FREEDOM, FRECKLES, AND FRYSAUCE

He is one year now and full of suprises. He has started to let go and walk a few steps here and there. He is so full of energy and laughs. Dallin is always smiling and everyone just wants to play with him. I think that at church I wouldn't have to hold him if I didn't want to he just loves everyone.

We are on the down slope of this TDY (Temporary Duty). It has been an interesting adventure so far. For those to whom I don't talk to a lot here is a little of what I have been through. A few days after Bert left my oven stopped working and they could not come fix it for a week. (Not bad we can manage without an oven.) Then a few days later I woke up to a flat tire just as I was to take Kennedy to school. I called a friend who took her to school for me (one of the many angels that have appeared in my life while Bert has been gone). I then called a lieutenant that works with Bert to come help change the tire so that I could get it fixed. Brandon (another angel) came over in the cold weather and changed the tire to the spare. I had a new tire put on with a lot of different helpers. All was back to as normal as it could be. We decided to go visit Bert (in Alabama) and my sister Maxi (in Memphis) over Martin Luther King weekend. We fly standby as many of you may know so we began our adventure with the two hour drive to the airport. We got to the airport and on the plane to Atlanta with no problems. Little did we know what was waiting for us ahead. We arrived in Atlanta and all the flight to my sisters in Memphis were being canceled so we decided to go to Alabama to see Bert instead of him driving to meet us in Mississippi. We sat on the plane headed to Alabama for and hour and half before they announced to us that it was canceled. By this time everyone is hungry and tired and I am starting to panic because we have nothing with us except the essentials. With the help of my mom we found a room in Atlanta but waited for another hour for the shuttle driver to arrive. We loaded in a big van and drove about 15 minutes to the hotel. (no car seats for 3 little kids, many prayers where uttered on that short drive) We got to the hotel which did not have a restaurant or one even close so I bought a package of Ramen noodles in the lobby and cooked them in the coffee pot. We ate the Ramen out of the hotel cups (I told the kids that we where camping that's why we didn't have any forks). They where just excited to be able to run around with out me telling them to stay close.
The flights where all booked up to Memphis the next day so Bert found someone to drive the two and half hours up to Atlanta from Alabama. This was such a relief to me but we had some things we needed to take care of. We had no car seats, so after she picked us up in Bert's car we went to Walmart and bought some new ones as well as diapers and formula. We made it to Alabama to see Bert which was wonderful. We then went to my sisters a couple of days later and had fun at their new house. We managed to make it back home with out any trouble.
But now I have some sick kids on my hands and I really need to go to the grocery store. It has been a lot of fun learning what I am capable of and being able to receive a lot of help from people I know and don't know.

Every Friday I take Sadie and Dallin to a fun group with my friends called music makers. The kids learn new songs, have fun with puppets, read stories and then marching band. Today we decided to make puppets to take tomorrow instead of using the one we own. Here are the girls and their puppets that are said to represent members of our family.

1. I miss his help with the kids at night.

2. I miss his teasing remarks about little things I say and do.

3. I miss him coming home for lunch everyday.

4. I miss watching him play with the kids.

5. I miss his help around the house (taking the garbage out at 7am)

6. I miss his help in Church.

7. I miss his shoulder and words of encouragement.

8. I miss his enthusiasm about the current political race.

9. I miss his help with discipline.

10.I miss most his hugs and kisses.

I Love You Bert.

It's official I have come to the realization that I am a news junkie. I am not in this a lone Bert is also a news junkie (I should say Fox news junkie). It is all that I watch and when I talk to Bert on the phone at night he asks if I saw this interview or event on the news. I love it and can't seem to get enough of it. I am particularly glued right now because of the Presidential primaries and caucuses going on right now. I Love It!!! If someone wants to talk about politics I can't help myself from going on and on. People probably think I am a nut be what else do I have to watch except crap and my beloved cooking shows. Well I just had to get my addiction (obsession) off my chest. We are all doing good two days down and weeks to go.

Bert leaves again for another six weeks this Sunday. This time he is headed to Alabama for a school. It seems like he just got home but hopefully the time that he is gone will go just as fast. I feel fortunate though a friend of ours just deployed for afganistan today. His wife rightfully so was a little distraught. At least Bert is only gone for 6 weeks and to a safe place. I know that our time will come for him to deploy but you just don't think about those times. You have to enjoy what you have right now. Everyone be thankful for all that you have and the blessing that you enjoy. Keep the soldiers and their families in your prayers.

Christmas was great for our family this year. Christmas Eve we had a fellow Lt. come over to give the kids a present and they in return gave him our traditional Christmas Eve gift pajamas. We also watched The Nativity produced by the church. I think that he enjoyed it and especially enjoyed Sadie's commentary as she sat on his lap. It was a fun time. The kids enjoyed the gifts that Santa left and those given by family. I believe there favorite gift was a tent from Ikea given by Papa and Nana. I can always tell when they are all in it because it is continuous laughter even from Dallin. New Years Eve we had the missionaries and the same Lt. over for dinner. We had planned to go to a party at the Church with a group of friends after dinner but dinner lasted a lot longer than planned. Brandon (the Lt.) started asking questions about the Church and then the kids fell asleep. I was a really great experience. There are a lot of missionary opportunities here. It was good to feed some of the Saviour's sheep this holiday season.