The GIFT ...... a long post but WORTH the read

Isaiah 41:17

"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not a forsake them. "

As parents we spend a lot of time teaching our children correct principles but inevitably, there comes a point as they enter adolescence that you hope they will have experiences with others that reinforce those principles and make a difference in their life. You never know who that person will be.

Mrs. S. & Daria

When I first met Mrs. S. Daria's pre-AP language arts teacher during parent teacher orientation I wasn't sure what to think. This woman was spicy, direct, and passionate, which I liked. Passionate is probably an understatement. I sat in orientation with my head swimming hearing words like - ultimate gifts, impoverished people, gangs, violence, gardens, ministry, and callings. I didn't really hear anything related to language arts, yet, it sounded so awesome and over the top all at once. Was this even real or should I be worried? Parents whose older kids had Mrs. S. in previous years repeatedly said how her class changed their child's life. Quite frankly at first it scared the dickens out of me... but I knew this would be something good for Daria.

Let me tell you about Mrs. S. She had a rough childhood, lived through the darkest aspects of humanity and in her own words, "through the grace of God was given the chance to make it through it and has dedicated herself to making a difference." She feels that this is her ministry, to make a difference through teaching her students. I would come to find that ultimately she is 100% genuinely passionate about each individual student, she's been known during difficult situations to stand outside her room and say a prayer for a student who is struggling, or stand down the toughest parent who is not willing to teach his child responsibility. This woman really should have been on the CNN heroes of the year. While she makes no bones about the fact that she is Christian and that what she does is because of Jesus Christ, her ministry is to help her kids understand that there are those out there with greater needs and that they can do something about it not to glorify themselves but to glorify God. Thus every book this year that they will read will focus on people who face challenges such as poverty, gangs, bullying and violence (all age appropriate of course).

Daria & her cousin work at clearing underneath the Pecan trees.

Mrs. S. tackles it by incorporating the book "The Ultimate Gift" into her curriculum, with the support of the school Principal. There are 12 gifts from the book that the students will do/learn. The first was the gift of work ... 6 hours of back breaking labor ... for free, and it can't be something they normally do as their regular chores at home.

the dreaded cattle trailer

Daria goes to work

That's when Daria spent 3 hours power washing the cow pooh off of her grandpa's cattle trailer, clearing leaves and branches underneath the Pecan trees and spent a day loading up wood. It was not a pretty sight. There were tears and tantrums and to say Daria learned a lesson about hard work and service would be an understatement.

Load her up!

The second gift which is what this post is really about was the gift of money. Each student was given a 5 dollar bill and they were required to make that 5 dollars grow. How much it grew and how they made it grow was up to them. Daria chose to cook dinners, clean, or organize, for our neighbors for a fee.

Mrs. S. looks on as her students listen to the Living Water presentation.

On Tuesday of this week parents were invited to the school to celebrate the "Gift of Money" with Mrs. S.'s three classes. How much money do you think sixty 11 and 12 year old students in the "it's all about me stage" earned? Take a wild guess .... a whopping $11,507.00! they cleaned, baked, road bikes for pledges, made jewelry, raked lawns and the list goes on.

The students chose two organizations to send the money to. The first being "Living Water International" http://www.water.cc a Christian based ministry that over the past 20 years has completed over 9,000 water projects in 26 countries. Daria's 6th grade class earned enough money to have one well drilled and built in Ethiopia by the end of 2011. The second organization was AIM, another Christian ministry which provides sports equipment and sports camps to impoverished children in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. These kids are amazing.

Daria helps carry water that equals the weight a woman will carry walking up to 7 miles a day to get dirty water to drink.

As I stood there in the school library already amazed at the amount of money that was earned I realized that maybe we have already received the "ultimate gift". A teacher who is making a difference in Daria's life. But Daria isn't the only one who's received a gift. This Tuesday during the celebration I received a gift. I experienced something real, something rare and something worthwhile and yes something that has to do with God and in a very very cool way.... at school. Something that would probably spark debate, but if debated, miss the pure awesomeness of the magnitude of the situation.

There are politics and opinions that we swim in the murky disagreement of on a daily basis and in so doing often miss poignant real moments that transcend beyond the political correctness of our time .... the poignant moments that just for a second allows us to enjoy how simple things really can be, that every good thing doesn't have to be complicated and up for debate. Read on.

