Thankful

I'm not a good artsy mom as I've expressed in past posts, but for Thanksgiving I saw a cute project on a fellow home school mom's blog and wanted to do it with the girls.  It is a Thankful Tree and I had the girls make lists of people and things they are thankful for.  Of course family and friends were top of the list as well as God and Jesus dying on the cross.  Gymnastics and singing and playing with toys were amongst the winners too.  We found a piece of downed tree branch (after Ava hung on it) while out flying kites on Veterans Day...perfect I thought, but Ava, lets not hang on the tiniest tree branches, okay?  We used construction paper to make leaves and on these is where the girls wrote they were thankful for.  I hole punched the leaves and strung them up on the tree and of course the girls were long gone at this point, and that was no easy task.  

 My 3 blessings that I'm thankful for and their little tree.

No Matter What

I've got a favorite new song right now as a lot has happened this past week. 

First, the good stuff.  

We finally closed on our house after waiting 7 months.  God really provided for us during this time in allowing us to move into the house we were trying to buy.  This allowed us to get settled in sooner than later, and prevented us from being vagabonds or mooching off friends.  We are grateful that the process took as long as it did because we were able to drop our offer almost $20,000 and interest rates were at there very lowest when we locked it in a few weeks back.  Our closing costs weren't near as high as we budgeted so we are so thankful for God's financial blessing as far as our house goes and Him being in control of our finances every day!

Kylie and I saw this rainbow this weekend as we were leaving our neighborhood.  I thought it was the perfect background with our street sign.

Now the bad.

Last Tuesday the news spread like wildfire amongst the fighter community that an F22 had lost communication, did not return to base, and ultimately a wives worst nightmare and greatest fear came true as her husband did not eject out of his jet and died in the crash up in Alaska.  Capt. Haney left behind his wife and 2 little girls.  My heart breaks for this family and I'm reminded of another friend of ours who died a few years ago in a similar accident as his F15 went down in the ocean.  What Jonathan does is dangerous and the girls and I are not guaranteed his safe return.  I pray for him whenever he flies, but things happen that are out of anyones control.  

Its a reminder that

Thank you to all who serve and fight for

If you could keep this family in your prayers, that would be awesome.  If you are willing to go further, you can click here and specify "For Haney Children" if you wish to make a donation.

The other bad.

My aunt was diagnosed with uterine cancer.  She's just in the beginning stages of finding things out, but the hope is that it hasn't spread, that it can be treated without chemo and hopefully a hysterectomy will heal her.  My aunt has been through a lot and is a strong woman who will fight through this.  If you could keep her as well as my uncle, my two cousins and their families in prayer, that would be awesome too.  I look forward to seeing them on Thanksgiving in a few days and be reminded again that family is precious...life is precious.

So back to my favorite song playing on the radio right now

"No Matter What" by Kerrie Roberts.

I’m running back to your promises one more time, 

Lord that’s all I can hold on to,

I gotta say this has taken me by surprise, but nothing surprises you. 

Before a heartache can ever touch my life, it has to go through Your hands, 

and even though I, keep asking why, I keep asking why.

No matter what, I’m gonna love You, no matter what I’m gonna need You, 

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain but if not,if not, 

I’ll trust you, no matter what, no matter what.

When I’m stuck in this nothing-ness by myself, I’m just sitting in silence, 

there’s no way I can make it without Your help, I wont even try it. 

I know You have Your reasons for everything, so I will keep believing, 

whatever I might be feeling, God you are my hope, and you'll be my strength.

No matter what, I’m gonna love You, no matter what I’m gonna need You, 

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain but if not,if not, 

I’ll trust you, no matter what, no matter what.

Anything I don’t have You can give it to me, but it’s ok if You don’t,

I’m not here for those things, the touch of Your love is enough on its own, 

no matter what I still love You and I’m gonna need You.

No matter what I’m gonna love you, no matter what I’m gonna need you, 

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain but if not, if not, I’ll trust You, 

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain, but if not, if not, I’ll trust you, 

no matter what no matter what no matter no matter what.

