We are once again without internet. The day before Christmas our internet quit working, but due to the holidays Telecom can't work on it for a while. In general, the Italians take vacation until Jan. 6th, so we will be patient until then. We'll call everyone once we get things working again.
Traditions that you don't want!
Let me preface this blog by saying that a more interesting one with photos will follow once I get photos uploaded.
So, it seems that my Christmas tradition is getting sick on Christmas. I was deathly ill with a stomach bug last Christmas; this year I just have a cold. Kennedy has been sick since Saturday morning, so we have been on house restriction for 4 days now. I feel so bad for my sweet, little, princess Kennedy. She has never been sick like this before. She's had a runny nose, but never a fever, cough, runny nose with gross stuff coming out every time she coughs and sneezes. Oh, it makes my heart ache to not be able to help her. She seems to be doing better today, so we will venture out to base to get some groceries and other necessities...tissues! = )
Overall, we had a good Christmas. We miss everyone in the States, but we're so glad to have Brian with us for the first time in 3 years. We Love Y'all!
Tis the Season
Santa Claus is coming to town...to help us celebrate Jesus' birthday.
"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."~Luke 2:8-11
Kennedy has definitely grasped the concept of presents. She is asking about toys on a daily basis, and is only slightly understanding that the real reason we celebrate this holiday is for Jesus. She knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, but that's about as far as her comprehension goes.
Last weekend, we had our first "family" tradition; we headed out in search for a tree. Tree shopping is totally different here in Italy. There isn't Lowe's or Homedepot or any store that carries an abundance of trees. You don't have a choice between a noble fir or a frasier fir or any other kind of fir for that matter. What you see is what you get. I truly believe that they go up in the mountains and cut down pine trees. Actually, they dig them out of the ground. All trees come with the roots here in Italy. Our tree is a little more humble then we would have had chosen in the States, but it is our tree. We spent the weekend decorating the tree and taking Kennedy to see Santa Clause. Our Italian friend, Paulo, plays Santa at this couples' house on the weekends. It was great fun to take Kennedy this year. She didn't ask for anything too specific...just TOYS! Getting her to leave the house to see Santa was a mess. She absolutely refused to get dressed, and after we got her pants on her she took them off. She is very into "my turn" right now. No helping is allowed which makes things take way to long.
Brian has been working a ton; they have an inspection this week. Kennedy and I are just finishing up our Bible study for the fall, and will be on break until mid-January. Kenner's babysitter is on vacation until January, so I have been attempting to keep up my workout schedule. Things are going pretty good, but Kennedy really misses her little friends from Ms. Kim's. She was lying on the bed playing with her animals today, and said to her animals "let's go find some new friends." Oh, I was sad! So, since I can't go to any of my gym classes, my goal is to be at both playgroups this week. My sweet little girl needs some social interaction. She is already on the waiting list for gymnastics, and I will try to get her into movement 'n motion as soon as she turns 3. Since she's an only child, I really have to work at getting her socialized. One of my friends said her girls, 3 1/2 and 2, played together for 4 hours straight last week...oh I can only imagine. So, that's our life right now. Nothing too exciting.
Oh, don't forget that you can view full size photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/Texasdrlng
Just a week
The holiday season is upon us. We will be busy with all the festivities for the next month. This week began with Brian heading to Vicenza to re-enlist, and it is ending with him heading to Germany for a TDY...some training.
Kennedy and I have kept busy this week with our normal routine, and Brian has been working a lot. Last night, we went to the base Christmas tree lighting. Kennedy had a great time running around in the cold, winter weather with her friends. The night turned interesting when my potty trained child proceeded to squat down and start going to the bathroom on the ground; no, she didn't have her pants off. Ever since we went to TX and she potty on the grass, she keeps asking to potty on the grass. Of course we don't let her, but I guess she tried to pull a fast one in the field area that we were on. I stopped her and ran to the building across the street where there were bathrooms, but I was not happy. This is her 2nd major potty incident in the past 2 weeks. A few weeks ago, she just peed on her babysitter's floor. I think she's starting to realize that none of the other kids her age are potty trained. I know she asks Kim, her sitter, about why the other girls wear diapers. I'm just praying that we don't have a full blown regression on the pottying issue. I am not buying diapers, so she better keep using the toilet.
