Pictures from our visit to lovely Canandaigua...

We were fortunate to have time in between our move from Louisiana to Germany to head up to Zev's hometown of Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. We actually visited Fort Worth, Texas and Fi spent a week in Colorado for work, so we have been on the road for a while now!! Nevertheless, we really enjoyed spending quality time with our family and friends and just enjoying the beauty of upstate New York. We had dinner with family, went running on the hills, spent some glorious moments out on beautiful Cayuga Lake with Mike and Deanna (where Fi tried waterskiing for the very first time and Zev showed her how he can waterski on one ski!!) Zev even set up a target shooting afternoon out the back of his brother's property!!! And that was after he showed our niece Emily and our nephews, David and Will, how to hypnotize a chicken. How's that for a party trick? (Apparently there are three ways to hypnotize a chicken- according to Wikipedia). Wow. Not that we are rednecks from the South or anything!! We hope that our dear family and friends from New York as well as from Australia will be able to come visit us here in Europe so we can show them the sights and sounds of this gorgeous region. Thanks to everyone for hosting us. We love and miss you very much. Here are some pictures of our wonderful memories....

Guten Tag from Germany!

Guten Tag/ G'day/ Hey y'all from Stuttgart, Germany!!

It really is an international world isn't it! We just wanted to send greetings from our new home and let you all know that we are doing well and absolutely LOVING it here. Zev and I have hit the ground running and have already explored some neat German villages and castles, and have sampled the local cuisine. It's all good. The people are very friendly and helpful. I think this will be a great tour. I will post pictures as soon as we can download our pictures. Until next time, Fiona!

Off we go into the wild blue yonder...

As most of you probably know, those words are the first few words of the US Air Force song. By the time you read this we are probably on the road somewhere as we commence our travels and our move to Germany. It's hard to believe that it was only 4 short years ago that we were fixing (that's a new word I've picked up in the South, mum ;-)) to leave Sydney, Australia, and move to Sweet Home Alabama. Boy, we could not even have begun to imagine the amazing people and experiences that the Lord would bless us with, over the next four years. As we prepare to leave the United States (don't worry, we will be back eventually!), I (Fi) especilly feel sad to leave my adopted homeland, the country of my husband which is now my country too. If we didn't get a chance to give you a hug before we left Shreveport, please receive our "e-hug" now and know that we are thinking of you. A big thank you to all our wonderful friends and colleagues who threw us going away (not "goodbye"!!) parties, for all the gifts, cards and heartfelt words. I will get around to writing personal thank you cards to each of you; it just may take a little while along our travels. Until next time! Zev and Fi xoxo

Proud to be an American (still Aussie too!)

Meet America's newest citizen as of 2pm July 21st, 2008 (incidentally, Fi's brother Mario and his wonderful wife Gabby are the proud parents of a beautiful, healthy new baby boy born on July 21st! Congrats bro and Gabby, we wish we were there to meet your new bub). We traveled down to New Orleans on Sunday evening in order to attend the Naturalization Interview on Monday morning. We stayed the night in the French Quarter and had a brilliant time, walking the streets and taking pictures of beautiful and historic New Orleans. We ate out at a great Italian restaurant and really had a lovely experience all in all! Fi is proud to be an Australian-American. Fi's dearest friend Leslie threw her an "Americana" themed going away party in honor of her new citizenship back home in Shreveport. Boy, we are going to miss this wonderful state of Louisiana....

Goodbyes are not forever.

To all our dear Shreveport and Bossier friends and colleagues who threw us wonderful and heartfelt going away parties- THANK YOU so much, from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for welcoming us into your community and your lives and for helping make our experience here so wonderful. We will miss you guys and look forward to catching up in Germany! Love, Zev and Fi xoxoxo

Goodbyes are not forever.

Goodbyes are not the end.

They simply mean I'll miss you

Until we meet again!

~Author Unknown

Farewell Barksdale

The Change of Command Ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt. Zev received the Meritorious Service Medal and officially handed over command of his squadron. He even remembered that my favorite flower is the Pink Oriental Tiger Lily. Thanks for the memories, 2nd LRS.

Pie in the Sky

Zev's squadron hosted his going away cook-out on Friday at a park on base. They had all sorts of fun activities for the kids and Zev received a lot of wonderful, personalized and heartfelt farewell gifts which will always remind him of the professional and dedicated people he worked with during his time here at Barksdale. Zev will miss the men and women of his squadron, but we know that we are bound to run into some of them during our travels and Air Force career. The highlight of the picnic was the pie in the face contest- needless to say, the bidding for putting the pie in Zev's face raised the most money. He did smell like sour milk afterwards, even when he tried to wash it off! Mmmm, yummy ;-)

Fun at the courthouse

Fi will definitely miss practicing criminal law amongst some of the finest criminal trial lawyers she has ever worked with. She and her colleague Sarah, won a scholarship to attend the National Institute of Trial Advocacy school in Colorado. They will attend the week long course at the end of July (Zev will graciously pack up the house in Fi's absence- thanks hon ;-)) Fi is excited to "sharpen" her trial lawyer skills at the litigation school.

