Last night I went to a going away party for a friend who is moving to a new Army post, aka PCSing in the Army world. We had a great time sitting around eating dinner and just talking. Someone made a video with pics of our time together with beautiful music. It was just a great time of fellowship. It got me to thinking though of all the friends I've made along the way in this Army journey I somehow signed up for when my husband signed on the dotted line. I've made amazing friends at every post we've been stationed at. This is our 5th duty station since Bruce and I got married.
It's never easy to move to a new place and have to meet new friends. But there is a women's ministry at each of these posts I've been at called PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) a women's bible study group. I found this group on our 3rd duty station in Maryland. It has truly been a life save for me. You go to this group and it's like you have built in friendships just waiting for you to show up. Obviously you don't always click with everyone, but it's just been so great at how wonderful this group of ladies are.
The ladies at Ft Drum are no different. I've been here for three years and I've made some really great friends, that I know I will be friends with for life. I've been so blessed to have made friends like this at each duty station. To all those friends you know who you are, I love you guys and you all hold a special place in my heart!!!
So to the Voyles family who are leaving tomorrow to thier next chapter in the Army world good luck and know that your family will be missed!!!
Jun 5, 2008
Jun 4, 2008
The Garden
So I DO NOT have a green thumb. I can't keep plants alive for anything. It's a miracle all three boys are still breathing. :) Just kidding!!! So I had sort of decided not to really do anything with the garden this year, since Mr. Green Thumb himself wasn't going to be here. Well since plans changed so did the garden idea. :)
Bruce spent a lot of time while he was home and the boys were at school working on the garden and the yard. He and the boys planted a garden on the side of the house growing, carrots, radishes and of all things corn. Three of the boys faves. :) Then he took out all the rocks we had before and put in timbers that look really good. He then planted beautiful flowers and he put the bigger rocks in the middle and painted some things around the porch. Then we got a lovely garden statue from Mom & Dad and Jon & Lori, that looks great in there.
So after much hard work this is our garden after Bruce finished it:
Bruce spent a lot of time while he was home and the boys were at school working on the garden and the yard. He and the boys planted a garden on the side of the house growing, carrots, radishes and of all things corn. Three of the boys faves. :) Then he took out all the rocks we had before and put in timbers that look really good. He then planted beautiful flowers and he put the bigger rocks in the middle and painted some things around the porch. Then we got a lovely garden statue from Mom & Dad and Jon & Lori, that looks great in there.
So after much hard work this is our garden after Bruce finished it:
Adam turns 7!!!! Where has the time gone?
So my middle son Adam had a birthday this past Sunday, June 1st. He is now a 7 year old, YEAH!!! We sort of ended up celebrating his birthday a few times actually. We had a surprise party for all the three boys the night before Bruce left to go back to Iraq. We figured it was pretty close to all three of theirs and Daddy was home so why not right? :) Here are a few pics from that night:
Then we went home to Indiana and had a celebration with my family. The cousins and uncles and aunt!!! We had so much fun!!! It's always nice being with family on our special days!!! Here are a few pics from that celebration:
Then for his actual birthday, we got up Sunday morning and went to church and came out and it was sprinkling outside. But I said what the hey, let's drive down to Syracuse and hopefully the weather will clear up and we can go to the zoo down there. The one in Watertown is a poor excuse for a zoo. So the further we drove sout the better the weather got. It was a perfect day to go to the zoo. It wasn't busy, it a was a bit cloudy, but still warm. But not so hot you were miserable and the animals were out. So it was a great day and Adam said the cutest thing. We were walking up to the elephants I think and he said " Mommy I just want to thank God for making animals, because if He hadn't made animals there wouldn't be animals for me to love" Is he sweet or what? He got super excited when I told him the Adam in the bible is the one that got to name all the animals, he thought that was really cool. Just goes to show you we picked the perfect name for this kid!!!
Happy Birthday Adam, I love you Sunshine!!!!
Then we went home to Indiana and had a celebration with my family. The cousins and uncles and aunt!!! We had so much fun!!! It's always nice being with family on our special days!!! Here are a few pics from that celebration:
Then for his actual birthday, we got up Sunday morning and went to church and came out and it was sprinkling outside. But I said what the hey, let's drive down to Syracuse and hopefully the weather will clear up and we can go to the zoo down there. The one in Watertown is a poor excuse for a zoo. So the further we drove sout the better the weather got. It was a perfect day to go to the zoo. It wasn't busy, it a was a bit cloudy, but still warm. But not so hot you were miserable and the animals were out. So it was a great day and Adam said the cutest thing. We were walking up to the elephants I think and he said " Mommy I just want to thank God for making animals, because if He hadn't made animals there wouldn't be animals for me to love" Is he sweet or what? He got super excited when I told him the Adam in the bible is the one that got to name all the animals, he thought that was really cool. Just goes to show you we picked the perfect name for this kid!!!
Happy Birthday Adam, I love you Sunshine!!!!
Jun 3, 2008
Where did May go?
