Time Marches On

I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted to my blog. My New Year's resolution was to blog on a more frequent basis. I am still in North Carolina with Sean, I actually woke up this morning with Sean letting Kiba (his dog) into the room with me at about 5:30 a.m. which is our daily routine and Sean telling me, "Hey Mom, it is snowing outside". Since I have been here we have had snow twice, before this year they hadn't had any snow in five years. While I know that this comes no where close to the winter they have been having in Waterloo, you would be amazed how even a small amount of snow paralyzes a southern city. Just so you know the first snow we had closed Ft. Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, I guess who had to call back if there was some kind of national emergency.

It seems hard to believe that I have been away from Waterloo for going on three months. More amazing is that I have been away from my sweetie going on two months, I miss him so much. I have been very happy to be here for Sean and I think it has been very important that I be here. On MLK day he had a full blown seizure and thankfully I was here with him. I was able to lift him off the couch (all 150 pounds of him) and place him on the floor so he wouldn't hurt himself, call the ambulance, wrangle the dog into his cage and ride in the ambulance with him to Womack Army Medical Center which is on Ft. Bragg. Mother adrenalin rocks, I mean when would I normally be able to lift that much weight with no problem. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father was here with me and was able to keep me calm, collected and strong. It is so awesome how He looks after us. We spent two days in ICU recovering from the seizure. I certainly which they would finally pinpoint what was causing them.

We are going one step at a time. First we need to deal with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his first tour in Iraq. This has been particulary hard, there is absolutely nothing in the Mom manual on how to deal with a son who returns from war and cannot get the horrific details and images out of his head. I do think we are making some progress on this front too. I feel sorry for the men and woman who don't have someone to be an advocate for them and to fight for the appropriate treatment. We have an added adavantage that my time in the Army helps me to understand the workings on the Army and military medicine in particular.

On another note, Sean seved with a guy in Iraq who has gone on to be a congressman who still keeps in touch with Sean. I mean, how many people get a call from a congressman for Christmas or their birthday. I happen to have his private cell phone number thanks to Sean and I am going to give him a call and tell him how horrified I am about the way these veterans are being been treated or more importantly having to fight for treatment.

This is about enough for this post. Continued prayers are greatly appreciated for Sean. To my Ward Family in Waterloo, IA I miss you guys so much.

Exciting

There are some ways that I really like to spend time, one of those is reading. The ladies in our Ward have recently started a book club. Last night was the first meeting that I attended. We read "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine. I really enjoyed this updated version of the classic Cinderella story. It read extremely fast, less than one day fast. We outlined books for the upcoming months. I am excited to reread some books I have already enjoyed. We are reading "The Christmas Box" by Paul Evans for December and "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamante for January. I will be hosting the January get together as the January book was my choice. I have some kind of fun ideas in the back of my head as to how we can enjoy discussing this book . . . does anyone have a red tent they aren't using???? I love the "Anne of Green Gables" books and we will be reading those too.

As of this point I am the oldest member of the book club, all these young women could literally be my daughter. In fact, most of them are the age of my daughter. I thoroughly enjoy all of them though. As I listen to them talk about the everyday struggles of being a mom and a wife in today's world I hope that I can help them to walk through this season of their lives. They will one day be amazed at how quickly it passed. I look at my oldest son who is thirty-two and it seems to me like yesterday that he was the age of Josh and Lucas and I was wondering how I was going to keep my sanity but I did and while I am enjoying this season of my life that also was an enjoyable season. What better feeling is there than rocking or cradling your child you has just had a bath and they smell so good and then there is that smile as they are sleeping. I always felt they were remembering fondly their time with Heavenly Father because the veil was not heavy for them yet. Those of the memories that they will have and cherish.

On the home front, I am looking through cook books for great Christmas cookie recipes. I am looking for one in particular to surprise my husband. I am also, of course, knitting. Nothing in particular is on the needles right now I am trying to come up with a pattern for a shawl to wear in the temple. The challenge is to find something that is pretty but not too pretty that will also be warm. If anyone has any ideas I am open to suggestions. I borrowed the "Pride and Prejudice" DVDs (the BBC version) and as this afternoon is supposed to be very gloomy I think I will begin to watch them.

Veteran's Day

Today I am especially grateful for family members who have served in the Armed Forces. I am especially grateful for my three sons who have all done tours of duty in either Afghanistan or Iraq, some more that one. I am humbled by the fact that they do not want people to thank them, pat them on the back or otherwise acknowledge them. They did something that had to be done, loss of life for all of them has been particularly hard. One of them told that one of the biggest reasons he had such a hard time was my fault. When I inquired why it was my fault his reply was, "Because you always taught us to respect other peoples ideals, faiths, opinions. That even if what they believed in or stood for made your blood boil it was their right to believe those things."

One of the hardest things for me as a mother was there was nothing in the "Mom Book" about what to do, how to act, what do you ask when a son comes back from war. It has been without a doubt one of my biggest if not the biggest challenge as a mom. I love each of these boys. One is especially tender hearted, and cries at sad movies, I can't imagine how painful it must have been for him. One is an exemplary solider but the loss of his fellow commarades has come at a terrible price for him one that will forever be in his mind and heart. One is a gentle giant who has a booming voice and a tough exterior but has a gentle and kind heart who loves his family above all else. Yet each of these boys, which I should say are men now, served his country gladly, didn't complain or whimper when duty called and did the job they had to do at a cost that we may never know. I hold each of them in my heart and hope they know how very proud I am of them and the decision they made.

Hopefully everyone can get beyond their differences about the should we, why are we there and today of all days salute these young men and women and be grateful for the sacrifice they have made. This poem is always appropriate on this day:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Back in Waterloo

Saturday, Robert came over to Des Moines and picked me up to take me back to Waterloo. He came bright and early so he had some "grandpa time w/the girls.

