School pictures 2009

England has a couple of traditions that I really like. I LOVE that my kids go to school in uniforms. It really saves on the fights in the mornings and I like that all kids, no matter their economic status have the same clothes. I also like that they take sibling pics at school. I know that both boys are really chees-ing it up in these pics, but don't we all have a school pic like this in our albums?!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in England. Why would they celebrate the pilgrims leaving?! I am sure they have some sort of "celebrate the harvest" holiday, but not that I have noticed. As soon as the Halloween decorations are down, Christmas goes up. I love Christmas, but I am grateful for Thanksgiving. I think we all need a holiday to help us to stop and really think about what we are thankful for. I also like, that for the most part, Thanksgiving is a giftless, dedicated to food (and Marc would add football), family and friends get together. I like that. It is hard to over commercialize Thanksgiving.
Marc and I were sitting on the couch last night and I asked him what he was thankful for this year. He said he was thankful to be home for thanksgiving (he missed two in a row in Iraq). I told him that is what he said last year, he said it is still top on his list.
I sat and thought for a minute and I said that I was thankful for Marc. Not because he is such a great husband and father, which he is. I am thankful for Marc because I am lucky to have a daily reminder that there really are people in the world who are willing to risk EVERYTHING for freedom. He will forever be changed by what he lived and saw in Iraq. I may never know just what because he still cannot talk about some of it, but I can see in his eyes the change. He knows what is worth fighting for and what is not anymore.
So, this year, as I go over to his boss' house for turkey and all the fixin's, I will sit with just a few of the soldiers that have allowed me my life of freedom. It really is the soldier that allows us freedom of religion and freedom of speech. This year, in a selfish world, I am thankful for all people who put their own needs behind the greater good...wasn't that what the pilgrims left for in the first place?!

Vacation PT2

Here is the second set of pictures. There are none of our London trip. Marc and I are both BAD at remembering to take photos.

Vacation PT1

My parents were here for two weeks. I have to say, this is probably the best vacation we have ever had with my parents. My mom and I didn't have one fight. We went to the ocean and did a couple of carnival rides on the boardwalk. Giovanni had about three birthday parties by the end. My dad was bound and determined to build a lego plane from pieces scattered in five different bins. My mom found some long lost, and long dead, ancestors and got to visit their graves. Marc and I got a two day, kid free, vacation to London. It was an all around great trip. YAY!!

PROJECTS

Leave it to my mom to actually get pics of some of my projects. I painted two old dressers for the boys. I spray painted the handles bright red. I had to rearrange their whole room to get the dressers to fit. Now, I think I might steal them for the nursery and think of something else for the boys. The last pic is of my latest project. Originally it was for the boys too, but I think I will make it Marc's dresser. We could all use more storage here. England has a closet shortage.

this little piggy...

So, Marc is home. YEAH! I have stopped spotting. YEAH! My parents come in less than three weeks. YEAH! And, Marc has (probably) SWINE FLU?! YUCK! I am just trying to decide if I feel pregnant, or sick. One may never know. I have tried to think all day about what we should name this soap opera that is our life. Any suggestions?!

the learning curve of life

So, to give you an update, all is going well. My hormones are "going up at the appropriate level" and the bleeding has stopped. I hesitate to post this for fear that the Karma police will step in and take something good away. Why is is that we think that there is some giant scale in life that has to be balanced?! We think that if we get a really big blessing, that there must be some big trial or bad thing waiting. For right now, I am just enjoying the good that seems to be coming. Marc should be home on Monday night. They tried to extend him AGAIN another three weeks, but the silver lining is that the registration on his car plates expires. He cannot stay in Germany with expired plates. I will never be more happy to pay that fee than I will this week.
I have been pondering alot about life lately. Too much time on my hands while I "took it easy." I am surprised at how much of life we miss living because we are busy being angry, offended, worried that we offended someone, or just worried that if we start to enjoy life, we will be hit with real trials. I remember on my mission, when I had only about a month left. I told my mission president that it was too bad that I was done, because I was finally starting to figure it out. He said that that is how life is. I have come to understand some of that. I wish that the lessons we learned from life could be learned before we need them. The very trial that teaches us patience is the trial that could have gone better if we were already patient. Maybe someday, the learning curve of life will make more sense to us. For now, we just need to pray and hope that we can at least pass the course.