~ More Outrageous Snow Pictures ~

HERE IS A PICTURE OF OUR CHRISTMAS TREE,
THAT I MEANT TO POST A WHILE BACK...

THE BARN AREA RIGHT NOW...I CAN WALK OVER
THE WIRE TO FEED HOPE...

HOPE WAITING FOR HER BREAKFAST!

OUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW, WITH ABOUT 3 1/2 FEET
OF SNOW!

OUR TRAMPOLINE

We have been keeping extremely busy keeping up with all of the snow, and keeping the house warm. This is more snow than Idaho normally gets (aside from last year), and I think people are really shocked that it is happening again, and may now become the current weather trend for us. I am a bit scared, as it is only still December and we have almost as much as last year, put together. My husband says that Ft. Drum, NY has 8 feet of snow, so depending on where you live, it may not seem like much, but for us, it is a lot to keep up with and I am exhausted. I am ready to move!

I am having a hard time keeping up with the housework, as I have been shoveling every morning and every evening. I am now strong enough to shovel the whole front deck and the kitchen deck, in the morning and the whole living room deck in the evening. I go to bed feeling guilty that my kids are watching movies all day, and I cannot spend much time playing with them. Lately, though, Abbie has been taking a nap during the day and thus can't sleep at night, so I put the boys to bed and we play barbies in the playroom, and then have a bedtime snack and go to bed. She has been sleeping with me a lot, which helps her. She misses her Daddy, and I don't have much time for her right now, so that has started being "our time". Sheldon gets plenty of attention, and is doing fine, but Abigail particularly needs a lot of quality time. Zane has been very busy playing with his army guys and no one wants to even go outside...

Our Christmas was so enjoyable. It was hard work, but we had fun! I had a lot of family over, and we got about 6-8 inches of snow Christmas Eve. We had a huge breakfast of Cinnamon Rolls, Cherry Rhubarb Pie, Eggs, Sausage, Cider and Egg Nog Pancakes. We had a very traditional Dinner, of Turkey, Gravy, Stuffing, Green Beans, Sweet and Mashed Potatoes, Rolls and Cranberry Sauce...and for dessert we had Apple Crisp. Everyone enjoyed the gift giving, and games, and the kids had a blast. I made everyone Rice Socks, plus bought additional gifts for everyone, and actually found a lot of it, at second hand stores... I didn't get any pictures on Christmas, as I had run out of batteries and forgotten to get more before Christmas...oh well!...

I hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday season! :) I am deep in thought lately, about the New Year. I am just considering some New Years resolutions, some things I want to/need to change, and about to delve into my Fruit of the Spirit of the year, study ( I am on Gentleness this year).

The past two Christmas's (2006 and 2007), I would get Christmas letters in the mail and whenI would get to the end of them, where everyone wishes everyone else blessings and a glorious New Year, I would sigh and deal with feelings of utter hopelessness, that my life would ever be the same again, that I would never be an army wife again, and that I would have a trucker for a husband and the life that goes with that, for the rest of my life. I didn't even dare to hope that those things would/could change.

This year, though, as I read the current Christmas letters from dear friends and family, I would get to the end of them and on each one, I cried tears of Thanksgiving to a God who hears my prayers, who is never in a hurry, but is always ON TIME, who has showered my life with blessings and given me back some of my hearts desires.......everyone knows that neither james nor I considered him having to go to Korea when he got back in the Army. We were very sure of going back to Ft. Lewis, but for some reason it wasn't time to go there. Neither of us understand it, at all. That said though....in April of this year, I had HOPE! I knew that that date circled on the calender one year later signified a family re-united, and back in God's will. I am secure and happy in my role. It is hard... but being a trucker's wife is extremely harder and I was never cut out for it. Maybe I am a wimp, I don't know...