One last shoot at the range!

Amongst the favorite past times that Zev and Fi have enjoyed here in Trap and Skeet Shooting. We went out there one last time, earlier this week with some friends of ours. We hope to find a nice Trap and Skeet/ Rod and Gun Club in Germany to join.

Molly Ringwald

Zev surprised Fi earlier last week with a beautiful PINK retro bicycle which Fi has named "Molly Ringwald" ("Pretty in Pink"). She is a real pearla- the bike that is- and Fi can't wait to ride her into the little villages in Germany to pick up fresh bread for brekkie. (We might need to add a little white basket in the front. Zev can borrow the bike when he needs his dose of pinkness too.

Fi's running group

We had our farewell brunch with Fi's running group (the world famous "Slowbies") today. She has really enjoyed running with them, and pushing herself to new running limits. Berlin Marathon 2009, HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Sunday school class.

Our Sunday school class, who we have been with for the entire three years that we have been stationed here, threw us a wonderful going away cook out last night. Zev will certainly miss the wonderful food and hunting to be done here in the "Sportsman's Paradise."

Fi and the girls

Fi has been blessed to make a lot of dear girlfriends here in Louisiana. They are all so special to her and have shared many wonderful moments together.

4th of July

We are so sad to say goodbye to all our wonderful friends and colleagues here in Louisiana. We have definitely loved living in Louisiana and will surely miss the wonderful culture and experiences here. We will even miss the sweltering heat in the summer and the southern drawl of the locals. Zev's Change of Command ceremony is tomorrow and we can't believe that three years have flown by so fast. We are excited about our next adventure in Europe and hope that our dear friends here will come visit us in Germany!

Air Show Weekend

Our base hosted its annual air show this past weekend. As expected, the weather was gorgeous and it was the perfect weekend to witness some amazing air power and feel proud to be part of the military. We (especially Fi) especially enjoyed hosting some of our local friends on base to watch the air show and see what military life is all about. Zev had to work the air show but was still able to appreciate the amazing acts that were on display. Fi thinks his favorite part of the weekend however, was going out (off base!) to a movie and finishing the evening off with ice-cream. Ah, the way to a man's heart!!! Hope all are well. We miss you tons.

Up, up and away!

Blue Angels Commentators providing a detailed explanation of the different (and really, quite incredible!) aerial manouvers we witnessed in the sky.

Go Blue Angels!

3 Gun tournament!

Pistol. Rifle. Shotgun. And a bunch of ammo. Today Zev and Fi did as Louisianans do on a nice sunny Spring day, and entered a "3-gun" tournament which involved obstacle-course type shooting, using different weapons and different ammo. Fi wasn't sure about the tournament when she first started, but once she saw how things worked and actually jumped in and ran through the courses, she had a ball and enjoyed the challenge of different types of shooting scenarios. It certainly helped her become more proficient in operating the different weapons under different scenarios, and under "stress." Zev was very sweet and patient in showing Fi the correct way to handle the weapons and show her the best way to approach a course. All in all, we had a great day, not only was the weather great but the day was topped off with a traditional "Crawfish Boil"- Louisiana's answer to the "cook-out" where they boil big vats of "crawdaddy's" (also known as "yabbies" for our Australian friends), in tons of cajun spice, and throw in some potatoes and corn. For those of you who know us, Zev and Fi ate the corn and potatoes and left the locals to eat their crawdaddy's ;-)) We can't wait for the next tournament.

Getting set up

We were split into two teams and had to complete 5 different stands in total. The course of fire for each stand was mixed up in that some stands required you to use pistol and rifle, and other stands involved slashing the "bad guy" with your pocket knife and then firing your pistol and then changing to your shotgun. The element of surprise made the courses really interesting- our adrenalin was certainly up! We can't wait for the next match!

This is how you do it!

Watch and learn- Zev had good form and good range safety- he is a great instructor!

Who ever said girls can't shoot?

Although Fi was a little bit nervous being the only girl shooter at the tournament, she soon got her groove on, after going through the first couple of stands, and by the 3rd stand, was knocking down steel targets and making her husband proud! A very fun day indeed! Great experience.....