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Showing posts from 2010

Convenience

It's Veteran's Day in 34 minutes. I think about many soldiers...who gave up so much, for our country. For us. For me. And their families. The moms, the wives, the sisters, the daughters. Dads, husbands, brothers, sons. Who wait. And worry. And pray. I never had to be one of those women. Someone else did that for me. It's a bit overwhelming when I stop to think about it. About what others gave up. About my own complaints. It's amazing to me the things I find inconvenient. When I think about what others have sacrificed. I am profoundly sad. Freedom. And what do we do with it? Look around. See what's on TV, magazines, movies... Or the street, the hallway, the park, the store.... Fast, easy. Quick, convenient, satisfying. When is the last time we had to really work for anything? There are "Fast Cash" buttons on ATMs. Really? I can't be bothered to push a few buttons? I already can't take time to get out of my car and actually talk to another person. I

2010 Christmas

Faith Hope Love Religious Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly. View the entire collection of cards.

The words I would say

For my Zach...the chorus makes me think of you. God has His hand on you. Sidewalk Prophets - The Words I Would Say Three in the morning, And I'm still awake, So I picked up a pen and a page, And I started writing, Just what I'd say, If we were face to face, I'd tell you just what you mean to me, I'd tell you these simple truths, Be strong in the LORD and, Never give up hope, You're going to do great things, I already know, God's got His hand on you so, Don't live life in fear, Forgive and forget, But don't forget why you're here, Take your time and pray, These are the words I would say, Last time we spoke, You said you were hurting, And I felt your pain in my heart, I want to tell you, That I keep on praying, Love will find you where you are, I know cause I've already been there, So please hear these simple truths, Be strong in the LORD and, Never give up hope, You're going to do great things, I alrea

Five Years Ago

This is what my children looked like five years ago. This was June. How were we to know that Dave would be gone two months later? How could we have imagined such a thing? Sure, he'd been sick. But he'd been sick before. I could not imagine that he would die. Somehow I still can't. In that five years..... So much has happened. We got a dog. And then another. Kenny played football. Zach played football. Kate danced. Kenny skied. Zach played basketball. So did Kate. Kenny ran track. Zach caught baseball. Kate played volleyball. Kenny graduated and won the Lou Jacky award. Zach graduated and was speaker at baccalaureate. President Kate left middle school. We hosted Japanese students and had barbeques. We went camping and to a million tournaments. Homework and dinner. School and the field. We drove in the car (a lot) and bought groceries (also a lot). Birthdays and anniversaries. Christmas and Easter. Hotels and church. Some everyday events. Some life-changing events. N

graduation season

kate's recognition Originally uploaded by shibelle007 Playing around on the flickr site!

Japan

Teenagers are crazy. All over the world. I love this picture. My silly kids. I adore each of them. We just finished a two-week adventure. I know that two weeks can change your life. It's happened to me before. But I never expected that having two Japanese students stay with us for two weeks would be so amazing. Here's a picture of Koki and Masamichi. They came to Walla Walla. For a cultural exchange. Some of you might find that funny. I wonder what it was like for them. They live in a big city in Japan - Yokohama. They attend a private school that used to be a boarding school, with beautiful gardens and gorgeous views. One lives in an apartment building with pets like hamsters and turtles. They arrived in suits and ties, pulling their hard-shelled suitcases. I wonder what they thought. The loud and crazy Americans, waving signs, dressed casually, giving them Walla Walla t-shirts and cookies. They smiled a lot. And we brought them home. Through rolling hills and running streams

Kyle

Tomorrow is January 2. One of the five happiest days of my life. It's the day Kyle was born. Dave was so excited. All through the pregnancy, Dave was sure this was a girl. He bought this little pink sleeper. He was just sure that Kyle was a girl. Actually, he was sure it was a girl all four times! But if he were to be a boy, his name was to be Kenny or Erik. Kenny or Erik. Erik or Kenny. We went back and forth. Dave said, "Oh, it didn't matter anyway, since Amanda Loree was going to be born." A few days before Kyle was born, we had an ultrasound, because there had been so much confusion on his due date (turned out he was 3.5 weeks overdue!), and we discovered he was a boy! A boy! We were amazed. And suddenly decided to name him Kyle. Don't ask me why or how. It just happened. Dave's brother, Bob, was in town for the weekend. I'd had a lot of contractions on Dave's birthday, he was hoping that Kyle would be born on his birthday, but it didn'