Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow...

It's a part of military life...having to pick up and start all over. God is so faithful; He has provided amazing friends and communities for us to be part of wherever we move. But it doesn't make saying goodbye any easier. We are reminded that this world is not our home anyway. Thank the Lord we have all eternity to be with our dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

Our last week in Naples was a whirlwind, from our day trip to Capri to the last PWOC meeting, during which the ladies shared testimonies of how they had grown spiritually during the year of Bible study and fellowship, from last-minute meet-ups at the park to one final getaway to downtown Napoli for a double date. Friday morning came all too quickly, when we were saying our final goodbyes and making our last drive to Capodichino to join others waiting to board the military rotator. We thank God for the precious friendships He allowed us to develop during our time in Italy.

Charis and Katie B

PWOC Board retreat in Formia

Emily and Braidyn K will always be Charis's special friends!

Awesome group of homeschool kids at the fine arts recital the day before we left the country. These kids are all amazing...then again...so are their parents!! 

As I was uploading this photo, Zaden informed me that "Caleb is my best friend." These three little boys were nearly inseparable! We are so thankful for the K family and their friendship!

Hope K with Kenna and Kira S

Charis and I love Titti, our dear friend and Italian tutor!

Christian and Connor F with our boys

Gerrit R with our boys

Even though Isaac and Zach are younger than Arden and Tobin, our boys considered them among their best buds!

Jasmine and Faith with Charis. The B family = very special to us!

Princess and Michaela with Kenna

My dear friend Tirzah

Tirzah's boy Sam was one of our boys' best friends also

Tuba and Hannah J, a special young couple, will always be like family to us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was belated, but we did have a Thanksgiving feast!  We invited our friends Geoff and Carla K and their family to come on Sunday evening after Thanksgiving for a joint dinner.  Since the K family had just moved into their own home (FINALLY!) two days before, it worked out very well for them to leave the stress of unpacking and get away for a sit-down dinner!  The Ks have 4 girls and a little boy, Caleb, who is 2.  The girls are Emily (13), Braidyn (10), Sasha (8), and Hope (5).  Kenna and Hope are fast friends, and Charis adores spending time with any of the K girls!  She has taught a couple of them to knit, and they have joined her in her crafting passion.  We are delighted that the K's house is about two minutes away from us!  Though we aren't in the same parco, it is so nice to be able to carpool and know that we have Christian friends so close.

Here are a few pics from our dinner together, the "buffet" line, the "grown-up table," and the "kids' table."

Aaaaaaand...Goodbye, Ohio!

The rest of our stay at Great Wolf Lodge was a lot of fun!  We would totally do this again, with more than a one-night stay, if given the opportunity!  Zaden even had a bit of water fun on Wednesday, but he wasn't nearly as thrilled to be wet as the rest of the crew.  Lucan thought he was big stuff, going around and around in his climbing adventure to the smaller of the big waterslides--he needed a bit of help getting out of the end of the chute in a timely fashion, but otherwise he did great on his own!  Ted and I again took turns going back and forth between the littles and the big kids.  Final verdict:  This family gives the Great Wolf Lodge 16 thumbs up!  Here are a few pics from our stay.

We left close to 3 p.m. and headed to St. Louis, where we stayed the night in a Marriott Residence Inn.  Just in time, too, as we experienced a HUGE thunder/lightning storm about an hour after we got everyone to bed.  Thankfully, everyone (but me!) was sound asleep by the time it rolled in, thoroughly exhausted from all the playtime at the water park!

After mowing through an extensive selection at the continental breakfast, we hit the road again, this time to our friends Craig and Mimi's house, where we stayed overnight at the beginning of our Forever Long Road Trip.  Since we only had one short night together then, it has been fun to just hang out together!

We've only been here a couple of days (since Thursday afternoon), but we've packed a lot in already!

• P90X workouts and morning runs with Mimi!  (Ouch, I'm sore, but I'm motivated to get back into the exercise routine again!)
• A trip to the Legoland Discovery Center (pics here).
• Yummy meals, so far to include lasagna and salad, Craig's super bacon cheeseburgers, and some amazing biscuits and gravy!
• A campfire with s'mores (pics here).
• An early first birthday celebration for Zaden, since he turns one on August 24 and we'll be in flux!  (Pics here.)