Our other eventful news is that Kennedy fell about 4 feet today. I thought for sure that we were going to end up in the Italian ER, but everything seems ok. She was playing with kids at a basketball game today, and she says the little boy pushed her. That's what is nice about this years fall is that she can tell me what's wrong and hurts. She has a few bruises, but that's it. Praise God that He kept my sweet girl safe.
Please view our photo site (http://picasaweb.google.com/Texasdrlng) for our latest pics taken for Christmas.
Give Thanks
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." ~Ps 107:1
Brian and I have so much to be thankful for. Recent tragedies have brought a shocking reality that God gives us so much...mostly we are thankful for each day we have together. We have endured so many changes over the past few years, but we know that God was with us every step of the way. Brian made it home to us! To even express how thankful I am to have him back in our lives is impossible. This holiday season has and will continue to allow us to be reflective on all our blessings.
This song has been in my head for several weeks. It is an older Chris Tomlin song, but I've just been loving it.
Give thanks to the Lord our God and King
His love endures forever
For He is good, He is above all things
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
With a mighty hand and outstretched arm
His love endures forever
For the life that's been reborn
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
Forever God is faithful
Forever God is with us
Forever
From the rising to the setting sun
His love endures forever
By the grace of God we will carry on
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
We had our first grown-up Thanksgiving at our house. Brian and I did all the cooking! We slaved over our dishes from Wednesday night until 3PM on Thursday. It was so much fun even though we were absolutely exhausted after cleaning up the kitchen on Thursday night! Brian's grilled turkey was all the rage and my chocolate cheesecake was devoured in a few minutes. We had a bunch of traditional food, also. (view pics of our weekend at the top of the blog)
I feel like our ministry is to the single soldiers. Brian and I love to have them over for dinner. They are so appreciative. It is tiring, but seeing their happiness makes it all worth it. There isn't a lot of Christian leadership in Brian's unit, so we see it as an opportunity to show them how we are different.
On Saturday we headed to Salzburg for the Christmas Market. It was a wonderful experience! Everything in historical Salzburg was about Christmas. You could feel the joy, cheer, and excitement everywhere. Kennedy kept wanting to see Christmas. It was cold, but not rainy or snowy. I loved our time there. We got a few ornaments, but wished we could have bought enough to do a whole tree...you know that money thing held us back. = ) I think we will try to go to the Christmas market in Munich next year; supposedly its HUGE. I am such in the Christmas spirit now.
Brian news:
He will be leaving us again this Thursday. He will be gone for about a week. He just re-enlisted in the Army for another 6 years, and we will now be here in Italy until Nov. 2009. Brian's pending deployment for 2008 is on hold for now; he probably won't go anywhere for awhile. We are still sharing one car, but we hope to be getting a Volvo for Brian by the first of the year.
New video of Kennedy is on www.dropshots.com/texasdrlng
(click the slide show to see the pics enlarged)
Kennedy's wish list
So, many of y'all have asked what Kennedy wants for Christmas...and it is what she wants this year. She totally understands that Christmas means presents from Santa, and that those presents should be toys. She has been looking at this toy catalog for a month now marking what she wants with a pen. It is so amazing how quickly she changes. Last year she was so clueless to Christmas and even on her 2nd birthday. Brian and I are truly enjoying the joy and innocent cheer that Kennedy has when looking at Christmas lights, trees, etc.
I have made a Christmas wish list on Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/wishlist). Look under Kennedy Darling
We will be heading to Salzburg for the Christmas market for the rest of the weekend. It is such a blessing to be able to enjoy the wonderful European holiday traditions. Please pray for safe travels. We will post pics this week.
Happy Holidays!