The New Year is quickly bringing changes that are putting a smile on my face, even though I don't know exactly what they are, except that we will be a family again. Possible deployments don't bother me....they are "strictly" temporary. Being a trucker's wife was not "surely" temporary. It had the possibility of being long term. Being an Army wife is what I was made for. I don't think I could function well, as anything else. I was brought up Army, and once brought up that way, it is hard to change, or find fulfillment in any other situation.

I am just seeing this New Year as a bend in the road, a new direction, a positive outlook, etc. I am happy to say that I am happy.......extremely tired, extremely burned out with everything, grouchy and hormonal, occasionally...but happy. God has given me the joy I kept asking for. I tried so hard to have joy, through 2006 and 2007, but maybe it wasn't what God wanted, actually. Maybe He had something more in mind for me...something bigger....like serving my country by serving my soldier, which is something I loved deeply and cherished....(no love for the grand state of Idaho, ever measured up to being a helpmeet to my soldier). I can either feel like a failure for not measuring up in '06 and '07, or I can realize that maybe it wasn't what God wanted for us. Maybe He wanted me to fail...so we could save our marriage and family, which is much more important. I don't know, and I don't know why Korea had to be a part of this whole past year, except to show me what life as a regular Army wife is compared to life as a Lady Nightstalker is. Who knows...maybe it happened to make certain friends, or teach me a lesson I won't realize until later....maybe plain and simple, it is just so I know what a one year deployment is like, so I can help other women who maybe do not have a military background, be strong for their husband soldiers who are deployed. I do know, that eventually God will show me why!

Well, I hope all of you are embracing YOUR New Year with HOPE , because I know how it feels to not have that. It is hard, it is depressing and it is scary. If anyone needs prayer in this area, please let me know, because I have been there, for 2 years straight! :( I know how it feels! I am thankful for 2008...it has been a good year...it has been an experience I am ready to be done with but I have made dear friends who I could have never made it through, without! You know who you are! :) Blessings, and Renewed Hope.....Chelle

~Just Outrageous Snow Pictures~

THE KIDS AFTER OUR FIRST FEW INCHES ON THE
12TH OF DECEMBER!

THE BACK VIEW OF OUR SUBURBAN THIS
MORNING!

THIS IS FROM JUST ABOUT FLOOR-LEVEL, LOOKING OUT
AT ONE OF OUR DECKS!

ANOTHER DECK, AND JUST THE SEAT AND HANDLEBARS
OF ABBIE'S BIKE SHOWING THROUGH!

WHAT OUR HOUSE AND CAR LOOKED LIKE THIS MORNING,
PRETTY MUCH BURIED!

CASH WADING THROUGH IT ALL, LOOKING CUTE!

THIS IS A FUNNY PICTURE TO ME, FOR SOME REASON...
THIS IS OUR TRASH BARREL AT THE BARN, WHICH
I HAVE NEVER CLEANED THE SNOW OFF!

We have ended up with about 21-24 inches so far, and I think we will be having a repeat of last winter! It is only the middle of December, and we already have half what we got last year! I am so thankful for great neighbors to plow me out, otherwise it would be interesting to see how long it would take to get an appointment to have someone come out!!! I would definitely be quite snowed in! Luckily, I am a great winter driver, and still venture out to get groceries and things. I am just not happy when I get my car stuck! :) The kids finally were allowed to go outside since the temps rose above zero. Zane ventured as far as the barn, somehow.....i didn't ask him how he did it, as the snow is over half his height. When Abbie and Sheldon realized they were sinking to their heads, they decided to stay on the porch where I had shoveled! :) Keep warm everyone.......by the way, our home is much easier to keep warm as long as it is above zero, so hopefully, it can stay this way for a bit! :)

From My Live-Journal

This is from my live-journal....I figured I better post SOMETHING on my blog, because I haven't recently...so here you all go... my live-journal is more like a journal than my blog is...so have at it....Rachelle

