Veteran's Day Revisited

I spent some time last night thinking about Veteran's Day, especially with regard to my husband and my children. When our sons were all very young, they were not fond of the military because to them it meant endless goodbyes and having daddy gone for months at a time. They are much older now and understand better the necessity of what their father was doing but sometimes I wonder if they understand the sacrifices that he made to do it.

They know that they missed their daddy terribly when he was gone but, oh, how he missed them. His job required his missing some of their childhood "milestones". Those are things that can never be gotten back. That's hard for a dad.

Through those months, the boys had to watch their mother deal with things she wouldn't normally have had to. It is a hard thing for a dad/husband to have to hear about those things from the other side of the planet and not be able to rush home and fix whatever was broken or just to hold his wife if she was what was broken at the time.

Military wives know that major things seem to happen when their men are deployed. Many times, in our case, Tyler would have a major asthma attack or someone else would get really sick. Oh, what a challenge for a dad to be so far away when those he loves are really ill...when all he wants in the world is to hold them, comfort them, and be with them through it. To wait days for an update to know if they are better or worse...perhaps only those who have been far away from family for an extended period of time understand the depths of that ache.

These are just a few of the small sacrificies their daddy made because he loved them, because he loved his country, and because it is how God created him. But there were bigger ones as well. The kids and I are so grateful that Keith was not called to the ultimate sacrifice of giving his life but many close to him were. He was pulled off a plane in Germany, on his way home from yet another deployment, and handed a piece of paper with the words "F-16 crash, Aviano AB" written on it and instantly knew that his best friend had made that ultimate sacrifice for all of us. Just a year later, he got word of the death of another very dear friend just 2 days before Keith was to deploy making it impossible for him to even attend his friend's memorial service. Such burdens are difficult for most of us to fathom.

I do not write this blog entry as a chastisement to my children or to myself for not understanding. I write it as a reminder to us all that there are many sacrifices, large and small, being made by our military members and their families day in and day out. I know that my children missed out on some big things with their dad when they were young, but it was necessary. It's very easy to focus on ourselves and not think about the flipside. Without the sacrifices of these individuals, we would not enjoy the freedom that we do today.

I am married to an incredible man and I know that there are countless others out there like him who make these sacrifices daily without comment or complaint. They don't ask for our thanks. They do it because it is who they are, it is what they have been called to do.

I, for one, am so grateful for that. And so, to my husband, Keith, and to the rest...THANK YOU! Thank you for being who you are and for being willing to die... for me.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:13

Looking Back

Today is Memorial Day. On this day we honor those that have given their lives in service to our country to insure the freedoms that we enjoy. I am, indeed, thankful for what they have done and for the sacrifices their families have made and the pain that they have endured on our country's behalf.

Memorial Day 2010 is special to me for another reason as well. Twenty-five years ago today my father escorted me down the aisle of the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel into the waiting arms of my husband-to-be.



A year earlier, as I toured the chapel for the first time, I had told my mom that I wanted to have my wedding there someday. I certainly wasn't thinking it would happen less than a year later but on May 31, 1985, there I was.

All of you that know my husband know that he is the writer in the family. I wish that I could convey my thoughts and all that is in my heart like he does. Since I lack his eloquence, I want to share a poem that I came across recently that captures the very essence of my thoughts and emotions on this most special of Memorial Days.

To my Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the east doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompence.
Thy love is such I can no way repay.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persevere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

This poem could not speak more from my soul if I had written it myself.

I began this blog as a means of journaling all of the blessings in my life. Next to the saving grace of Jesus and His work in my life, the greatest blessing that God has bestowed upon me is that of my sweet husband.

For twenty-five years now he has loved me, protected me, provided for me, taught me, been my best friend and constant companion (except when the Air Force deemed otherwise), encouraged me when I needed it, lifted me up when I was down, and held my hand through it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly...just as he vowed to.

Over the last few months we have had the pleasure of watching our oldest two sons embark on their own journeys into the adventure of married life. It has been exciting to witness the occasions as they exchanged vows with their brides. It brought back some wonderful memories of that day in 1985 as I stared into the eyes of my groom.

I can honestly say, given the opportunity, I would marry my husband all over again...a thousand times ten thousand times. He is the love of my life and I am truly blessed to have him beside me as we walk this journey together.

This last year has been quite the roller coaster for us but, through it all, God has taught us to love one another better...more deeply...more completely...more unconditionally. For that, I am eternally grateful.

And so, today, I am praising God for the way He has blessed my life through this man. I am thankful that He has given us these last twenty-five years and I pray that He will give us many more to enjoy together.

To my husband...Keith, thank you for loving me with all that that entails. There is truly no one else on this earth that I would rather spend my life with. You are my HERO!!! I am yours for as long as God gives us on this earth and I am so glad that you are mine!