I can't believe I didn't post a single thing in May. It was a busy busy month for us. As some of you know, Bruce's dad passed away unexpectedly the beginning of May and he flew in from Iraq to attend the funeral. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and prayers and good thoughts.
With the heartache of why Bruce had to come home, we did get to spend a few more weeks with him that we weren't expecting. So that was a blessing in disguise. He came home in January for his R&R so we weren't expecting to see him again until Christmas time. It was good for all of use to see him again. I think the boys were starting to get missing daddy crazy, so he came home at a good time.
Bruce and I went to Maine for the funeral for a few days and my dear friend Rachel watched the boys for me. She is such a dear. Then we came home and spent the rest of his 2 weeks leave just hanging out with the boys. We took the boys fishing, to the park, we went out to eat, and we played games. It was so nice to be in a normal family setting again. That is what I miss the most when he is gone, our family time together.
Jack got to do the Drake tradition and got his first shooting lesson with Daddy. Bruce made sue he took each one of them and spent one on one time with them. It was so nice for all of them.
After seeing how rough it was in January when Bruce left and how awful the boys were I thought we needed a change of scenery, as my friend Leslie called it, and I decided at the last minute to go home to Indiana for the long Memorial Day weekend. We actually stayed a few extra days to boot. It was the best decision. The boys had so much fun hanging out with grandma and papaw and thier cousins. And Uncle Jon and Aunt Lori too. Uncle Dan took them to a movie and played football with them and we all played the Wii together. That was fun and made my arms sore the next day.
We took 2 days to drive home and we decided to stop at Niagra Falls to stay the night. DJ had been to the falls a few times and I've never been and neither had the little ones, so we went. We just went to the American side, since we didn't have our birth certificates with us. It was a lot of fun and it was really pretty there. We really want to go back sometime and go to the Canadian side.
I just wanted to give everyone and update with what is going on with us. May was a crazy month for us for sure. The rest of the summer is looking like a lot of the same business. But that is alright with us, if ever there was a time we wanted time to fly it would be NOW!!!
TO all reading thanks for not giving up on me and I will try to be better about updating what is going on here!!!
Have a great week!!!
With the heartache of why Bruce had to come home, we did get to spend a few more weeks with him that we weren't expecting. So that was a blessing in disguise. He came home in January for his R&R so we weren't expecting to see him again until Christmas time. It was good for all of use to see him again. I think the boys were starting to get missing daddy crazy, so he came home at a good time.
Bruce and I went to Maine for the funeral for a few days and my dear friend Rachel watched the boys for me. She is such a dear. Then we came home and spent the rest of his 2 weeks leave just hanging out with the boys. We took the boys fishing, to the park, we went out to eat, and we played games. It was so nice to be in a normal family setting again. That is what I miss the most when he is gone, our family time together.
Jack got to do the Drake tradition and got his first shooting lesson with Daddy. Bruce made sue he took each one of them and spent one on one time with them. It was so nice for all of them.
After seeing how rough it was in January when Bruce left and how awful the boys were I thought we needed a change of scenery, as my friend Leslie called it, and I decided at the last minute to go home to Indiana for the long Memorial Day weekend. We actually stayed a few extra days to boot. It was the best decision. The boys had so much fun hanging out with grandma and papaw and thier cousins. And Uncle Jon and Aunt Lori too. Uncle Dan took them to a movie and played football with them and we all played the Wii together. That was fun and made my arms sore the next day.
We took 2 days to drive home and we decided to stop at Niagra Falls to stay the night. DJ had been to the falls a few times and I've never been and neither had the little ones, so we went. We just went to the American side, since we didn't have our birth certificates with us. It was a lot of fun and it was really pretty there. We really want to go back sometime and go to the Canadian side.
I just wanted to give everyone and update with what is going on with us. May was a crazy month for us for sure. The rest of the summer is looking like a lot of the same business. But that is alright with us, if ever there was a time we wanted time to fly it would be NOW!!!
TO all reading thanks for not giving up on me and I will try to be better about updating what is going on here!!!
Have a great week!!!
Apr 18, 2008
Thank You
A big thank you shout out to two of my friends who have been so sweet to me today. Just coming over and hanging out, when I've had such a bad day, a bad week. Thanks for coming over and helping me out and just hanging out with me. :) Love you girls!!!
Apr 5, 2008
I'm Still Here.....Don't Lose Hope....Keep Visiting Often...
I know I have been so bad about keeping up with my blog lately. Sorry to all my friends who actually read it to get updates on our lives. I’m so bad about calling people back lately, or emailing. So if that is one of you my dear friends my deepest apologies to you.
I guess the main reason no new what nots is there isn’t much to tell. Life has been relatively boring lately. Which really is a blessing right?
