Happy Veterans Day

To all those whom we love and know and those that we have yet to meet who are serving our country or have served our country THANK YOU and HAPPY VETERANS DAY.

For school today the boys watched this click here. Then I asked them to thank their daddy ;)

We are very grateful for this day that we have to celebrate the lives of those who have unselfishly given of themselves for our country's liberty and freedom. On this Veterans Day our family chose to do nothing but enjoy a regular day at home by doing nothing but enjoying the sounds of each others' voices and having an easy sandwich of your choice kind of lunch.

As I sit here with my egg sandwich, I contemplate our short but blessed time of service in the United States Air Force. We've delivered 3 children within 5 1/2 years of enlistment. We've moved from Provo to Mesa to Layton to Hill AFB to a bigger house on Hill AFB and then to our current residence in Clearfield. With all that moving you'd think we may have been stationed at more than one place but well we've been at the same duty station for our entire enlistment. With the way I say we you'd think my husband isn't the only one in the Air Force... well he isn't ...when he enlisted our entire family joined the Air Force.

Let's flash back right now... it was the first anniversary of that dreadful day dated 9-11-01. Piko looks at me and says I want to join the military. I begin to feel a sense of panic... um our country is at war and you want to join the military. Our baby is not yet old enough to go to the nursery at church and you want to join the military. I right then and there say, "NO." A couple weeks later the topic comes up again. I then decide that we need to take this to the Lord because I can't win this one without Him. So later that week Piko and I prayerfully go to the Temple in Provo (we lived in Provo for a little less than a year). The best inspiration is received while serving others!!! We got into Beauty. . . our wonderful hand-me-down Mercury Sable [thank you Mom Warr] which we grew out of. . . and Piko looks at me with no questions, just a smile of peace. I get my hands onto a set of scriptures and open up to the scripture that was running through my mind the entire time we were in the temple. . . it's the one about Captain Moroni, in Alma 48:11-17. There was my answer and Piko's answer and soon after we found ourselves in the Provo AF recruiting office.

Piko explained to me that he wanted to join the military not because his mom was a Captain in the Air National Guard [she's now Major Mom. . . hah, Piko has the privaledge of saluting his mom who works at our base clinic from time to time (*beaming smile from me, cheese, bcuz all sons should salute their mom!)] or just for the benefits but because he felt the need and overwhelming desire to play a part in this war on terrorism. Seriously that is his true motivation in joining the AF, nothing more nothing less. I believe because of his pure desire we have been blessed in many ways since we've enlisted. Piko has taken the opportunity to not only serve our country but our family and friends and the Lord.

Back to the present: So much has happened that our enlistment time is running short and the option of reenlisting is here and we find ourselves with the need to pray yet again. As time goes by our goals from the past sometimes change and now we find ourselves at a stalemate. What do we do next. . . all I can think is "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord," whether it be staying where we are now and Piko struggling to find a computer job, going to AZ for Piko to continue his education [grad school] or finding myself crying in the shower at night while the kids are sleeping so they don't sense my emotions while their daddy is away on his long awaited short tour that he has yet to complete if we reenlist. I trust in my husband to make a righteous decision for our family as he turns to the Lord for guidance. We'll see where the road leads to next. I've learned from these 7 years of marriage that all roads of life are rocky. . . it just depends on the means by which you use during your journey that determines the outcome of it.

These two pics are from the beginning of our journey as we entered the "BLUE".

Yea, we got to see Piko at his basic training graduation. What a joyeous reunion!

Then the hard part, leaving my hubby behind while Kanalu screamed for his daddy. . . thank goodness there was an caring Airman who has kids of his own who helped me calm my son who would go sleepless for another 2 months.

The ups and downs of life. Here's a quote from a movie I've seen maybe 80 times. . . "after the trials cometh the blessings." I'm imagining my TMSQ sisters lol at this one.

luvs and kisses, prayers and wishes!