Paul and Daniel are back in their respective homes in the states. Paul arrived late Wednesday evening, and Daniel arrived late Thursday evening. It's kinda weird, cuz they both left for the in February on the same day (tho Paul had been in Iraq already, he was home on 2 weeks leave) and arrived home on practically the same day! And the timing couldn't be better: the violence in both Iraq and esp. Afganistan is on the rise. I truly believe the Lord had them both covered under His hand of protection and brought them home safe. As far as future plans go, that I am aware of, Paul is going into criminal justice this fall. He still has like 2 years left in the guard, but if I understand right, he can opt out of future tours as this one he was just on was a volunteered tour. That is if they don't need him. Not %100 on that tho. Daniel's future has him in Georgia till I think January 2010, then he's off to Korea for a year, and Marcia can't go with him. They are both happy to be home, obviously, and tired! I am so proud of these two. It gives me great pride having two family members serve our country and are now considered veterans!! Thank you Paul and Daniel...
Now I wish I could've been there to greet them both, but since I couldn't be there, a little fun song (yes, Paul, it's rap!) with a sentiment we all feel.. WELCOME BACK!!!
BTW~I couldn't get a clip of this song so had to download the whole thing and I feel pretty good about myself as I got this to work the first time! Just get thru the part with the kids singing in the "welcome back" T-shirts to get my drift...
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Time to catch up on some NFL
Yes, folks, I am again eagerly anticipating the NFL season. There's been some good news and some interesting news and I'd like to throw in my 2 cents...
The Good news: Brett is STAYING retired! Has his egomania subsided? Has Brett seen the light? Even potential teammates in the Vikings seemed tired of talking about Brett these last few weeks. He did real good job of dragging that little soap opera out for the ol' Vikes. How do you think Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels are feeling about their management behind closed doors? A big confidence builder there, for those young QB's. Yes, Brett is retired, for now. But, the damage is done and he still managed to create so much drama in Minnesota, they may need a season or two to recover from it. Now, Brett, you stay away from my 49ers!!! They have enough issues without your crazy train coming to town.
The Interesting news: Michael Vick. Is back, I think. I am torn on this. He was a cocky little bugger, even before the whole dog fighting fiasco. He was a ball hog... for football that is sad. His official title on the team was "quarterback", but to me, he was anything but. He rushed more than some running backs on other teams, including his own! Then the dog fighting, the trial, the sentence... he's done his time. We'll see if he learned anything "doin' time" or if it added to whatever sort of unfounded hatred he's bottled away and took out on dogs. What he did was horrible, but others (in NFL and NBA and NHL... where ever) have done horrible crimes, too. Animal cruelty is unacceptable, but so is rape, so is drug use, so is drunken driving and killing a pedestrian. For whatever reason, Michael Vick is taking the brunt of punishment, even after serving his sentence. I don't think he should be banned from the NFL. But I am disturbed at how this will look to kids. Like it or not celebrity actors and athletes, you ARE role models. Kids watch you. Now, alot of you celebrities have the moral compass of a rock, and it is our job as parents to guide our kids on what's right and wrong, but they still look at celebrities and think "Wow, maybe I can do that!! Look at the attention they get for _______. " I guess time will tell. Either we'll see a new, reformed Michael Vick or same old, waiting-to-fall-off-the-wagon Michael Vick. I hope for the first choice, it would be good for him, football, and for people to see someone can change for the better.
I plan to do the same thing I did last season, predicting my favs for the week and all. As time gets closer to opening kickoff, I'll try to post some of my thoughts about the '09-10 season. YEAH FOOTBALL!!!!
The Good news: Brett is STAYING retired! Has his egomania subsided? Has Brett seen the light? Even potential teammates in the Vikings seemed tired of talking about Brett these last few weeks. He did real good job of dragging that little soap opera out for the ol' Vikes. How do you think Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels are feeling about their management behind closed doors? A big confidence builder there, for those young QB's. Yes, Brett is retired, for now. But, the damage is done and he still managed to create so much drama in Minnesota, they may need a season or two to recover from it. Now, Brett, you stay away from my 49ers!!! They have enough issues without your crazy train coming to town.
The Interesting news: Michael Vick. Is back, I think. I am torn on this. He was a cocky little bugger, even before the whole dog fighting fiasco. He was a ball hog... for football that is sad. His official title on the team was "quarterback", but to me, he was anything but. He rushed more than some running backs on other teams, including his own! Then the dog fighting, the trial, the sentence... he's done his time. We'll see if he learned anything "doin' time" or if it added to whatever sort of unfounded hatred he's bottled away and took out on dogs. What he did was horrible, but others (in NFL and NBA and NHL... where ever) have done horrible crimes, too. Animal cruelty is unacceptable, but so is rape, so is drug use, so is drunken driving and killing a pedestrian. For whatever reason, Michael Vick is taking the brunt of punishment, even after serving his sentence. I don't think he should be banned from the NFL. But I am disturbed at how this will look to kids. Like it or not celebrity actors and athletes, you ARE role models. Kids watch you. Now, alot of you celebrities have the moral compass of a rock, and it is our job as parents to guide our kids on what's right and wrong, but they still look at celebrities and think "Wow, maybe I can do that!! Look at the attention they get for _______. " I guess time will tell. Either we'll see a new, reformed Michael Vick or same old, waiting-to-fall-off-the-wagon Michael Vick. I hope for the first choice, it would be good for him, football, and for people to see someone can change for the better.