One Thing After Another This Week

• Dec. 17th, 2008 at 10:09 PM

So, my week so far, in a synopsis................So, Sunday night I happen to wash my hair...........temps are approaching below zero.......didn't really want to wash my hair and go to bed with wet hair, but for some reason did it anyway. Good thing, because Monday morning I wake up to no running water and no idea where it is frozen! It is about 14 below zero, and I am struggling to keep wood on the fires, and find out where it is frozen. Made three trips to the pumphouse which is about 400 hundred feet from the house, through 12 inches of snow, to see if the pump was frozen. It was, so I upped the heater to 1500 watts. That defrosted the pump, but still no water.... So, I call my landlord later in the day and tell her. She was kind of mad because I didn't think to keep my faucets running all night, and then i was mad at myself because i know better.
I told my landlord that tuesday I had plans that i couldn't change and that I would be gone all day. The plumbers would have to come Wednesday.
So, Tuesday I am gone all day and of course the fires go out and it is a frigid 50 degrees in the house when I get home. I have to haul water from the pumphouse for washing dishes and brushing teeth. I got my fires going and tried to warm up the house, but finally went to bed . James tries to call me at 3 am, so I can restock the fire but i think he forgot, and i never wake up until I am cold and that means it's already too late.
This house is really drafty and i didn't relaize how bad until now. So, this morning i wake up to both fires out and it is (no joke) 44 degrees in the house, UPSTAIRS...which means it was colder downstairs.......(40 degrees down there). I couldn't believe it! So now that i am sick of Idaho and being cold, because I spent the past two winters in a frickin icebox camper, and then think i will be fine in this new house, with two wood stoves, and plenty of space, I am getting pretty mad. And starting to move slow, and lethargic like. I call my friend Anne to see if she is still coming over to bake Gingerbread cookies with the kids, which we planned two weeks ago, even though it is spitting snow, and we are under a winter storm watch, until tomorrow. She says yes........she lives on generator power so decided she could do without the running water, since she has been there and done that. Anyway, so today we baked the gingerbread cookies and decorated them..........melted snow for drinking water (the pumphouse water is a little dirty), and for hot tea. Ended up having to use my treasured water down in the basement for washing dishes because I was too tired to go to the pumphouse and we had 5 new inches of snow. James put this tank of water in the basement for me, for power outages, and such. I didn't want to use it, but i was just too tired and annoyed, so now i need to re-fill it.
My brother in law shows up un-expectedly with a whole truckload of extra firewood for me, and shows me in the basement where the water pipe comes into the house from outside. We had to hunt for it, because there were some things belonging to the owner of the house that were in front of the pipe. So he suggests putting a heater near it. I had the heater going in all different areas today, trying to find out where it was frozen, so I try there, and within an hour we have water. Fifteen min later the plumber shows up, and i already have it fixed. I had called his secretary but she couldn't let him know because his cell phone didn't have service where he was at the time...
So, anyway, the water is running right in the nick of time to be able to wash all the gingerbread cookie dishes and bring peace to our chaotic home.
By the time my friend got here, I had gotten the house up to 55 degrees....i decided to get the fires as hot and blazing as I could and try not to worry about saving wood. I have no idea how many pieces of wood I used today, but by the time Anne left we had it up to 65 degrees, and by nighttime it was up to 70, finally. it was like an angel in a pick-up truck that brought me extra wood! :) I have been so worried about not being able to make it through the winter! I am praying that this is our cold snap, below zero week that north Idaho always gets each winter, and that it will warm up, but we;ll see! ...........then I took the hottest bath i could stand and relaxed!
It is 14 out there tonight which is so much nicer then 17 below zero, which was the lowest it got between Sunday and Wed. I told the kids that NOW that we have water they can fingerpaint and paint some rocks they had collected this summer to paint during the winter. They had been bothering me and bothering me the last two days to do it, but i told them there was no way, without running water that we could do that.
So, now we are still under the weather watch and they are predicting 10-15 inches of snow, and we have gotten about 6 of it so far. For some reason, Idaho has been getting more snow than it has in recent years past and seems to be acting more like it did in the 70's and 80's with over 3 1/2 feet. Weird....I'm glad we are moving because I am sick of being cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, we'll see what the rest of the week holds!!!!!!!!!