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine". ~Song of Solomon 6:3

Happy Anniversary Keith! I look forward to the future with you by my
side.

Easter 2009

Saturday dawned bright and early and dying Easter eggs was at the top of the schedule for the day. The girls were very excited. The box of PAAS that I purchased for the occasion (the original PAAS, not those newfangled things that never work the way they are supposed to) was short some of the color tablets so we had to make do with what it did include. The girls didn't seem to mind and they had a good ole time dipping...waiting...and removing their eggs. Emma is not so good at the waiting part.

Rain was in the forecast for Easter Sunday so we had the girls' Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon. Keith hid the eggs all over our front yard and then the girls set to work.

And because I rarely make it into the photos...

Celebrating Easter causes me to focus intently on the most important thing in my life...Jesus Christ. Not only did Jesus die for me but He conquered that death and lives again. Therein lies the victory!

We had a great service at church. Our pastor spoke on the significance of the resurrection...in other words, where would we be if Jesus was not raised from the dead. Praise God that He lives!

Here are a few pics of the girls and the family taken before and after church.

After church, we had some great friends over for lunch. We had quite the feast: ham, twice-baked potatoes, green beans, corn, deviled eggs, rolls, jello salad, fresh fruit, and an awesome dessert that Bonnie (my friend) made. Yumm!

It was a cool and wet day here but we enjoyed it immensely. We really needed the rain so it was a welcomed treat.

I hope you all had a very blessed Easter Sunday. We really should celebrate the significance of Easter every day.

Happy Happy Birthday Keith!!!

I know...most of you have given up on me and this blog thing...but I couldn't let the day pass without wishing my husband a wonderful Happy Birthday!!!

We celebrated last night because Drew and Tyler have to work tonight but I did make his favorite strawberry rhubarb pie which we will enjoy after dinner in honor of the occasion.

This is the 25th birthday that I have had the honor of celebrating with my beloved and I can honestly say that I love him more today than ever and I pray that God will give him many more happy birthdays and that I will be around to celebrate them with him.

I love you dearly, Keith. I hope your day was truly something special.

New Year 2009

Okay...this is the final installment of my holiday recap. Hey, it's only the 3rd of February...it could be worse.

My parents came up to spend a few days with us over New Year's and we had a great time. We played lots of games, mostly cards, and just generally enjoyed being together.

Mom had a craft session with the girls while she was here. They love anything that has anything to do with paint, glue, glitter, etc. They had a great time working on some flower magnets that they got for Christmas and I think Grandma had fun helping them, right, Mom?!...Mom...are you there, Mom?...Mom?!

While Mom and the girls were having their fun, Keith was trying to help Dad with a problem on his computer. They ultimately figured out that it was a Vista problem and one without a fix...go figure! Here is my handsome hubby...

My Dad loves genealogy and spends lots of time on his computer working on tracing our family lines. He has uncovered some interesting tidbits over the years. I don't know how he keeps all that information straight. I would have the lines all criss-crossed if I were him.

These pictures were taken the day they left to go home. I didn't have a recent picture of them together so I had to snap one while I could. I think they were both in the midst of saying something when I snapped the camera. Oh well...I tried.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids. Well, some of them anyway.

We really did enjoy the time that we had with all of our family over the holidays. It is always a blessing to be together and we miss them when they are not here. After Mom and Dad left, it was back to the old grind stone and it took us several days to find a real routine again. I think I prefer those days when the routine gets tossed out the window in favor of doing the fun things but if we did that every day we would never get anything productive done around here.

So, that sums up our holidays. If it had taken me any longer to recap them we would be prepping for Thanksgiving all over again. How is it that the months fly by so quickly. I know that age has a lot to do with it but this is crazy. January is gone already and Valentine's Day is on the doorstep. Since I do such a poor job of keeping up with this blog, maybe I should wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day now...then I won't feel bad when it's February 20th and I never did a Valentine's post.

Christmas!!! Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

Our Christmas celebration began with our church's Christmas Eve service. Several of our church members participated in the service by singing, reciting poetry, reading the Christmas story, playing instruments, etc. It was a neat evening and we ended the service by singing Silent Night by candlelight. Beautiful!!!

It is our family's tradition to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. We have another tradition that some think is a little odd but we have come to enjoy and even look forward to...we eat McDonald's fast food as our Christmas Eve dinner.

It actually started years ago, the December that Austin was born. We went to church on Christmas Eve and then headed home to open gifts. We had not eaten dinner and everyone was hungry. We wanted to do something quick so we could open the gifts and then get the boys off to bed at a decent hour. McDonald's was on our way home so that was the choice of the evening.

Somehow that has grown into a yearly tradition. And hey, we like McDonald's and it makes my life easy. I have usually spent part of the day in the kitchen already prepping stuff for dinner on Christmas Day so the break is great for me.

