Merry Christmas 2012

 Santa decided this family needed some fun fun family activities for Christmas so a family that Nerfs together stays together...Merry Christmas 2012

Welcome Home Pachenko 2012

 Red, White & Blue hanging in the background of our beautiful Apache. Welcome Home to our beloved Soldiers....Since homecoming times can change up until the last minute we decided not to tell the girls that Pachenko was coming home we didn't want to disappoint them since Christmas was looming in the near future so the girls just kept praying that Santa would bring their daddy home in time for Christmas and God decided it sounded like a good plan and Santa delivered the Big Poppa in time for Christmas...He arrived at night after the girls were asleep so they woke up and were curious as to what was going on and out walks their daddy from the bedroom...cheers, shouts and tears of joy all around...Merry Christmas 2012

Fun in the "Wait"

I have had some wives say to me that they didn't think it was right or fair for their husbands to have fun while deployed, away at training or in the field. "I told my husband he can't go to the Movies or out to eat or to USO shows" or they get mad when it looks like their man is having some kind of fun or looks TOO happy in a photo posted while he is away from home. Some might bash me on this one but I am secure in who I am, I am secure in my marriage, my spouse and the truth is if my husband didn't want to be with me anymore then I respect myself too much to want a man who doesn't want me..see ya later alligator! That being said if my husband can find some happiness, a moment of silliness, a good belly laugh so lightheartedness in the middle of a Dessert then I would be over joyed. So some of the amusing photos that came my way during my husbands deployment. 

My advice is to tell your husband to try to have fun...if he is going to be there for Halloween send him a costume nice and early ..I didn't even think about that my husband never dresses up for Halloween (he is not in any of these costume photos lol) but next time I am sending him something way cool to wear..

Pretty in Pink

 I love being a volunteer combine that with the opportunity to raise money for one of my favorite causes Breast Cancer Research well sounds like the perfect reason to throw a " Turn your city pink" event here are my girls all dressed out in their pink tops for the cause



Below is a group photo of some friends who joined me for the cause...

A Walk To Remember

How many parents can say that their children know what the words Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage mean or that they exhibit these great qualities? Service members children being raised in patriotic families watching their fathers and mother serve in the Armed Forces. Growing up in a military family I was proud to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance placing my hand over my heart and reciting the words from memory. I am just not repeating the words I think of each word and what that word represents I think of the sacrifices of the military families, the loss of loved ones, the pride in being part of something great.  I am raising my daughters to know this pride and the freedoms and liberties that come with being an American citizen for it is on the sweat, blood, tears and hard work that our great country was born. One of our greatest tragedies was Sept 11th 2001 a day etched in history for all future generations to learn about. Children of Service members people who serve be military, police, firemen, and rescue workers...people who run into harms way to protect and serve those who are in need those are the children who know and live these qualities below is a photo from our Army Posts Sept 11th remembrance walk these little children walk for the fallen of that horrific day. They understand the fear and loss knowing that their father or mother walks into danger to protect our country. 

Sept 11th 2012 Remembrance walk for Sept 11th 

Raise them up and watch them soar

The beginning of our life changes we started as a family of 9 but now we are a family of 6...

Oldest left to get married see previous blog named "Oh how fast they grow", Husband deployed see previous blog named  "The Beginning of a Deployment 2012"

 When I became a parent it was important to me that my children grew up knowing that they could do whatever they wanted no dream or goal was too big for them to strive for...We don't say can't, we don't say fail because as long as you try, you have already crossed off can't and fail. Failure only comes from lack of action from not even attempting to reach your goals and dreams. When our kids are little we don't realize how fast time is going to fly by in the blink of an eye your baby goes from night time feedings to hugging their siblings good bye when it is time to head off to college. With pride and tears we sent Julianna off to college it was harder then I thought it would be I thought I was prepared but nothing prepares you for sending your baby off into the big bad world...

Julianna smiling as she tells Charlie she loves her and that she is leaving for college

Charlie handing Julianna the bag of her things she packed to go along to college with her. Julianna told Charlie that she couldn't go along to college with her because we didn't have her passport or a plane ticket the look of confusion and sadness broke my heart. 

Charlie was not giving up she decided if we didn't put her bag in the car then she would do it herself. The look on her face says it all "How can you say no to my adorable face?" 

