I have been pondering things, and this is what I have learned…

-We all have times in our life where we wish we could run away, with or without loved ones. (Some of us get to every 2-3 years, it’s called a military move!)

-We all have good days and bad days.

-Sometimes we truly love life

-Good friends can make all the difference

-There is a reason we move away from our parents & siblings, at least for a little while

-We all must say no sometimes, and it is okay! (I know it can be so hard!)

-We do need others

-It is okay to let others help you

-We should all have some kind of hobby

-A get away once in a while is a good thing

-Things/Life could always be worse

-A smile can make your day better

-Heavenly Father is always there

-There is no place like home, so make it wonderful!

Like these flowers I have found over time, it may seem like we are all alone, struggling to survive, to find the sun, thinking we are in the wrong place, but as we get there, it is beautiful and was so worth the fight. I often think of these flowers, and how beautiful they turned out. Growing in crazy places, which made them so much stronger. I hope I turn out the same. As many of my friends and family have.

The following is our version of Be Not Afraid

I do know that through all the struggles we may have, Heavenly Father is waiting for us to ask for his help, he is already there reaching for our hand!

Open House

I will be doing this open house with T & E Photography, Timely Fashion by elly, and Sugar & Spice Bows by elly, along with some other great home business ladies! Come if you live close by! Everyone else will be missed!

Open to the public!! Open house with representatives from several businesses. Representatives will have various door prizes, gifts, and products to try. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity!


WHERE: North Light Yacht Club (Pool area) 113 John Sims Pkwy West, Niceville

WHEN: Saturday, October 2 1p.m.-5p.m.

WHO: Bring your family, bring your friends, bring your neighbors. Everyone is sure to find something that they can’t live without!

Adding another Hero

And we now have another friend to add to the EOD wall. He too will be missed.
(See below)

Thankful to my Hero

A fellow EOD tech and friend of my wonderful husbands, dies 2 days ago in an IED explosion in Afghanistan. This was his second deployment in the last 2 years. He deployed with Dustin in 2008, during which his youngest child was born. Yes, he left a young family, 3 children under 5 the youngest under 2. He was a good solider and EOD tech.

We hear about these soldiers being killed all the time, but to have a friend, a solider doing the exact same as Dustin, he worked with Dustin on their last deployment, to have him killed by an IED (hand made bomb), it hits a little to close to home.

I am so thankful to all the soldiers who give their time, their lives, for us to live the way we do. I am thankful to the wives who love and support them, who take care of everything at home so they can focus on staying alive and saving others. I am thankful to the children, who miss time with their dads & moms, who cheer them from afar, who love them, understanding they are loved in return, from afar. I am thankful to the parents who support their soldiers, and their families, knowing they may lose that child to war, a war that not everyone supports. I am thankful to MY HUSBAND, who is an amazing solider. He works round the clock a lot of the time, to serve our country, a country of people who don't all support him and his comrades. I am thankful to him for the love and support he gives me and our children, from home or afar. He is an amazing father and husband. HE IS MY HERO. He and other soldiers go overseas to places where they are not wanted, to help people who can't show how thankful they are, to save the lives of unnumbered people, so that we, in America can live the way we want to live.

THANK YOU to all our HERO'S. You and your families will forever be in our prayers.

This is the EOD Memorial wall for the fallen Army EOD tech's,

his friend will soon join others we have known on this wall.

Kicking of the Season!

We had our kink of the season scrimmage! The boys did good and played hard, even in the rain!

Waiting for their game to start!

Gracie waiting to cheer! She gets to cheer for Jacob's team, so it is more fun!

Waiting to be called in

Jake watching his team

Our little cheerleader cheering away!

You can't really tell, but I promise Jake is out there! He is on the left, the 4th boy in, or first on the line from the left.

Go Eagles!

It is going to be a great season! Jacob is liking his team and coaches! Gracie is loving cheer! (Her 2 best friends here are on her team!)

So we are never home! Football practice 4 nights, games on Saturday; Cheer 2 of those nights, with the same game on Sat. Our one day off each week, is our Cub Scouts night! Fun, busy times!

Update

So, Dustin's leg is doing fine. It isn't bothering him at all. The Poison Oak on the other hand... He is still covered head to toe, itches like crazy, & still swollen. Nothing is helping to take the itch and sting away! So my sweet husband who hasn't taken a sick day in about 13 years, has been home all week! He can't even go outside, because it is to hot and it makes him sweat, which makes hm itch and sting 10 times worse! Poor guy! Hopefully he will be good by Saturday since it is Jake's first football game and Grace is cheering also!