Appreciation
Feelings of loss and disbelief are all over Aviano Air Base. You can sense peoples loss for words and lack of understanding everywhere. Our military community here is so small that even people who have no connection to any of the deceased are mournful. Brian's and my hearts hurt for the families; especially Liz.
Liz and Meka were in church Sunday, and just looking at them broke my heart. I have no way to comprehend their loss, but the tears just welled in my eyes. Oh, I was in awe of the strength that these two wonderful women have. I know God is just wrapping His arms around them. We cannot understand why this happened except that God has a plan. I tell myself everyday that God has a plan and He knows when each one of us will leave this earth. In this military world that we live in, lives are all too often cut short.
I have learned so much in these past few days. I have been constantly examining our lives as a family, as individuals, as a parent. What will our legacy be? Do we absorb all of God's glory? No, I can testify to that. No, I don't appreciate everything God has placed on this Earth. I keep thinking about this little, innocent question that Brian asked when we were looking at places to move to. Actually, I was looking at them and telling him about them via e-mail. One day he said, "I bet that Maniago house has a wonderful view of the mountains from the balconey." I honestly couldn't tell him yes or no. I was so wrapped up in the size, amenities, etc that I hadn't even noticed. So, when Brian got home from Iraq and I took him out to see the house the first thing that he noticed was the beautiful mountains. How blind could I be...the mountains. Those great, marvelous works of the Lord that stare me in the face everyday. Gosh, I really don't ever just stop and absorb God's miracles. How often do I sit back and just watch Kenners play? Not often enough. All too quickly our lives pass us by.
We spent Sunday afternoon as a family. Doing a bunch of nothing, but enjoying ourselves. We drove up the oh so obvious mountains to the lake. Missy, Rusty, and Kennedy had a wonderful time. Brian and I were freezing because we are so not used to dressing for the mountains. I brought a light jacket for K, a fleece vest for myself, and Brian had a sweater...who knew that it would be a good 15 to 20 degrees cooler just 10 min. up the mountain. After about 45min. out in the cold we were ready to get in the warm car. Needless to say, Missy was totally submerged in the water and panting. I guess God made sure that hunting dogs had the right kind of fur...the fur I find on my floor everyday. = )
(I love this pic of Rusty!)
Brian has left our family once again. He will be in Vicenza for the week, but will actually be back in Aviano for the memorial service on Thursday. I'm so glad that he's going to be able to stand beside me. I know that he will be there to comfort me as I experience grief for my friends and fellow military wives...6 men have left their families. Kennedy and I will be heading back to Vicenza with Brian on Thursday afternoon. We will spend the night with him, and K & I will do some shopping on Friday. Brian will have to clean up the gun range, bring weapons back, etc...all that Army stuff. It is weird to be in a quite house again. For almost 2 years I was without my husband, and for the past 3 1/2 months we have been together almost constantly. It is almost weird to have a moment to myself. Now, I must go to bed. Goodnight!
How quickly things change
So, yesterday brought an early start to Kennedy's & my day; we had to bring Brian to work at 6AM. I woke up with a stuffy nose, so we returned home until our normal day began at 9AM. I dropped off K at the sitter, went to the gym, back to get K, and then to the BX complex as normal. For some reason, we saw almost all of our PWOC, Bible study, friends there. It was such an uplifting, positive morning. The day took an abrupt change for the worse around 2PM. I was in the BX talking to a friend when her husband called...she had to go. Not 10 min. later Brian called and said, "did you hear about the black hawk crash?" Well, no I hadn't. I immediately knew that it was the other Army unit on base and wondered if Christian, a friend's husband, was ok. I was trying to not freak out, but when we got home and I had no information in my e-mail I started calling. Brian's work had no info., CNN.com was talking about 5 dead, my heart was pounding, and I was shaking. I finally called another friend; she says Christian was flying and PWOC is praying in our building. The emotions overcome me, I get visibly upset, Kenners is worried about me. It is so weird to have someone you know personally involved in such a tragedy. The whole way to base I was praying that he would be alive. When Jess and I arrived he was alive, but his life was soon taken. Christian was taken to be with the Lord after the doctors had tried to save his life. Gosh, what is Liz going to do? Lord, please be with her! It was the most overwhelming, helpless feeling...we all wanted to do something, but we could do nothing except pray. In a room full of crying women we all prayed for God to grant Liz peace and comfort. We soon learned that another one of our PWOC sisters had lost her husband in the crash...two wonderful Godly families torn apart in one short afternoon. We all know that the men who lost their lives are with God in a much better place, but we still mourn for them. All in all 6 men lost their lives.