Zaden's little party was so fun.  We kept it simple and picked up an individual little red velvet cake with sprinkles at the grocery store for Zaden to have for his very own get-messy feeding frenzy, then got an ice cream cake from Culver's for the rest of us to eat.  Mimi pulled out some birthday decorations, and in a snap the dining room was ready for a PAR-TAY!!  We had a blast watching Zaden experience his first real sugar rush!  It's hard to believe it's been nearly a year since our sweet little guy made an appearance with his daddy halfway around the world!

Friends & Family in Idaho

While we were in Idaho, we were privileged to be able to visit with Ted's sister and family, who drove over from Oregon to see us for a bit.  Ski, Clint, Megan, and Tabitha had stayed with us in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving 2008, so it had been awhile since our families had gotten together!  They drove in Wednesday of Commission week, and Rhonda drove up from Colorado so she could see them as well.  (She was headed to Montana to visit her mom and family in Butte.)

We visited Wednesday evening after Commission activities were finished, and then the kids and I spent a leisurely morning with all of them before going to lunch at McDonald's.  Then Rhonda hit the road to get on to Montana, and I did a quick shopping trip to buy Kenna a bathing suit so she, Tobin, and Arden could swim with their cousins at the hotel pool for the afternoon.  We joined up again at the school for dinner and the evening Commission activities, and then we got to visit some more before bedtime.  Their family headed out Friday morning.

Tabitha loved holding Zaden!

Tabitha and Kenna--these girls had SO much fun together!

Rhonda, Ski, Meghan, Clint, Arden, Tobin, and Tabitha in front

We're just missing Charis, who was with the Commission campers.

Ski with Zaden, who had a fixation with water bottles that week. :-)

Saturday after our Commission clean-up was over, we went to John and Michele R's house for a barbeque.  Their daughter Andrea, who was in the youth group when we were stationed in Idaho, was visiting with her little boy Keaton.  They live in California, where her husband works way out in the middle of nowhere.  Michele and Andrea did a wonderful job of preparing yummy cookout food, and John grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, and steaks for us, so we were very well fed.  Andrea even made some patriotic lemon cake pops that were oh-so-yummy!  It was fun to have more time to visit with them.  Andrea and I had chatted a bit in passing throughout the week, but we were busy with kids and didn't really have much time to catch up, so it was a blessing to get together and just relax before our next road trip adventure.

Ted and Zaden

Andrea and a very sleepy Keaton!

John, king of the grill!

Michele, Andrea, and Keaton

Fellowship with Friends

Monday, June 18

After Ted and I returned (with Zaden) from our hotel getaway, he headed out again to take care of some boring business, such as renewing his driver's license and our Suburban registration--AFTER getting an emissions test, of course, which was much easier than the hoops I had to jump through last year to renew the registration and get an emissions test waiver while Ted was deployed.  He ended up being gone about 4 hours, which probably wasn't as horrible as it could have seemed, since he was able to take his Kindle and pretty much sit and read.  (Frankly, that sounds like heaven to me!)

Lucan got a great nap in the afternoon; Zaden did not, but we had plans, so we pressed on anyway!  We left around 4:30 to visit our friends Bill and Mellisa B and their children, Jessica, Liam, and Kyla.  Bill and Ted have been best friends since high school (yes, Bill and Ted HAVE had excellent adventures, why do you ask?!), and we've always gotten together with our families when we've been in Colorado.  Charis and Jessica are just weeks apart in age, and Liam is always happy to have other boys to play Legos and Star Wars with.  All the kids had a blast running around while we grown-ups caught up.

Kyla, Charis, and Jessica

Mellisa and Bill prepared a wonderful meal of grilled burgers and hot dogs, sweet corn on the cob, grilled potato "chips," and coleslaw.  Ted and I brought salsa and cream cheese with tortilla chips to munch while the grilling finished and watermelon for dessert.  The 100+ degree heat waned considerably as the sun set, and it was a very pleasant evening.

The one bad thing to happen was a playtime accident involving Lucan, a picnic table, and a slab of concrete. :-(  He got a pretty good-sized goose egg on his forehead.  Thankfully he let Ted hold an ice pack on it for awhile, and he cheered up considerably after having 3 slices of watermelon.  Three days later, I am pleased to report that he seems to be doing just fine!  But ouch, it certainly hurt to even look at his poor little head that evening!

