Welcome!!

Dear family and friends,
Our family is very excited to launch ourselves off on an adventure of moving for [approximately] 1001 days "down by the bay" in Northwest Florida.  So many caring and curious questions have been asked, so I'll review the basics for y'all next!

Nutshell:  Robert got a great job as an active duty lawyer at Tyndall Air Force Base (see it on Google Earth here) which lasts for three years (no more, no less.)  We are excited to wake up to St. Andrew's Bay and the GULF OF MEXICO!!! but it's bittersweet to leave our beloved St. Louis community of family, friends, and favorite places!

The backstory:  Let's start at the beginning.  Robert joined the Air Force Reserves about three years ago.  He joined out of a desire to do something "more" with his career as a lawyer (such as give back to the country,) and to gain additional stability for our family through the excellent benefits of serving part-time in the military.  Some of these benefits include pension (rare to find anymore,) excellent health care, the G.I. Bill for complete college fees paid for the education of one child or split between self, spouse, and child, quite short hours and good vacation benefits, etc.  One of the big things we are hoping to gain is the opportunity to make great memories and bond as a family.  The rhythm of life there will be a little slower and lighter, I think...we'll keep you posted.  Back to the career path...

Robert worked really hard to get through the screening, extensive application process, and hoops to jump through.  He chose the Air Force because its JAG (Judge Advocate General-lawyers) division would not require weekend work.  He went through Commissioned Officer Training (COT, like a mini-bootcamp for officers entering AFTER their professional training as doctors, nurses, lawyers, & religious leaders) at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL.  He also did JASOC, a military legal course at the same location, and most recently, Squadron Officer School, a prestigious leadership training course for captains (his new rank.)

It's been super interesting for him and me, learning about tons of things we never would have known about.  (I guess more details would be a post for another time or your own Q/A.)  While at Maxwell these three times (for six, six, and eight weeks respectively) he met wonderful comrades in his flight group and even some other Jewish airmen.  He made wonderful friends and learned a lot from other people's paths to the military.  He earned recognition in his flight for different things, and we got to see him graduate from some of these programs.  He was able to walk to a synagogue near the base, get treats from Kosher Troops for Jewish occasions, meet Jewish chaplains, including a Chabad rabbi from Florida who serves!

Robert was sought out for a job working in the legal department at Tyndall Air Force Base, which is near Panama City Beach, Florida.  The job was in many ways an "irrefusable" offer!  (Everyone needs to coin their own new words, sometimes, right?)  Thanks to good networking and hard work as always building and diversifying his career in recent years, this opportunity is a special one.

What about Kate?  I'm going to be running the show at home (with David, teaching the girls and digging my feet into the sand) and preparing for the next stage of my career...getting higher certification as a teacher.  More on that as it evolves.

How are we going to manage this?  (Most of the questions I've been fielding are of the Jewish nature, so below is mostly about that!)
For Torah-observant Jews, leaving our cozy community is kind of a big deal.  We will be leaving our family (Robert's dad, his brother's family, his sister, and other relatives), many wonderful friends, our synagogue(s), our Jewish day school (Epstein Hebrew Academy, where the girls have been loving their education for about five years now!), the eruv (a boundary which encloses the neighborhood on Shabbos,) and other convenient and important things.

First of all, this is a temporary move.  We wouldn't necessarily have been able to accept an opportunity like this if our kids were older, or if other things weren't possible.

We plan to passionately and rigorously homeschool the kids in their Judaic and Hebrew studies, and send them to the elementary school on base.  (More about both of those things once we arrive!)

We are excited that they will experience something really different and diverse for a few years, but are also of course a little concerned and hoping it will work out well!  With the power of our positive approach, I do believe it will be great.

For Jewish holidays, we will travel to friends, family, or other locales!  If you want to have us, be in touch!

For Shabbat, we will go several times a month to the Chabad community in Destin, FL, or to friends in Atlanta or other parts of FL.  (Although Miami is a staggering 9 hrs away by car!!)  When we stay home for Shabbat sometimes, I've already been thinking of how to make that nice...without shul, but hopefully with finding guests to invite and lots of good family activities.

There is also a small Jewish community in Panama City Beach (PCB), consisting of a couple dozen Israeli ex-pats and their families (I'm told.)  They have a mikva, but not at all times a shul building or a rabbi.  (They explained that it's not a family-type scene on Shabbat in their community, so not a great fit for us.)  The Tennenboims (Chabad family in Destin) did mention that they are helping recruit the right folks to set up a permanent post in PCB, which could likely happen while we are there!  If so, we may move off base and live near the shul, or get a regular place for Shabbat there.

Love to all, stay tuned for more, and most of all, keep in touch and send your positive prayers and encouragement our way!!!

Best wishes,
Kate and Robert
Adira (8.5 years), Nesya (6 years) and David (21 months)