The moment finally came when Charlie realized that she really couldn't go to college with Julianna with teary eyes and a quivering chin Julianna hugged Charlie tight one last time and then Sophia had to drag Charlie away kicking, screaming, tears flowing and begging Julianna not to leave her...This is my heart break and greatest joy at the same time we will miss Julianna but this display on sisterly love brings such happiness to my heart what greater reassurance can a parent have then knowing that long after they are gone their children will have one another a friendship, a bond, a love like no other...sisters

"Raise your children to be strong, confident, self sufficient and adventurous..Read to them so they learn to listen, listen so they learn to speak, encourage there dreams so they know they can be anything they dream of being and do everything they dream of doing teach them to fly so when they leave the nest they soar"
by LRRH

What Really Happens on the Home Front During a Deployment

We bust our buts working fundraisers 

We raise funds for Single Soldiers Homecoming projects

We make beds & make the Barracks welcoming

we take trips with fellow Army Families

and more Co Trips

We build families

we show our Patriotism 

we try new things like Cheer leading

we enjoy quiet family time ..

Every new Military spouse asks the same question when it comes to Deployment. How do you get threw it? Well the simple answer is stay busy!!! Get involved in your FRG you all heard horror stories about gossipy frg and cliques well I can tell you I am a FRG leader and I don't do gossip and I don't do cliques my FRG is a family readiness group I want my spouses to have knowledge and information that will help them be resilient every day not just during deployments. I am a firm believer that if you join an frg and its not what you think it should be then stand up and voice your opinions...A successful FRG is an active one with volunteers who sincerely care I don't do what I do for the perks, pay ?? umm no?? those card stock certificates umm nope I do it because I care and my thought is a happy spouse, makes a happy soldier makes a successful Company, Battalion and Community...Now besides your FRG, their are Spouses Clubs and PWOC check out your Post Chapel...moms groups, ACS always needs volunteers...now on to more fun things we did DFAC lunches and dinners to keep business at our DFAC during Deployment, we did a local Wild Animal Park, Amusement park, cheer camp, oh and check out those Chapel based Marriage and Family retreats ...they have them for Deployed spouses too. The point is just don't sit around marking off the days on the calendar or eating the each days M & M's get out and explore the area around your post...travel with a friend, or another wife...go someplace your husband wouldn't have fun like Polish Pottery shopping, crystal shopping, shoe shopping or purse shopping...I definitely do not encourage crazy spending on shopping!!! I once drove two friends to Cheb a town in Czech to purse shop I bought nothing I just went for the adventure ....I also advice personalizing your calendar my husband is gone 9 months we broke our calendar up into 3 Big events My daughters Senior Prom & Graduation, Her off to college & the little ones back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas...in our case the twins Bday is Jan 12th ....Homecoming was scheduled for Jan 1st but we heard they might be home by Christmas so we told the girls daddy would be home for their bday...so Jan 12th was circled on the calendar so if he didn't show up for Christmas they wouldn't be disappointed ....so personalize your calendar ...I also say don't move home with your parents or mother in law I promise 9 out of 10 Spouses regret it ...stay in your HOME, go visit family plan a month visit however after 2 weeks you probably will have reached your ok I need to go now phase...lol so visit for 2 weeks go visit some other family, then head back to mom n pops spend a week say see ya later and head on home...SPACE A is your friend....if you are OCONUS ...in the states round trip Greyhound bus tickets Mil discount $208 ??? heck yea no gas cost, no driving woohoo
**** Don't forget Single Soldiers who will becoming back to Barracks ask your FRG leader about Helping out with welcome home baskets & signs*****

A glimpse of Deployment Soldier Side

Deployment time went by fast for me I think it was because the girls and I kept busy and broke the Deployment up into BIG EVENTS . I bet Pachenko doesn't think it went by fast.

 Pachenko got to fly the Apache he loved it and I am surprised they got him out of the bird afterwards.

 Pachenko is not known to be stylish this hat sorta proves that point. I still love the guy though

 The man working hard I am glad he likes what he does and he sure looks good doing it.

Oh how they shine...

Oldest left to get married see previous blog named "Oh how fast they grow", Husband deployed see previous blog named  "The Beginning of a Deployment 2012" 

I have only known this day was coming since the moment she was born it doesn't seem like it was that long ago. Wow have 17 years really gone by that fast? I know she is mature, I know she is smart, I know she is beautiful, I know she is a great role model, I know she is a loyal friend, I know she is a caring daughter, I know she will do great in anything she sets her mind to do. I see her shine on a daily basis, I see her empathy when she feels others sadness, pain, happiness. 

I have always pressed into my daughters the need to be smart outer beauty is nice but inner beauty is the real stunner. 

What a amazing adventure and blessing this Army life has given us we will be sending Julianna back to the States for College in the Fall where I am sure she will share all of her gypsy adventures of travels around Europe ...The DoDDS Schools have been wonderful ...

"Raise your children to be strong, confident, self sufficient and adventurous..Read to them so they learn to listen, listen so they learn to speak, encourage there dreams so they know they can be anything they dream of being and do everything they dream of doing teach them to fly so when they leave the nest they soar"

by LRRH 

In our time of doubt we turn to friends ..

