OK trip fun!

Well life has been crazy (never seems to get back to normal around here, only crazier!!!) and I haven't posted in forever again. So...I'm posting today about recent stuff...will catch you up later if I ever get around to it! hahaha

Fourth of July weekend we spent in Norman, OK as it is the hometown of my now sister-in-law Kelly Rose who married my brother Alexander July 5th. We all left the morning of the 3rd, Brad the girls and I in our car about an hour ahead of my dad, Jennifer, and Chris in their car. Our trip ended up being a bit longer then theirs due to us having to stop for the girls every couple hours and about a three hour planned detour to visit Patricia Davis, the wife of Brad's late Saddle School instructor Biff Davis. It wasn't a bad road trip there, just REALLY long! Abby had never been in the car for more then 3hrs straight, so she got quite grumpy about traveling after the first 5 hrs. We all survived it though. Had a wonderful visit with Patricia, once we finally found the house again....things had changed a bit and Brad didn't remember exactly how to get there. Unfortunately she lives out in the country so dial-up Internet is all she can get and was on the computer so we couldn't reach her to help us find the place. Brad did finally locate it and we got to visit for about an hour and a half before heading on to Norman. We pulled into our hotel in Norman around 2am on the 4th!
The next two days were a blur of catching up with relatives, airport runs to pick up relatives, wedding rehearsal stuff, a little pool time, and finally the wedding itself...which was nice. The wedding day was beautiful, following a night of rain on the 4th. Due to the rain the town of Norman postponed their fireworks, and so in the middle of my brother's wedding reception (which was both indoors and out) we got to see a beautiful fireworks display!
The next morning Brad and Jennifer left for IL as they both had to get back for work. My dad, Chris, myself and the girls stayed to take my brother Nate to the airport and then start a leisurely trip back to IL. We stretched the trip home into three days, taking a state a day. Monday the 6th we drove back across OK. Stayed the night in Joplin, MO in a hotel with a pool of course. Miriam and Abby both love to swim (I don't mind it myself either!) Tuesday we drove across most of MO, stopping just short of St. Louis for the night. Wednesday we went into downtown St.Louis and spent 6 hours running around The City Museum. It's an old shoe lace factory ten stories tall that they have turned into a menagerie of climbing structures (made out of scrap materials)/a museum/an aquarium/etc. We only explored three of the 10 floors inside, but pretty well covered all the outside climbing structures. The day pretty much consisted of climbing, sliding down slides, and then climbing again! It was a fun, yet tiring day! We finished our visit by climbing up to the tenth floor via various caverns and spiral staircases, and slid down the 7 story spiral slide!!!! We left there at 5pm (when the museum closed) and traveled back to our place for the night.
Abby was very glad to get home, and she wasn't the only one. I was happy to be home too. It was a good trip, but I think we are only just now finally recovered!
Here are a few pics from our adventure!


Daddy tossing Miriam into the pool!


Abby splashing with Mommy.


The happy couple.


Water baby Abby motoring around in her floatie.


Water Monkey Miriam "diving" into the pool.


Up in the crow's nest at the City Museum!


Part of the outside climbing structures, the crow's nest is off the upper left hand corner of this pic.


Miriam having a ton of fun on one of the many slides!


What happens to 4yr old girl after 6 hrs at The City Museum! This was only 5 minutes after we left the museum!!!


A VERY happy Abby, SO glad to be home!!!

Memorial Day

Growing up I loved both Memorial Day and Labor Day, for the same reason...it meant a three day weekend. I knew Memorial Day was a day meant to honor those who had sacrificed their lives for our freedom, but those people were just nameless faces that I really couldn't relate to. That all changed in the past three years. I now have way too many faces that aren't nameless and that leave my hear aching and heavy on Memorial Day. I'm gonna share these wonderful friends of mine with you this week of Memorial Day...

SGT Lester D. Baroncini
Born January 19, 1973
KIA October 16, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
He was our other cowboy. His family has a ranch in Southern CA. He only got to ride in the saddle Brad made for him two times. Ride on forever my dear friend....


1 LT Michael Cerrone
Born September 2, 1982
KIA November 12, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
Mikey, as he was affectionately called among us wives, was an amazing LT. He knew all his soldier's wives and kids names. I ran into him two days before the guys deployed...he promised me he would bring Brad home to me. You kept your promise Mikey. Thank you for all the wonderful memories, miss you!


Cpl. Michael J. Jaurigue
Born August 11, 1986
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Jaurigue, the quiet steady one. One of the first soldiers was in charge of training. Brad was proud of him. He never said much to me, but that one Thanksgiving I'll never forget his quiet smile of thanks for having him over and feeding him "too well".