Winter Wallowing

The Sparkie's cars...Zane's is the blue with gold stripes
number 64!

Zane with his 4th place trophy and participation
ribbon!

The little ones, wanting to be a part of it!

Well, winter isn't quite here, and actually noticeably late, compared to other years! The kids are so funny...we HAVE had snow three different mornings, and they never fail to say, "Winter is here, Mommy". Only to find, that winter has left! It hasn't been staying, like it normally does, and boy was I dead wrong about snow timing! I predicted the end of October...but now they are saying not til the middle of December!

It is pretty cold though, and Hope has the water trough heater in her water tank all the time. We burn about 12 pieces of wood a day and we have been wearing a lot of extra clothing! Just waiting on the snow to insulate everything, so it will be warmer. Snow really does make winter more bearable, in my opinion. When it piles up around the house it is noticeably warmer...plus, I detest mud, and snow puts an end to that problem.

Gosh, I have not blogged for a month...of course James was home for ten days during November and it took us awhile to catch up on Zane's schoolwork after James left. When I had planned the schoolyear, I didn't know James would be coming home, and if he did, I didn't know when it would be, so I scheduled accordingly. And I really want to be done with Kindergarten by the end of March, so we can welcome Daddy home, and move to Ft. Lewis in April. Otherwise, we will have to do school, through the summer of 2009. So, anyway, we had to catch up.

Ahh.....having my love home was a breath of fresh air and totally what I needed to re-fuel and realize that I can make it until April! Days are starting to fly by again. It ALWAYS takes me a full two weeks to recover from my husband leaving, before I get back in the groove of things. I didn't think just ten days would require that transition again, but it did. At first the days were just crawling by and now I feel like they are starting to fly by again, which is so nice!

Our visit with Daddy was so nice, but we were all sick the whole time...everyone of us got the flu and was throwing up. Seems like all I did was wash puked on Laundry. It sucked...but at least when I was sick, he was not and vice-versa, so we could help each other through it all. Unfortunately, I lost the treasured 3 pounds I had gained prior to him coming, and i weighed myself the other day and I am back down to 95. UGH! You guys do not know how frustrating this is! Stupid flu...you suck!

So, starting tomorrow I am back to cereal with whole milk everynight before bed and heavy cream in EVERY cup of coffee or tea that I drink, and I am going to up the butter and meat in my diet. I hate to eat a lot of meat, but I just need to. I already eat a lot of eggs and beans, but compared to the amount of protein in meat, I don't think it is enough! Any other ideas, you all? I think that my diet is so healthy that it makes it hard for me to gain weight. Plus, I run around all day long, too.

While James was here, we worked on an oval-shaped puzzle...he couldn't sleep at night because of the time change, so he would be down here working on it at night. We also did make it to AWANA...thankfully no one was sick that day....or Sunday, either! Because we were all miserable we did not get one picture of any of us! Oh, well, we had so much to do, and we all felt lousy so we forgot to do quite a few things, or at least remembered but didn't have the motivation to do them. It was a quiet time for us. We didn't have many people over and we didn't go many places, so it was nice, and relaxing!

Oh, I so bawled like a baby at the airport when James came home and we were in each others arms (with the kids, too) for several minutes before baggage started moving in. I cried a little bit while he was here, but totally had a complete mental breakdown, about a week after he left, which I so needed. Now, I can get on with my life. There was just so much bottled up emotion, frustration, heartache, etc, that Thanksgiving night, I collapsed in a heap on my bed and erupted! That is just how I am...I only wish it had happened while James was home, because I desperately needed comforted. I feel so much better now and ready to take on the world, now! Lady Nightstalkers Don't Quit, right???