Getting Smarter!

I've been focusing on working with Juliet and letters. She's still confused with the K and the X, but other than that, she's got 'em!  We were playing around with our flash cards recently and the big girls put them all up against the wall, and then I told Juliet to spell her name.

 

 

 

 So proud!

3rd Annual Girls Gip

Earlier this month, I was able to meet up with my very best girl, Christie, for one of our girls weekends before she moves from California to DC next month.  Usually, my other very best girl Amber joins us on our trips, but being she's like ten thousand miles away in Japan, we had to improvise.  Jonathan was great about letting me go for 4 days being that he couldn't really take time off work...so he took the girls to the squadron with him on Thursday and Friday.  They played soccer, colored pictures and were baby sat by various pilots as well as the scheduler Mel.  Mel is nice...she brought the girls candy.  They talk about her often.

Amber and I waiting in the terminal in Vegas, Starbucks behind us of course.

 On our plane, Amber in her own seat.

 

 You may wonder if I got weird looks.  I'm flying out of Vegas...I'm the least of the weirdos flying out of there!

Reading a bit on the flight.

 

 Arriving in Monterey, CA

 Amber giving Christie a hug.

And we're off!  We made Amber sit in the back seat.

 We stopped at a local shop Christie wanted to check out and Amber did a little trying on of clothes and jewelry.

 What do you think of this sweater?

 

After shopping, we stopped to grab a bite to eat at this cute little cafe.  A man walking by proceeded to give us, and I'm talking diarrhea of the mouth, his liberal agenda without our asking.  We weren't really up for visitors, but oh well.  The climax of his monologue was when he told us that all republicans hate our president because he's black...he had a few expletives thrown in for emphasis I guess.  Real classy guy this man was.  I kinda joked around with him and Christie kinda sat there silent at the complete shock of the moment.

 

Christie booked us a room RIGHT on the bay with a beautiful view.  We even saw seals playing in the water!

Amber enjoying the view.

 

I'll take this bed!

Wine time.

The morning I woke up to leave, I wasn't feel all that well and by the time I had arrived in California, I was a tad under the weather.  Luckily Christie was fine with us just chillin' in the hotel room and she let me nap for a little bit.  It helped my fever to go away and Amber even felt sorry for me and laid down by me to be sure I'd be okay.  Christie is a germophobe but she loves me so much she didn't quarantine me to my own room.  After a day of chatting and my nap, we watched Grey's Anatomy and called it a night.

The next morning we woke up and I was feeling a bit better.  Christie brought me a muffin and coffee for Amber.

I forgot my bathing suit so yes, I wore clothes in the hot tub.  So I wouldn't feel left out, Christie wore shorts too. 

We joked how we were "those girls in clothes in the hot tub with a person on a stick".  Being that we were in a very liberal  part of the state, we can only imagine what people were thinking.

 

 We got cleaned up and got ready to head out for a bit of sight seeing, but not before we sat by the warm fire in the hotel lobby and chatted for a bit more.

Amber watched over our bags while we checked out.  She had to watch out for any weirdos wanting to steal our stuff!

Amber by Monterey Bay.

 Enjoying some delish clam chowder.

We then headed to Christie's house to relieve her hubby who had also been sick that morning.  Amber volunteered to watch cartoons with Jude and Logan and though I was feeling a little bit better, I still took another nap.

Christie made a fabulous meal and Amber couldn't stay away from the wine!

The next morning, I was feeling 100%, so of course we spent our afternoon shopping!  There is an outdoor mall maybe 5 minutes from her house with awesome stores.  6 hours was all we could muster before needing to eat dinner.

 We stopped at Williams-Sonoma so Amber could show us an apron she really wants for Christmas.

Then we posed with the pretty Pottery Barn Christmas tree.

Amber was all over the See's candy, literally!

We found some cute fairy books, one with Amber's name on it!

More trying on of fun stuff.

The 3 of us.  

Oohh la la!

An afternoon of shopping isn't complete without a stop into Target.  On a serious note, Amber doesn't have Target in Japan and we know she's going through serious withdrawal!