Anyway, now that you know the history, after church this year we headed straight to McDonald's. They were closing at 8pm so we didn't have much time to dilly dally. After gathering the goods we drove home and joined around the table for some yummy fare. I know, I know...some of you would debate the yumminess...but you have to admit that McDonald's has great fries.

After dinner some little elves showed up to pass out the gifts. We take turns one at a time...going from youngest to oldest, opening the gifts. That way the little ones have to watch the older folks and everyone gets to see what everyone else gets. We like it that way and it stretches the event out a little longer.

I won't bore you with what everyone got but we had a wonderful time and we were all thankful for the gifts we received but mostly for the gift that God sent to each of us on that first Christmas Eve so long ago. I mean really...it just doesn't get any better than that. We are truly so blessed by God everyday. I am so grateful.

In the next post, you'll get to see pictures of some of the things the girls got for Christmas. We had fun catering to their individual interests.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Keith's mom arrived on December 19th. The kids and I had not seen her in 2 1/2 years so we were really looking forward to her coming. Kara had asked me the day before if it was just one more sleep until Grandma came. When I replied that it was, she responded with "I saw her picture once". It was so funny the way she said it because Jan's picture sits on top of our piano all the time and Kara knows who she is.

Tyler and I had been looking through some of his pictures from when he was little just a few days before that and Kara had noticed one of Jan with Tyler from years ago. I think that is what she was talking about...but she's 4 so who really knows. Anyway, it brought a chuckle as she often does.

The girls were thrilled to have Grandma's attention and the boys couldn't wait to break out the cribbage board. We shopped, played, cooked, and ate...a lot. In short, we had a great visit. It was so good to see her and we are praying that it won't ever be that long again between visits.

The next day, the 20th of December, Jeremy arrived via American Eagle Airlines. It was wonderful as always to have all of my kids at home for the holidays. As the kids get older each year (notice I said "the kids"...Keith and I aren't getting any older) I cherish the time when they are all at home more than ever. I know that it won't always be possible so I'm especially thankful for it when it is.

The girls were in hog heaven. Not only did they have Grandma's almost full and undivided attention but now big brother was home too. They both adore Jeremy and he them. They were all over him the minute he walked through the doors at the airport. He had one sister on each knee as he sat waiting for his baggage to arrive. He looked at me with a huge smile on his face and said "I've got my girls."

I wish I had a picture of Kara the morning Jeremy had to leave to go home because she had a death grip on him and wouldn't let go. She was not happy that he was leaving. It was sweet but sad as well.

We celebrated a wonderful Christmas together but I'll recap that in the next post. Most of our time was just spent enjoying one another's company and playing games with the girls and each other.

Jan had sent the girls a game called Doodle Dice for their birthdays. We had not gotten around to playing it with them until the Christmas break. It turned out to be so fun that we adults would play it even after the girls went to bed. It's a great game... so check it out for yourselves (here).

Jeremy had to head home on Sunday morning after Christmas and Jan left the following day. It is always hard to say goodbye and I don't particularly like it very much. But, thankfully, they both got home safe and sound and we are already looking forward to the next time we will be together. We miss you both already. Thanks so much for making the trip to spend Christmas with us.

The girls were a little lost for a few days until Grandma Judy and Papa Wes arrived to spend New Year's Eve with us and they had a captive audience once again. I'll blog more about their visit in due time.

We have started back to school and life has already gotten crazy busy again but I'll try to keep up a little better than I was doing before the holidays. We'll see!

Messiah Baptist Church's Annual Cookie Exchange

On December 15th we held our church's annual cookie exchange here at our house. I look forward to this event every year. We always have fun and end up with lots of yummy goodies to enjoy throughout the holidays. Actually they never last that long around here but enjoy them we do.

This year we were blessed to have our pastor's mother in town for the event and she graciously consented to share her heart with us that night. Her challenge to us was to slow down and remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It is always so easy to get caught up in everything that the world has added to Christmas. It is vital that we don't lose sight of God's gift to us and what the birth of Jesus really means.

This is our pastor's wife, Liesl, and her mother-in-law, Jo Ellen.

Here is Jo Ellen giving the devotion.


My camera was not cooperating that night so the pictures are not the best but I'm going to share a few more with you anyway. Here are a couple pics of the ladies that attended.

After the devotion and snacks, some of the ladies participated in a little craft project that we had planned for the evening. We made a photo calendar for the new year. It was a fun project and I think everyone enjoyed it...at least I hope they did.

And here is the finished product.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening. It was warm inside in spite of the freezing (literally) cold outside. The food was wonderful, the devotion challenging, and the fellowship was oh so sweet. Thanks for coming everyone...I hope you had as much fun as I did.