MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BEALS!!!

Hello Family & Friends!!!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Beal Family!!! Hopefully this year has been as good to you as it has to us! And that the next year will bring even more happiness & joy!
We started this year with a move to a new house in St George, UT and that was the beginning of a year of changes!
In February we made possibly the biggest decision of our married life by deciding to join the United States Air Force. I say we when actually Kevin joined however everyone knows the hardest job in the Air Force is being a wife. He flew to Salt Lake City, UT around the end of February and was first sworn in then as well as receiving his job of aircraft maintenance. From that decision, our life has never been the same.
We were thrilled last year to find out we were having a baby & on Friday, March 23, 2007 a beautiful, and healthy baby boy Brok Grant Beal was born at 3:23am at a hefty 8lbs 10oz. After a short stint in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for low blood sugar and jaundice, he was brought home three days later. Since that little bump in the road, he has never stopped progressing. Currently he is long and skinny being almost 32in long. He has a great personality and we learn something new about him everyday! He cut his first tooth & learned to sit up the same week and is now ready to take off walking!
Kevin has had a busy year this year but didn’t leave for Basic Training until May 8th so he was here for 6 weeks of Brok’s life before leaving. He endured 6 weeks of harsh training in San Antonio Texas (the longest away from home he’d ever been) and was then sent to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX for the first part of his technical training as an F-16 crew chief. Basically he has to know everything about the aircraft including all the systems & how they work because he has to know when something malfunctions. He is responsible for inspecting the aircraft before & after flight & if something happens that is a malfunction he needs to know it. Talk about stress! Actually he loves it. Brok & I joined him there in TX but he was only allowed to stay with us on weekends though we did get to see him during the week too. He did well while he was there receiving Top Dawg (student of the month), Fit to Fight (excellence in physical fitness), and an award for having a 97%average the whole time he was there. From TX we made the drive & move to our new home in a little town outside of Phoenix, AZ called Buckeye (we do not live on base). He is stationed at Luke AFB. He recently completed the rest of his training and is now working basically a full time job. He will tell you that it is not what he imagined he’d do but it is nice that he will have a the same job for at least the next 6 years with the possibility to re-enlist if desired (not to mention that it’s every little boys dream to be around these fighter jets).
As for me… well aside from the fact that I had a baby, spent 6 weeks of the year with only 4 calls & 2 letters from my husband, moved away from all friends & family for 6 months & am now finally settling down, my life is pretty boring… Actually, I have made some great Air Force wife friends who are now all over the country and have enjoyed enhancing my relationship with Kevin & Brok. I enjoyed staying at home with Brok while in UT & TX but since moving here decided to get out & do something so I currently nanny for a wonderful family of 3 rambunctious boys aged from 5years-18months. Brok gets to come with me & he absolutely loves it & they love him. I am doing well & love our life.
I can’t forget to add something about the dogs; they would feel left out J Patches is her same crazy self (for those of you who don’t know she is a small lab mix about 4 years old) enjoying the fact that she now has a yard & room to run. (We can stand at the back door & throw a Frisbee to the front door & she can run full speed & catch it.) Zumi (an almost 2yr old mini pincher) is also enjoying his new home; he is very calm & seems to know that we are here for a while.
Have a great new year & enjoy your holidays!
Love, Kevin, Ashley & Brok +Patches & Zumi