Five Great Event From Last Weekend

Scenes from the party

Paul was home. This is the last time he will visit Lindale. He leaves for Cambodia next week and will be get home the night the kids and I fly into Phoenix. I told him there was just one thing about the move that was paralyzing me. The shed. It is as big as a 3 car garage and it was just full of tools and gardening equipment and hunting stuff and I just couldn't face going through it all.

Paul completely cleaned it out. He even moved everything from the shed that we are taking with us, from the shed to the garage, ensuring that I don't even have to go out there again unless I want to. Wow! He takes such good care of me.

Brittny visited. Pauly's girlfriend Brittny has been here all weekend. She is darling and funny and keeps Pauly on his toes. She was also a great help while we finished sorting things for the garage sale and then with the little girls' party. I also loved having someone else in the house to appreciate Kate Middelton's wedding dress. Sons simply do not fit the bill in those situations. It was nice to have her here. She went home Monday.

Sara and Gloria's Birthday/Farewell Party was Friday Night. I don't have time to tell you everything but let me just say it included several hundred glow sticks, an outdoor movie screen and these floating lanterns. It was kind of awesome. The girls were happy.

These are the invitations.

The garage sale has come and gone as have our lawnmowers our couch and our collection of Barbie DVDs. It was supposed to be Friday and Saturday but we had sold everything but odds and ends by noon on Friday. Woohoo! Someone came and took the chickens this morning. The only things left are a couple of book shelves that we thought about afterward and the bass boat.

Branch farewell Members from the branch gave an open house in our honor Saturday night. It was so nice to visit and tell stories and reconnect. They did it this weekend because it was the last weekend Paul would be here. So many people have become so dear to us here. Most of them have been in our branch.

We just went from one thing to another all weekend and I am afraid I only took a few pictures and they aren't great. Oh well.

All in all it was a great weekend. 26 days and counting!

There's nothing you and I won't do . . .

The other day Paul said, "So, what haven't we done that we still want to do?" We talked for a while about some of the things we still want to do. When we started out 22 years ago (this Saturday,) it was all about traveling and seeing the world and experiences.

The things we want to do now are a little more substantial and are more about giving than receiving. They involve phrases like "for the grandchildren", "near an airport" and "on a mission". Although, the phrase, "closer to the beach" comes up a lot as well.

Anyway, that conversation got me thinking about everything we've already done in our 22 years together.

So here are just 102 of the things that we've done or learned or experienced so far.

1. We've been married for almost 22 years and had lots of adventures.
2. We've moved 17 times and

3. lived in 17 different houses, apartments, stairwells, and townhouses.

4. Consequently, we have a great list of exactly what we want and

5. what we don't, if we ever get to build a house from scratch.

6. The house we're in now has almost everything on our list.

7. Somewhere during all those moves, we crossed the Atlantic 8 times.

8. We've seen unbelievable lightning storms in Texas,

9. caught fireflies in Nauvoo,

10. seen the Atlantic from both sides,

11. enjoyed a freak snow in Georgia,

12. and run for cover from a tornado in Kansas.

13. We lived in Germany 6 and 1/2 years, where we
14. climbed castle ruins,

15. camped on the banks of the Mighty Rhine and

16. crossed the Danube every Sunday on our way to church.

17. We know where the Herz Klink (heart hospital) is in Munich and
18. that we really love Nurenburger sausages with mustard.

19. We know the German national anthem and

20. German words to the song I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ,

21. although not as well as we used to.

22. We welcomed 3 babies into our home while we lived in Germany and
23. know the word for pain in German is "schmerz".
24. We've stood at the top of the Eiffel tower and
25. kissed in front of it.

26. We've slept at the top of a mountain at Gimmalwald, Switzerland and

27. watched our kids learn to ski in the Alps.

28. We've eaten antipasto in Tuscany
29. and watched our kids play in the Mediterranean Sea.
30. We've purchased tamales on the side of the road, in Ensenada, on Christmas Day
31. and watched our kids learn to surf in the Gulf of Mexico.

32. Of course we have a Robin and

33 a Paul and
34. a Josh and
35. a Dan and
36. a Sara and
37. a Gloria.
38. Together Paul and I have visited the deepest depths of grief
39. and learned that we are stronger than we knew we were

40. and that we are always the strongest when we are together.

41. We know the pain of long separations

42. and the joy of being reunited again.

43. We love the military,

44. especially the army and miss our army life.
45. During our time in the army we had the privilege of attending huge military balls where
46. we toasted the POTUS among other things.
47. We know what Red Legs are,
48. and GIB's

49. ACUs.
50. We know what to do when we hear revelee or

51. retreat or

52. taps.

53. We have over 150 people on our Christmas card list and

54. we send cards to every continent, except Antarctica.

55. We've been to Gettysburg and

56. know it's significance.

57. We know first hand what a Bronze Star and a Combat Action Badge are.

58. Paul described the Northern Lights to me over the phone,

59. when he was in Norway,

60. above the Arctic Circle

61. in February.

62. Did you know they use jackhammers and drills to set up their tents up there?

63. We did.

64. We know how the MTC differs from the NTC or

65. the CMTC.

66. Also the difference between being a PMS and having PMS.

67. We know what Albania smells like.

68. Staples at our house are from both our upbringings like

69. sushi and

70. artichokes and

71. homemade spaghetti sauce and

72. lumpia and

73. kelaguen and

74. fagasa.

75. We know that the excitement level of our home jumps at the sound of a good surf report, and

76. we have our travel routine down to a science when we get to act on that report.

