Wednesday!

I am missing my husband. I really just want to talk to him, and he's in this rugged place with no internet connection. I did break down and call his cell phone, but since calls to his cell phone in Germany cost a fortune and are discouraged, he's supposed to be working you know, I limited our call to 10 min. Even with our year deployment we chatted everyday. 10 min. of chat time in 2 days just isn't enough for me. Kennedy wants her daddy, too. We are just a mess! How quickly we get used to him being home everyday.

Tomorrow will be a fresh start! I am looking forward to going to dinner with some wonderful women! I know that God will have something wonderful for me experience tomorrow!

So, Brian's gone. The house is quiet, and I'm supposed to be cleaning the floors...something I can't do at 9PM when Brian's home. Kennedy has asked for her Dad more times than I can remember today. We called him once this morning, and she's picked up the phone more than once to call him again. She has told me she misses him, and it makes me sad. This time away will only be for a week and a half. I'm already worrying about September. We don't really know if we will have regular contact with him this week. We've never been without contact, so I'll be praying that we'll get to communicate.

More news on our week later......

Hmmmmm....it is the end of March, Easter weekend, and we have SNOW!!!!! Really is has been so cold and rainy these past few days. This morning we actually got snow! Maybe I'm totally programmed wrong, but I believe that with Easter comes warm weather. Where is this thing we call Sun? I guess only God knows, but I hope He reveals this sun to me soon!

This weekend has been a wonderful time spent with friends and hanging out as a family. Brian had a 4 day weekend, so we've been having fun. Our Friday night was a long overdue night of BBQing with our friends the McGuire's and the Garner's. Josh has been away on his year of "vacation", and was able to come home to Italy for a few short weeks. John had been away on a "vacation", too. We have not had a good ol' BBQ since before the holidays. We let the kids stay up way too late, and had a blast chit chatting...well, the women did. I'm not sure what the men do outside by the grill, but I'm sure they have fun! Saturday was a first for our family; we colored Easter eggs. Kennedy colored them last year, but Dad wasn't around. We invited our friends the Hero's over to participate in the fun! They have 3 kids, so Kennedy has so much fun when they come over.

Sunday morning came, and we headed to church. Wow, it was packed! Our service has been growing, but we literally ran out of room in the sanctuary. The music was wonderful and Ch. Browning did an amazing job on the sermon. He took the time to explain why the Jesus dying on the cross was 100% true. I as a believer have no doubt that Jesus died for us, but I know so many people who question Christianity. Before I get off on my tangent, I better stick to what we did this weekend. My commitment to Christ and my faith is another blog entirely. Lets just say that I was truly blessed by Sunday morning worship! We headed to brunch, and then home for K's Easter egg hunt. The bunny left just a few eggs, so the hunt was pretty quick.







Following the Easter egg hunt, we got ready to go sledding up at Piancovallo. Due to the freezing cold temps and all the rain we had in Maniago, we knew the snow would be great up the mountain. The drive up was uneventful, but as soon as we got out of the car the snow started coming down. This wasn't a light snow fall, but massive snow flakes...at least to us Texans. We spent about 45 min. sledding, throwing snow, and just having fun before heading back to the car. Upon our arrival, there was already an inch of snow on the car. We were worried about the snow accumlation on the road, so after much fussing from the Kenners we got going.




We've had an amazing weekend just being a family! I love the time we get to spend together.

Please continue to pray for Brian's Granny. We've heard only good news from our family in the States, but she's still in the hospital recovering.

Please pray for Brian's grandma. We just found out today that she has colon cancer; tomorrow she will go in for surgery to remove the cancer. We pray for the doctors, for all the cancer to be removed as planned, and mostly for her strength. We know that God has a plan in all of this. Help us to be supportive in any way that we are needed.

Thank you very much for supporting our family!

Here's a short video from K's party

I know that this is an overdue post, but life has been so busy these past few weeks.

Let me see what I need tell you to get you up to date. We have gotten a few new spouses into the unit, and we've been getting to know them. It seems like just yesterday when we arrived in Italy, but we have been here 2 1/2 years now....we are seasoned veterans. We have been offering up our knowledge, advice, and time to help these wives. It is so great getting to meet new families. The families are getting settled, but I know it will be a while before they totally get their bearings. Both wives are not driving, yet. Its funny to me that people are afraid to drive here. I got here and 3 weeks later Brian left me, I didn't have a choice other than to drive.

Kennedy turned 3 at the end of February, but we didn't have her party until March 8th. We have never done a birthday party, but I think it went very well. We rented out the recreational area on base and a jumping castle. We made farm animal balloons and played pin the tail on the donkey. Kennedy had a blast with her friends.

Kennedy got some fun gifts, and has been busy playing with all her new toys. We thank all of our friends for joining in K's first birthday party. Oh, I even think the adults had fun socializing too. Here's some evidence of what men do at kids parties....















I am now officially a "Dance Mom". I spend every Tuesday and Thursday waiting on my little ballerina. Kennedy seems to really enjoy ballet, but starts to act silly whenever we ask her to show us what she learns. I purchased her tiger tutu/costume for her recital in May. Brian is supposed to be gone, but I hope he gets home in time to see her first performance.

I'm thinking about May already, WOW! This year is flying by. This week is going to be busy with PWOC meetings, the gym, and ballet class. Brian has Friday and Monday off, so we will be having dinner with friends on both Thursday and Friday nights. We will then do something for Easter, but we don't have any plans other than to go to church. Brian will be off to Germany the following week and will return the day before Aaron arrives. Once Aaron gets here, we will be super busy trying to show him Italy. Brian will leave again a few days before Aaron does, and won't be back until mid-May. Mid-May, its just around the corner, and we will be heading to Texas for a wonderful celebration. We are so excited for Adam and Renee!

So, I should be reading my Bible study, but I just had to blog about my girl. This morning we had a day full of activities on the base. As we headed out the house in a semi-hurry this morning, Kennedy started grumbling about having to do things. Then she steps outside to get in the car, and here's what she said, "Oh, its raining again? Its not possible!" It was so darn cute! I don't think I say "its not possible"; I'm not sure where she picked up that phrase. She has now said that phrase about 4 times today. I still can't believe she's growing up so quickly.

That's what Kennedy has started doing. Last week she attended her first 2 dance classes. She is so cute in her little pink dance attire! Ms. Tina, her teacher, told us that Kennedy follows instruction very well and is a sociable little girl. I was so glad to hear that the teacher thought she did well, but I had to laugh because Ms. Tina prefaced her statement with, "I didn't think she was going to do well, but..."

Here are a few photos...