One of the fun things we talked about was Bill and Mellisa's decision to really downsize and simplify--to the point of selling most of their personal possessions and purchasing an RV to live in.  They moved out of a nice, large house in a rural area and tried to sell it.  Currently they have some good renters in it, so things have worked out well.  Their dream is to purchase land sometime down the road, but a short-term goal is to be able to do more traveling with the RV.  Mellisa homeschools the kids (they are going to use Sonlight next year--woohoo!), and she and the children spent a couple of months last year in Indiana visiting family.  Since we're in the midst of preparing for an overseas move, I am definitely all over the simplify-one's-life thing!  It does get difficult the more people you add to the family.  We don't really buy a lot of stuff, but somehow stuff just walks into our home and multiplies.  I've broadly hinted to some wonderful and well-meaning family members (who probably know who they are, LOL) that we don't really need or want any more STUFF! :-)  Instead, save the money and come visit us in Italy!

Anyway, it was fun to see where the B family is now and hear what God has been teaching them during their recent transitions.  Also, their RV is set up pretty similarly to what we'll be staying in while we're in Yellowstone, so it gave the kids an idea of what to expect (although I suspect "ours" will be quite a bit smaller...or at least feel like it with 8 people inside!).

We're thankful God has allowed us to keep up with good friends over the years!

The Story of Ted's Homecoming

Wednesday, May 16, turned out to be the day God chose for Ted to come HOME!  The original information we had was that Ted would arrive in Dayton on Thursday morning, May 17.  While we were delighted that he would be coming home sooner, that meant some changes in our plans!

Back on the home front, the family went into a flurry of activity!  Unbeknownst to Ted, his mom had made plans to fly out in order to be here to welcome him at the airport.  However, her original flight was scheduled to land late Wednesday night--which meant she would have missed his arrival!  Thankfully, she was able to change her flight and left Denver late Tuesday night, arriving in Dayton Wednesday morning.  Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, my dad and brother began the drive to Ohio late Tuesday night after Dad got off work.

The only information we had to go on when we were frantically making calls and changing our plans on Tuesday was that Ted was supposed to arrive in Indianapolis on Wednesday around lunchtime.  He planned to call us once he had the final flight details, but we assumed that he would go through customs and hop on a flight to Dayton from there.

Since Dad and John would be driving east on I-70, I asked Mom (who was here in Ohio with us) if she thought the guys could pick Rhonda up from the airport, since it is right off the freeway, on their way here.  When Mom and Dad talked on the phone, Dad agreed that would be a simple matter, and so it was settled...

Wednesday morning I was running around like a crazy woman!  I heard the phone ring while I was cleaning the bathroom, but since I wasn't expecting Ted to land in Indy until lunchtime, I didn't bother rushing, and Mom answered it first.  I heard her say, "Oh, you're at the airport?  Well, your mom is there now, too!"

ACK!  That part was supposed to be a surprise!!  Apparently Mom didn't realize that, though!  "NOOO!" I called out.  "DON'T TELL HIM!"  But it was too late.  I got on the phone and learned that Ted was about to go through customs and that he would call me back once he had information about his arrival in Dayton.

Meanwhile, Rhonda had arrived in Dayton.  She and my dad had connected by cell phone, and she was waiting for him to pick her up.  When I talked with her to let her know Ted had arrived in Indianapolis, she was watching for my dad's minivan but not finding it.  When she mentioned something about Dad being on a different level, I began wondering...anyone who's been through Dayton knows it's a small airport, and everything is on the same level!  I called Dad, and...sure enough...he was driving around the Indianapolis airport looking for Rhonda!  Somehow the tiny little detail of WHICH airport didn't get communicated clearly!

What a comedy of errors the morning was turning out to be!  Since Dad and John were still so far out, I just hopped in the Suburban and drove to pick up Rhonda myself, figuring maybe I just needed to get out of the house before I went stark raving mad!  A detour along the way (off I-75, of course) had me driving all over downtown, laughing at the craziness we were experiencing on the most exciting day of our year.  I was so glad none of this was a surprise to God...and all I could do was pray that Ted's actual arrival would be much less traumatic than the morning had been.