Yes, and we are officially going back to Ft. Lewis, WA, so I can officially say I am a Lady Nightstalker again! YAY! We will be moving over there in the middle of April. I am starting to contact and keep in touch with relocation people I have found, and have found good websites to keep up on in case we find something on one of them to rent. There are SO MANY rental homes, it is unbelievable! Really! There are almost just as many to rent as buy, so we won't have any problem finding something. It's just that we really want to find a rental property with an acre or so, for Hope. I found one on Craigslist that would have been perfect, but wrong timing obviously...so if you wonder what you can pray for us...maybe just pray that something like that comes up again. My horse is 20 years old and I really want her with me! <3

Eventually, ...well as soon as we sell our KY home, we want to buy, so if i have to board Hope out until we buy, I will.

Ok, so basic family news....My neighbor, Lori (you can view her blog from my bloglists) and I started a weekly playgroup, where we meet at either hers or my house to let the kids play. It is really nice to have a more scheduled time for them to see each other. We have been doing an art project most weeks, and it makes art fun for me! :) We also have tea and something yummy and try to socialize as moms...but it is hard with 5 kids...sometimes more, if our friend May, comes with her 2 kids.

Lori's husband got a deer this fall and she so willingly shared several pounds of the meat with me! Yummy!

Zane and I cut down a Christmas tree while Abbie and Sheldon were napping on Friday, after Thanksgiving. Outside it didn't look so big, but we got it in and up and it was past the open beams in our living room, so we had to take it down and cut 2 feet off of it, so we could see the star! I don't think I have ever had such a gorgeous tree! :) I will take some pictures tomorrow and upload them on here!....plus whatever else is on my camera right now! :)

We decorated with every decoration we have and this cabin is beautiful! For two Christmas's our holiday things were packed away so, I was totally itching to get it all out and beautify this house, for the holidays. I have all most of my Christmas shopping done already too, which is a burden off my shoulders! I still have the kids to buy for, though. I can't tell what we are making for everyone for Christmas, so you all will have to wait to find out. We are on a hugely tight budget right now...we havn't been getting much COLA (if any at all) most months. That is cost of living allowance for Korea, and it is so sucking...plus I have medical bills as well, for my Ovarian Cyst, from September, that I am trying to slowly pay. Stupid tricare standard...NEVER again! I will be so happy when I am in a Prime zone, again!

Really though, we are completely lucky....there are tons of people in our area who cannot even pay any of their bills. A lot of mill workers were laid off a few months back and there are virtually no lobs available and people are really hurting...some are being forced to move to find work. It is very sad and I am thankful we can pay our bills, and we have a small amount budgeted for our groceries, and we are making it! And gas prices have been slashed less than half, so instead of costing 100.00 or more to fill up it has been 50.00, which helps.......and you can see the small town business folks in Priest River, walking with just a bit more spring in their step! :)

The kids are doing well. Sheldon is so full of life and getting into anything he can. He is talking a bit more, and just as his brother is, he is finding his love for Army Helicopters! :) He tries to say Copter an Blackhawk. Pretty cute!

Abbie, has been busy playing with her dollies and Barbies. She makes pretend food and just entertains herself. She cooks a lot with me, too.

Zane has been doing well in school. He is done with his Science book. He loved it, so we went quick through that and now he just learns about things pertaining to science through other books and through things that happen during the day, or something that interests him, like bugs. He is almost done with 2 of his other books, so we just have 3 books to finish this winter. Zane raced a car in AWANA on the 22nd of Nov and came in 4th in his division and got a trophy! You wanna talk about excited! He and James put it together and painted it, so it was extra special!

All the kids are in the Christmas play, at church, too. Zane is a Shepherd and Abbie and Sheldon are sheep! :) I'll have to get pics of that, too!