One student spoke about her experience earning money and expressed how when she became discouraged she prayed to the Lord for help. (this girl raised $2000.00 on her own). You don't usually hear that in school. The representative for Living Water spoke about the dire need for water and clean water in other countries. She explained how they are a "water ministry" providing water for life and also the living water of the gospel of Jesus Christ, serving those who are thirsty. Just for a moment I held my breath when I heard her say that and anxiously looked around the room for the politically correct police to burst through the doors. You know the ones who have made it so just joining a team at the YMCA guarantees you a trophy without winning because heaven forbid someone get their feelings hurt if they lose and don't get a trophy. Or the ones who took competition out of track and field day for the same reason. Or footballs off the recess playground because someone might get hurt. Or not allowing shirts with a cross or American flag on it because it might offend someone. Now don't get me wrong, I understand the constitutional issues of separation of church and state, but just for the record, I'm Christian and American. I don't see any reason to be ashamed of either and I don't see how any of that should offend someone. No matter what religion or country you live in, you should be proud of it. I'm lucky to be in a community surrounded by other religions, Sikh's, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish etc. and it doesn't offend me to see a turban or kara or any other religious wear. I think our society has become ultra sensitive. We want to celebrate our individualism but if we do we risk offending someone else. If it were up to the media and the PC police, they wouldn't allow that name of Christ to be mentioned in a school. In fact I'm almost positive that if the media got wind of what transpired in the school library on Tuesday they would make a bigger deal about the Christian aspect of this experience and totally ignore the fact that 60 kids just saved a community of people by providing clean water.

Examples of water that impoverished countries often drink from. Daria held up the Cyclosporiasis sample.

The representative for A.I.M. reminded the kids not to believe the myth that teenagers are lazy and can't make a difference. Here was proof. Three classes out of 32 made a huge difference. He reminded them that they were born to change the world. He used a basketball to remind them that they were created in the image of God, he fills you with the air, you were made to bounce, you were made to make a difference.

The assistant principle Mr. M. (who I swear only looks about 18) spoke about a mission trip he went on to Uganda during the summer and reminded the students to "let their light shine", that even the smallest, tiniest light can overpower darkness.

There was not a dry eye in the crowd. I almost could not believe I was standing in a school. I felt grateful, I felt empowered, and I felt uplifted, and for the first time this season I felt the true Christmas spirit. But most of all, it felt so good to hear people be able to express their beliefs without some political correctness hanging over our heads. It was simple, it was real. No matter what the debate, no matter what the religion, these kids chose these two Christian organizations, and that is ok. It doesn't mean that other non-Christian organizations aren't as important or don't do as great of service. Just for the record, in a school filled with students of various relgions, she has never received a complaint.

Thank you Mrs. S. for making a difference, for shining your light and sharing the "Living Water".

Who Knew ?

Have you ever played the game "Whoonu?" you know the one where you ask questions and find out all sorts of things about the person you are playing with.

As a parent it seems that we are frequently in the real life game of "Whoonu" as our children grow, change and become more of their own individual.

For instance, Daria has never been a team oriented sports person and has never been interested much in athletics. As a young girl she enjoyed dance until her interest turned almost totally toward piano. No need to be physical there. You will almost never find her near a ball unless it's 4-square or a short game of around the world with the basketball. As a parent there were times when I wondered if this was ok as I watched other little boys and girls go off to play t-ball, soft ball, or soccer. Isn't that what all kids do? Of course I know they don't but when your children are little you always wonder what they will end up liking or wanting to do.

This past year I've started to see where Daria's interests and strengths are when it comes to sports or athletics and sometimes it surprises me but always it impresses me. For the record, Daria is more athletic then I thought she was, just in a different way. She was extremely natural and good at Tae Kwon Do, mastered the rip stick within moments, and excels as a swimmer. In fact she is a fast quiet swimmer.

Lately she ventured into three other sports that I never would have guessed her for. The first was jogging around the block with me. I was impressed. Second, after volunteering at Cub Scout Day camp she was able to shoot BB guns and Archery. She was good at both but was very natural at archery and she liked it a lot. So much so that she said she might be interested in getting a bow. During the Boy Scouts 100th anniversary celebration, Daria made sure she had a chance to shoot some arrows. Lastly, on a whim, she had the opportunity to go rock climbing with her grandpa during our summer vacation. Grandpa (my dad) is an experienced rock climber and has taught others including children before. My gut response is that rock climbing would be in Daria's category of "FEAR." However, surprisingly she trusted Grandpa and amazingly did quite well considering it was her first time climbing and using tennis shoes instead of climbing shoes.

