Mom, I have bad news

Why do these words strike terror in the hearts of us moms?

My United States Marine son called me a few days ago. 

Phone: ringing

Mom: Hello?

Son: Mom, I have bad news.

Mom: not nervous full of anxiety…What’s the matter son?

Son: I won’t be coming home before deployment.  Actually, they changed our deployment date to August 27th. AND we are deploying to Pakistan.

Mom: silence

Son: You there, Mom?

Mom: Yes, just stunned.

I have been prepared for his deployment for years…even before he was a Marine. I always knew he would be a Marine and that deployment goes along with that.

But, the reality of it being here and being here sooner than I planned for, and heading to Pakistan, wasn’t what I was planned for.

Looking back on this little boy…curly blonde hair, big brown eyes and incredible smile, makes me want to kiss him all over. I used to dance with him in my arms, swing him over and over ‘til my arms hurt, and kiss all his boo-boos.

He is now 6’ 1”, still blonde, still has beautiful brown eyes and that smile is just as big as when he was little.  And he still lets me kiss him and dance with him! We just dance ballroom now!

 

So, in less than 2 weeks, my little boy grown man leaves on a carrier for Pakistan. Taking with him all the love he can carry from  his family and God.

Pakistan has had tremendous amounts of flooding. So, the Marines are going in for relief work as well as possible hostilities with the Taliban.

Our son will be in logistics so we aren’t sure what his responsibilities will be.

He will be working towards peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan until May of 2011.

We will miss him beyond words, we will cry with him when he leaves, we will keep track of his MUE, we will pray daily for his safety, we will run with open arms to welcome  him back to American soil and the safety of his family in May, we will never let a day go by that we don’t have his name on our lips.

*On a last minute notice:  he gets to come home (outa the blue) for this coming weekend! We will actually get to see him for 3 days before he heads out to serve his country.

Our summer in pictures

Flower girls

 

 

There’s just something about hanging clothes on the line.  Bend, lift, snap, bend, lift, snap…therapy on a string.

Wild Shasta daisies

  The beginning of the garden

It’s berry time. These raspberries grow wild on our property.

Pond fun

Tubing on the pond

Cody

Finley

Pretending to have fun

Our working boys

A girl and her horse

Pretending I like this

The summer clan.

This is only a few of the wonderful exploits we had this summer. It would take you way too long to go through everything we did! Maybe I can make a slide show and post it.  That would be cool!

Farmhouse Chicks

Horse Play

We spent the last 2 days at Ranch Shekinah where my honey is working and the rest of us are camping.

Yesterday we spent fellowshipping with others here at the camp.  Many came out to get a taste of farm life.  With the 40 acre farm there were many children catching fish, rowing boats and threatening to push others off the dock.

Some of us sat up on the deck of the missionary quarters discussing scripture, recent projects, family happenings and the like.

Others took long walks on the trails enjoying the wild berries and tall grasses.

My honey and I rode horses with our brood. I am not much for horses, but it’s always a good thing to do with our little peeps. We made one round on the trail, sore backside and all, Oh, have to digress here….I was told by Rachael that since I was in an English saddle I could “post”. Yea, right!  I’m doin’ good to just stay on the horse, much less bob up and down like some professional rider!

I spent most of the time holding on for dear life while this beast of an animal trotted, sideswiped trees, and bent down to get fast food on the run!

By the time we get back, Antionette, the owner of Ranch Shekinah had come out to join our ride.  WELLL…I can’t be showed up, so I decide I must go on another ride!

This time I decide to ride a horse with a Western saddle…you know the kind that have the horn to hold on to!

This horse also had fast food on the mind as he was always catching stray branches to eat on his trot with me.  I spent most of my time slamming my backside in the saddle and reminding myself that this is supposed to be fun!

Well, we came to a spot on the trail that is muddy and the girls up ahead yell to me not to look at the mud because then the horse won’t want to walk through it and will side swipe trees to get around it. Well, that was a little late, cuz all I heard was look at the mud!

C-R-A-C-K! Into the tree I went. Left kneecap is now located on the back of my leg. Searing pain is creeping up my thigh and the horse is now running to get out of the mud and away from the screaming woman on it’s back!

Can we go to the round pen? Can I get off? Can you get me a stretcher!?

Thanks peeps…it was great….we hafta do that again sometime….now where’s my wheelchair?

Horseless Farmhouse Chicks (I like it that way)

Buick Open Classic

Buick Open Classic

I was invited to the Buick Open Classic…or at least that’s what they called it last year. GM has pulled out and now it’s called something else, but never-the-less I was invited to set up an Advocare booth.
I spent the day yesterday Sparking up the staff at The Jewel in Grand Blanc, MI.
They were raving about our Lemonade Spark…the one that Drew Brees, Quarter Back for the Saints drinks. It tastes soooo incredibly yummy!
After a full day of being with that awesome staff I went home to prepare for an early rise to be at The Jewel by 7am to greet the Pro Am golfers with some Spark.
They hit the registration table then came to see me to get some cutting edge mental clarity and focus for the game. I mixed the Spark with some Rehydrate as well to give them hydration for their game. They were very thankful and many purchased product that I had on hand.
I had the opportunity to meet some great people and get great product in them! I’ll be interested to find out how they did at the game!





Brett Quigley, the PGA Pro Golfer is one of our unpaid endorsers and he uses:
What
Brett
uses:

AdvoCare® Slam™AdvoCare Spark® Energy DrinkRehydrate Sports DrinkV16® Energy DrinkMeal Replacement ShakeDaily Protective Moisturizer

What Brett
says about
AdvoCare products:

"I travel more than 30 weeks a year playing professional golf, and Rehydrate is an integral part of my routine."

Career Highlights:

• 2006 Barclays Classic (T3)
  
• 2004 US Bank Championship (T2)
  
• 2001 BUY.com Classic champion
  
• 1996 Nike Classic champion
  
• 1987 US Junior Amateur champion

Too Cool! Stay Sparked UP!
Sandy

The invites are out!