Clancy & Garin

Garin "riding" Spirit (with help from Grandma)

It's been too long......

I find it difficult to make time for writing when there are so many more exciting things to do! Garin and I have really enjoyed our time back home, and Matt flies down to join us tomorrow after spending two exciting weeks on mission trips to Tennessee and Virginia. We are so looking forward to seeing him!!!

We spent last weekend in Idabel, OK, with Karl's mom. We celebrated her birthday and got to spend some really special time with her, her mom, and Karl's sister's family (Jill, Trint & Clancy). Clancy is four months older than Garin, and they had a wonderful time playing together! It makes me wish once again that we lived closer. Clancy is such a doll, and he calls me Aunt 'Ori. There is something so sweet about hearing your name from the mouth of a little one you love!

We have done some good shopping and lots of visiting with family and friends. The weather has been crazy, as in power outages, over 5" of rain in less than 3 hours one night, and heavy rainfall almost daily. After the drought and fires here the last couple of years, there aren't many folks complaining, even as they watch their fields flood and their dams and bridges wash away.

Garin is a full-fledged walker now....FINALLY! Although he's been able to walk for a while, he did it rarely and preferred the speed of crawling. I had begun to believe that he would wait until the peer pressure of preschool forced him to travel upright!

I have spent a good deal of time (but not enough) working on my college coursework. A man from the church I grew up in has agreed to proctor my exams while I'm here, so I'm scheduled for four tests in the next two weeks. I'm a little nervous about cramming them together like this, but now's as good a time as any, since I have built-in babysitters.

I'm looking forward to the Fourth of July! I always enjoy the fireworks shows and patriotism that is lacking so much of the year, but it has special sentimentality this year with Karl overseas. There is a really good show in Gilmer and an awesome one in Longview. The decision as to which we'll attend hasn't been made. The Gilmer one has a nice small-town feel and will be easy to get in and out of. The Longview one will be crowded but a better show. They are charging $100 admission per vehicle at the Longview Fairgrounds, but we could get in free with my military ID. Tough decision!

I'll post a few pics of the last couple of weeks, too!

Far Away Father's Day

Here are a couple of photos from this afternoon. We took several to email to Karl for Father's Day. As you can see, Garin enjoys driving the golf cart with Grandma or Grandpa. His other favorite activities here involve turning fans or lights on and off climbing on everything in sight. He is fortunate to have a couple of very indulgent adults around who have already succeeded in spoiling him absolutely rotten only one week into our six-week visit!

Karl received his Father's Day care package from us much too early, on Monday, but in an impressive show of willpower, he waited until today to open it! It sounds as if he's really enjoying it, and I'm so pleased about that! In an unexpected and happy turn of events, he arrived at work tonight to discover two more packages: one from his mom and one from his squadron at Dover! He was so excited to tell me about them. His commander even sent a handwritten note asking how he was doing and how our trip to Texas was going. That is so far above and beyond the call of duty and is greatly appreciated!

Karl has a bad cold, sore throat and cough. In typical fashion, he has been procrastinating about visiting the doc. When he called today, I told him he needed to go (He sounded awful.), and he said to give it a day or two. I said, "Cough for me." I think he couldn't believe I asked him to do that, and he tried to make a joke of it. He did finally cough and sounded horrible, so I made him promise me that he would go to the doctor as soon as his shift is over in the morning. I know this sounds bossy and nagging, but anyone who knows Karl knows that he will bend over backward to make sure everyone else is okay, but he won't take the same kind of care of himself. Plus, he's very prone to bronchitis. I am hoping that this doctor can help him get better before it comes to that!

Garin and I have been reminded in the last couple of days that we aren't in Delaware anymore, thanks to the mosquitoes that think we make a tasty lunch! I have almost 40 bites after a few minutes outside one evening. Thankfully, Garin only has four - probably because I have only let him outside during the daytime. We're going to have to be very careful and use repellent!

I have had fun this weekend visiting with old friends! A dear high-school friend and her family were in town Saturday and today from the Dallas area, so we spent some time together yesterday afternoon, catching up and making plans to see each other again in July. She and her husband met when I and my then-boyfriend introduced them. Debi and I went to one high school, and my boyfriend, Kevin, went to the rival school with his friend, Peter. Our hope was that they would accompany each other to their respective proms, as both needed a date. Now, twenty years and three beautiful children later, they're living their happily ever after. There are so many neat twists and turns to the story, but I'll spare you the gory details. It is, however, a real privilege to call them friends! I also have gotten a chance to see Kevin a couple of times at church. Although we stopped dating as teenagers, we are lifelong friends, as are/were our parents. Sadly, cancer took his father last July. I really felt for him and his family today as we celebrated Father's Day. Hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up before I head back to Delaware. Another friend, Courtney, whom I've known since the diaper stage, lives here in town. I saw her briefly today, and we plan to get together in the next week or two for lunch to try to cover the events of the last 10 years! I'm thinking she and Kevin would make a cute couple...............hmmmmmmmmmm.............................

