I Love my husband!

SO, I meant to post something sooner than now. (two 1/2 months later), but I forgot how to do it. And THEN, I forgot to do it at all!

Life is good though!

Very good.

We have received orders to go to HAWAII! We will be leaving sometime in November. Our kids have never seen the ocean, and boy are they going to get a good look now! It will be quite the adventure.

Paul has been gone for 5 months now, and will be home in 39 days!!!!!!!!!!! We are soooo giddy and excited and all that good stuff!

I was fortunate enough to be able to fly down and see him over labor day weekend and spend four wonderful and glorious days together with the love of my life!

It was funny to me, that as I drove to pick him up that first morning, I was SO nervous. I kept telling myself "Why in the world am I nervous about this?!?! I have been with this amazing man for 13 years!!!!!!!!!!!" and yet, I was still nervous. Paul was too.

What an awesome thing to get to hug him after so long without him. I fully understand that many people have gone a lot longer than that without seeing their spouse. I also Know that longer separations are in our future. However, it was wonderful and exciting!

Confession: I had been waiting in the car for about 10 minutes, watching many soldiers walk by, before Paul came out. I did not recognize him at first glance. He was in uniform, just like everyone else, and has lost weight, and it only took me a second, but it was enough to make us both laugh.

He looks so great. Every day he is sending sweet text messages telling me how grateful he is for me and how much he loves me. I never knew that being around a bunch of dorky guys would bring out the romance in my husband that I never knew existed :-) ha ha

He constantly amazes me. I am so in love with my husband. This is a good thing. With every cloud always comes a silver lining also, and we are seeing those. Yes, there is still a cloud, but it's a tolerable cloud.

I'm including some fun pictures of me and my hunny from our Labor Day reunion.

I must also mention, that it is the first vacation we have EVER taken together ALONE since having kids. We have gone to a couple business meetings and family things. But we have never gotten this much alone time in a row. (and I still had to turn him back in every night to his platoon)

It's kind of sad really. But it reminded us that we should try to do this more often than once every twelve years!

Happy Independence Day!

I had a wonderful Fourth of July Celebration. We started it out by having our VERY OWN parade on our street. The kids decorated their bikes with red, white, & blue streamers and balloons. My older two boys carried the flag down the street with my oldest Daughter marching behind. *While wearing scout shirts). Then all the kids hopped on their bikes and rode up and down throwing candy while we played Lee Greenwoods "Great Defenders". Cheesy? yes. But the kids loved it and I got to avoid the crowds that are associated with the parade. I miss the days when we lived in Payette and the parade circuit went right behind our house. We had family over for a barbecue for Dinner. My parents, my sister and her hubby and his brother, my uncle Alden, and my brother from Twin Falls and his wife. It was so fun to sit around and enjoy adult conversation. We discussed political subjects, which I hadn't done for quite a while. I loved it. That night we drove to Menan, to enjoy their fireworks. I loved them. The kids "oohed and aahhed" the whole time. It just feels me with gratitude for celebrations.

This is the first time also, that I have seen the Birthday of our Country through the eyes of an army wife and it was interesting. When the military was mentioned in tributes, I now belonged to that family, and more importantly, I knew my husband was one of those they were talking about. I know of his great service first hand. We, as a family, would much rather have him here, but if he has to be gone, I can't think of any better reason. I have felt pride for the military for a long time. My Dad and Father in Law are both veterans. Two of my brother-in-laws are both members of the military. Cousins and dear close friends are in the military. I felt our roots ran deep. Now, it is obviously deeper. I am proud to be the wife of an American Soldier.
Paul is the most honest man I know. I know without a doubt that he truly loves me. His concern for me is so touching. It's funny that the times we talk, he's concerned about me dealing with everything here. Yet, I know his daily tasks are WAY more demanding. But that's the kind of guy he is. He is so much more concerned with others than with himself.
It is amazing to think that it's already been 10 weeks since he left. I miss him every day and it feels surreal at times that it's been that long. It gets me excited to know that in 3 more weeks, we'll be 1/2 way through.

I am so thankful for the freedoms of my country. I have always felt quite patriotic. Patriotic songs make me cry. I love to be in a large group singing patriotic songs and feeling the amazing spirit that settles there. I get filled with pride every time I gaze at our flag. I am so grateful to be able to live in this free and beautiful country. I have visited 25 of or 50 states so far, and have beauty of all different kinds in each one. I look forward to seeing the rest someday.
I am thankful to be married to my best friend and hero. I do have my very own knight in shining armor, only he chooses camoflage and combat boots for his uniform.
I just feel so extremely grateful and blessed. My life is good.

Here goes. . . .

SO!
I know that many many MANY of you are huge fans of blogs. (Why would you be HERE if you weren't, right?)
Well, I figured I would give it a try. I mean, in all reality, the internet is what sucks the most of my free time away and WHY NOT create something to take even MORE?!
If nothing else, I get to say whatever is on my mind and feel that it is doing more then just filling up drawers in my brains file cabinets (those REALLY need reorganizing)
Life is Good. I can't complain.