Freedom isn't Free

Senior Airman Mark. A Forester

I have been reminded again this week that our precious freedom is not free. A good family friend made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan this week. As I have thought about his life and death I am again reminded how grateful I am for our men and women in uniform that are (in the words of Mark's best friend) "brave as Hell".

Please pray for his family and all the other families who have recently lost loved ones in Freedom's name. We are very blessed to live in a free country, but that is only afforded to us because people like Mark are willing to pay the price.

Were ALIVE!!!!

I am back!!!! The last two months have been full of ups and down and everything in between. Since I have blogged our family has shared some great times and some really tough ones too. For the sake of everyone's sanity I will only share the highlights...hold on it was a whirl wind...

(Just for your info. we are going backwards)


THE LAST BIT OF FUN BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED

This is Ben and Joshua riding the four wheeler that Grandpa Mills bought for him in the hill behind our house.

My "Puppy" sitting in the road (I am not totally sure why he is in the road).

My kids with Aunt Beckie at the river, WE LOVE WHEN SHE COMES to visit!

Chase by the baby calf at the local dairy... We love to go get ice cream!!!

Joshua at the local zoo standing in front of the tiger.

All of us at the zoo by the "fake" tiger.

Aunt Beckie, Ellie, and Chase at the park.

OUR NEW HOUSE- still a work in progress

A month and a half ago we moved to Idaho Falls from sandy UT. It has been a very bitter sweet move for me. I really miss living close to family and friends. I have had to get use to the Idaho culture and a lot more farms... not my forte :). We moved because Ben got a job here that is Fabulous. We both feel very blessed to have such a good job and know we were being watched over even though it has been hard. Ben LOVES LOVES his job and in the short time he has been with the company he has learned a lot and been able to travel to Korea, Japan, New York, Texas, and California. I miss him a lot while he is gone but really cherish the time he gets to be home with us!!! I have enjoyed and will cont. enjoying decorating my house and getting to know more people here. I have been blessed enough to make some great friends already (Nicole you have been my life saver). ALL IN ALL EVERY DAY GETS BETTER!!!!

Chase's room, he insisted on it being ELMO.

Ellie's lady bug room

The spare bedroom -it is a patriotic theme. We are blessed to have both my grandpa's and Ben's grandpa's memorial flags along with many other military artifacts and items that really mean a lot to Ben and I.

Joshua's bedroom... what else but the U of U!!! (sorry it's sideways)

The Kitchen

The great room attached to the kitchen.

The living room aka "the home teacher room"


The family room downstairs/ playroom/office

ELLIE'S BIRTHDAY- She turned 3

Ellie turned three on June 19, I felt a little bad because that was the week we started moving so it wasn't as put together as I would have liked but there's always next year right???

Opening presents

The CAKE... she had to have a ladybug cake!!!

BEN' S BIRTHDAY - HE TURNED 30 on May 31

He kept saying he didn't want a party but you can't turn 30 without a party. So I (with the help of my sisters) threw him a surprise party. The theme was Anything Chocolate so naturally we did a chocolate buffet. I love him and am so grateful that he chose me to share his life with. Happy Birthday Ben (way back in May)!!!

The kids with Ben enjoying all the chocolate

Ben lighting his candles. I made him a chocolate souffle cake.

(I am not sure why he is lighting his own candles though?!!

So I know you can't imagine anymore but Joshua's first day of school, Chase's birthday, many visits from family, and the few cakes I have made this summer are all still to come so stay tuned!!!

A LITTLE bit of kindness goes a LONG way

After going somewhere as a family we returned to an unfamiliar car in our driveway. We tried to guess whose car it was as we finished pulling up to our house. When I got out I realized it was our neighbors (seem weird I wouldn't know their car).

Here's some background on my neighbors they moved in next door about fifteen years ago (remember I grew up in this house) the first thing they did was put a nine, yes I said NINE foot cinder block wall all the way around their house. If that wasn't enough they fenced in their front yard completely with double chain link fencing . And still if that wasn't enough they put up an iron fence at the bottom of their porch so you could not get to their door if you tried. As you are probably thinking all of this screams friendly... right??? As a child they complained to the police many times about our cat walking on their lawn or our toys and balls being thrown accidentally into their yard. I began to loathe them and avoided them as a child. As a teenager we would jump on our trampoline and have contests to see who could jump the highest and see over the wall into their yard. When we moved back this last time and took over the house from my parents I asked if they had been any trouble recently, the answer was "no we never see or hear them". This answer was much to my relief and I just hoped it would stay that way.

Now back to the other night. I see this neighbor standing on my doorstep with her husband in the car and I was sure they were coming to complain about the party we were hosting (it was a surprise party for Ben and he hadn't seen it yet so I was sure they were going to ruin it by complaining). Much to my surprise she (and her husband) had come over to asked if she could give my children candy and then this dialogue followed;

"I know we never talk or interact with you but your son is always so nice to us and we really appreciate it. He always runs out to greet us when we are coming or going and if we are already in the car he ALWAYS waves. It has meant so much to us and we had to tell him that his greetings and friendly waves mattered to us, they touched us. We didn't know when you were moving and wanted to come and tell him thank you before it was too late. So if it is OK with you we have bought each one of your kids a little treat and would like to give it to them".

She then threw her arms around me and told me how sad she was that we were moving. I was SHOCKED and didn't have words to respond I was so surprised that all I could get out was Thank You!! That night in bed I couldn't stop thinking about them and just how much Joshua's friendliness had meant to them. We are told all the time that the little things sometimes matter more than the big but how often do we really believe that?? I feel so blessed to have Joshua (and the rest of my kids) and are so grateful for their examples... tonight I have truly learned from a child!!!

Boy Hair

Today while I was putting on make-up and doing my hair Joshua was in the bathroom with me. When it was time to go feed everyone breakfast I wasn't done yet so I gathered my stuff and took it into the kitchen (the very reason why I always hang a mirror in my kitchen). While we were in the bathroom earlier in the morning Joshua had been casually chatting with me and that continued downstairs into the kitchen. After breakfast was well underway and I had been back at my hair for a few minutes Joshua paused in his current conversation with me and blurted out;

J: "I wish you had boy hair"

Me: "What... "What is boy hair"

J: "Well I am just so tired of having to wait while you do your hair, it takes SOOOO long and just wish you could have hair like a boy." (funny enough he wasn't even waiting on me for something right then... it's probbably pent up baggage ha ha )

M: "You mean short????"

J: "I guess... (pause to think) you know the hair that doesn't take long, like mine!!!!"


I chuckled to myself and almost told him to call his Dad and ask him about his lifetime of waiting for me to do my hair, but I didn't there wasn't enough time for that. He then ended the conversation and moved right a along!!!
He is so cute I love his perspective!!!