Whew! Traveling Family

My mom, Pam, me and my sister Julia at the Resilient Women's Conference

Our little model, Hannah Joy

A trip on the train at the Montgomery Zoo

A great symbol of our great nation

The last 5 weeks have been full of a lot of miles. We've had two conferences (one women's with my mom and sister; one Home School), two RV trips with David's parents (one of which we are on right now) and a trip to FL to look at housing on Tyndall AFB. Yes, for anyone who does not already know, the Air Force will be moving us there in June. We are excited! We've also made extensive improvements to the outside of our Montgomery home. The impetus for these improvements was, ironically, a root from our crepe myrtle growing into our sewer pipe and causing a sewer back up in our house. David's time home has gone so quickly and we've been so busy! For about six weeks we had a date night once a week. We'd eat together and talk and go shopping for various items. One week we went and saw "How to Train Your Dragon," which we enjoyed a lot. We are currently on our way to Lynchburg, VA for David to graduate from Liberty University with his Master's degree in Christian Leadership. He's been working toward it for quite a while and steadily persevered while in Afghanistan also. All in all, it was really a blessing for our family, being that David was required to read such a large number of books on marriage and family and God's Word. We are so blessed! But, we are thankful that this season is over, as well!

Birds, Beaches and Big Girls

This morning, as I greeted the plumber in the front yard to inspect our drain for any more roots from our crepe myrtle, I was blessed to see a bird I have been wanting to see for 7-8 years. There was a lovely juvenile Cedar Waxwing eating some of the flowers off of our blossoming Bradford Pear in the freezing cold wind. I was amazed how it stayed in the tree munching and crunching away while the plumber, various children and I walked around on the ground under the tree for 10 minutes or so.

I was also blessed to see my dear children again today, as I do everyday. Believe me, those are not my first thoughts as I wake up every day; however, they are usually my thoughts once they're asleep in their beds. Hannah is pictured here just about to put her pants on all by herself. Elizabeth took the picture.

We went to the beach for a few days week before last and had a lovely time with our friends the Golarts who were kind enough to share their family's lovely beach home with us. The kids enjoyed playing in the water and sand even though it was a little on the cool side! One morning, Justin kindly came back to the house with Krispy Kreme doughnuts for everyone--yummy!

One of Andrew's three birthday cookies/cupcakes.

The "holey" grin!

David's brother Mike and wife Staci made this sign, which is being proudly posted at his parent's home.

Here we are on one of our "downtown" dates, this one at The House restaraunt.

Reunion at the airport.

I know you're all just dying to hear how we're doing...

...now that David is HOME!!! Well, we're doing very well, thank you! Thank you for all the prayers and support over the last 16 months! We are so thrilled to have been through the refining fire, and to have been purified through the process. That refinement has been evident in the last 3 weeks in so many countless ways.
We've kept quite busy! I think we felt a little bit wild and invincible. We've had a wonderful little getaway to dear downtown Montgomery while David's mom watched the kids, including one with the flu! We've gone to a concert, we've gone to a wedding and a birthday party; we've gone to Atlanta and had a new neice be born into the family, while reconnecting with both sides of our families. Andrew has lost a tooth and turned 7! That's just scratching the surface, really, of all the errands, trips to get pizza, cookies, and ice cream, and all of the home repairs, not to mention going back to work that we have done of late. Well, that last part is actually stuff that David has mostly done! Unfortunately, I fear the scale is seeing the result of my eating the pizza, cookies and ice cream, too!
Here are a few pictures of the last few joyful weeks!

Hooded Sweatshirt

Every once in a while, an article of clothing comes along that is of very little consequence at the time but ultimately becomes a cherished item.  That is the case with regards to a gray hooded sweatshirt that we bought at a small local dive in Northern Canada.  We were driving through the Yukon Territory on our way to Alaska when we stopped to stretch our legs at a small diner/gas station at one of many continental divides throughout North America.  The sweatshirt was hanging and seemed like a fitting purchase to remember our trip as it not only bore the embroidered logo of the place we had stopped but would also keep me a little warmer considering the more northern latitudes we were entering.  So, I bought the shirt, put it on and we went on our way.  That was the summer of 2003 and seven years later the sweatshirt is still keeping me warm and casual.