Who knows where these interests will take her or which ones she will continue to do. During the summer she conquered a 20 mile bike ride from 9100 ft to 9700 ft and some of it in freezing rain. Maybe bicycling will be on her list but as for now she did say she would like to take dance again.....

This was the "beginner" rock my dad wanted to take the kids on. Ok, ok, so it's not a beginner rock. The beginner rock already had people on it and my dad felt the kids would still do fine on this one so they went for it. Talk about trial by fire!

Grandpa belaying Daria

I love my camera and lens. Oh wait, this isn't about my lens, uhm great shot Daria, straight up!

Did I say I love my camera lens? I was down on the ground. Daria was not. Thank you 70-200!

When I looked up at her I wondered what her other grandparents would think of their granddaughter doing this .... I think they would think it was cool.

Coming down

Monday, July 26, 2010

I ran for the first time today. I've never considered myself a runner. I've never even considered running. In fact for most of my life I've thought that running was about the most ridiculous form of enjoyment or exercise. I mean, who in their right mind would want to run and run and run?

Funny how we change. Maybe it's my age. I don't know. I do know that my dad started running in his 30's, and many of my friends began to be interested in their 30's. Of course, I'm only in my 20's (LOL) So it is with me, a handful of years ago I had shallow thoughts of thinking that, well, running just might be sort of fun. Hhmmmm. I put that thought off for awhile. Until just a few months ago. Some friends invited me to participate in the summer SEALs competition. Uh, did I say competition? yeah right. I'm still not sure if I am capable of that. Crunches, I can do, pull ups, well I might be able to do that, push-ups no problem, running, well I'm willing to try, swimming, hhmmm, that one will need a lot of work. Either way if I participate or not, I'll get conditioned and will for sure participate next year.

Good friend Melanie meets me at the track. It's 7:30am and over cast, YES! for a first day running, I'm glad it's not sunny. Even though I exercise 5 days a week, that doesn't make me a good runner. For the record, I exercise in a nice air conditioned room with a fan. Further more I've never been much of a team sports athlete (although I learned to overcome my fear of getting hit by balls a few years ago and played volleyball with the ladies at church. It was actually fun) and the joke in our home is that I probably couldn't even run to the mailbox.

Well, I'm here to say, I ran about 3/4 of a mile this morning. At first I would run and just walk one of the turns, later I walked both turns, but for the most part I ran, and I surprised myself. Who would have ever thought? I felt good and I'm ready to try again.

Update September 26, 2010

Ok, yes this post is extremely overdue. I thought I might give an update on my running. I've learned as all of my friend's have told me that if you run, get good shoes and comfortable clothes. I agree, it works. The picture on this page is of my wild running shoes. Buying those was a story in itself. Long story short, I LOVE my running shoes ... they were worth the cost.

I never thought I would look forward to running .... but I do. I can do a consistent mile without stopping and will continue to get past the beginner stage and push to go further.

Sometimes when I run I feel like I'm cruising, sometimes my legs can go further but my lungs can't and sometimes my lungs can go further but my legs can't.

I didn't participate in the summer SEALs but my goal is to participate next year. Melanie and Nicole finished with super great times. I came on board too late in the prep which would have set myself up for a less than stellar result. I figured if I'm going to do it I'm going to be prepared. I know what is required now and at least I've got most of it down. Now I just need to lower my running time and work on the swimming .... until next year GO SEALs!

I still can't believe I enjoy running.

I've never met a veteran I didn't like, and I've never met a veteran whose story wasn't amazing. Personal pages of living history. Our history. Every human life is an important story that needs to be told, and everyone is a hero to someone. However, my passion, and photography focuses primarily on the military, veterans, and WWII historical preservation.. the stories, faces and heroes of the "greatest generation."

One such story is that of Jake McNiece, a name that may sound unfamiliar to most of you, but not to the halls of history and the great Second World War.
I had the great honor of meeting Jake this week when Ken, the kids, and I visited Martha and Jake in their home for about an hour, which in my mind was absolutely too short. I am forever grateful for their willingness to let complete strangers into their home as they greeted us at the door with hugs and handshakes.

So who is Jake and what did he do that was so important? According to Jake he did the same thing every other soldier did. Fought a war. Like many, Jake was just a young man from a small town, lived through the depression and dust bowl, and in his own words "joined the military only to help fight the war, and do his part and put an end to it."