Not so fun weekend!

So we have had a very, well, sucky weekend! Saturday started out nice and quite, read, played a computer game, watched TV. Very nice and boring. As I went to lay down for a short nap, I really was thinking how boring we have become! I will NEVER think that again!!! I was woken up by my son saying Dustin had cut his leg. So since I was awake Dustin decided to tell me he had chopped his leg! He was doing yard work clearing a vine off of one of our trees, with his Machete! He has a really nice machete that a guy in Vietnam  hand made for him when he was over there working, it is a really good one. So, he has a 2 inch cut on his leg, not so bad, but it was deep and wouldn't stop bleeding. Apparently he had cut it, then got it to stop bleeding so he but some stuff on it, duck tapped it, and went back to work. After about 10 minutes his shoe was slushy! So he jumps in the shower to clean off while I get everyone ready to go to a friends so we didn't have to take them all to the ER with us. While in the shower it started to squirt, yes, squirt blood! So he duck tapes it up again with some paper towels, and we take the kids to my friends and head on base to the ER. We got right in, only like the third time that has ever happened. (Neither of the other times were fun either!) A doc looks at it, removes the tape and determines it is still really bleeding, it needs to slow down, so they put a compress on it and we wait. After 15 minutes they decide to x-ray it, just to be sure. It read nothing. And they still can't get it to stop bleeding. They decide he does need stitches, which we already new. And start getting everything ready. And again we wait. (OH and while Dustin was getting x-rayed I sat and waited, where I happened to be able to hear the Doc's and ER people talking about the last EOD guy they got... It takes a special, crazy kind of guy to be EOD, one who, because he is so crazy and macho, will end up in the ER several times in his live, having nothing to do with bombs.) Anyway, after sever people ask how he did it, cut his leg that is, he was very tried of being there, many people came and went and then the EMT's came and took care of him. They were very nice and good, but I wondered why they were the ones to stitch him up and all the Doc did was pop in a few times and say 'Cool'. Not comforting. We happen to know several of the Doc's who are on shifts in that ER, like 5, and none of them where working! Oh how I wished they were! So they decide he needs a few stitches inside to hopefully make the bleeding stop, since he did cut a small blood vessel, nothing major or needed. So they put a blood pressure cup on his calf to stop the bleeding so they could see. (He cut his leg just above his inside ankle) They dig around and poke and look and finally they start to stitch him up, on the inside he got 3. Then they did 6 on the outside to close his leg. They were very worried that they didn't get it to stop bleeding. Not comforting. Anyway, they send us home with crutches and directions for him to stay off his leg for a few days. (Yeah right, have they met my husband! He is not a good patient, he has no patience with injuries.) So his leg is fine. A little sore, but that is it.
THEN, I go take him home and go get the kids. Grace had had a headache all day, tends to happen when she is told she has to clean her room and then she cries for several hours cause it is to hard. (We have already taken ALL toys out of her room, so there is nothing but clothes and blankets in there to mess it up!) So we get home and she is crying because her head hurts, then she throws up! Not so fun!
THEN, I wake up Sunday with a major headache and so does Grace. So no one fells good except Bekah, and Jake who keeps getting bloody noses for no reason! On through Sunday we go, relaxing and watching movies.
THEN Dustin starts to get a rash, like hives on his neck, which by evening has spread to his face and throat. He is puffy, and itchy, and miserable! He did not sleep good at all last night and is worse this morning! But his leg feels better!

NEVER, EVER, AGAIN will I think our live is BORING!!! NEVER!!!

Back to school, ALREADY!!!

Jacob, my wild and crazy 4th grader! (I can't believe I have a 4th grader!)

Jake came home and said, "Best day EVER!" He is enjoying 4th grade, but it has only been 3 days!

Grace, my sweet and caring 2nd grader! One of her best friends is in her class, so she is enjoying school! Plus, she loves to learn new things, she is too smart some times!

Grace is also a little, okay, a lot, stubborn! She could not find a back pack she liked, so we decided to decorate our own. I still have to sew on some ribbon, but otherwise she is happy.

My wonderful kids!

Our little Bekah is sad she isn't big enough for school yet, but we are trying to have fun while big brother & sister are gone! We go to play group and have friends over, and try to get out for some walking and fun!

I really can't believe school has started already! But it looks like it will be a good year!