One of the fun things about being over there is I got to participate in Halloween w/the girls again. Rachel didn't go trick or treating but she stayed at Grandma Mona's to pass out candy.

I went out with the "fairy" and her parents. Isabelle was a little trooper, she went up and down the blocks and was very poliet remembering please and thank you and "Happy Halloween". This year was really fun because she was so into it and was really excited to see the other kids costumes.

Another bonus of this trip was that we got to see Jonah. His Daddy, Justin is now no longer active duty Army. He is on terminal leave which means that he is using what leave he had saved and when the leave is over he will be officially done with the active duty phase of his Army life. It has been a long seven years with two trip to Iraq for him. I know that his wife and children are glad that they don't have that looming in front of them right now. I know that I can breath a sigh of relief on this one. One down two to go!

I love this picture of Jonah and Isabelle. What do you think he is asking her? I think he is asking, "Is this crazy bunch of people really our family? This really wasn't what I requested." I hope that Izzy is telling him that while we may be a little wacky we are pretty lovable and that we really love each other lots. I don't know though, Isabelle looks pretty solomen. I also go to attend Rachel's first concert. She is playing the clarinet. I think the band director had way more guts than I would have, these kids have only been playing together for two months. It was very informal and very basic. I think the point was to show the parents that it doesn't take knowledge of an entire scale, I think they know five notes now, to play a song either as a group or as a band. The did a couple of pieces as a band and also some ensemble pieces.

Rachel participated in the ensemble clarinet piece. For the amount of time playing and all it was fairly good. A lot less squeaking than I anticipated. Their next concert will be after the first of they year. I can't wait to hear that one and see the progress that they have made. It was a great time and I enjoyed every minute of it. I love being around the girls and they are so loving. The hardest thing is coming home. The one bonus is we are only two hours away from Joyce and her family and 30 minutes from Justin and his.One last photo from the trip.

It Is Great To Be An American

I am so happy that this election is almost over, then perhaps everyone can move on and we can begin to look forward to a brighter tomorrow. The one thing I think we can all agree on is that as Americans we have a wonderful opportunity for our voices to be heard and to make our desires known. That by voting for a canidate we can help to shape the future not only for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren. This alone is a humbling thought.

Must of us will go home tonight to watch election results. No matter who wins another group of equally concerned Americans will be disappointed. It is my hope that while very few of us are actually able to make policy whether at the national, state or local level that we all endeavour to make our part of American just a little kinder. It takes no real extra time to get to know your neighbors and to be willing to lend a helping hand when needed. Attend your church, mosque or synagogue and make yourself available to opportunities to be "helping hands" in your community. Mentor a young person and make them believe that they can be anything they want to be. Love your family and make sure that they know that you love them. Take time everyday to reflect on your significant other and be thankful for that person.

Today may be a great day to be an American but tomorrow can be a great day for America.

Connecting With Family

I am busy working on trying to connect with the cousins I grew up. I have started a page on Facebook so that we can all connect including extended family like children and spouses. It should be fun to take and see where life has taken all of us. One of my female cousins that I was close to growing up has become a spinner, what an amazing coincidence! I guess I wouldn't be the only one dragging my knitting along to a family event as she also knits. The few cousins that I have been able to reconnect with have proved fun to get back in touch with.

I am planning on a trip to Des Moines to see our daughter and granddaughters. It has been quite a while since I have seen them and I have been in need of a granddaughter fix badly. I will be there for my one granddaughters first band concert and Halloween. I should have some great pictures to post from that.

Once I get back to Waterloo from that it will almost be time to gear up for Thanksgiving which I am really looking forward to. We will have over 50% of the kids and their families here.

What is the old saying about the road to hell . . . .

I had promised myself that I would be diligent and blog nearly everyday, that has obviously not happened. My last post is when my youngest grandson JW was born and the lack of blogging is not because my life has been so boring since then. Since JW was born Bob and I have relocated to Waterloo, IA for a job oppportunity for Bob. Bob moved here in February and I followed in late May. Since then we have been busy getting settled and then getting unsettled because of the floods and then settled again. Life is certainly interesting!



I have been working on getting the house into shape. The house was built in 1911

and has had quite a bit of restoration work done on it already, but it still needs more. One of the great features that you can't see is a "three season porch" that is off the back of the house. I really enjoy an older home and love the character that they have.

Our oldest son just finished with a tour of Afghanistan, so if anyone thinks that being an accountant for the Navy means you are safe from deployment, think again. He went back to Italy when he got back from his deployment and bought back his wife and two children. They will be with him at Great Lakes Naval Air Station until Christmas and then they will go back to Naples for Christmas. Unfortunately, then Jeremy will be back here by himself until summer when they will be back.

Our youngest is getting out of the Army after seven years. He has gotten married in the last year and a half and is the father of the adorable JW in my previous post. He did two tours in Iraq and now that he has a family he doesn't want to risk anymore.

Our daughter and her family are still in Des Moines and I will be loading myself up this weekend to go over there and spend two weeks with her. The hardest thing about this move has been being away from her and girls but at least it is only about two hours between here and Des Moines.

I have been starting a lot of knitting lately but just can't seem to find that one thing that would really take off and make me want to stay up till three in the morning to finish. I am currently enjoying some mindless crocheting and am making the bathmat from Liz Radford's "One Skein". I got the cones of yarn on sale so all total the cost of this bathmat is going to be about five dollars. You can hardly beat that and it gives me something to do during all those Law & Order marathons!

Hopefully, this will be the start of me posting on a more regular basis. I am also trying to get all my cousins together and get us all caught up on what has been happening in our lives, it has been too long since we have had contact with each other. I am hoping that blogging will be another way for us to connect.