But something interesting happened. Jake made history, in some unimaginable and legendary ways. Let me backtrack a bit. Jake McNiece was a paratrooper in the 506th, 101st Airborne division. He is the founder of the legendary "Filthy Thirteen". The picture above shows Jake (on the right) the day before they made their jump into Normandy on D-Day. That picture immortalized Jake and his unit and spawned inacurate stories from "a band of dirty Indians", "convicts", and even as far as a movie being made titled "Dirty Dozen." For the record, none of that information is correct. The only one who was close to Indian was Jake who has Indian ancestry, and none were convicts. The movie was highly inaccurate mostly because Jake refused to endorse the movie as he didn't want to earn blood money on his dead comrades. Hollywood in its usual manner created an outlandish war story sprinkled with a few facts.

I'll be honest, while reading Jakes book on the Filthy Thirteen, I initially wasn't sold on Jake as a person. He was as rough and tough as they come and unfortunately as many young men do, behaved and did things that any mother would not want her son doing. Yet as I turned the pages into Jake's life and experiences in WWII, I came to find that beneath his wild ways, Jake possessed those great qualities and characteristics typical of that generation, and ultimately Jake was a natural born leader. By the end of the book I found that Jake McNiece was a great man.

A paratrooper (demolition/saboteur) had one of the most dangerous jobs in the Army, in fact so dangerous that initially it was all voluntary. The Army estimated that the average life span of a paratrooper was one and a half jumps, or 50% casualties. That's because for the most part when they were jumping out of those planes, they were being shot at from the ground. Sounds a bit like a demented form of target practice to me. Jake said their unit actually experienced up to 70% casualties. When he was in the Pathfinders they had a casualty rate of 80%. The Army would put ten men in a "stick" as Jake liked to call it, because they figured they would lose 8 of the men which would leave 2 to do the job efficiently. On his first jump over Normandy for D-day, the pilot in his friend Jack's plane had already been shot in the head and killed. Not a great way to start your mission. If you made the jump then you had to stay alive long enough to fight the enemy face to face, all while trying to blow up enemy bridges or targets with only the explosives that you brought along with you.

Without recounting the whole book, Jake made an unheard of 4 combat jumps in 4 major campaigns. During his Army career he was constantly in trouble, so much so that regardless of the fact that he was in charge of men on the ground and technically an acting Sergeant, was pivotal in these campaigns, and earned numerous awards and medals, never made it past Buck Private, something he is actually very proud of. (To understand that you have to understand that Jake believed that a man should earn respect and never joined the Army to salute some higher up, stand in formation or all those intricacies of Army life, he joined to get the job done. The Army was in constant turmoil with Jake but in all reality knew they could not let him go. There wasn't a General out there that could get rid of Jake. In fact, when he volunteered for the Pathfinders he said (with a laugh) "it was about the only place the Army could kill you legally if they had no other way to do it."

We talked candidly and one learns quickly that Jake honors and reveres all those who fought and died in the war. He said plainly "War is hell, there were over 400 thousand who lost their lives and over 80 thousand still missing... when I visit the VA and walk the halls and see all the young vets from Iraq and Afghanistan missing limbs, it's hell, most of the public doesn't see that."

I wondered as I often do, how so many WWII veterans, who saw and experienced such horrible things, were able within reason to live productive successful lives, yet we see soaring numbers of PTSD cases affecting our troops today. Jake agreed and didn't hesitate to answer when he said "I believe that the Great Depression and Dust Bowl was ultimately a gift from God that prepared us and our nation to fight the war that we would be faced with. We learned some hard lessons. The current generation has not lived through extreme rough times which prepare you to face challenges." Martha also reminded us that the whole nation participated whether at home or abroad. Jake makes no excuses though and admits that he still has nightmares, but then again he said that every combat veteran has nightmares, but it doesn't deter him from enjoying life.

In the end Jake McNiece really isn’t about what he did, but stands as a witness of the 1000’s of stories that have gone untold from the war. When I asked Jake to sign my copy of his book, he asked if I had anyone in my family who has served. I explained that my grandfather served in WWII and my dad served in the 60’s. With that, Jake’s signature in the book was simple “Thank you for the service of your family.” That in itself lands Jake in my book of “ultimately cool hero.”

But let me clear something up. Here was a man who despite his wild ways as a young man (he gave that all up shortly after the war) led a successful, happy productive life, is quite soft spoken yet still has that witty blunt sense of humor that I believe helped him face insurmountable odds during the war and who at the young age of 91 devotes much of his time traveling to speak to groups about the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne.

In Jake's book he jokingly says that he survived because he was a trouble maker and the Lord didn't want him causing trouble in Heaven or Hell. As we wrapped up our conversation Martha mentioned that Jake has been living on borrowed time since 1945. I turned to Jake and said "well, maybe the Lord still can't figure out where to put you!" which made all of us laugh.