77. We know how to raise chickens,

78. and pigs and

79. how to grow a fruitful garden.

80. We've owned 9 different cars

81. and one moped.

82. We've driven over 100 mph on the autobahn, legally and

83. And we've been pulled over in more than one state for doing the same thing illeagaly.

84. We've had lots of people from all over the world, in our home.

85. A couple of the unusual ones were a princess of Ghana who had joined the church and was attending school in Mannheim and

86. an officer from the Czech Republic who taught us that to become a man in the Czech Republic you have to build a house, plant a tree and have a son.

87. We spent $400.00 on our piano and

88. about $10,000.00 on piano lessons.

89. Music is an important part of our lives.

90. We sing a lot at our house.

91. The songs with some of the sweetest memories for us are Dr. Worm and

92. Into Yesterday and

93. Nearer My God to Thee and

94. Free Will and

95. Far Far Away on Judea's Plains and

96. Superman and

97. Tender Shepherd

98. We've snorkeled in the blue blue waters of Telum, Mexico and

99. can not wait until we can take our kiddos to do the same thing.

100. We confidently sent our first child off to college and

101. have taken the first steps into this next time of life together.

102. I can't wait to see what else we get to add to this list.

You say it's your birthday . . . it's my birthday too!

My sixteenth~
~also pictured, Jordan and Salem in the foreground,
Sara and two Del Toro kids in the back ground.

Big Weekend

image from: www.elizabethperry.com

I am so looking forward to this weekend! I love the 4th of July, I am so thrilled that we get to spend it with the Billings! Have a happy and patriotic 4th!

Long Weekend Update

We had such a fun weekend! Grandma Gloria flew out, arriving on Thursday evening, just as I finished getting the fake house ready. It was fun to hear all about her engagement and plans for the future. Thanks to my most excellent interrogating techniques, I was able to get lots of details and I have to say, John sounds wonderful. We can't wait to get to know him.

Friday was the last day of school. The three youngest were the only ones who had to attend. After breakfast, the adults and Robin and Paul went to a very long award ceremony at the middle school cheering for Dan when his name was called a couple of times.

Pauly texted me, “I love award ceremonies and I love the BCS.”

After the ceremony we checked Dan out, went and picked up the girls and drove straight to the movie theater to see the first showing of UP. What a fun way to celebrate the last day of school!

*QUICK MOVIE REVIEW: Of course we loved it! How could any movie featuring a zillion balloons ever go really wrong? It was very tender and heartbreaking and happy and if you haven’t seen it, go and see it.

Graduation was that night. Grandma Gloria and I made Robin a lei, which has become a family tradition.

I

Sara took some left over flowers and made an anklet.

The ceremony was held in the stadium and it was a quick, 1 hour and 10 minutes (shorter than the award ceremony earlier in the day). It was packed and I was glad we were there early.

The music started and the graduates marched down the track on each side of the field. About half way down the track the two lines turned and walked toward each other onto the field. They matched up in the middle by twos and walked to their seats.

Robin looked great, confident and beautiful. She he met up with her counterpart from the other side of the field and began to walk to her seat. As she did, she turned around and said something to someone behind her. Her blond hair flipped back and her robes and cords moved gracefully, she had a big happy smile on her face and . . . in that moment . . . that snapshot of time . . . she took my breath away. Where did this exceptional,. lovely, self-assured, young woman come from?

Sigh!

(you know how I love to sigh)

A couple of speeches, a Star Trek reference (just for Robin) and 223 names later, Robin was a graduate of Lindale His School.

She went to a Grad Night party at her friend’s house with all her friends and about 3:30am came back to our house with 4 or 5 girls to watch movies finish out the night.

Saturday we just relaxed and visited and that evening we had an open house in Robin's honor, for friends and neighbors. The menu was simple: cake, cheese and crackers, and lemonade from scratch.

Grandma Gloria stayed long enough to go to church with us on Sunday, to see Dan pass the sacrament for the first time and to hear her son give a really great 5^th Sunday lesson. After church we delivered her safely to the airport.

Such a lovely, busy, satisfying weekend.

God is Nigh

~These are the words to Taps.
~ I like the first stanza the best.
~Taps is played on all army posts every night at 10:00pm and at military funerals.
~Happy Memorial Day~

Taps
Day is done,
Gone the sun,
From the hills,
From the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
Safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep,
Peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
'Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.

How Do You Commemorate September 11th?

Last week, I overheard some men talking about 9/11 and one of the men was upset because someone was planning a birthday party that day. "It's disrespectful." the first man said. "It's not his kid's fault that he was born on September 11th. What? No one is allowed to smile because of something that happened 6 years ago?" the other man said. The first man paused and then said, "Yes, that is exactly how I feel."

September 11th is such a strange day. How should we commemorate it? Should we commemorate it? A day of prayer? Read all the names of those who died again? Nothing? Never have a birthday party?

It has been important to both Paul and me, that our children understand what happened that day, the sacrifice and heroism, the events of the day and what has happened since. We also want them to appreciate the firefighters and other public servants who stand ready to put themselves in harm's way so we can live our lives without worry and fear.

So in our family, we take a treat or dinner to the firefighters in our neighborhood. We've had four different addressees since 9/11 and everywhere we go I am so thankful for these good men who willingly do such an essential job. Our gesture is a small one and I don't know how meaningful it is to them, but in the giving, it is sincere and heartfelt. Afterward, we come home and we replay our memories, and we look at pictures in the TIME magazine and others I saved, and we talk about what it all means.

What do you do?