We went to dinner and when Christie couldn't hang anymore, we came home to see the scores of the college football games going on and Amber was hooked on this Stanford game.  She was glued to the TV for the rest of the evening.

The next morning we grabbed breakfast and Amber was so exhausted she coulnd't walk anymore.  She had a busy weekend!

I was delayed in the Monterey airport for a few hours and got home late to my family, but I read a good chunk of my book and people watched in the terminal, so it wasn't too bad.  Christie is so awesome.  I miss her terribly and am grateful for our short time together on these trips.  I love the Air Force for the people I've met, especially these 2 women, but hate it for the same reason when it separates me from them.  Just in her being her, she makes me realize what is truly important, and her perspective of life is always right on.  She is one of the godliest women I've ever met and am so blessed by our friendship and the bond we share.  She and Todd have such a strong marriage, and are awesome parents raising 2 of the sweetest, most compassionate, intelligent and funniest little boys I've ever met.  Kylie and Logan have been betrothed for about the last 5 years and I'm not kidding...I'd be so happy if they married!  Luckily Amber is headed back to the US next summer, so we will be planning our next girls trip hopefully within the year.  And next time, we're hoping Amber isn't so anorexic looking.  We hated not having her there and we felt like we were cheating on her, but she was there with us in spirit, and on a stick.

Daddy Daughter Overnight Hike and Chocolate

Jonathan took Kylie on a hike up the mountains behind our home on the north side of town the weekend of Halloween.  I won't lie...I wasn't excited about it one bit.  I was fearful for their safety and I knew Jonathan wouldn't follow all of my rules while on the hike.  The hike is on an incline the entire way and I wasn't sure Kylie would be able to hang especially after being up just 2 nights prior having herself a good ol' puke fest.  I didn't know how I'd be able to get a hold of him if he didn't have cell service, and what about snakes or mountain lions?  He eventually confessed that he wasn't going to take a tent.  I kinda pouted, so he took it.  I did wonder deep down though will he really use this?

Well, I got over it realizing I wasn't going to keep him from going with my baby, and concluded this is yet another reason it takes 2 parents to raise kids...the risky parent and the cautious parent usually even each other out.  THANKFULLY he had cell service the entire time and kept me posted through their hike up and back.  Kylie suggested they take Bailey the morning they left.  Why hadn't we thought of that?

Time to go!  Its 2pm and he was hoping to make it up by 5pm.

 This is a mistake.... love mommy.

3 hours later, they made it to the top with the help of a few candy bars.  Jonathan calculated it was about an average 6% incline up the mountain.  We guessed the pack to weigh about 50 pounds.  He did tell me at one point he had wondered what he got himself into and his steps were literally one foot in front of the other.

 Its getting dark, so lets eat and go to sleep.

 You will notice, no tent.  A few hours after going to "bed", Jonathan felt Kylie scratching her hand, so he set up the tent.  Mosquitoes and her don't mix.  I KNEW he wasn't going to set it up!!

Desert morning.

Heading back so we can make it to church.  It took them only 2 hours to get down.  Bailey was not happy in the morning and that had him a little worried.  She whined and it took her a bit to get going.

So he put socks on her to help her deal with the terrain.

You can see the Strip mid picture.

Our development over the rise in the wash.  Bailey lost a sock and was unable to walk for 2 days.  She sat on her bed and slept, but she's fine now.

As for Jonathan, his blisters are still healing.  Luckily Ava wanted no part in this hike, so he's not sure if it'll happen again in the near future.

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What did the little girls and I do that afternoon/night?  Well, they watched a movie and then we made some goodies.

 Placing smoked almonds in the muffin tin for turtles.

1st attempt at making caramel.

Time for the rewards of all her hard work rolling out truffles.

Don't bug me, I'm busy.

Where is Juliet in all this chocolate fun?  Well, she's not eating her dinner, again, so she gets to watch from a distance.  She wasn't happy, she just naturally smiles when I pull out the camera.

The red would be Gatorade from her soccer game earlier that morning.

Yay for chocolate!!