Oohhh, Halfway There, Oh Oh, Livin' on Prayers!!!

OK, sorry if now you have Bon Jovi in your head, but it has been in mine since we are now "halfway there" to Mike coming home! And we have really been living on all the prayers from our wonderful family and friends. It is not by my own power that we have made it this long. I am still thankful to God for taking us through this. Mike and I have seen so much good come from this despite the separation, stress and loneliness. I've learned to ask help from others, and allow them to help me in times of need. I have learned that I will be much more available to help others who need help as well. I have grown in patience (doesn't always feel that way), and perseverance. Mike and I have surprisingly grown closer to each other too by doing a nightly devotional and praying together. It's pretty easy to have a captive audience when he has nothing else to look at but the walls of his shipping container-house! While none of this has been easy and milestones and memories have been missed, we really are thankful for this opportunity to grow closer to God and re-evaluate our life's priorities. As Mike said, the fact that he is in Iraq is not what's hard, it's being apart from his family that's hard. If he could have us there, everything would be fine. (Of course, I'd just rather he come back to Texas)

So thank you to everyone who continues to think of us in their prayers. They have been sustaining us.

Flower Girl Ella

Ella was the flower girl in my cousin Doug's wedding in Florida. She took this assignment very seriously. She read up on it (Reference: Fiona the Flower Girl), practiced and planned out every petal she was going to throw and to whom she was going to throw it to. Then came the big day. She was to carry a flower wand instead of throwing petals. Suprisingly, she was fine with the change of plans. After she walked down the aisle, she asked, "when do I get to walk down the aisle?" I knew what she meant. So much preparation for the big day and the actual act of walking down the aisle was mere seconds. I felt the same way about my wedding. Why don't we have week-long celebrations like they do in some cultures?

Next was the meal and dance. She begged and cried to dance with cousin Doug who became Uncle Doug by the end of the night. She just wanted to be near him all night. I think he was like daddy to her for the night. He kindly obliged even though it was his day. At one point the DJ must have played a really unpopular song because everyone cleared the dance floor, except Ella. She was standing in the corner of the floor, kind of bouncing up and down to the beat. Then she slowly crept her way to the middle of the dance floor. Once she was in the middle, she knew all eyes were on her. She was pretty funny to watch, especially since this is very uncharacteristic of her! We all applauded after she was done. She had a long, wonderful day. She crashed on the ride back to the condo and Grandpa Joel carried her to her room. That never happens!

We missed daddy terribly and it was hard to make such a wonderful memory without him. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to be a flower girl!

Sweet Ella Prayers

Ella: "Dear God, thank you for the morning light, people, and hugs from daddy".

Ramblings of a 3 year old. Volume #7

Ella: When I grow up to be an adult, I can marry Grant, right?
Me: No, sweetie, you can't marry your brother.
Ella: OK, then I'll marry Papa Joel!
Me: No, honey you can't marry family. You will marry someone who is a friend. Like Mommy and Daddy did.
Ella: Oh, then I can marry Trent or Carson!
Me: Um maybe...

Ella handing me her snack cup full of crumbs: "Mommy, you can have my crummy cup!"

Update

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog as well as before. Hopefully I will be less busy as a household manager and have more time to record the precious things the kiddos are doing. In my new role as household manager, in the past month I've had the car to the shop 3 times, 2 floods in the front yard and sprinkler man here 2 times for that, faulty sensor for security system (2 visits to fix this), an ant invasion (bug guy here for that) and a plumber to fix 2 toilets. It's almost a joke, really. Oh, but I wish it was.

Grant has been quite a mover lately. He's rolling to get places now and does a little scooting on his belly. He's also grabbing for his feet and pulling his socks off. Just in time for the cooler weather.

Ella enjoyed her long stay with Grandma Betty. She said the day Grandma left, "I miss Grandma. She helps take care of me." And since Grandma has left she has resumed the near constant askings for daddy. She told me tonight before bed that she plans on dreaming about daddy tonight. She said, "Last time I dreamt about daddy we played my Elefun game. Tonight I'm going to dream that we played the Memory game!" As she climbed into bed tonight she sighed. I asked her why she sighed. She said, "Ahhh, because of my nice cuddly sheets!"