Well, I'm doped up on Benadryl, and it's getting late. I think it's time to say goodnight! Everybody sleep tight!

Three Weeks Down....Seventeen to Go

I guess it's about time for an update! I'm starting to hear from disgruntled blog readers who want to know how we're doing. I'm sorry I've been so slow to get around to it, but I've been so busy....or maybe just lazy.

These photos are from Garin's romp in the kiddie pool on Tuesday. He has no fear and had a great time in the water!

Dad flew to Philly on Tuesday, June 5, and Garin and I picked him up. He came to drive back down to Texas with us and help keep me sane. I am so thankful that he did. The trip was long, but Dad and I had a nice time just being together. Garin was good, considering we spent almost three days on the road, and the animals cooperated exceptionally well!

We arrived last Saturday around lunch time and got to visit for a little while with my great-aunt and great-uncle, who had driven in from Georgia earlier in the week to visit my grandparents, before they headed out. Dad and I got on riding mowers that afternoon and mowed my parents' and grandparents' yards. They've had tons of rain here, and the grass is growing like crazy. Sunday, we went to the contemporary service and Bible study class at church and then out for some good Tex-Mex.

This week has been a blur for me. On Monday, Mom drove down to my sister's house to deliver her pets to her. (They had stayed here while her family was on vacation.) My grandmother's Sunday School class had a social at one of her friends' homes, so I drove her there and ran some errands. After I picked her up, we met Dad for lunch at the best place in the world for good, Southern sweet tea. Garin, Dad, Doug (my cousin) and I have all had a cold, but I think we're all on the mend now. Mostly, I've hung around here with the exception of a couple of trips to the store for this or that. We did make one run to Bodacious BBQ, my favorite barbecue place for dinner, on Thursday night in a pouring rain. We got drenched getting in and out, but the food made it all worth it.

Karl has been doing better, I think. He still has his moments of homesickness, but he's had some successes and some fun this week, which seems to have lifted his spirits. He participated in a 4-man volleyball tournament. They did very well, but the tournament was set up in such a way that his team ended up playing seven straight games! By the time they met the last team they played, he said they were just too tired to win, even though they were the stronger team. But he had fun and got some good exercise.

Karl's big news, though, is that the guy who's in charge of the day shift had to attend a meeting Friday, so Karl had to fill in for him for the first four hours of his shift. Karl, therefore, worked from 12am to 12pm that day. He is normally responsible for preparing the briefing for the day-shift guy to present to the general and colonels, but yesterday he had to not only prepare it but also present it. He did a very good job, of course! His boss was very pleased, as were those in attendance. I think it did him a world of good to have that kind of success, as he struggles with self-confidence. He seemed much "brighter" afterward.

We have had several inches of rain since I got here, and four trees uprooted from the soggy soil last night here on my parents' property in the pasture between the house and the road. Of course, it had to land on a fence, which will have to be repaired to keep the horses out of their and my grandparents' yards. It was a very exciting start to the day!

I'll try to be better about updating from here on!

Update

I thought I'd just take a minute to catch you up on our boring lives.

Karl is working hard and staying tired, but he's doing well. He's homesick, though. His first practice with the praise team will be on Wednesday.

Garin is doing great. He started hugging me back this week, and I am soaking it up like a sponge! He laughs a lot and climbs a lot. He gets told no a lot (usually for climbing), gets mad at me and asks for DaDa a lot. He falls a lot, and when he does, he cries a lot. Today when we got to church, he started clapping in the parking lot because he heard the music. He did okay in the nursery, but as soon as I picked him up, he started clapping again and trying to steer me into the worship center, so we stayed for the music part of the next service. He danced and clapped and "sang" loudly, even during the prayer. It warmed my heart, and I know it warmed God's!

I cleaned like crazy yesterday! I rearranged the kitchen counters, vacuumed and mopped all the floors, polished the furniture and cleaned bathrooms. I love coming home from church on Sunday to a clean house, so it motivates me on Saturday afternoon.

It rained all day today. We desperately needed it. It is supposed to continue until noon or so tomorrow. The bad side of that is that it is NASCAR race weekend here in Dover. Traffic starts getting bad on the Monday before the race on Sunday and clears out on Monday after the race...normally. Unfortunately, the rain means the race has been delayed a day. I'm hoping people have somewhere to be tomorrow (work maybe?) and will go home anyway. Otherwise, we're fighting traffic again tomorrow if we want to leave the base.

Life is good! Don't know much else. G'night!