Thank You Veterans

I want to extend a "Thank You" to all the Veteran's out there.  Those no longer serving, still serving or paid the ultimate price, you live in my heart.  I can't even begin to put down into the proper words what it means to be a part of Military life.  With my time as an Army wife, I do know one thing for certain; I will always have the utmost respect for the men and women who choose to wear a uniform.  Thank You from the bottom of my heart. 

My husband sitting on his tank, OIF 2003.

If you would like to read the absolute most beautiful piece I have seen written about Veteran's day, please grab a box of tissues and check this out, "Veteran's Day 2013 - Let Us Not Forget."

Also, I wanted to let you know something that you can do to express your gratitude to our servicemen and women.  You can send them a card this holiday season.  The Red Cross is once again organizing the event, "Holiday Mail for Heroes."  I urge you to go to the link and check out the details.  If you have any non-family photo Holiday cards, gather them up and send them to our troops.

Have you ever wondered why Veteran's Day is on November 11th?  You can click here to find the answer to that question with an overview of the history of Veteran's Day.

Happy Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!

I was just reading my usual blogs and almost forgot about wishing everyone a Very Happy Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!  Thanks Eric Carle for the reminder.  If you have followed my blog at all, you know that we <3 and="" carle="" caterpillar.="" eric="" hungry="" just="" look="" nbsp="" p="" the="" very="">

This comes from the Read Me Bookcase and if you haven't seen the entire bookcase, you can check it out by clicking here.

Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!  

I hope you are enjoying being surrounded by family, friends, love and peace this holiday season.

P.S.  This awesome family photo was taken by my friend Lex.  You can find more of his photography here.

Happy Thanksgiving

From my table to yours, I wish you the best Thanksgiving ever.

I hope that your table is full of food and your home full of happiness, hope and love.  I hope you were able to spend your day surrounded by those you love. 

I Am Thankful

I am Thankful for...

• my husband

• my children

• my brothers and sisters
• my in-laws
• my dogs

• my friends
• my blog
• my readers (check out my current giveaway here)

I am Thankful for...

• laughter
• photographs
• the funny things that kids do and say

This happened Thanksgiving last year.

 I am Thankful for...

• rainbows
• rain showers
• sunny days
• cool breezes
• mud puddles

I am Thankful for...

• our military and all who have served proudly
• this amazing country that I call home...America!

And I am Thankful for so much more!  Happy Thanksgiving! 

What are you thankful for today?

Favorite Photo Tuesday #27

I have been trying (almost desperately) to get a good shot of the kids together for a Christmas card.  I have been trying and trying and Colton has been very defiant.  He will look at the camera and just yell no.  So, when I finally caught a moment between the two boys, I knew that was going to be as good as it gets.

I wish that the skies had not been so overcast and blah looking, I also wish it hadn't been 80 degrees at 9:30 in the morning.  I feel kinda bad putting the kids in long sleeves and pants (for 20 minutes) so I could take the picture.  It worked out and I changed them back into cooler clothing so they could run laps around the giant Christmas tree before getting some cookies and heading home.

Well, I hope you stop by and check out a big announcement that I have lined up for tomorrow!  It is some exciting stuff, at least to me anyways.

Happy Veteran's Day

Today is a day that I proudly wear an outfit that screams I am an American with pride!  Many people think it might be tacky, but I don't care.  I am proud to show that I love my country and my freedom.  It's because of the brave men and women who are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect it.  A special thanks goes out to my husband, who served in the Army, doing two tours in Iraq.

Riding on his tank, Iraq 2003-2004

I am proud that I was able to stand by you and support you.  The deployments were anything but easy, but I wouldn't trade that experience for anything else in this world.  It shaped both of our lives and our relationship.  Without it, I don't think we would be the people that we are today.

Deployment night, 2005

I want to take today to say thank you not just to my husband, but to many others.

Thank you to all of our dear friends that are still in the military and thank you to their families who support them. 

Thank you to my grandfather and Matt's grandfather who served in the Navy during WWII. 

Thank you to my Father-in-law for serving in the Army. 

Thank you to my Uncle who served in the Air Force during Vietnam. 

Thank you to my Brother-in-law, Scott for serving in the Navy.

Thank you to my brother, Dan for serving in the Coast Guard. 

Thank you to my cousins who stand proudly beside their husbands and take care of the home front when their husbands are called away.

Thank you to all the men and women who served with my husband, you all helped get him back home to me.

Thanks to everyone who has served.

Thank you to everyone who still serves.

Standing outside a Texas National Guard Armory

For anyone who has no military affiliation, please tell a Vet "Thank you."  Show your pride for your country and your freedom today.

Favorite Photo Tuesday #14

Happy Independence Day everyone!!!

This week's photo came from watching the fireworks last night.  I had family in town and the silhouettes of the two kids are that of my son Maben and my nephew Jonah.  It was a great fireworks show and both of my kids loved it!  I hope you all enjoyed celebrating our nation's birthday!  Now I have to say goodbye to my family and get back on our normal schedule.

Happy Father's Day

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love the most is soap-on-a-rope.
Bill Cosby

 

Honey, we love you!  We hope you love your Father's Day gifts.  We hope you have a wonderful weekend.  You are an amazing husband, an awesome father and my best friend.  Happy Father's Day! (a few days early)

I hope that all the great father's out there have a wonderful weekend.

P.S.  Be prepared, we are in need of some newer family photos!  With all 4 of us in it.