Well, not much else is going on! :) Or at least I cannot remember it! I stayed up way too late making a gift for my husband and now I am dragging and had to force myself to post tonight! I bought a calender and wrote a reason that I love my husband on each day...so 365 reasons! It was much easier than I thought it would be and the reasons were just flowing out on top of each other! I encourage you all to do it! It is such a wonderful reminder of all the many reasons you love someone, that you tend to forget in the day to day, grind! Naomi (my sister), gave me the idea...I don't know where she heard it! :) But I liked it and had to do it! :) I finished it in one night, because I was on such a roll, and the thing about it that was cool...is that I was totally honest....I didn't butter it up. These were 365 real life reasons why I love that man! So cool! :P

Well, goodnight you all and get ready to wallow, especially if you are in the west! :)

More Nature

HERE IS THE LATEST WILD ANIMAL TO WANDER THROUGH
OUR YARD...A BIG TALL BULL MOOSE...VERY CUTE
I MIGHT ADD! :)
(sorry I couldn't get better pictures)

Zane saw this moose this morning while I was getting ready for church. The moose was right by our Suburban and then walked down our driveway, and over to the camper. He then, decided to change course and ran over to the barn, jumped Hope's fence and her water trough, and thoroughly spooked her, as she had no idea he was coming, much less jumping her fence! He jumped over very gracefully which surprised us all! I didn't know they could jump so high!
By the way, I snapped these shots while in my underwear and a shirt! :) I love all the wild-life we have seen thus far! It really does delight the kids and I to see such magnificent animals just wandering around! :)

Chilly Mornings and Nature

THE FROZEN BEAR PRINTS ON THE PORCH!

A VERY COLD MORNING, HERE IN IDAHO

Hello Everyone,

The mornings are getting quite chilly these days and it will not be long before the snow comes! The other morning I found frozen bear tracks on my front porch where a bear had gotten into the crate of old apples I had there. It had eaten the whole box. It is always such a delight when I see God's creatures, or even just the evidence of them. He created each one distinctly, just like you and I, and God's Word says that "Everything that He had made was very good". I wish I had gotten to actually see this bear. They, and tigers are one of my favorite wild animals, so it would have been such a delight!

The same day that we got pictures of the bear prints, we also saw a beautiful bird on the banister. We love birds, and this one happened to show herself just when we were eating lunch, right outside our big kitchen window. I am obsessed with Birds, too. I don't know a lot about them, but whenever we do see a beautiful one, we look it up. This one was a female Northern Flicker. They are from the woodpecker family. Of course, we didn't get a picture of her, because we didn't have time, but it at times like those, that I love being alive! :) She was gorgeous, and very plump...ready for winter. It has been awhile since I have seen a bird so plumb, and even the Blue Jays (which always stay the winter here), are very fat, too. I just have a feeling we will have a cold winter. Probably not as much snow as last year, but colder. Hopefully, I have enough fire wood! Anyway, I heard from a friend, that he had heard that it would be a record breaking cold year (yikes, if it's true), but didn't hear how much snow was predicted. I always get a Farmers Almanac, as they are almost always accurate. I need to grab one for this year, so I will be a bit more prepared for things.

James is coming home on leave on November 10th through the 20th. We are so very excited to see him! I have so missed my love! And the kids are anxious to just see their Daddy after all this time. It will have been 8 months since he left, when he gets here. He will be back for good in April, which by the time he leaves on the 20th, we will have about 4 months, 18 days, to get through and we will never have to worry about a Korea hardship tour again!

I bought a puzzle for James and I to do when he gets home. We love to snuggle close together and put puzzles together and talk, after the kids have gone to bed...a little tradition we started last year, I guess. I'm sure James will want to take each child on separate little icecream or milkshake trips to town (Abbie loves to have a little date with her Daddy) and I'm sure James and I will do something special, as well, though we haven't figured out what, yet! :) Zane has to whittle a little race car for the AWANA Grand Prix car race coming up. So, they will probably go together to buy the paint and finish, and what ever else they want to get for the car. I'm not sure what he and Sheldon could do yet. Maybe just icecream. He hardly even knows his Daddy but I think he's old enough to understand what it means, to go with his Daddy and do something special. We'll see! :)

I am loving being an AWANA leader! It has been so fulfilling! I thought I would be exhausted but it is actually very energizing! :) I think the kids on my team are really starting to like me, too. James will get to go with all of us to AWANA and see what it's all about! Zane is so excited! :)

The dance classes for Zane didn't go well, and he definitely didn't like it! I didn't mind....I don't want to force him to do something that he doesn't want to do and doesn't like.