Jake, who during the war didn’t adhere to really anything, later embraced Christianity, stood as we were about to leave, asked for a word of prayer. There standing in his small simple living room, clasping hands together almost as a family with his wife Martha, Jake offered up one of the most simple humble but powerful prayers I have heard, asking for a blessing on us as we traveled and thanking the Lord Jesus Christ for all that we had. His hands still feel strong.

To end let me tell a bit about the photograph. The Filthy Thirteen photograph above shows Jake on the right, putting paint on one of the men's faces. I think his name was Manie. He never made the Normandy jump but died later in the war. True to Jake's antics and constant wild ideas and behavior, the reason for the Mohawk was simple. If Jake was going to fight in this war he was going to make the best of it, and decided that since he was from Oklahoma and that Indians would paint their faces before going into battle, he shaved his head and put on war paint. This must have also helped with the anxiety of the men who within hours may or may not be alive. It was this shot that immortalized the "Filthy Thirteen."

Thank you Jake for telling your story. Our generation needs to hear it.

Finally, thank you to my husband and children who support me as I chase down these 80+ year old men (and sometimes women) of the greatest generation to capture their faces and stories. I love doing what I do and like Hugh Nibley once said of those who love history "I love to learn something old everyday."

I think that one day Daria and Dustin will be able to look back and realize that they had a front row seat to learn history from those who lived it.

Life and times #2

It seems that December is just a busy month. Besides Dustin's baptism, it was of course, his birthday. We celebrated with a delicious dinner and homemade cake followed by opening a few gifts.

The cake was fun to create and easy to make and was none other than ..... you guessed it .... something to do with military. As I've said before when you enter our house lately you enter the militarized zone.

There were a few things Dustin got for his birthday that he's been waiting with bated breath to get.

The look of excitement from a boy with a new pellet gun

Number one, a pellet gun. This has been sort of a big deal. Big because I would rather have waited until he was like ten or twenty (ok, just kidding), Ken, who was raised on a farm learned to shoot probably before he could walk. Ok, ok, not really but you get what I'm saying. Eight seemed like a good compromise. For Dustin, one of his favorite things to do is head out to Grandpa's farm, put some empty cans out in the middle of a field and shoot them with a .22, and he's pretty good at it too. After Dustin got his pellet gun, he later complained saying "It's like I don't even have one, because I can only use it when you or dad are with me and it stays locked up!" Oh the woes of an eight year old! Duh! Again, if we lived on a farm it might be a bit different, but there's not a man out there that hasn't told me their "adventures" as a young boy with their BB gun which makes any woman wonder how boys even make it alive until their 18th birthday. Don't get me wrong, I am a supporter of the right to own a gun and have a few myself, but of course believe that training, respect, practicing safety, etc are a must. Daria claims she will "never" own a gun but if she did it would be the "pink" one that they advertise on the back of the box! She cracks me up.

Meet Joe, G.I. Joe and his 1964 jeep.

The second thing Dustin got was a 1964 G.I. Joe jeep. Yep, thanks to Celeste and my super savvy e-Bay buying, found that prized possession a while back. They just don't make toys like that any longer, so this was a big treat for Dustin. It actually has a spot light that works, and the headlights work, if we can figure out how to wire the old wires. Of course a few old G.I. Joe's were added to it. These are the "real" G.I. Joe's that came out before the movie, so they are actually modeled after real servicemen.

I had to include this picture, which strangely seems to have something to do with the first picture on this post. You know the one with Daria looking so sweet and kind with Joe. Not sure what happened to him but this picture looks oddly suspicious.

Honor anyway

As the day wore on I couldn't help but think of how disappointed I was not to be able to attend the return of Jeffery Johnson due to Dustin's appointment. Dustin was disappointed too. Then I realized if I picked him up from school just 30 minutes earlier, maybe, just maybe we would have enough time to show our respect and make it to his appointment..... and we did

It's difficult to describe the scene and emotions accurately. Suffice it to say, that from the local airport all the way to where I was standing (next to the funeral home) people were lined up on the streets. Hundreds and hundreds of people. Businesses closed, a few schools came out, a school choir sang for a 5 mile procession, flags waived, and it was quiet. All except the sound of the sirens and the mild hum of the Patriot Guard riders. Local leaders and congressmen attended in respect.

and he returns home

and not a dry eye

I love the Patriot Guard Riders. This is the first time I've seen so many, maybe over 100 or more, they just kept coming and coming.... and they will be at the funeral tomorrow too, standing in a flag line at the request of the family.

