2013 was a big year for the Benefield family. We secured the
eternity of the entire clan, answered Jay Allen’s question, “where are we
from?” and undertook the biggest road trip in our family history. We never expected to love Alaska when we
first moved there, but we all did. When we got orders to leave, we held a
family vote on whether to leave Alaska or leave the Army. It was a 3-2 decision
that would probably go the other way if we voted today, but unlike the Army, we
knew we could return to Alaska.
To make leaving Alaska less painful, we are looking at our PCS to
the lower 48 as a “deployment” and have made a list of several things we want
to do while in the lower 48 that we don’t have the chance to do in Alaska.
College football, NHL Hockey, going to the beach, and eating at Sonic and
Cracker Barrel are all on the list.
But good news, we moved back into the same neighborhood we
left in 2010 in Virginia. It was comforting to have familiar surroundings at
the conclusion of our longest move (miles and weeks). Virginia is great and we
try to remember that, but Alaska is beyond compare. As we share some of our
2013 with you, maybe you will see some of the ways Alaska impacted us.
I linked many of our Facebook Photos to this page so you can stop to look at what you like or keep on going. Once you click on the photos, you can browse around in there until you are ready to return to our letter.
Carlie
Some of you may not realize this, but my children are 1/16th
Native American. In that spirit, Carlie participated in the Alaska Native Youth
Olympics and made a great showing. Though it was not an official category, I am
pretty sure she won the Red-haired Native American Category. She competed in
the Alaska high kick and kicked very close to her height. I did that once in
Fairbanks, but I was assisted by some very slick ice and landed on my neck.
Carlie’s kick was much more athletic and there is no doubt she is an Alaska girl.
Carlie also had a grand Piano Recital in Anchorage,
culminating her three years of lessons in Alaska. She and the other musicians
did a fine job and this year, somebody secured the refreshments so no hobo ate
them while the recital was ongoing (that happened last year and the boys can’t
quit talking about it).
Carlie had the widely acclaimed greatest 6th
grade teacher ever, Mr. Ric Smith, and enjoyed every day of class. Sheparticularly enjoyed the day they all dressed up as hippies and protested me
when I showed up in uniform. I am not sure the new principal enjoyed the demonstration
as much as I did (they protested him too), but it reminded me of being at Fort
Benning when the School of Americas protestors showed up. Good times!
Carlie won the famousBirchwood 6th grade bridge construction competition – the bridge did
go to nowhere, but it cost next to nothing. Her bridge held more weight than
all the others, which ended up being just over fifty pounds. It is obvious to
me that Carlie built this bridge as a trap for her brothers. It was strong
enough to hold up one and collapse when the second one got on it. Brilliant.
Class trip to Seward. Though Carlie’s class took a big trip
to Washington DC (separate from ours), the class also took a train ride to Seward.
Cammie and I volunteered to chaperone this outing and had a great time visiting
Seward one last time before we moved.
The kid who went on crutches had a bit of a rough time crutching all
over town, but he ended up hitchhiking on the redneck leather express – which
all my kids used to ride when they were little.
Seward was one of our first family trips in Alaska, and where we saw
much of the Alaska sea life for the first time. This was a great last trip.
Shortly after the class trip, Carlie’s class
celebrated their gradumony (they weren’t allowed to call it 6th
grade graduation). All those crazy people started tearing up at this thing, but
I do have to admit that it was a great group of kids and a great teacher. If all classes had that kind of teacher and
that kind of parent involvement, we could easily abolish the department of
education. Birchwood ABC School was
really good to our family, and the gradumony marked the end of our kids’
attendance there (at least for now).
Shortly after school ended for the year, Carlie ran the
Anchorage Mayor’s youth cup while several friends and I ran the Half Marathon. Carlie came within ten seconds of finishing first and
I was really proud of her second place finish. I had no idea that would be her
last second place finish in a race this year – because she won all the other
races she entered. It appears my little red haired Native American Olympian is
a running phenom the likes of which we haven’t seen since the days of Jim
Thorpe. At the Chik Fil A Hoofin it 5k,
Carlie was the youngest female under 20 and beat the girls her age by over five
minutes. I just showed up and ran with her that day, but she beat me in two
subsequent races and put me on notice that I am going to have to train to run
with her. No complaints here, though because a frozen turkey was the prize when she won the Herndon Turkey Trot.
