In Memory!

I haven't posted about this yet because it has been a very hard for me, emotionally. In September My friend's husband was killed in Afghanistan. He had only been deployed there for two weeks when his HUMV was hit. He and the driver were killed instantly. My husband has been in the army almost 10 years and been deployed three times, but no one that I knew personally has died, let alone one of my friend's husband. I cried a lot for the first couple of weeks. I could easily imagine how my friend, Janelle, must be feeling. What it would be like to have my husband killed. She has four children, too, ages 18 months to 7 years old. Janelle has been so strong through it all and has such strong faith. I really enjoyed getting to know her better and becoming better friends. We got together quite often after and I am sad that she just moved back to Texas to be close to family (which I completely understand as I would do the same). I will miss her. I wanted to do something to help out that would make it a little easier on her kids so I made them Daddy pillowcases and blankets. They really liked them and it made me feel so good to give them to them.

R&R!

We had so much fun having Gil home for two weeks. We didn't do much traveling, we just hung out at home for the most part and it was wonderful. The kids were so happy. The first couple of days Daddy had to do everything. Shirley even said, "Daddy wipe my bottom" and wouldn't let me wipe when he used the bathroom. It was so cute and funny.

I was able to volunteer more than normal and Gil went to have luch with them a few times and checked them out early on his second to last day. Gil and I even volunteered together once.

After Thanksgiving we had fun decorating for Christmas together.





The only part of R&R that I did not like was getting Strep Throat. I HATE Step Throat. When I get it I get it bad and get so sick. This time I even got a really high fever that left me so cold and my body ached so bad. It was so nice that Mike was home to take care of me and the kids. He did a wonderful job and of taking care of them. They had lots of fun. I must admit that I have a wonderful husband. It was sure hard to say good bye to him. The kids are handling it great, though. I hear a lot of , "I miss Daddy". especially from Shirley. I really looking forward to him being home for good (at least a while-you never know with the military).

Snow!

Monday and Tuesday of last week the boys had no school due to snow. Sunday it began snowing and continued till Monday. It wasn't a lot of snow but enough to get school cancelled. If there is any ice on the roads or school parking lots, school gets canceled. We had a fun two days with the boys home. Rilla, Jem, and Shirley bundled up and played in the snow but Walter had no desire to go out in the cold (a boy after my own heart). I hate cold weather so I stayed inside where it was nice and warm.

Family Pictures!

We get family pictures every year. We were able to get them taken while Gil was home on R&R.

Thanksgiving!

Gil came home for R&R (two weeks of leave) right before Thanksgiving. It was so nice to see him. He had been in Afghanistan for almost 9 months. The kids were so excited and we had so much fun while he was home. We hosted Thanksgiving. Three of my friends (who's husbands are also deployed) and their kids joined us. We had 5 adults and 14 kids, 9 years old and younger. It was a great Thanksgiving. It is always nice to share the cooking. The food was really good and we had fun playing games as well. I am very grateful for such a great Thanksgiving.

Class Hamster!

Walter has a class hamster and it was our turn to bring it home for the weekend in The middle of November. The kids loved Ramona. She was very friendly and loved going all over the house in her ball. She is eating her treat in the picture.

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. The week before Halloween we went to a friends Halloween party. I brought my camera but the memory card wasn't in it so I took some pictures when we got home. Walter and Jem were punk rockers, Rilla was a fairy princess, and Shirley was Tigger.





The Saturday before Halloween we had a ward Halloween party and trunk or treat. The kids had a great time. It is always fun to get together with lots of people. Shirley was a punk rocker like walter and Jem and Annie was a Ballerina.