You may have seen the above picture in the slideshow on the right but there is really a lot more to the story that meets the eye.  Yes, I'm in the photo with Rachel (my wife) and I am wearing what I now call my "concert shirt" - the aforementioned sweatshirt.  From the picture you can tell that we were probably at a concert and we left with a few souvenirs.  This is all true.  What is not shown is that it is a Third Day concert - the first one ever in Fairbanks, AK and the second one ever in the entire state (the Anchorage show was two days earlier).  We bought front row tickets the minute they went on sale without knowing we would be hosting the band themselves for a base tour on the eve of the concert.  The tour went well and it was a real blessing to give back to a group of men who have given us so much.  The pick, drumstick and program with guitar chords to "Cry Out to Jesus" were tokens of appreciation from the band that we'll always cherish.

The sweatshirt has accompanied me to several other concerts including Jeremy Camp, Bebo Norman and the Music Boat.  I wish I could hear the stories of those days and nights from the sweatshirt firsthand - I imagine it would have a slightly different perspective.

In Him,

Bye Bye Afghanistan

It is almost surreal.  I feel the gravity of the last year may never really hit.  So much has happened that there is a distinct possibility that getting home will seem strangely like just another return after a busy day at work.  I have met umpteen-million Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Civilians and Afghans and been to so many places I never dreamed to visit that it may pass as a blur.  I hope it isn't.

I hope that I can truly rejoice being back with my family and friends.  I hope that my emotions are not too much in check that I can't respond like I should to my three small children who are bouncing off the walls awaiting my arrival or my freakin' amazing wife who gives me a refreshed perspective of a true hero.  They deserve everything of me and I hope to provide.

I left Afghanistan two days early thanks to a surprise C-17 that was not being tracked except by a few folks at KAIA.  Originally I was going to spend the night at KAIA, fly to another base, spend the night there, fly to Manas, spend several nights there, fly to the States, spend the night at our stateside destination and then finally fly to beautiful Montgomery.  Instead, I'll be arriving home two days early!  Praise the Lord. 

Manas is OK but it's really cold.  The bays where we sleep are huge and this morning several hundred Soldiers left, waking us up at about 4 AM.  And yet, I am thankful.

Snowed In!

Granted, Alabama's version of "snowed in" is a rather far stretch compared to most of the country's definition of that phrase! Still, we've resolved to do our excercising in creative ways at home and just enjoy the snow, fires and staying home. Let me just say two things about today before I close:

This is by far the wettest snow I have ever seen! It really hurt when Andrew threw a snowball at me, just because of the density of the water in it!

Secondly, as yummy as roasted marshmallows are, I have discovered that roasted strawberry marshmallows are even better!

Our little Life

Whew! I apologize for being so neglectful of posting! I know we've been boring you all to tears! It's been a rather busy four weeks or so! Lots of colds and illness and trips to the doctor for all four of us, for starters, has consumed a lot of our time. I think we are all better now. We've also been trying to be much more active and eat a lot healthier. As a result, I have lost 6 pounds, and Andrew had too much fiber and not enough water which resulted in stomach pain and a trip to the Urgent Care doctor's office! Go figure.

I continue to be blessed by our babysitter Dorothy, giving me a break on Thursday afternoons to shop, keep doctor appointments for myself and generally just have a little break from the daily routine. She loves the kids, they love her and I always come home to a very clean house! I love it!

Here are a few pictures of the last few weeks. Dorothy dressed Hannah up in the cowgirl outfit...though it is 3 sizes too big, she was too cute for words! And the SNOW! We awoke to the snow, in what is being called one of the biggest storm systems since the blizzard of '93. However, I'm pretty doubtful we'll really see more than 3 inches here. I know everyone from central Mississippi to Georgia and down to the panhandle are getting the snow. Enjoy it! I know we plan to after we do a little spelling and math! My poor children! They don't know that everybody else is out of school today and I make them do work! We have to miss, though, for various other doctors appts and trip to the grocery store, so it all evens out!

Enjoy the snow and your extended weekend!