Carlie continued her awesomeness in all areas as soon as we arrived in Virginia. She won two blue ribbons in the state fair of Virginia for her photography. One was a great picture of a tree you have to see to appreciate and the other was a picture of a horse with a mustache. Carlie does so much it is hard to document it all - so next year, we will probably put her in charge of this letter, too.
Jay Allen
Jay Allen arrived in Alaska as a Martial Artist, but he left
a hockey player. He played for the Chugiak Mustangs Squirt team and improved
tremendously over the course of his first year. The team made a great run at
the end of the year, qualifying for the playoffs. They won playoff games and
advanced with some lights out defense, but alas, they didn’t have enough
offense to win the championship in their division. It was fun getting to know the kids and
parents from Alaska on his team, too. Two of the kids were Canadian military
brats and one family spoke French. So, picture me as a hockey dad trying to
figure out this game I have never followed, cheer on my son, and converse with
the parents speaking French. It was quite an experience.
Jay Allen loves the game, both playing it and watching it.
We agreed that we would go to an NHL game when we moved to the lower 48, but we
took in many Alaska Aces during our years there. Those games were great hockey
and the crowd was always lively, even on the dry side. We were right against the glass during one
game that seemed to be a continuous fight. With all that is going on in
football, I realized that hockey was the last full contact sport and became an
authentic hockey fan right there.
In addition to his athletic endeavors, Jay Allen also penned
his first book this year. Jay Allen and his classmates from Ms. Tyson’s 3rd
grade class had an “Author’s Tea” where they all unveiled their first
books. Jay Allen’s book, Alien Outbreak,
was my favorite of all the books presented – very X-files like. The amount of
detail that he used to describe those aliens was very impressive and made me feel
better about all the “Finding Bigfoot” episodes I let him watch. Equally
impressive to his writing was the fact that Jay Allen wore a shirt and tie andlooked very professional. It did take a monetary bribe and me putting on my
Army Service Uniform in support, but incentives notwithstanding, he dressed up
really nice.
Visiting the beach, attending an Alabama football game, and
attending an NHL game were big lower 48 list items but the biggest item on the
list was checked off in August. Jay Allen’s grandfather, James baptizedhim. My father was still pastoring
Chulafinee Baptist Church when we got home to Alabama on leave. That is the
church where Carlie was baptized in 2009 and as it turns out, is where all
three of my children were baptized. Jay
Allen’s little brother, James, had also accepted Christ and wanted to be
baptized at the same time as big brother. So, now, we are all going to Heaven, and
will be stopping in Alaska on the way there.
When we moved to Northern Virginia the first time, we did
not have to live close to a hockey league, but it turns out that we did in
spite of ourselves. On this tour to NOVA, we moved across the street from our
old house and just five miles from the Reston Hockey league that Jay Allen is a
proud member of. He continues to improve rapidly as a hockey player and is on a
great team that calls themselves the Green Machine. They are capable of winning
their games 5-0 every time out because they play great defense and offense. Jay
Allen is a defensive standout, but he has already doubled his goals from last
season. They have a great season in front of them.
I had planned to take Jay Allen to see the Washington
Capitals play his favorite team, the Pittsburgh Penguins in DC. When I priced
tickets, I learned that it was cheaper to drive to Pittsburgh, go to the game,
and stay overnight than to see the Pens play at the Capitals arena. So, we did
go to Pittsburgh. We saw the Penguins play the Islanders and it was a great
environment – the Pens have sold out their home games 300 something games in a
row. On this particular night, the game
was tied with time running out when Jay Allen’s favorite player, Sydney Crosby,
scored the game winning goal. That affirmed my decision to go to Pittsburgh. I
am sure that even if the game had ended the same way in Washington, the
celebration would not have been nearly the same. I enjoyed the trip as much as Jay Allen did.It is amazing how peaceful and well behaved my children are when they don’t
have a brother or sister to fuss with.
