TEN YEARS

Faith in God
3 Children
2 Souls in heaven
6 Moves
5 Homes
6 States
8 Vehicles
1 ATV
50+ Camping trips
221+ Campfires
Endless loads of laundry
Too many deployments
1 Week in San Antonio
3 Trips to Wisconsin Dells
Countless travels to Connecticut, Michigan and Georgia
7 National Parks
2 almost 3 promotions
Hundreds of projects
1 Entertainment center
2 Cradles
1 Set of bunk beds
5 other pieces of furniture
1 Wood shop (1 to come)
1 Home built
Many tears dried
Hugs and kisses everyday
Millions of mistakes
Loads and loads of love and forgiveness
1 Man and 1 Woman united under God for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death due us part. We are both better people for saying those words and honoring our commitment to each other and to our children. We are in love even on the bad days, we have faith in our Father that pulls us through the rough patches and we forgive over and over again. That is just the first ten years. Now with a lot of prayer we'll head into the next fifty plus.

A Typical Morning

I finally caught a morning on the camera. One of my favorite parts of everyday now that the weather is nice is walking behind the kids to the bus stop. I love watching them run or dilly-dally, or race (and sometimes argue about the winner). I love watching their backpacks bounce up and down and Luke trying to keep up, he usually holds my hand. Today he did run ahead. I love Anna tiptoeing over the cow guard, she didn't cross it alone until a few weeks ago, she finally overcame her fear. She amazes me. We usually have one dog with us, sometimes we get a leas, sometimes not. Today Zip broke his tie up and came with us. Sometimes the kids held on sometimes he ran free. The picture on the fence will forever be one I love until I take some with better smiles. They sit there every morning for a short time, until the rocks need thrown or grass needs picked or on a really good day there is a bunny to chase. I love that the house is in the background, our house, I love our house. The sun is shining and the grass is green. Summer is almost here. Soon we won't be racing to the bus stop, but we'll still be up early enjoy the cooler mornings and spending our days exploring. I'm looking forward to the end of this school year routine and forward to our summer routine, whatever it may be. Enjoy a glimpse into our morning.

Finger Toes and Firewood

Luke has been full of information lately. Last night he informed my that are toes are called finger-toes and they go thumb finger finger finger pinkie. I tried to convince him otherwise but he wouldn't go for it. We have crocodiles in Montana and now every lake is called turtle lake because there might be turtles in them.
We got another load of firewood. Anna works so hard everytime, I wish the boys would pull their weight.
And on a side note, Beau is signing up for football camp. Who knew?
All in one Tuesday.

One last note

On Sunday, Mother's Day we transplanted six plants from a friend's yard. It was fantastic. We finally have plants in our yard. It makes a nice small barrier between our property and the lot next to us. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have a few more plants and the other side of the property will have a line of bushes, plants, trees, anything.
However, Monday morning we woke up to this...


See my poor plants languishing helplessly in the cold soil covered in snow. It is disheartening, but maybe they will live.

Then last night as I was sitting on the couch catching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy (pretty good I thought, Ben thought it was cheesy, what he watched anyway) I looked out the sliding door to see this. I couldn't stop myself from grabbing the camera, and I love what I captured.


I have a new project for myself soon and you can bet these will be used in it. It involves an old door my great friend has waiting for me.

Got Snow...

Make a snowman. That is what Beau and Anna did after it snowed in May. I got stuck twice in the driveway from the stupid snow, but the kids enjoyed themselves after their initial grumpiness. We had to dig back out the winter coats and boots. Next year I won't put them away until June.

Hair cuts and Doing it himself

I finally caved and gave the boys haircuts. They were in severe need of them, but I always put it off. One because Beau doesn't sit still and it is always a fight and two because I really like little boys with hair you can comb. However, I think I have finally realized that the cows have licked my sons' heads one too many times and we will never be able to comb it.

Luke has entered the realm of doing it himself. He loves to make his own sandwiches with the white stuff. On this occasion, I caught him enjoying the miracle whip a little more than I wanted him too. His grin shows just how guilty he was.

Not the Mom of the Year...

...or wife of the year, or daughter of the year, or sister of the year, or friend of the year. I am just me forever flawed. Take it or leave it, thankfully most people accept it and I move on to accepting myself flawed and impossibly imperfect. It has been far too long since I updated with pictures and stories so today while Grandma Rita's bread is in its sponge state, I will update.
So stay tuned for pictures and info from the far north.