Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Happy Veteran's Day Yesterday and how we spent our day off of school

I wanted to post this yesterday, but I have been swamped the last two days. This is my shout out to anyone who has served in the military - Thank you! I may have posted these before, but this is Ben when he was in the Air Force. Vance and I traveled to Lackland AFB to see him graduate before he went off to Tech school in Mississippi in 1993. We missed him from October until Christmas when he came home and we moved to Buloxi with him for about 6 weeks. After that, we lived in lovely Albuquerque, NM for the rest of his 4 year tour.

We usually take him out for lunch since he never seems to get that day off, and the kids always do, but Vance and I were on that side of town Monday and he took us out! Thanks Babe. I know that was a time in our life when we sacrificed a lot together. Ben worked full time, went to school full time, and was the EQ Pres. in our ward. Oh yeah, he was in a bowling league and a softball leauge too somewhere in there. I was able to get some school in too, and open a daycare in my home, and drive a paper route. We made great friends and it was a good time for our marriage. Marly and Drew were born there. We learned about going without, serving, leadership, and welfare. It was a good time, really. It was the first time in our marriage that we had asked a sincere prayer and then stood up and immediately felt overwhelmed with the answer. I think he enlisted within the week.

So what do you think we did on our day off? Well, Katy invited her friend to spend the night. I hope Jaiyden slept well. The fold out couch in the family room is so fun to sleep on. Katy is quite the cuddler, huh?I took the kids to the park and we met Allison and her kids there for lunch. Vance told me he had a work meeting with his employer - I didn't know this is what I would be watching while we played at the park - Yes, that is my 16 year old on the top of a two story house, dangerously perched at the edge, hanging Christmas lights. Needless to say, I had an upset stomach and neglected to take pictures of the kids, just this. I figure I was pretty far away that if he fell down, I wouldn't hear the splat. This strangely brought me comfort.

5 comments:

Kim Skinner said...

yes, that's my house. he was here. don't my lights look good? don't worry - fred has taught him the finer points of roof walking...and we have homeowners. j/k. if he fell, take comfort in the fact that our backyard is currently full of blankets, towels, trash from kids' forts not to mention we have two standing ladders that he could have caught onto on his way down. :)

Stacy said...

You're hilarious!

Jamie and Heather Darger said...

I was thinking the same thing too as I drove past Skinners. #1 Time to put up lights I guess...and #2 WOW I better start to let go because I would have a panic attack having LOndon up there.

Dizzy Kate said...

Some of my greatest memories with Brian were when we were strapped, going to school full time, working full time and trying to start a family. Thank you for sharing your feelings. I love the pictures too!

Rachel M said...

Gotta say it-you and Ben look so stinkin young!! Wow! I love that pic of Ben and I'm Vance. So sweet. Oh and I'm glad Vance didn't go splat.