Well, I just have a few little piddly things on my to do list for winter. I am excited that I will be able to relax and try to enjoy winter. It is my most hated season, but it will be nice to just hunker down and get cozy! One thing I really need to do, is burn some pictures of Abbie onto a CD so I can get her Birth to 1 year, scrapbook done. Maybe I can get Sheldon's done, as well, before James gets home in the spring. I have a table now, just for scrapbooking that is very child proof. You have to sit on a stool to reach it, so Sheldon can't get up there *yet*. Abbie and I did a page the other day and I really liked the table, and how I set it up!

Well, that's all for now! I hope you are all doing well! Blessings!

Autumn Happenings

THE KIDS AND I, IN DONNELLY, IDAHO

MY IN-LAWS JIM AND SHERRI AND US AMIDST

THE BEAUTIFUL FALL COLORS!

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Fall is definitely here, for everyone. I don't know about you but I was not looking forward to it, at all. I hate cold weather but I do love the feeling of coziness that is creeping in. I sort of look forward to our yearly snow hibernation! We read tons of books, especially at night, make many trips to the library, go to bed early, and eat lots of richer foods. It would be REALLY nice if I had someone to keep me warm in my bed, at night, but 'til then I will have to settle for my Long Johns.

It froze last night and Hope had a somewhat thin layer of ice on her water trough. She is hanging around the barn area and not grazing much. She is acting paranoid, which she does when the weather changes, and also when we will get snow. I can usually tell by her behavior when a big snow storm is coming. For now, I think it is just the freezing nights that are making her anxious, and hopefully, I do not need to worry about snow. I do think we will have it in late October, or early November, though. We'll see I guess.

I am an AWANA leader now, for the little Sparks (Kindergarten-2nd grade). I am really enjoying it, and will be taking my friend Leeah's, kids to AWANA, since I can pick them up on my way. Conner is 5 and is friends with Zane. Tori is 8 or 9. Abbie is doing really well in Cubbies, and got her Hopper Patch last week. She is opening up to her leader and saying verses without much prompting. She is definitely opening up socially, as well. I use AWANA as part of our daily homeschooling. After we are done with our regular devotional time (Bible reading, prayer, singing, and a children's Bible story) we work on our verses, for the week and practice saying them to each other. I want to *possibly* be a certified AWANA Sparks leader, so I have certain verses I am trying to memorize,as well, for my certification. I admit, I am not as good as my own children at Bible verse memorization, and that has been a VERY weak point in my walk with God, my entire life. I especially forget references, so maybe AWANA will be a good thing for me. I desire SO much that God's Word be hidden in my heart and ingrained so deeply into my head that I can draw from it when needed. Zane loves the games at AWANA, and is very competitive, but a good sportsman, too. Some of the games he doesn't know very well yet (one in particular), so hopefully he can master that and get his team some points! :)

My awesome friend, Anne, called tonight to ask if Zane could be in her dance class. I guess they were short one boy, and Anne was having to dance with a little girl, who had no partner. Of course I jumped at it, so Wednesdays Zane will start learning .....yes, this is hilarious....Ballroom Dancing. They are starting the Waltz on Wed. I love dancing and Ballet, so I am looking forward to just watching it. Plus, what could be cuter than K-3rd graders doing ballroom dancing!? Zane could do any other sport, and I know he could do them well, but we are waiting until we get stationed to put him in Baseball or something else. For now, I think it's cool that he will learn to dance and possibly take an interest in it. I will get pictures of this, because I know it will be cute!