I plan to do the same thing I did last season, predicting my favs for the week and all. As time gets closer to opening kickoff, I'll try to post some of my thoughts about the '09-10 season. YEAH FOOTBALL!!!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Bigfork/Flathead Lake trip
For our 10th anniversary this past June, Tony and I went to a nifty little cabin called the Islander in Bigfork, Montana. I fell in love with the area. I have also always wanted to be in a boat on Flathead Lake. So, this past weekend, we returned to this little piece of heaven on earth. We double hauled the camper and the boat and stayed at a nice little campground (with full hookups!) and a place to keep your boat. We found it on our last trip.
There are lots of lovely homes right on the shore of Flathead Lake. I can't even begin to imagine what these people do for a living to afford places like this, but if I ever figure it out, this place is mine!
My Beautiful Girl! She was so exited to go fishing!
We stayed pretty close to shore... I am a chicken in the open water! But in some places it was still 300+ feet deep! Yikes! However, it was a perfect day to be on the water. We went 40 miles round trip. We started at Woods Bay, where our campsite is, and boated to Finley Point. Our boat got in quite a workout. We didn't go out the next day as it was too windy! So we went shopping in Kalispell and hit the Glacier Maze.
We were chasing some birds and Aria was trying to "fly" with them... goofy bugga!
The Maze and all was quite a hit with Aria! She loved the Go-Carts. You can't see it, but she had the biggest grin on her face driving those laps with her daddy! At the maze, there are 4 towers you have to get to in order to complete the maze. She found 3 of the 4, no lie! I tried to lead first, then Tony, and we both failed miserably. So we said to Aria, ok, you lead... and next thing you know we had 3 stamps on our ticket! She probably would've gotten the 4th one, but the maze is like 1.5 miles, and she was pooped. Not to mention she had the stomach flu the day before. She's quite the trooper! I said lets quit and she told me no! "I'm fine, momma!" (she's not gonna let a little puking get in the way of her camping!) Bumper boats where also a good time; she got to squirt the water gun!
Let the memory making begin!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Found my camera!! So, this is a month late
Yeah, silly me. I seem to lose my camera often, but it always finds me sooner or later. Here are the pix from the Joplin Centennial from last month (almost to the date). It started Friday evening and Tony, Rick and Craig were one of three bands that performed for the dinner/dance. They sounded great and had lots of fun. The next day had more Centennial festivities along with the annual Art in the Park/Car Show. The weather was chilly and rainy most of that day, so many activities were postponed or moved indoors, like the movie and slide show. They did, however, put on an impressive fireworks display, despite the rain. As many of you know, Tony was raised in the area, it's definitely home for him and close to home for me as I grew up in Chester which is just 10 miles west of Joplin. Many of his old friends were home to visit. Surprisingly, and in a good way, I new more Joplin folk than I thought I did, and spent a lot of time catching up with several people over the weekend. It was nice to see a GREAT turnout for the event (I heard from 900-1200 total... which is incredible for a town with maybe 300 people in it now!). I was especially glad to spend a couple wonderful hours with my good friends Kris and Kevin Eveland (twin siblings I have known basically all my life and went to school with). The community really did a great job pulling off a successful Centennial celebration!
Craig, Tony & Rick shared the stage with 2 other bands... they have lots of equipment, but not that much!
Pictures don't do justice, but this little building, the Joplin Community Hall (where our wedding reception was) was PACKED!! There were twice as many people outside also... GREAT ATTENDANCE!
The little cutie with the blue balloon is Aria and her dancing partner... she danced with that balloon all night!
Again, no justice, but the fireworks were awesome! and loud in a little town:)
Sleeping Beauty... she was wiped out!
Craig, Tony & Rick shared the stage with 2 other bands... they have lots of equipment, but not that much!
Pictures don't do justice, but this little building, the Joplin Community Hall (where our wedding reception was) was PACKED!! There were twice as many people outside also... GREAT ATTENDANCE!
The little cutie with the blue balloon is Aria and her dancing partner... she danced with that balloon all night!
Again, no justice, but the fireworks were awesome! and loud in a little town:)
Sleeping Beauty... she was wiped out!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Happy Independence Day
Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful weekend and remember why and how this country was founded. I know who I'll be thinking of this weekend!!! I am so proud and honored to have 2 family members PROUDLY serving our country... we love you Daniel and Paul and can't wait till you're both home!
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