Jonathon M. Cote
Born February 11, 1983
Died April 23, 2008
Operation Iraq Freedom
Cote I never did get to know very well personally, but I heard plenty of stories from Brad. He was in the company when Brad arrived, and helped Brad navigate the new world of an 82nd Airborne soldier. Cote left the Army before the 2006 deployment, but was in Iraq at the same time as Brad as contract security for military convoys. He was captured and killed by the insurgents.


Spc. Gregory Millard
Born April 29, 1985
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Millard...the class clown. He knew how to make everyone laugh even when they didn't want to. Yet behind that goofy grin was a hard core steady soldier. If given the choice again I know he would choose lay down his life for any of the guys.


SPC Harry Winkler
Born March 12, 1974
KIA November 12, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
Winky, the seasoned veteran. This guy had more crazy combat stories then anyone else. He'd served with the 101st before getting out and then coming back in and serving along side Brad. He knew what he was going into and was ready to serve and willing to give his all. I wish he didn't end up giving his all, cause I never got to know him in person. I'll always regret that. Winky left behind a wonderful wife and the cutest little man, as you can see below.


And finally...

SGT Clayton Dunn
Born November 2, 1984
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Clay (well I actually knew him as Dunn mainly)became Brad's best friend during the deployment. I only spent one afternoon with him before they left, wish we could have had more. From that one afternoon I could tell he was a man of amazing integrity who had an undying love for his beautiful wife, Haidy. He also had this little sparkle in his eye that let you know he had a great sense of humor as well. We lost a friend and a brother when God called him home. Clay left behind not only his wife, but his 6 week old daughter (pictured below a little bit older)whom he did get to meet briefly when home on R&R. Tragically he was killed on his first mission back after returning. You are missed daily Clay, can't wait to see you again in Heaven!


There were others we lost, but I didn't know them personaly. These are the faces I see every Memorial day, and many days in between. I now understand all too well that freedom is not free. These brave men (many younger then I am) gave their lives so that I could live in this beautiful country. I will forever be grateful and forever remember each and everyone...

life flies by...

Wow...I've been so bad about posting on here. It's been months since I really posted. My background was even still set for St. Patrick's Day!!!!
These past two months have been crazy months for us...
In April the girl's and I spent a week up at my dad's. My brother Nate was mobilized to Ft. Dix to prepare for a deployment to come sometime soon. Therefore we went up and spend his last week in IL just hanging around. We were also there to see him off, and for all the FRG send off activities. (FRG stands for Family Readiness Group, for all you non-military people. Basically it's a group that facilitates getting information to the soldier's families and does some social activities.) It was a little strange to be back in a military setting. Our really big even in April though was Miriam turning 4 years old! How to believe she's that old already. We had a small family party on her actual birthday, and then a big party with all the extended family and friends the next day (Saturday). I'll do another post with all the Birthday shindig details and pics. Needless to say we didn't have a free weekend all month! Two weekends Brad worked (one at NG drill, the other at Mediacom), another he had a guy's skeet shoot event, and the other one was filled with Miriam's Birthday.
In May things haven't been much calmer, in fact I would dare to say it's been even crazier! The church softball league started mid-month, so we had a practice the first Saturday of May. I get to play this year!!! I couldn't play last year because of being pregnant with Abby. I must say after that practice I was pretty down....I played like a girl!!!! For those of you who knew me in my sports heyday years you will understand just how distressing this was for me. Thankfully I was able to snap out of it and put in a performance at our first game that I could be proud of. I'll post about that later too. Then came a horribly emotional week for me. May 7th would have been my mom's 60th birthday, and the following Sunday was Mother's day. Needless to say every year the beginning of May is not so much fun for me... makes me REALLY miss my mom. The Saturday after Mother's day the girls and I again headed up to my dad's for a week. This time for a going away party for my Uncle Buz (dad's older brother) who is moving to Alaska in the beginning of June. That was on Sunday afternoon. We stayed the rest of the week so I could go to an Andre Reiu concert with my sister on Thursday. Our awesome brother Chris gave her two tickets for Christmas! We had a blast, thanks to our WONDERFUL papa who watched my girls for me!!!! Poor guy got run through the wringer too. First thing he said to me when we walked in the door after the concert was, "Becs I'm nominating you for Sainthood!" I'll post more about the concert, and why he considers me a saint candidate later. We rushed home on Friday to be back in time for Valley High school's graduation ceremony. One of the young men in our youth group was graduating. We're so proud of Joe and all his accomplishments! (he got a full ride theatre scholarship to the local community college!)
Then came Memorial Day weekend. Brad had to work for Mediacom on Saturday, we had a graduation party on Sunday for a family friend who's basically family, and then memorial day itself. I will be posting about Memorial Day next...not something I can just put in with everything else.
Well...that's pretty much the last two months of our lives in a nutshell. We'll finish this month by celebrating Brad's grandparent Davis' 60th wedding anniversary!!! Their actual anniversary isn't until June 5th (if I remember correctly), but this weekend is the only time everyone was free to come celebrate. The family is all coming in from their corners of the US. Well actually the Davis family is rather small, so most of us are local...just a son and grandson (to the guests of honor) living out of state (NY and VA respectively). Not going to be a huge gathering, but still all the family will be there which will be a special treat.
Okay...this post has become long enough, but I wanted to update everyone on our lives. We hope you all have had a wonderful spring, hard to believe it's summer already!!!! My how time flies....