I have been getting sick of recipes calling for bread crumbs and then having to grate a piece of bread for it. I decided to save all my heels from store-bought bread. I do not like the heels from store bread and always throw them out. I do love the heels off my home-made bread, especially hot out of the oven, though. Anyway, for a few months I have been keeping a bread bag in my freezer and throwing all the heels in there, and some other pieces of home-made bread that got dried out. Yesterday, I had a whole bag full of bread and took it out of the freezer to thaw. When it was done, I tore them all into small pieces and ran them through a mini food chopper. It made wonderful bread crumbs, and now I will always have them on hand, and I can season them however I want. It worked really well, and will save time in dinner prep!

Our trip to Donnelly, Idaho went well. This is near McCall (two hours north of Boise) for those of you who don't know. My brother in law was supposed to get married but his fiance' decided to wait/bail out on him for the time being. So, he was left with a reserved, non-refundable beautiful town house on Tamarack resort. My in-laws had non-refundable plane tickets. So we all met at the honeymoon destination for a family reunion instead of honeymoon. It was interesting and Clayton did his best to not be depressed, I think. We went to the Hot Springs in Golden Fork or someplace, which I did not get pictures of. It was totally awesome and I will definitely go again, sometime. There were 6 pools all inlaid with stone. The water poured in from a spring and down over huge rocks. Beautiful! One pool was 108 degrees, and the rest of the pools cooler as they went down. There are all kinds of minerals in the water and it made our skin feel so great....it was the first time that I have ever felt my skin, truly moisturized! AWESOME! The kids loved it. I would love to go with my husband (alone) sometime. :)

My in-laws enjoyed seeing the kids and we all relaxed as best we could. My drive to and from was 6 hours and was very uneventful, which I was thankful and my Suburban did very well. It was our first long trip with it. We bought it in February, and had never taken it on a trip.

Zane is doing ok in Homeschooling. We have come to a sort of math book block right now. We had to stop totally in the book and work on some concepts that he was not getting. He can count to 100 perfectly fine, with a little help on the 30, 40, 50....etc. But when I ask him to show me a certain number or ask him what a certain number is, he cannot tell me. I repeatedly have to keep telling him. The number 20 is especially hard for him. I ask him what number it is, and then tell him....ask him two minutes later and he doesn't know again. Frustrating! And we cannot continue in the book until he knows them. So, who knows how long that will take. I am using flashcards, an Abacus, a hundreds chart, dot cards, etc. I know he will get it, eventually. I have decided to just work on something different, and drop it, because I am getting frustrated, and he is getting burned out. I will try again in a few weeks, and maybe his brain will be ready for it then. We are a little ahead of schedule in his math book, so it won't hurt to stop, but only for two weeks at the most, otherwise, we will be behind. Anyway, all his other subjects are wonderful. His handwriting is gorgeous, and I can almost say "perfect"! :) He does really well in that.

My Bible study is going well. I have learned a lot and it has actually been very painful at times. Faith is never painless! ....and Beth Moore is just so right! She said it might not be fun! It hasn't been but I am hopeful that it will be well worth it!

I am desperately missing my husband right now. We have talked about him coming home for R&R next month, but haven't made a decision yet. It might be worse for our finances than it would be worth, in the long run. I would so love to have him home, though. I would pay a thousand dollars to just see him and hold him for one day, I think! I am almost at the point that I cannot stand it, and I cannot sleep some nights. I think I will get over it, if we decide that he shouldn't come home. We'll see. Today is actually our 6 month point, and we have exactly 6 months left to go, until he is home and we can get on with our lives!... Won't that be nice, after 3 years of hell?

I can't think of much else that is going on, recently, so this will be it, for now! :) Get nice and cozy you guys....winter is coming, especially for us northern folks! Blessings!