Halloween Photos

We thought you might like to see photos of our children in their Halloween costumes. Grace was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (book, not movie--her shoes are silver instead of ruby red), Nathan was Batman, and Katie was a pumpkin. We spent the evening at our church seeing friends, playing games, enjoying bounce houses, and gorging ourselves with candy.

AZ Walk for Life

Thank you everyone for you support this weekend as we participated in the AZ Walk for Life. Brian and I raised $550.00 for the Crisis Pregnancy Centers of the Phoenix area. What a priviledge and blessing to raise money for such an awesome ministry!
Thank you also for your encouragement for the race itself. Brian walked two miles with our children and I ran my first 5K. It was great fun...well, Brian had fun walking with the children...I just concentrated on finishing/surviving the race. I was able to run the whole race in less than 35 minutes with NO walking!! There were several runners/walkers from our church and from across the city. We had a great time and we look forward to participating in the future...I guess this means I'll keep jogging.....

Operation Kid

This past weekend, Grace, Nathan and I participated in Operation Kid. Operation Kid is a mini-deployment for military kids. Grace and Nathan (accompanied by Jen)were deployed for Operation Kid last year also (while I was in Afghanistan).

The day began with the kids being notified by telephone at 0645 on Saturday morning that they were to report for "duty" within the hour. Upon reporting, they were issued a uniform (camoflauge Tshirt) and queued up for a "mobility line", where they were outprocessed through multiple booths where they were issued backpacks that were loaded up with various necessities (toys, binoculars, dogtags, candy, juice). They were given anti-malarial pills (Skittles). This was followed by a briefing from the Wing Commander, a Brigadier General. After being briefed, they loaded up on buses and deployed to an austere environment across base.

Upon arriving at the deployed location, they were greeted by a bomb-defusing robot. Then, they went to the shooting range, where they did target practice with M16 BBguns. After that, we were given the opportunity to explore all of the various tents and displays that were set up--security forces (where Grace had her face painted), recreation tent, medical tent (where Grace had a splint put on her arm), rock climbing, grenade toss, crime scene investigation, military working dog demonstration, chow hall (including trials of MREs), the Chapel, and an exercise while wearing chemical warfare gear (including gas masks)--they walked around a scene carrying "electric noses" looking for the bad smelling air.

When they returned from their 4 hour deployment, they were greeted by hoards of people--VFW members and military personnel. Their return was celebrated with cake and more toys and candy.

They had so much fun, I was just glad that there wasn't a recruiter waiting at the end of the day to sign them up.

The Adventures of Superkids Continues

Nathan and Grace have made the Adventures of Superkids come to life. Ever since reading the very first story written by Brian, the children have been pretending to be the beloved superheroes. Recently, however, they've gotten much more creative! They have each hidden their secret hero suits under their beds (shhh!! don't tell). Whenever there is trouble, out of nowhere, they'll charge into the room and announce that they've come to save the day. They have remarkable battles against invisible villains (or against stuffed animals--they punch them so that they fly through the air) with karate moves and flying leaps. After the most serious battles, they receive promotions. They started out as Super N and Super G, but have progressed up through the ranks so that they are actually now Colonel N and Colonel G. Katie is a big part of the action. She even has a cape of her very own and she has left the rank of "Super" behind and is now called "Captain Baby" by G and N. I just have to say...we have SO MUCH FUN!!!

Moustaches--For your enjoyment

Moustaches...My Dad has always worn one, in fact, I've never seen him without his hairy upper lip.

Brian wore one during Moustache March while he was deployed...

And, our children wore some paper moustaches (and beards) a few weeks ago...

You know, my children make moustaches look pretty cute!

Been having a little log on trouble...........

Well, I haven't been keeping up on my blogging for the past month for many reasons. Foremost, I haven't been able to log on from our desktop computer. Tonight, I found my way onto our website using Brian's laptop, but his laptop doesn't have all of our family pictures, so until I get things corrected, no photos of our adorable children...bummer.

I'll fill you in on what we've been up to since El Paso. We are currently halfway through our eighth week of school. It has been a challenging school year so far! It's been hard to figure out our new daily routine with schooling a second grader and a kindergartner and corralling our toddler. Then, when we start to fall into somewhat of a rhythm, we add a new component to our schedule, like Bible study or physical education classes or sports or vacations.

For now, each day is a work in progress. We are, however, having a great time teaching the children! We've been blessed to take a couple trips that have complimented subjects we've been learning this year (especially astronomy). We've been to an observatory, planetarium, and to Meteor Crater (it should be meteorite crater)! We've also visited the Grand Canyon. I think the most fun we've had with school thus far has been visiting the zoo--no, not the Phoenix zoo, the White Zoo on my kitchen counter. Our current exhibits include a pet praying mantis (we go out each night at dusk to catch his dinner for him, usually crickets), a large snail, and a caterpillar. Our three inch long grasshopper recently passed away. We've also had earwigs and pet crickets (until they become mantis food). Luckily, we haven't had any pet cockroaches!

It's hard to believe that one year ago, we started this blog to share our thoughts, our lives, and our prayer requests as Brian prepared to depart on an unexpected deployment. Thank you for joining us for the journey and thank you for your prayers. Looking back over the past year, half of it with Brian in Afghanistan and half of the year with him home, it's hard to believe he was gone at all. God is faithful to us, He completely sustained us and comforted us. Brian and I are as close as we've ever been and, in fact, our relationship is stronger. Most importantly, during the past year, we've both grown more dependent on and more in love with the LORD. That truly is the most important thing! God is my Rock and my Redeemer, my Strength and my Shield, and my Joy, and I will sing His praises all my life!

Psalm 71 (NIV)

1 In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.

5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother's womb.
I will ever praise you.
7 I have become like a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
11 They say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”
12 Be not far from me, O God;
come quickly, O my God, to help me.
13 May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.

14 But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.

19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.

22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I, whom you have redeemed.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso

We had a great trip to El Paso last weekend to see my dad at his new home. It was awesome to see my dad--El Paso seems to suit him well. He's got an interesting and challenging job and he's got a neat house on a mountainside overlooking most of El Paso.




We swam in his pool and drove around to do a little shopping (Mexican blankets and baskets) and a little sight-seeing. He even pointed out where to find Rosa's Cantina (of course he sang a little too):

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl.
Night-time would find me in Rosa's cantina;
Music would play and Felina would whirl...




He took us to an awesome steak dinner at Cattleman's Steakhouse and after dinner we looked around the Cattleman's "zoo" and saw many a rattlesnake, some deer, some bison, ostriches, and bunnies.




When he wasn't taking us out to eat at fabulous restaurants, he was stuffing us with goodies at his house (the kids especially loved all the snow cones)!

It was a long car trip, but the children did great and we're looking forward to the next time we get to see Dad.