As I am floundering my way through my budding relationship with God the double whammy of tragedy in our small community has me reaching out to a virtual friend who offered support, advice, wisdom and friendship to me previously with the loss of our Battle buddy, neighbor and friend previously.  Once again I find myself seeking out her wisdom here is a letter I wrote to her seeking her wisdom on a topic she knows only too well 


Hyla, 


I have never been overly religious I believe in God and all that but I finally quit asking WHY and shut up enough to listen for an answer 
Once again I am sending you a msg on May 17th we lost a Soldier to a motorcycle accident a few hours after he and I chatted as we dropped our daughters off at school...he was getting out of the Army in June headed to the "safety" of a civilian job he has 3 small daughters 5yrs old and under and his wife is expecting daughter number four in a couple months. As I was driving into Head Quarters I was speaking to God Instead of asking why I told God I know things happen for a reason and I might not see or know what the reason is I then prayed for the Soldier, his wife, daughters and for healing and in my head when I started to feel sadness I heard "Blaze of Glory" by Bon Jovi as the days past whenever I would start to feel sad I would hear the song again, I saw his picture and heard the song again (I don't think I have gone bonkers but I have noticed alot lately and prior to this when something was troubling me a part of a song would pop into my head) 
when I was worried about my husband when he was in transit for Deployment I heard "A horse with no name", when I was worred about what people would think of how I am doing things in my life I heard " It's my life" By Bon Jovi 
..as devestated as we have been just sending her off to the states this past Thursday to bury her husband
....Yesterday we suffered another loss one of our helicopters went down and we lost 2 more Soliders one of them who recently left my Co to join another Co which sent him to a different location then my husband they are all deployed...his wife is a friend of mine 
the other day out of the blue I found a movie on youtube which actually worked alot of youtube videps don't work for us over here anyways it's a series of Movies called "Love Comes Softly" the books are by Janette Oke I don't know if you have seen them or read them but they are amazing ...based on love, loss, faith, healing and life going on ..I think coming across them was a gift from above the timing is perfect and instead of hearing a song this time.....I hear " Love Comes Softly" my friend is beautiful, young and smart so much more life to come ahead of her it gives me hope that she will find happiness again...like you
Once again Hyla Thank you for your story & your fb statuses of life continuing after loss


Jenni 

Is that you God?

Oldest left to get married see previous blog named "Oh how fast they grow", Husband deployed see previous blog named  "The Beginning of a Deployment 2012"

A while ago I started praying more, I never really pray for something for myself, I pray for my husband, my daughters, my extended family, my Soldiers, my Outlaw wives & there families, I pray for friends, neighbors, strangers...I am not a overly religious person I believe in God and in a greater purpose. I have randomly found myself talking to God its obviously a one sided conversation but as I talk and ponder the topic sometimes part of a song will pop in my head ...I never thought to much of it but over the past month its happened pretty regularly and the songs are always fitting..

Once again I found myself in a situation I didn't want to be in. Driving home I tell God I know that you have a reason for every thing and at times the reason is not obvious to us here ...I need just a sign everything is going to be all right ...and once more a part of a song pops in my head...I drive on and later that night I say I just don't understand why...the song verse pops in my head...as a friend posts a photo of our lost Outlaw once again the song pops in my head...So is this where God is answering me? I forsee a blog about this in the future ...for the recent events to raise questions of WHY?? the answer I keep hearing is "I'm goin' down in a blaze of glory"


I wake up in the mornin'
And I raise my weary head
I got an old coat for a pillow
And the earth was last night's bed
I don't know where I'm goin'
Only God knows where I've been
I'm a devil on the run
A six gun lover
A candle in the wind, yeah

You're brought into this world
But they say you're born in sin
Well at least they've given me something
I didn't have to steal or have to win
Well, they tell me that I'm wanted
Yeah I'm a wanted man
I'm colt in your stable
I'm what Cain was to Able
Mister catch me if you can

I'm goin' down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Take me now but know the truth
I'm goin' down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Lord I never drew first
But I drew first blood
I'm no one's son
Call me young gun

You ask about my conscience
And I offer you my soul
You ask if I'll grow to be a wise man
Well I ask if I'll grow old
You ask me if I known love
And what it's like to sing songs in the rain?
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/bon-jovi-lyrics/blaze-of-glory-lyrics.html ]
Well, I've seen love come
I've seen it shot down
I've seen it die in vain

Shot down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Take me now but know the truth
But I'm going down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Lord, I never drew first
But I drew first blood
I'm a devil's son
Call me young gun
Yeah

Each night I go to bed
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
No, I ain't lookin' for forgiveness
But before I'm six foot deep
Lord, I got to ask a favor
And I'll hope you'll understand
'Cause I've lived life to the fullest
Let this boy die like a man
Starin' down the bullet
Let me make my final stand

Shot down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Take me now but know the truth
I'm going down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Lord, I never drew first
But, I drew first blood
I'm no one's son
Call me young gun

I'm the young gun
Young gun, yea eee yea
Young gun

Communication style letters to the sand box

Oldest left to get married see previous blog named "Oh how fast they grow", Husband deployed see previous blog named  "The Beginning of a Deployment 2012" 

I think about our grandparent, I think about our mothers, I think about the generations of military wives who walked this path before us. I am sure they are looking on our generation thinking we have some things a little easier then them they had. They lived with snail mail while we have email me, there were no good phone calls then now we have instant messages, text messaging, skype ...Are we blessed or does today's technology make it more difficult? 