Sorry...

I realize it has been a while since I have posted on here and I'm sorry. The month of March was crazy for us and I felt like I barely had time to breathe, let alone sit at a computer and blog! I promise I will have some posts soon with new photos and news! Until then...

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
~an old Irish Blessing

Weekend Widow

Three hours ago I called Brad to find out if he had found out what the schedule is for his National Guard drill this weekend. Much to my dismay I was informed he is going to be "in the field" for the weekend, so he had to report at 1900 tonight (Friday) and won't be back until some unknown time on Sunday. This means he left in a whirlwind about an hour ago, after having arrived home from work just a mere 30 minutes prior, leaving us no time to connect or for Miriam to even process that Daddy is gone for the next two days! This week has been crazy, and now the weekend will be crazy too as I try to single parent without losing my mind! AHHHHH!
On the bright side I was able to just cook up some chicken nuggets and fries for dinner without feeling guilty! Miriam thinks I'm a great mom, cause she gets chicken and fries for dinner!!!! Still, I'm left feeling a little lost and lonely. I know what he is doing is very honorable, but being left a weekend widow while my hubby is a weekend warrior (Brad hates being called that...when he was active duty they made fun of the weekend warriors...but he is one now) is just no fun at all. *SIGH*


~Update...I got a call at 9:30 last night from Brad...he was on his way home! There was a change of plans and they aren't going to the field after all. I'm guessing the higher ups didn't want to be out in the field for the predicted rainy weather. So, I'm not a weekend widow after all, Brad will be home at night...albeit it may be late at night!

It's a rainy day, it's a rainy day!

Every time it rains this song runs through my head. I was delighted to find the video on YouTube, so I could share it with Miriam. I hope you enjoy this little trip down memory lane as much as I did!!!!

kids are so funny!

Just a quick little blurb about a funny comment Miriam made this week. A little background first though. My youngest brother Chris started working weekends and no longer attends church with my dad. It was his choice since he is now 19 (gosh where did the years go) and thus he chose to make himself available for the weekend schedule. Since not everyone will work weekends he pretty much is scheduled every Sunday. Anyway...
We are in the car driving to a dr's appt and Miriam is prattling away in the backseat as always. I must admit I only half listen to her rambling. She goes on and on all the time and about half the stuff only makes a quarter sense. (did I confuse you with that sentence? read it slowly and it will still confuse you, but it really does make sense! hahaha) This time however she loudly declares that "I need to tell Uncle Chris that!" I was a bit startled because we are headed to my dad's/sister's this weekend so she'll be seeing her Uncle Chris, but Miriam doesn't know this. So, with my attention caught I asked what she needed to tell her Uncle Chris. The response caught me a little off guard, "That grandpa Garden's church is so much fun!" (I must insert here that Miriam goes to the nursery whenever we attend Grandpa Garden's church. A room with all sorts of cool toys and kids to play with. Pure bliss for my socially starved and toy depraved child...or so she seems to think!) She continued, "I need to tell Uncle Chris that Grandpa Garden's church is so fun, so that he'll go there again too!" I must say this amused me because I am a bit concerned about my brother giving up his "church life". So I encouraged her to continue talking this out with me...wanting to see exactly how she viewed his not going to church. I asked her if she thought that would work. Well...the kicker was this comment...which I totally love and think is just priceless.

"My daddy and I are going to save the world!!!! Then Uncle Chris will go back to Grandpa Garden's church and he'll see that it is fun and he'll stay there!"

Oh how wonderful the innocence of a child. If only it were that easy. In her eyes it is...with her daddy's help she can do anything, even save the world. And you never know...maybe someday her and her daddy will help save the world!