Semper Fi

for a view of the plane landing and those lined up on the highway go to this link.

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/05/19/tomball_magnolia_potpourri/news/052610_po_as_marine_cpl_johnson.txt

Our Nation Remembers...

Have you watched the movie "Taking Chance?" a true story based off of a Marine Chance Phelps who was killed in Iraq in 2004. It is one of my all time favorite movies, one that my whole family was moved by, and in my opinion one of the best movies ever made. I encourage you to watch it, and even watch it with your family when the kids are old enough to discuss the difficult consequences of war and serving. It is absolutely kid friendly, no violence, no sex, but does contain two curse words (I never like to justify cursing in movies so feel to warn you, however the curse words are mild if that makes any sense.)

This movie is moving and will reach the core of the soul. It brings out the depth of human emotions but especially helps us recognize what a family experiences when their loved one is killed in action. (just be careful when you choose to watch it, my mom and I watched it the last time she visited, right before she had to leave for the airport. Uhm .... not a good idea unless you want to go to the airport with big puffy red eyes and a stopped up nose)

The reason I bring this up is because of a poignant scene in the movie. As Chances body is being returned to his hometown, when he arrives, the streets are lined with citizens and Boy Scouts standing in silence holding American flags in honor of Chance's sacrifice.

Today, in our town, at 2pm this scene will become real once again as the body of Lance Corporal Jeffery W. Johnson, age 21, who was killed in Afghanistan on May 11, will be returned home to his family. The city has asked the citizens to come out, and line the streets in support. The Patriot Guard Riders will also attend, as they always do when requested.

I am extremely disappointed that I will not be able to attend to show my support and appreciation, as Dustin has a doctors appointment. But my mind will reflect on this throughout the day and my prayers for comfort and peace for the family and wife he is survived by.



May we always remember that freedom always comes with a cost, and is truly never free.

the Life and Times .... catching up on some important memories part 1

Dustin trying not to be nervous because he will be the center of attention

Well, a late out of date blog is slightly better than no blog at all right?? Thus the beginning of my "catching up on important memories" blog series. There has actually been a lot to blog about in the last 6 months, so I will make an attempt to bring everyone up to date on the happenings in our little family.

I'll start with December 2009. December is a busy memorable month under normal circumstances. However this past December it was even more memorable for Dustin, not just because it was Christmas time, and not just because December is his birthday month, but because he was able to be baptized, and join Cub Scouts.

I suppose we call could have smiled a bit bigger but this just happened to be the best shot we had.

Dustin and the Dad

I love this shot because it reminds me that Dustin just can't be serious about anything. He's always a bundle of excited energy!

Dustin and the Big Sister. Daria actually volunteered to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, although a few days before she experienced a bit of "did I really volunteer for that - nervous - what have I got myself into" emotions. She did a fine job and made a sweet card for Dustin too.

This is Dustin's primary teacher Sister B. Sister B. is the best teacher for the kids who are about to be baptized. I admire her for so many reasons and was so thrilled when Dustin got her for a teacher.

So let's recap. Dustin had a great baptism day. The room was full of well wishers all to celebrate Dustin's big day. Brother L. gave a great talk on baptism. In fact I wish I could have recorded it because I felt that it was one of the best talks on baptism for a child that I've ever heard. I wish I would have been able to record it. Brother L. is a good friend of ours. We've known him since we moved here. What was really cool and I thought inspired was that while Brother L. did not know Dustin's love and infatuation with the military, his talk centered around the Stripling Warriors, David, and "fighting" for the right things. It was very moving and I think explained baptism and the gospel to Dustin in a way that he could relate to, and Brother L. even gave him a sword of his own to remember this special night by. Dustin received his own set of scriptures, a tie tack from Grandma M. and a really neat baptism towel from Grandpa Reed and Grandma Carol.

Some things that made me laugh recently

Earlier this year when Dustin lost a tooth he left a note under his pillow for the Toothfairy asking if she would please leave him a twenty dollar bill. Our Toothfairy is pretty frugal, always leaves a dollar, something to do with your teeth (toothpaste, floss, etc) and a poem. The next time he lost a tooth he left a note wondering if she would leave him a two dollar bill because "he's always wanted one". Again, she left him a dollar, some toothpaste, a poem and then said that the next time he lost a tooth she would bring him a two dollar bill. So Saturday night (note the day and time) we were eating out at a restaurant. Dustin pulls his tooth out and with excitement exclaims "Alright! now I get a two dollar bill because the Toothfairy promised!" I thought I was going to bust out laughing and secretly hoped the Toothfairy could come up with a two dollar bill on a Saturday night ..... and the Toothfairy did not fail us. Dustin left a note under his pillow reminding the Toothfairy that she promised him a two dollar bill and of course was delighted to wake up to find one under his pillow.