See to me I don't like skype the connection is horrible, the time delay frustrates me and our daughters don't understand why it takes daddy 5 mins to answer a question and why his face freezes and jerks around..

To keep myself from being worried about him I don't want to get into a routine of expecting phone calls at a certain time to me that just sets you up for worry.."Something horrible has happened it is 10:05AM and I haven't heard from my husband today he calls everyday at 10:05AM !!!" instead of being joyous when you get that surprise phone call you are left worrying about why you haven't gotten a expected call. When it comes to Deployments you should be prepared for the unexpected things happen, things change, communication is not guaranteed to always work power lines, phone lines can be out of service. Maybe I am old school or Retro give me snail mail any day I love old air mail envelopes could be the red, white and blue..patriotic envelopes how can you go wrong? So my question is what way do you like to stay in touch with your loved one? 

The Beginning of A Deployment 2012

So we dropped Pachenko off driving away the big girls in tears we arrived a family of 8 we are now a family of 7....to some that missing of 2 family members wouldn't seem like a lot in such a big family but it means less cooking and quieter nights..

Now that it is over and Pachenko is safely home from Deployment I will post a little about deployment and life during it. Right before Pachenko left we said good bye to our oldest Kathryn she decided she was grown and ready to go out into the adult world. She left home and went to Texas with her new boyfriend long story short she is an adult and even though I see this not ending well she has to make her own mistakes in life... So we are now down to 6 daughters at home making us a family of 8. Then the big day came we took Pachenko to the Hanger to send him off on deployment. People say it is hard on little kids the truth is look at the photo below our 2nd oldest Julianna knows she will be going to prom in a week, graduating high school in a month, leaving for college in 3 months and her daddy will miss all of this. Our 3rd oldest knows her daddy is going to miss her birthday, that she is going to be the oldest sister in the house in 3 months both girls know the reality of war, of  a deployment that dads and moms deploy and sometimes sadly they don't go come home. Look at our 4 little ones faces they know that their daddy is leaving that he will be home in January for the twins birthday. They don't see that as a long time because we are marking it off with big events Julianna will be graduating in June, then we have 4th of July which means a lot to military children, Ballet classes, Cheer leading Camp, Gymnastics and then a couple fun trips mom planned to kill time, then Julianna will leave for college, they will start back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas having those big count downs helped pass the time.. 

                                                No greater love then a girl and her daddy

No matter how old they get little girls still need their daddies 

oh how fast they grow ....

The beginning of our life changes we started as a family of 9 but now we are a family of 8...

Well I keep having to remind myself this is real and has really happened but Kathryn has grown up and flew the hen house not exactly the way I wanted her too but I can honestly say even though I wanted her to follow a different path all you can do is wish your children happiness and she is happy

Kathryn met a soldier and decided he was the one and yes the photo below is them exchanging vows my baby grew up and got married. It is so weird saying my daughters married her father and I hosted a bridal shower for them but they went back to the states to get married her dad and I were unable to be there but Daniels parents were which I am very happy about which is how I have photographic proof it actually is real.. Some times I catch myself and remember wow she is married now, not only that she is a step mother talk about double whammy ...No I am not taking on the roll of doting grandmother at this point in life we will see what happens down the road...a long ways down the road lol

So Congratulations to my daughter Kathryn and new son in law Daniel 

Need to step up my game

acknowledging I am so far behind in blogging life has been so busy that in my down time I have been to busy to blog...with that being said on Monday I will play catch up as much as I can blogs n photos to come

German Amusement Park

Our 1st adventure to a German Amusement Park Freizeitland Geiselwind I was slightly nervous about going to a German Amusement Park would we be able to figure it all out? Well YOLO and we picked a date, loaded up the kids and off we went on another adventure. We have had many adventures living in Europe small ones as well as big ones thanks to God they have all turned out fun. I love storing away all these fun memories with my girls and my crazy husband I love them all so much...This park is amazing not too big its the perfect size for families with little tot rides to big kid thriller rides if you have the chance definitely venture to this park. Like I have preached before don't be scared to get out and explore its ok to be nervous about trying new things or going to new places ...If you really are worried get together with other families and travel to these places with friends below is a photo of my little adventurers...

http://www.freizeitlandgeiselwind.de/