So, in the midst of all this chaos, Ted got his final flight arrangements--to Atlanta and then to Dayton.  If it weren't for the fact that he was transporting weapons, I would have driven to Indianapolis myself to get him (for that matter, Dad and John could have picked him up, LOL), but we weren't allowed to carry the weapons that far in a vehicle.  And...surprisingly, there are NO direct flights from Indy to Dayton.  So, Ted had to wait another 8 hours or so before actually getting home.

The good news, though, was that it allowed his crazy family a chance to get our ducks in a row before going to greet him at the airport!  Those who had traveled all night were able to get naps here at the house, and I was able to get word to local friends about the details for those who wanted to meet us at the airport.

Rhonda rode with the kids and me to get to the airport early enough to get special passes to go back and meet Ted at the gate.  My friend Becky from church had graciously agreed to be our photographer for the special occasion, so she went back with us as well.  I was so glad she came!  It was fun to just be caught up in the moment and not have to worry about trying to capture those moments for later.  You can see some of Becky's beautiful work in the photos in this post!

The kids had made signs, and we found flags at the dollar store that were actually MADE IN THE U.S.A. to wave.  Charis made a sign for Rhonda to hold since she was traveling all night. :-)

Oh, it was so fun to watch the kids!  Lucan was so excited at seeing the airplane actually land!  In fact, he nearly didn't leave the window because he wanted to see the plane so badly.  The rest of us were as waiting eagerly at the end of the walkway, straining to catch a glimpse of our tall, handsome airman!

Needless to say, Ted was accosted as soon as the kids saw him!

The applause from all the people in the airport was overwhelming and brought me to tears--if I weren't already that way from the emotion of the moment.

Ted was greeted by more enthusiastic family and friends as we walked to baggage claim.  Both my parents, my brother John, and some friends from church were there as well, holding flags and signs and ready to welcome their hero!

We drove from the airport to base to drop off Ted's weapons.  While Ted was inside the building, I called the PR gal from Chick-Fil-A, with whom I had been in touch with regarding a welcome-home lunch/dinner for Ted.  I had asked him where he wanted to eat when he arrived, thinking it would be easier to go out to eat than come home and fix a meal.  When he said Chick-Fil-A was fine with him, I thought of my friend Stefanie, whose husband had said the same thing when he returned from his year in Afghanistan.  She told me she had talked with the manager of CFA, who set up a nice welcome-home dinner for them, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to talk with them.  Wendy was very sweet and enthusiastic about helping us.

So, when we arrived at CFA, not only was there a section of the restaurant reserved for us, there were also friends (and strangers!) clapping and cheering and welcoming Ted home!

The folks at CFA were so kind.  They gave EVERYONE in our family (including our parents and my brother) a free meal!  And there were stuffed cows and balloons for everyone, to the delight of the children.  Since Ted landed right at the time the AWANA closing ceremonies were starting at church, we missed attending the service, but friends dropped by afterward to say hello and shake Ted's hand (and have some ice cream!).

All in all, it was a wonderful, special, extremely memorable day for our family!  We are so thankful for God's grace, for His tangible presence in our lives during a long and difficult year.  Without Him, we would not have even made it through the year, let alone come through even stronger in our faith and more confident of His good purposes.  What a blessing to look back and see the growth in each and every one of us, the work of HIS Holy Spirit!  What a blessing to have had such dear friends and family praying us through this journey!  We have learned to appreciate the Body of Christ more than ever before.  Thank you, dear friends, for sharing this journey with us.  If anyone has been blessed or encouraged by our family at all over the course of the deployment, it was worth every moment.

To God be the glory--great things HE has done!

Visitors

I have been so blessed to have friends visit over the past month!  After Mom left on September 12, my good college friend Megan and her daughter Sela came for 4 days, which was a blessing since we were at the beginning of the whole nursing journey with Zaden.  They returned on September 29 for a long weekend visit.  The weather was horrible--cold and rainy--so we didn't really do much other than hang out around the house, but it was neat for Megan to be able to be here and see the progress that Zaden had made and was making: that was the weekend that he finally got the hang of nursing and I used the SNS for the last time!

