Reflections

Well the time has come for me to update again as I haven't done to well of a job in the past. Though it really hasn't been that long since I wrote my last post which was just over a month ago.
We are nearing the end of Rick's deployment of 3 months. It has gone by fast and the kids are starting to count down(especially Amina who actually took Rick being gone harder than we thought) to the time when Daddy comes back. I just hope that Rick will return before our 13th wedding anniversary which is on April 10th. For the most part these past 13 years doesn't seem to be that long. There are times when it feels like just yesterday that we walked out of the Salt Lake Temple as husband and wife. If that was the case then where did 3 children ages 12, 10 and 4 come from. I am truly lucky to have Rick in my life. He is a great provider for our family and a wonderful husband and father. I have been doing some thinking during our absence and am realizing how truly blessed I am in my life to have my husband. I have great parents who rasied me in the gospel and taught me that the only true way to happiness is by following the example of our Savior. I know that my mom was a great example of that throughout her life and I thanks her for that example. I miss you mom. My dad continues to teach me that through service in the Church we will be blessed. I have wonderful siblings and in laws who even though I am not close to them where I can see them very often they do still make me laugh and smile even my cute neices and nephews. Aiden I love your Stephen joke. We miss all of you and Kristyn I hope that we will be able to come and visit you in WA before you move. When I saw the pictures of the tulips that you posted on your blog I thought it was from here in the Netherlands. So I guess we need to visit you there during the Tulip Festival and you need to come to the Netherlands to see Keukenhof and then compare which tulips are better Washingtons or Hollands.
I am looking forward to my reunion with my husband when he returns from Afghanistan. I really do miss him when he is away even if it is for a week or less. I am glad that we do have theses times apart though so that I do realize what a blessing he is in my life.
I even love my kids even though they may fight about stupid things, like who has eaten more Nutella sandwiches and how much is put on the bread each time. I am tryingto teach them that it is silly to fight about things like that and to cherish the times that they spend together. My favorite sound is to hear all 3 of my children laughing and playing together.
I hope that I have not bored anyone with the reflecting that I have been doing. Thanks for reading.

Small Change in Address

Though I am not sure why this is happening we are getting a new postal zip code. I guess they (whoever they are) fell that we need a new one and decided to change it now. So if you are wanting to mail anything to us here is the new zip code effective Feb 1, 2009.
09752. The old one was 09703 so they just changed the last 2 number but it is still a pain to make sure that all of our subscriptions etc all have the new address change.

Happy New Year

Well since it is a new year I figure that I need to update my blog. This year so far has brought some changes to our family. No it is not those kind of changes I am not pregnant. Lt me finish what I am writing before you all jump to conclusions.
Our son Alex also known as AC turned 12 on Dec 31st, so on Jan 4th he was ordained to the office of a deacon.
On Jan 7th(Wed) at 0500 int he morning I drove Rick to the Brunssum NATO base where he got on a bus and headed to Ramstein to catch a plane to Afghanistan for a 3-4 month deployment. I am hoping that he will be back for our 13th anniversary which is April 10th. Rick called that night from Vogelweh saying that there were no flights out of Ramstein due to the cold weather. Thursday night around 11pm Rick called saying that he finally left Germany and was in turkey for a few hours until the next flight left. He called again on Friday to let me know he had made it to Krygystan. For the next 6 days everytime Rick called the question was asked if he had made it to his destination yet and the answer was always the same "no I am still here". Finally on Jan 15th I got a call from Rick and the question was asked"Are you there yet?" this time the reply was yes. So Rick is finally in Afghanistan in Kandahar. If you would like to correspond with him through email and are not a member of my immediate family (siblings or parents on both mine and his side) then send me an email and I will forward on his emailaddres that he can be reached at. I know that this deployment will be a quick one (compared to his previous ones) and he will be back before we know it. I have many offers of help from friends here so ia m in good hands. It is also a nice feeling to know that with AC having the priesthood we will always have it in our home unless both Rick and AC are gone like this weekend.
Ac is in Kanderstag Switzerland at the moment for a Boy Scout Winter Carnival. I am greatful to be in Europe at times like this when he can participate in Boy Scout activites and go to places such as Switzerland and Normandy for a weekend to do scout things and have fun with his friends.
I am trying to keep busy as always with the kids in school and Rick gone I make sure that I get seom time to myself as often as I can. I finally got all of our Christmas decoartaions put away. Actually I have some boxes to still put in the garage but I need to tape them up first and don't have the tape for it.
At least I can say that my Living room is clean(we will see how long that will last with my kids)
I hope that everyone has a healthy and happy new year.