I Am Truly Blessed

I know I need to blog about our travels and I will at some point finish those.

This morning, I want to say that I know I am blessed. I am grateful.

In a couple days a new friend will say goodbye to her husband for 12 months. I know their heartache. I am so grateful that Kevin has come home each time. I know what a blessing that is. I personally know many for whom that was not the case and my heart aches for them.

I don't want to take for granted this gift, I want to acknowledge my gratitude.

I have enjoyed watching my boys and my husband and I love snuggling up to him at night.

I am blessed and I am grateful for my blessings.

Our Visit to ND Part 1

So we headed to North Dakota for Kevin's high school reunion on the 14th of July. It wasn't a bad drive up there. Almost 1300 miles one way. We went at our leisure and made pretty good time. We stopped in Council Bluffs for the night and had a relaxing evening. We spent some time in the hotel pool and had a good night's rest.
The next day as we were heading out to continue our trip, we saw a sign for the Mormon Pioneer Visitor's Center. We typed it into our GPS and saw it was only 2 miles from where we were. It ended up being Winters Quarters Temple and a visitor center. We took the time to visit and had a great time. The temple is gorgeous. It was pretty neat because the missionary who gave us the tour of the center happened to be the brother of one of my high school teachers. It's a small world for sure!The rest of our trip was very lowkey, we are so lucky to have such great travelers.

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

At least that is what one hopes when they go through the pains of setting up a yard sale. The boys and Kevin had a yard sale. No, I did not help them. I get anxiety dealing with people moving stuff and being in what I consider to be my personal space. I would rather dump it all at a Goodwill bin and call it a day. But the boys and Kevin like to have yard sales and earn a little bit of green.

They started early this morning, sold some of their stuff (Daniel sold his Power Rangers, he's outgrown them ya know!). They had fun. For every kid that came, they got a free sucker. Not sure who's sale strategy that was or if it even worked but the kids liked it! Michael texted his friends and some showed up! Neil just hung out eating the suckers, lol. Kevin said he would pay them to help out. They are now demanding $20 for their hard work!

Kevin laughed because a lot of people who came knew me but sadly I had no idea who he was talking about. Most live in our neighbor so I would think they knew me if their kids went to the same school as ours but I don't know all their names. If the kids came, I knew them. Is it bad that I've lived here for almost 5 years and don't know people in our community?

I'm glad it is now over, I'm just weird about people being at my house. Kevin and the boys plan on having one more yard sale before we move and then whatever is left goes to the Goodwill.

I love that Kevin and the boys enjoy doing things together and have fun doing it. They made a good little profit and are happy with the outcome of their little yard sale.

The Ewww of Lawn Work

I will admit that one of the reasons I'm so happy to have Kevin home is so that he can do the yard work. While the boys are now old enough to do it and help, I have to go out and help them too. Kevin mowed and took the weed eater to the lawn and came in with his legs looking like this. GROSS! I, of course was so amused by it, I had to snap a pic...that is a line of dirt.

(I should not take pics of his legs, they look scrawnier in pics, lol)

WeIrD

It hit me today that I have felt unsettled the past few days. I couldn't figure out why. I realized today that I don't know what to do when we aren't preparing for deployment. Seriously, the past 5 years of our life has been all about deployment! We have known that when one deployment ends, another is already on the horizon. But this time, we are going to a place where Kevin won't deploy for 2 years. It's an odd feeling. We are preparing to move later this fall (we have a few months but we have learned that time flies much faster then you anticipate so we start prepping early). Could it be true, our life will be one where we actually spend time together, in one room, all on one couch for two WHOLE years. I am afraid to hope that it's true but I get warm fuzzies thinking about it.

Freedom isn't Free, July 4, 2009

"Freedom isn't Free"

What does that mean? I've thought all day about what I would write in honor of Independence Day. I've had many thoughts going through my head. Different events throughout the day sparked different ideas as to what to write.

"For those who fight to protect it, freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know."

The Army is our life. Because of that, we have a different perspective. I've talked with many friends, both military and civilian and the perspective is different. It's hard to comprehend what you don't understand. That doesn't mean that we all can't appreciate the roads that others travel.

So what does the 4th of July mean to me? Today I got to spend the entire day with my husband. For the first time in over 3 years I got to hang out with my love on the holiday that he represents every day of his life. It's a simple thing...to hang out with my Soldier.

I have good friends who don't have that privilege. That's right, a privilege...our freedom is a privilege, not a right, not an entitlement. There is a heavy cost that is paid by less then 1% of America.

The cost is blood spilled by a patriot.

"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom."

The cost includes the loved ones that a Soldier leaves behind to carry the torch while their hero is in harm's way.

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

I had a lot of thoughts throughout the day but it all comes down to appreciating the small things and being grateful for the sacrifices made by the many who serve to protect what our founding father's fought to provide us 233 years ago.

God Bless America and thank you Lord, for bringing my Freedom Provider home to us this year.

Wii Fun with my boys

I keep mentioning the small things. Nothing better then watching ALL my boys having some Wii Fun!

Freedom Friday, July 3

Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp

Kevin got home in time to attend Boy Scout camp with Neil and Michael. They had a lot of fun. Because Neil is only 11 years old, Kevin had to stay with him so Neil and Kevin got to spend some good quality time together. Michael was the acting Senior Patrol Leader for the week and from what I hear he did a great job. He came home with NO voice, he must have done a lot of yelling (just kidding!). I'm so proud of all three of my boys. They came home dirty and tired. I will have to get on Kevin to see if he will blog about their time. I'll show a few pictures that they came back with.

Daddy's Grizzly Adams look had to go....but check out his mug he received for being the person who traveled the furthest to get to Boy Scout Camp. Kevin won because he came all the way from Iraq which is well over 7,000 miles! He got a mug and a standing ovation!