Bruce is doing really well. I just talked to him today and he sounded in good spirits. He got good news that he is moving from the BN at the end of the month to Brigade to be the new Public Affairs Officer. Which will be great for him since that is his new MOS now. He is really excited to get the opportunity to do this. It is the job he had when he was in the Marine Corps and he loved it, so I’m really excited for him. It’s not often he sounds like he’s in a good mood when he calls so that was nice. The boys all got to chat for a few minutes with him and tell him about their report cards, that was good. Sometimes he can only get a chance to call while they are at school.
The boys and I went to PA last weekend to scrapbook with some of my friends from SBO. Special thanks to Kelli and her Mom for letting us invade their home. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful the whole time, so the kids could actually play outside, which was nice. It was a wee bit warmer there and no snow, as Adam kept pointing out.
The boys got their report cards this week. They all did really well. DJ got straight A’s again, first time in 5th grade. He’d always gotten straight A’s up until this year. He did well before, but it’s nice to see him working up to his full potential that I know he can do. Adam got all great checks where he was supposed to and is doing really well in his reading and his writing. He is very imaginative in his writing and loves to draw pictures with his stories. Future writer maybe? Then there is Jack, who also got great marks everywhere he is supposed to as well. He is actually a year ahead in his reading and his sight words. He knows a lot of Adam’s words from this year, will work with him over the summer probably. My favorite thing on Jack’s report card was in the comment section where Mrs. Oliver wrote, “Jack always walks in each morning with a smile, and always makes me laugh.” Is that our Jack or what?
I took the boys to the dentist this week and two of them walked out in the cavity free club and one did not. Even though when Jack walked out he proudly proclaimed “No Cavities” today Mommy!!! All the while the nurse behind him is shaking her head at me. It appears that he was confused when she told him he didn’t have to have anything done today with them. He has lost a few of his fillings that he’d received before. The hygienist said he is a handful isn’t he? I was like oh yeah. It’s so funny that everyone has that first impression of him. She had a hard time cleaning his teeth because he wouldn’t quit talking to her and asking a million questions. Yep that’s Jack alright. He gets that from Bruce obviously right?
It looks like we are going to be heading to Indiana next weekend to stay with my parents for a week while we are on spring break. Unfortunately it didn’t work out to go to TN to visit Patty and Co. Hopefully they will be able to come up and visit with us while I’m home.
Had fun scrapping with a few of my friends today, though I didn’t get anything done. It’s always nice to sit around and just chat and hang with good friends.
Well I guess that is about it for now. I hope to get some pics off my camera and loaded on here in a few days.
I guess the main reason no new what nots is there isn’t much to tell. Life has been relatively boring lately. Which really is a blessing right?
Bruce is doing really well. I just talked to him today and he sounded in good spirits. He got good news that he is moving from the BN at the end of the month to Brigade to be the new Public Affairs Officer. Which will be great for him since that is his new MOS now. He is really excited to get the opportunity to do this. It is the job he had when he was in the Marine Corps and he loved it, so I’m really excited for him. It’s not often he sounds like he’s in a good mood when he calls so that was nice. The boys all got to chat for a few minutes with him and tell him about their report cards, that was good. Sometimes he can only get a chance to call while they are at school.
The boys and I went to PA last weekend to scrapbook with some of my friends from SBO. Special thanks to Kelli and her Mom for letting us invade their home. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful the whole time, so the kids could actually play outside, which was nice. It was a wee bit warmer there and no snow, as Adam kept pointing out.
The boys got their report cards this week. They all did really well. DJ got straight A’s again, first time in 5th grade. He’d always gotten straight A’s up until this year. He did well before, but it’s nice to see him working up to his full potential that I know he can do. Adam got all great checks where he was supposed to and is doing really well in his reading and his writing. He is very imaginative in his writing and loves to draw pictures with his stories. Future writer maybe? Then there is Jack, who also got great marks everywhere he is supposed to as well. He is actually a year ahead in his reading and his sight words. He knows a lot of Adam’s words from this year, will work with him over the summer probably. My favorite thing on Jack’s report card was in the comment section where Mrs. Oliver wrote, “Jack always walks in each morning with a smile, and always makes me laugh.” Is that our Jack or what?
I took the boys to the dentist this week and two of them walked out in the cavity free club and one did not. Even though when Jack walked out he proudly proclaimed “No Cavities” today Mommy!!! All the while the nurse behind him is shaking her head at me. It appears that he was confused when she told him he didn’t have to have anything done today with them. He has lost a few of his fillings that he’d received before. The hygienist said he is a handful isn’t he? I was like oh yeah. It’s so funny that everyone has that first impression of him. She had a hard time cleaning his teeth because he wouldn’t quit talking to her and asking a million questions. Yep that’s Jack alright. He gets that from Bruce obviously right?
It looks like we are going to be heading to Indiana next weekend to stay with my parents for a week while we are on spring break. Unfortunately it didn’t work out to go to TN to visit Patty and Co. Hopefully they will be able to come up and visit with us while I’m home.
Had fun scrapping with a few of my friends today, though I didn’t get anything done. It’s always nice to sit around and just chat and hang with good friends.
Well I guess that is about it for now. I hope to get some pics off my camera and loaded on here in a few days.
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