It is so weird, but I feel that I'm being selfish now. Not only did we lose Christian, but I'm not sure what Liz will do. How long will she be here? What will PWOC be like without her? These are selfish questions, but all I can see is Liz's smiling face. Just Wednesday she was smiling talking about how Christian still made her heart pitter patter and how him surprising her on her birthday was just the best. It makes me realize how quickly our world can change. Oh, my thoughts have been on Liz and the other families all day. Eating and feelings of happiness have eluded me today. I think I've told Brian and Kennedy "I love you" a few too many times.
Lord, I just pray for you to bring your peace on the families.
Turracher Hohe Austria
After about a month of being in Aviano, you have to go somewhere. The community is so small that you just need a change of scenery and a chance to relax. The adventuresome people that we've become called our friend and booked a hotel on a Friday night. The next morning we loaded up the car for a 3 hour drive to Turracher Hohe, Austria. We knew that the hotel was in a ski town and it was off season, but what we didn't realize was that the town would pretty much be deserted. We were the only guests at our hotel; we got exclusive use of the saunas and the heated pool. Finding a place to eat dinner was an interesting experience. The first night we were thare we got to eat in town, but the second night we had to drive down the mountain to this resturant that was tiny. We had wonderful food both nights. It is wild game season in Austria, so we had a mixed platter the first night. We couldn't really tell you what we ate, but we know we had deer meat for sure. The weather was much cooler than we expected, so we didn't go enjoy the lake as planned. Going to the smaller, less touristy towns really helps you appreciate other countries....we had a great time! We plan on going back another time when things are more happening. Here are a few pics.
Cruise
So, I'm just trying to get everyone caught up on our lives. I'm going to post a few pics for the first day on our cruise, but will eventually post all of the pics on snapfish for whoever wants to look at them.
Our cruise was just wonderful! We had a great room and got to meet a lot of Americans that also lived overseas. We travelled to Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Corfu, and Santorini. There aren't words to explain the beauty of those places. It is just amazing to walk on the ground that Jesus walked on. We have been so blessed to be able to travel.
We went to Trunk or Treat tonight on the base. Italians do not celebrate Halloween, so to give the kids a little taste of home the base has festivities. Kennedy looked so cute dressed up as Tinkerbell. She really enjoyed dressing up and saying "trunk or treat". It is so fun to see her growing up. Last year, I dressed her up, but she was not happy and didn't really understand what was going on.
Brian wanted to send Kennedy back through the row of cars to get more "loot" for him to eat. He was the crazy dad who wanted all the good candy. It was a great experience for Brian to have with his little princess...this is his first Halloween with "Dee"
Catching up!
Our old Photosite has discontinued service, so we've had to find another route to share our life with everyone. I am just getting around to setting up a new site since our lives have been absolutely crazy since Brian got home.
The day Brian got off the plane in Italy, we had movers at our old house. Brian's arrival home was exciting and long overdue.
The day Brian got off the plane in Italy, we had movers at our old house. Brian's arrival home was exciting and long overdue.
As most of y'all know we spent 3 weeks moving before heading on a cruise and to TX for Brian's first trip home in 2 years. We are enjoying our new house much more than our old one. We still have a small house, but its bigger than our previous one. The downside to this house is that our yard is small. We are so glad that we can actually have people over and they can fit in our living room.
We are now home in Italy for awhile. Our house is fully functional with Internet and phone now....internet/phone is an Italian "experience" in itself. I will try to update this blog frequently until we get everyone caught up on our life. We miss everyone back in the States, and will see some of y'all in May.
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