I was talking to my sister on the phone yesterday. She spent the morning going through boxes of old items in her garage. Then she said "You are not going to believe what I found!!!!" I tried to imagine what nifty little piece of personal treasure she might have come across when she said "I found my Star Trek the Next Generation Technical Manual!!!" Apparently she hadn't seen it for a long time. This made us both laugh! It's funny the little things that people have as a hobby or are interested in. She still can't find her Klingon dictionary. We both laughed again!

Participated in a mother daughter activity last night at church. Daria was worried that I wouldn't be able to attend because I have Cubs every Wednesday. The activity was fun and what made me laugh was after all the "concern that I might not be able to attend" Daria had the "I really want my mom to be there but I don't want her to know I want her to be there attitude" during the activity. It cracked me up. However afterwords she boasts to Dustin "Mom and I had a great time it was so fun!" Like any good mom I just smiled but could not help but laugh!

Thoughts, Time, Technology ...... self assessment

This is a shot I took of Daria last weekend. Because I've not been blogging much, you may not be aware that I'm doing photography regularly now.

No I haven't given up on blogging. I have however realized how easy it is to let the busyness of daily life or the easiness of technology overshadow some of the things I enjoy that add sustenance to my day. For the record, I love to blog. I love to read my friends blogs. Period. I just absolutely love reading my close friend's blogs, and I like to blog. I love it more than I will ever even remotely like Facebook. In fact I have a like/hate relationship with Facebook. There are only a handful of reasons I like Facebook. 1. Easy to find and catch up on people or acquaintances that we've lost contact with over the years. 2. Get a message or pictures out to a lot of people quickly. 3. Keep up on events or groups of interest. But let's be honest, how is it possible to maintain over 300 friendships? if all those people were close "friends" would we have had to track them down? Or do we just have a fascination of peaking into someone elses life? The reasons I love to hate Facebook are too many to list here. But it boils down to one thing, it takes a lot more to maintain and fortify a relationship than a comment on Facebook will ever do.

Ok, ok, before anyone becomes offended or feels guilty, I am NOT trying to tell people they shouldn't use Facebook or that it's a bad thing. I mean, quite frankly I use Facebook too. It has its usefulness. But I still love to hate it. But for me personally I would rather pick up the phone and hear my friends voice, go to lunch, or read their blog describing life's ups, downs, joys, sorrows, defeats & victories, than to read a one line comment on Facebook that is nothing more than glorified texting. Both share information but I prefer the blogs. Phone calls, time in person, and blogs make me feel connected with my friends. It's the blogs that make me realize that we are all in the same big boat, good days, bad days, etc. For the record I recognize that blogging is not for everyone. I totally get it. But who can't pick up the phone? There's not one shoe that fits all, and sometimes the only way one may know about what is going on in someone elses life is through Facebook. But as I look back on the previous months where my blogging has slowed and where my "checking" Facebook activity has gone up made me think about how I spend my time. How do I put energy into my friendships? Is it good use of time that strengthens my relationship with that person? It's that "good" "better" "best" scenario that each person needs to decide for themselves what is most important to them. As usual, technology can be a blessing but with it always comes the challenge to maintain real one on one contact with another human being. It also challenges the ability to have a "real" thoughtful long conversation. Gone are the days of letter writing where the deep thoughts of one's heart were penned on pages of paper. I'm a hopeless lover of turn of the century letters where loved ones penned endless pages of their life to each other. E-mails and blogs took their place. But I've noticed another trend. Even e-mail writing has almost diminished and seems to be dominated by forwards or news and no longer the electronic way of sending a letter. I'm guilty of that too. Blogs have slowed. But one thing that has continued to rise is Facebook, yet often it lacks depth, substanance and doesn't really tell someone what is REALLY going on in their life. Like anyone else my challenge is to make more phone calls, spend more time, and write a little bit more.