James
Before we left Alaska, James wanted one more birthday at
Chuck E. Cheese. It was a glorious part fitting for a 6’ tall rat and for
James, too. I know all parents look forward to the day their kids outgrow Chuck
E. Cheese and we sure hope that day has come.
In addition to the birthday party, James completed the 1stGrade in Alaska. As our kids have gone back and forth between the Virginia and
Alaska schools, it is really amazing how far advanced the schools in Alaska are
in their academics. Alaska also lets kids go outside for recess down to -10
degrees, where Jay Allen and James are thoroughly frustrated that their current
Virginia school is not allowing any outside recess this winter. We have not had
a day below 20 degrees and only one of those and the kids are locked inside. Outstanding
– does wonders for their behavior when they get home.
James would spend all his time outside if we let him. In
Alaska, he was the biggest fan of the Williams Reindeer Farm near Palmer. We used to walk around the reindeer and feed
them and then walk over to visit with the moose. They let James kiss the moose a couple of
times too, but they had to wash his mouth out afterwards (the moose’s mouth,
not James’s).
Like Jay Allen, James was also baptized by his grandfatherin Alabama. Despite AJ’s encouragement, he did not execute a “cannon ball” in
the baptismal pool. Chulafinee Church made a big deal out of the baptism and
had a meal for our family and friends afterwards. They are a great bunch of
folks who will be forever connected with the Benefield family.
As we moved back to Virginia and got everybody settled into
their new activities, James wanted to become a Cub Scout. The biggest reason he
was excited about scouts was that he heard they launch rockets and race
cars. He was also fired up about going
camping with the scouts – until about 9:30pm, then he was a little homesick.
That worked out ok, because as it turns out, we were camping out with the wrong
pack on the first campout. When you introduce yourself as the new guy, nobody
questions your presence and if you only know a couple other people, it is easy
to assume they are just running late. But in spite of all the learning I have
to do to be a scout parent, James is really enjoying it. So far, we have sold
hundreds of dollars of popcorn, launched a rocket, and eaten another troop’s
smores. It is a pretty good deal for dads, too.
Our next event is the Pinewood Derby, and I haven’t done that since I
was ten or eleven, so no guarantees that we will win this year, but if the car
looks cool, James will be happy.
Family
For the family, there were some big events we shared. Alabama won another National Championship and
we had to say goodbye to our classic suburban, The Beast! The Beast serve us
well while we were in Alaska and we were sad to part ways with it, but Cammie
would not agree to cross the US in an 84 Suburban. I solved that by buying an
88 RV named the Jack Wagon and driving the 4800 miles in that.
The Jack Wagon is its own adventure with its own Facebookpage and blog, but I had to at least mention it here.
In addition to the sadness of leaving Alaska, we left a
great team at the Warrior Transition Battalion-Alaska, too. There is no way for
me to describe how good those folks are at what they do, but I did attempt it
on youtube if you want to listen to a very long farewell speech.
It will be interesting to see if we have as many visitors
while in DC as we had in Alaska. We always welcome our friends to come visit,
but we don’t blame any of you who find Alaska more attractive than Washington
DC.
Cammie
Cammie hit the big 4-0 and we threw a surprise party for her.
I don’t know how many more years it will be safe to jump out and yell surprise
at her, so I felt some urgency to have the surprise party this year.
If being surprised is not in Cammie’s comfort zone, taking a
leadership position definitely is not, but she did agree to be the President of
the JBER PWOC this year. It was a tremendously rewarding experience for her and it has
linked her to some really wonderful women of faith. Thanks to Facebook, those
ladies are able to follow and support each other even as we have to PCS and
move away.
One of the things I had participated in every year was the Governor’s
Prayer Breakfast. The first couple of years, I attended without Cammie, but
2013 was our last one for a while so I asked her to go with me. It is a great
event every year and there are people of faith from all over the state. One of
the people we had a connection with at the prayer breakfast was Miss Alaska, DebbieJo Ebben. She is the daughter of one of our friends in Eagle River, Tim from
K9Home Away from Home. When we asked to take a picture with her, Debbie immediately
recognized us as Bella’s (our puppy) parents. She knows our dog better than she
knows us, but that is not unusual in Alaska.
We miss Alaska and realize the fishing in Alabama is not quite the same as fishing in Alaska, but we are adapting. 2013 was a great year and 2014 will be another great year! We will keep you all posted on our return to Alaska!