Yesterday afternoon my dear friend Mimi and her daughter Krystiana (13) arrived from their road trip from Kansas.  I couldn't believe how tall Krystiana is!  She's beautiful, too, and it's been so fun spending time with both her and Mimi.  Lucan is in love with Krystiana and has to be with her ALL the time; it's amazing how well he pronounces her name, too!  It's very cute.  He seems drawn to older girls, as he also adores Sela, "Miss Jessica" (Stefanie's daughter), and Charis's friends who come to the house.  I may have to watch out for him, LOL!

Since I knew there would be another adult with me, I made plans for us to go to a fall festival yesterday evening at the church where Charis attends her American Heritage Girls meetings.  It was a beautiful day--almost too warm--and the kids enjoyed horse and pony rides (so cute to see Kenna and Lucan on the little ponies!), various inflatables, and lots of free junk food (!).  I never would have navigated something like that on my own!  For example, I stood in line with the stroller and Zaden for the pony rides while the kids went with Mimi to do some of the inflatables and get food.  There were enough people and activities that it would have been too overwhelming for me to try to keep track of everyone without extra eyes and hands.  (Pictures of the festival are here.)

We made it to both services at church this morning, and I had a nice long nap this afternoon while Mimi, Krystiana, and Charis worked on the office--which was a total disaster area from all of Charis's projects!  From the sounds of things, they are making grand progress...we should have taken some "before" pictures so I could post before and after shots!  It was HORRIBLE!  It stressed me out just walking into that room!  Charis informed me she wanted me to wait to see it when it's finished, so after Zaden finishes nursing, I will dutifully go to the kitchen to work on dinner, LOL.

Tomorrow some of my downline members are coming over to meet and visit with Mimi for an informal potluck lunch.  Tuesday I take Zaden for his weight check/follow-up appointment.  Other than that, we don't have plans, and it is SO fun to just hang out with Mimi and catch up.  We were good last night and went to bed at 11:15 after Zaden finished nursing.  (He slept until 6:00 this morning!  Woohoo!)  Usually when we're together we don't get much sleep!  I'm already sad that she'll be leaving Thursday morning to drive back home!  But then I can look forward to Megan's next visit, which is tentatively planned for the last weekend in October, assuming everyone is healthy and the weather is good.  She lives close enough that it's not too bad of a drive, and it's kind of a vacation for her, with only one child of her own to worry about!

Grandma J will then come and spend the week of Thanksgiving with us, which will be SO much fun.  I'm not sure yet when my parents will come for another visit, but I'm hoping sometime in December so we can do a "Christmas" with them, though my dad has to work the week of Christmas itself.  And then in January Ted will be here for 2 weeks of R&R!!!  By that point we will be 8 months into this deployment, so when he goes back to Afghanistan, we'll be on the downhill stretch.  I'm hoping and praying that time speeds by in the meantime!

Memorial Day Pics

This will mostly be a picture post...it's getting late, and I need to get some sleep before Kids' Street Live tomorrow!  (I should probably work on my lines, too, ha!)

Memorial Day ended up being a great day for us.  I was tempted to have a pity party since I had nearly forgotten it was a three-day weekend and hadn't made any plans.  But instead I asked my friend/neighbor Eilene if they had anything going on for the day.  Turns out they didn't have plans, either, so it worked out well!  We started our celebration around 10 a.m., trying to beat the heat.  Got to Skype a bit with Ted from the N's driveway, and the kids ran around trying to keep cool with water balloons/guns and a kiddie pool for Kenna and Lucan.  Charis became enthralled with the 3D chalk, and Tobin borrowed a new series of books from Blake, so he was happy as a clam with a new book to read.

We had a yummy lunch of grilled hot dogs, chili, veggies, and fruit, then headed to the basement to cool off and play some games.  I brought some watermelon-lime-blueberry pops that we had just made the day before, and they were quite the hit.  I couldn't believe it was 3 p.m. when I headed home with Lucan and Kenna!  The time flew.  Lucan had a late nap while Kenna and Charis watched a girly movie and I worked on our 2009 digital album.  (I ended up finishing it that night--woohoo!)  After a dinner of leftovers, we headed to the park to wear Lucan out again, since he had awakened so late from his nap!  I got to chat with my mom-in-law on the phone while the kids played.  All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day...and I'm sure the kids were happy that I remembered it was a holiday so they didn't have to do schoolwork, LOL.

This picture was taken with the 3D glasses over the lens...can you tell the difference?!  It really was pretty cool!