return to me

Thank you everybody for your love and support. It makes it easier when we know we have so many friends and family out there to help and cheer us on. It will be over soon before we know it and life will get back to normal again. Please continue to pray for us. Especially for Don and the other troops out there who are also giving and sacrificing for our country and our freedom. Thank you again for your compassion. We love you all!!

Bye Bye Daddy!!!

Well the time has come once again for my husband to go and serve in Iraq. We dropped him off today at 7:00 in the morning and he left about 4 hrs later. The first day is always the hardest for me. So I give myself the one day to sulk and feel sorry for myself. Then the next day it's time to move on, be strong and get things done. And by the second day it's already one day closer to him coming home. So the countdown begins. Even though I know that we don't have it as bad as most, it's still hard to be away from each other. The loneliness sets in and emptiness that makes you feel like part of you is missing. I always have a list of things that I dread at first when he leaves and it's the constant reminders that he's not home. The missing tooth brush. The smell of his fabulous shower gel that lingers after his shower. The empty side of the bed. And then the ones that really bother me, like his laundry that starts to disappear after awhile. This always reminds me of the danger he is in. And the posibility that I may never do his laundry agian. I try not to think about that but that's why this one is so hard on me. Not being able to watch our favorite shows together. One of our favorite things to do together. Going to church without him there. I really have a hard time with this one because I'm surrounded by Dons friends and their presence makes me long for him to be there. After a while has past, like 2 months into it, I start missing being held and touched. Even just a hug.

Having said all that I want people to know that I believe in whet he is doing. I am so proud of him and am grateful to call him mine. I'm grateful that I too get to play a part in serving my country. He is a strong leader and will be every bit as successful as I know he wants to be over there with getting the things he needs to done. No matter how difficult or tiring it might be. I on the other hand am not a leader. So this role is a little more difficult for me. But I try. And sometimes I fail and sometimes I'm successful. I have noticed that when I am closer to the Lord I have more successes then failers. I'm so grateful for the friends that I have here and my family to help me through these hard times. Sometimes it's hard to ask for help but I'm getting better at it. Even though this is really hard I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow from this trail the Lord has challenged me with.

I will make it through! I will succeed! I will make you proud Don.

I WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU TO RETURN!
I LOVE YOU!!!!

I MISS YOU!!!!

BE SAFE MY LOVE!

Rain Rain Go Away!

It has been raining here a lot lately. But on this particular day it was raining sheets. By the time it was over which was just a few hours, this is what I saw when I looked out my back window. Our house is backed up against the woods and this is the path that goes up the hill and back into the woods. I'm explaining this to you because in this picture it looks like a waterfall not a path. I've never seen it do this before and I have to say it was quite a beautiful sight.

Last day of vacation!

On the last day we decided to venture of of the base and on to the main beach there in Pensacola. It was about 20 min away and I have to say we didn't enjoy it as much. It was dirty and crowded and the people were a bit questionable. Everybody was very nice but definitely different life styles. They had this big long peer that was a mile and a half long that we decided to walk on. When we got to the top there was a fee of 2 dollars to walk across. Don wasn't very happy about it and was trying get out of it but didn't work. There were a lot of fisherman trying to catch fish off the side and apparently this is the only use for the peer. This one guy caught a fish right as we were passing and the boys were very interested in what he was doing and what he caught. To my surprise the fish had teeth and wouldn't move until you were close enough to bit. So it was important that they didn't get to close. I think it was funny that this guy insisted on being in the picture. I think he was proud of his fish. I really didn't care about the fish I just wanted a picture of my adorable boys. Too funny!!

We then went to the boardwalk and had lunch in this little cafe. Everybody seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason. Well the kids anyway. It was hard to get them to smile for the camera. Why is it that small little cafes take forever to get food! We were the only ones inside the restaurant, I think there was another group outside, but still it took FOREVER for our food. We had plenty of time for picture taking and video shooting. Unfortunately because of this I used up all my memory. And on this camera it wont let you just delete one photo at a time. it's all or nothing. I was so mad. The rest of the day we spent on the beach . Well, Don and the kids did anyway. For me it was shopping on the boardwalk. That was the gift Don gave me for my upcoming 4 month sacrifice. It was fun to just go where I wanted to go without any little ones to have to worry about. I could take my time and shop. It was very relaxing.

In this video Brigham was just plain mad. He wasn't in a good mood and I thought it was funny. He was yelling that he wanted french fry. He had scratched me earlier and I was trying to get him to say sorry on camera but he was to mad. Some of you might see just a bratty little kid but he isn't like this very often so I found it entertaining. I'm sure nobody else did though.

We didn't get back to the hotel until late and the next day we were leaving. It was a wonderful vacation and I really enjoyed visiting Florida for the first time. Thanks for reading my in depth vacation saga. This will be going down in the history books as the best vacation ever!!!

