our summer:

That was our summer in a nutshell!

So even though the official date was 1 September, Bill had his retirement ceremony on June 1st.  It was a day that seemed like we had waiting for since he actually decided to retire.  My parents and Bill’s mom came out to be here for Bill’s big day.   It was a low key ceremony. Bill isn’t a fussy guy so nothing fancy.  The squadron commander had a lot of nice things to say about Bill. It was really nice to hear all of his accomplishments and also hear some stories that I don’t remember ever being told.  Bill gave the boys and my dad a squadron coin and his mom and my mom flowers for all of the support they have given him.  As an Air Force spouse, I received a certificate of recognition for all that military spouses do. I also received yellow roses. Maybe I wasn’t suppose to do this, but I requested yellow roses because my mom received yellow roses when my dad retired from the Air Force.  My mom was my example as a military spouse. She dealt with a lot and did it all without ever being upset that my dad was away because she understood the importance of his job and his duty to the country.  I am so proud of Bill.  All he ever wanted to do was fly and he achieved that dream.  Bill is a modest guy. If someone came up to tell him thank you for his service, he would always say your welcome, but I know he felt kind of awkward accepting their thanks.  Well I want to thank him for his service to our country.  He deserves it.

*This post is long overdue.  I am slowly catching up so stay tuned for more adventures.

Bill is retiring.  It’s official in September.  On May 17th, he had his final flight (fini flight) in a military aircraft.  He was able to fly to Monticello, Utah. It’s his hometown where he was born and raised.  It seemed fitting that he was able to go to a place that holds a special place in his heart.  When he landed, he was surprised to not only see his mom and grandpa, but his brother, sisters, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles plus friends.  He didn’t have much time, but he did get to eat lunch with all of them and visit.  On his return flight, me, Billy, Baden and members of the squadron were on the flight line to greet him.  Baden manned the water hose and Billy was in charge of the Diet Coke spray.  Plus there was a cooler of water and ice.  After he landed, the fun began. Baden loved spraying Bill down and Billy had a blast getting Diet Coke all over Bill.  It was a special day capping off a 24 year career for a man who always dreamed of flying.

**Thank you to Etta Dunow, Nancy Dunow and Kim Henderson for all of the pictures that were taken in Monticello.