I read a book years ago, titled "In the Company of Women". I don't remember too much about the book accept that it detailed how women are relationship beings. We are happier and even have better marriages when we have friendships. But it showed the statistics where women are so busy that they really are usually surrounded by endless "close acquaintances" and not "good friends" because they have to many acquaintances and not enough time to develop them into strong friendships. I really believe that is true. I don't ever think I've met a woman who has not said at one time "I wish I had a close friend." Like I said earlier, being a mother is a blessing, being a busy mother has it's blessings, technology has it's blessings...... but as with all things, without moderation, without balance and without nurturing what is important we can miss out on what really IS important.

Again, I did not blog this to make anyone feel bad for not blogging, writing, or calling. Quite the opposite, I wrote it because 1. The original reason I started to blog was to keep my family up to date on the day to day details of my life 2. To journal 3. To "keep it real" inspired by my friend Becky H. (from Utah) who at one time mentioned that she enjoyed blogs that "keep it real". 4. When I print my blog into a Blurb book to read later I want my children to see that even adults struggle with over use of technology and have to re-prioritize. 5. To keep myself accountable to what I think is important in my life.... capturing my personal history, one personal experience and sentence at a time even the relentless boring repetitive routine days.

Years down the road my grandchildren and great grandchildren will be able to get to know me by what I've written about my life. Something that Facebook will never be able to capture.

Proof that Parents are SMART

We all know that the older children get the more stupid the parent gets... right? Well, here is proof that as parents we REALLY ARE SMART. I'm blogging this so that it goes on record because one day I'll have to pull it up and show Dustin just to remind him that I AM smart.

Here's the scene.

Dustin brings most prized Lego pieces in the van as we go out as a family. Once back home Dustin realizes he cannot find his most prized Lego pieces. Dustin cries. Dustin searches. Dustin cries some more. Mom tells him to wait until morning to search again because there will be more light making it easier to search. Dustin gives in and waits until the next morning. Dustin searches again, cries again, feels life is over because the little Lego pieces are missing in action. Mom tells him 3 times "why don't you check your pant pockets?" Dustin doesn't listen. Dustin is angry, Dustin looks in the van again. Mom mentions one more time that he should look in his pants. Minutes later Dustin comes running down stairs and in a loud excited voice yells "MOM!!!!! YOU ARE SOOOOO SMART!, the Lego's were in my pocket, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT???!"

So there you have it folks. Dustin actually admitted that I AM smart. Ahhhhhhh, it's nice to have a mommy payday once in a while.

Huey part 2

The rest of the story... So why was I in a Huey helicopter? as many of you know I've been busy as a bee with photography, and particularly photography of veteran or military events. I was asked to photograph a historical Vietnam reenactment at the Clay Shooting Tournament benefit for "Homes for Our Troops". Homes for Our Troops builds or remodels homes for service members who have been disabled during military service. So here is how the story went.

Karie ... listening to Shawn, President of the 6th Cav Historical Association explain to her where he wants her.

Karie ... nods her head and takes note of his instructions.

Shawn ... pauses.... then says "Hey... maybe we could better use you in the helicopter? go in as a combat photojournalist and be the first one to jump out when we land in the middle of the the action"

Karie ... acting like she does this every day says "sure, of course, that would be great, count me in" while inside she was jumping up and down like a kid in a candy store thinking to herself "Oh yeah, Oh yeah!!! me, me, me, I'll do it, I'll go, I'll be the first to jump out"

Karie ... fast forward a few moments later, now wearing new green clothes and helmet, along with camera and bag, climbs into the Huey. Practices unclamping belt and jumping out a few times to make sure she didn't fall flat on her face. Combat boots are hard to jump and run in (note: I knew it would be muddy out there because it rained for a complete week straight. I don't have any boots, so on a whim I tried on Dustin's desert combat boots. Folks, I actually fit in my 8 year old's boots. Very sad indeed) My seat was the one facing out, doors open during the flight. When the blades start to turn you hear "whoop whoop" as it gets louder and faster. Then we took off and the pilot gave us a great ride. He went all over above the river as he tilted us so far that I could actually look straight down without pointing my head down, I got some fun shots there. I know that all of you are waiting for pictures of me dressed in green clothes in that Huey helicopter but I don't have any yet. Particularly because I was the one taking pictures and it's hard to take pictures of yourself effectively. At any rate, it was a great experience and I was glad to participate. The next great experience will be sifting through the 1500 photos I took. Sigh! taking pictures is the fun part .... sorting and editing is work.

This is one of the shots I took after I jumped out and ran as far as I could to capture the men coming out of the helicopter.

This is not me but some young man who like all the other men there still like to play "little green Army men", but this was the seat I sat in on the first drop. The door is open during the whole flight and is quite an experience.