2nd day in Pencacola

Thursday was our second day of our vacation and we were stumped as to things to do with the kids besides the beach. On the Navy base driving around we noticed an old brick structure that was huge with thick walls and lots of funny windows. It even had a draw bridge and a (dry) mote. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of that . It was really cool. We decided to go and check it out. It turns out it was a historical site right there on the base. It dated back to the 1300's. I love to see and learn about old buildings like this so it was fascinating to me. And Don love war history so he also enjoyed it. The kids loved running around and pretending there was a ghost around every corner. It did have an eery feel to it. This is us walking up to the fort.The door that Kelland is standing in front of is to a room where they kept all the ammunition. Notice how thick the walls are. It's solid brick. I think that's what amazed me the most is how well this structure was built for back then. It would have taken a long time. Kelland wouldn't stay still enough for me to take a good picture of him because he was scared of the dark room behind him. He told me that's the ghosts bedroom. The windows were built with an angle for the rifles to fit through and move from side to side. Brigham and Layton look so cute perched up there that I just had to take a picture. All throughout the building their would be writing on the bricks . Some were really hard to read. The one on the bottom says: MISS IDA MOSSER. #6 HARLAN AVE. LOUISVILLE KY..........year 1314. I love to think of what it was like for this soldier. Miss Ida must have been pretty important to him to write her name on the wall. Or maybe he didn't have anywhere else to keep her address. Who knows, the possibilities are endless.

Stairway to Heaven!In the video you can hear the kids pretending to be ghosts. Brigham just wants to run around and keep up with his big brothers.



I love this picture of ALL my boys. This one is going up on the wall for sure. And isn't the architecture amazing?! I couldn't stop taking picture after picture of it. Notice the "enough" expression on my husbands face. He's so cute when he's annoyed:)

After our afternoon of spending time among the ghosts it was off to the beach....Again!!!!

Don loves to bury the kids in the sand and to my surprise they all seemed to enjoy it. I must be to much of a girl but it just seemed dirty to me.

The water was a little warmer then day before. So they were in it for a little bit. Their favorite part was when the waves would crash into them. Kelland would hold on to Daddy for dear life. After 45 min of that Jaren was looking for the warm towel.

This day for me was all about the camera. I think I took at least a hundred pictures. These are some of the pictures I am proud of and would like to share. It's obvious that they aren't perfect but for me it's close enough to make me happy.



























So every day should end this way don't you think?! A nice relaxing snooze on the beach with the warm sun beating down. Who could ask for anything more.




Day 3 up next.

1st day in Pensacola Florida!

We got to Florida late Tuesday night. We stayed on the Navy base there in the Navy Lodge which was right on the beach. But before we could go to the beach we had to go see the Blue Angels fly. The Blue Angels are stationed there in Pensacola so they practice there when their home. On Wednesday morning we all got up early to go and watch them give a mini air show. It was still a big deal with a big crowd of people and a chance to meet them and have them sign something. I think Don was the one that was the most excited. He flys the big planes now but when he was training he got to fly the smaller ones that did tricks and rolls. A part of him misses doing that I think. The top picture is a family picture in front of the plane he flys. And the bottom picture and video are of the Blue Angels. Just ignore the annoying voice in the back ground. I don't know who that is:)

After the air show Don took all the boys and explained everything about the plane he flys. They had so many questions and they all seemed to be so interested in it. We even got to go inside and see where he sits and what everything is used for. They love that their Daddy is a pilot. And after this trip Brigham has a new found love for airplanes. We stayed there looking at the planes so long that they were actually asking us to leave. They closed the gates behind us. The air show was at the Navy air Museum So next we decided to go check that out. The kids loved running around looking at all the airplanes and staged War bunko's. The part the kids liked the best though were these Airplane cock pits that they could get in. Don said that they were just old simulators. The instructors would use them to help the student pilots learn the instruments. It was fun to watch them play and pretend to be just like Daddy.

After the museum it was lunch time so we went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. The kids were well behaved and the food was delicious. When we walk into a restaurant with our 4 boys we always get people staring. But on the rear occasion that they do behave, I don't mind that they stare. We actually had a couple come up to us and tell us that our children were beautiful and so well behaved. I thanked them like this is how they always are but inside I was beaming.

My children have always been very loving towards each other and sometimes I forget to record it. I'm glad I got this peace of evidence, so when they get older and it's uncool or they just can't seem to get along I'll pull it out and hopefully remind them of how sweet they can be. Wishful thinking I'm sure.

Once we got back to the hotel it was time for the beach. They were so excited. The weather was in the mid to upper 70's but the water was still very cold. This is Don holding a very cold Jaren.

I love taking pictures at the beach. It is the perfect background for pictures. I really had fun taking pictures of my boys. It has confirmed my love for Photography. One of these days I'll actually do something about it but right now it's fun to play.


Kelland loves to play in sand. I'm normally yelling at him for making a mess or getting dirty. Well not when your at the beach! He loved this huge life size sand box. He still hasn't stopped talking about it.



As much as Kelland loves the sand, that's how much Jaren loves the water. To bad it was cold. He would have been in it all day. Layton likes the beach alright but he really likes playing all the sports. So he played soccer with some kids on the beach that day. I wanted him to build sand castles with me but he didn't have enough patience.






Just a beautiful picture of my little one with the most perfect background I could ever ask for.








What a long day. And what a relaxing thing to do out on the beach in the sun. We had so much fun that day. Tomorrow I'll post day 2. Sweet dreams little Kelland.