Thankful Post

This is what I am Thankful for at this time in my life. Hope you enjoy reading.

Hello Family,
This morning at 0651 PST my phone rang and it was my dear husband on the phone. He called to let me know that he is thinking about me and to be able to hear my voice.
I never really expect him to call since we have cell phones and he emails just about every day. The first couple of deployment I guess I needed it more, but I am not relying on the phone calls to get me through, I do rely on the emails though. So when I do get a phone call they are really nice surprises when they do happen.
Rick is doing well. He is loving (if that can be said for being away from your family) this deployment. He is with a great company and in a different spot than his previous deployment to Afghanistan. He is kept busy with his work so the time is going by quickly for him. He does get time to go to church though I think it is only a sacrament meeting and maybe Sunday school. Here is a quote from a recent email from Rick.
"Over here it is same day of ordering, receiving, sorting, organizing, and then eating, reading, PT, showering, and sleeping.
At least today I will have an hour of church.
I am happy that I am busy as the days are going by fast for me."
Rick sounds good. Just as it is nice for me to hear his voice he says that it is good for him to hear mine as well.
It is sometimes difficult to communicate since we now have a 12 1/2 hour time difference between us. So when I am getting up in the morning he is going to bed. It is a definite test of patience as I send emails and want answers to questions but don't receive them as instantly as I would like. We talked a bit about this(patience) during Sunday School today in Church as we talked about the Book of James.
With this being Thanksgiving week (for those who are in the US at least) I am grateful for Eternal Marriage and being sealed to my husband for time and all eternity. Even though throughout most of our 15 1/2 years of marriage we have spent close to 5 years apart due to deployments and other trainings and other times of being away from each other. I love Rick with all my heart and every day gain a greater appreciation for all that he does for me and our family and in turn for each of you as he helps to fight for the freedoms that we all enjoy.
I am also grateful for extended family, for the parents in law that I have, the extra grandparents that I got with my marriage to Rick. My siblings in law brothers and sisters. You all mean so much to me and I am grateful for the things that I have learned from each and everyone of you. I am Thankful for my parents and for the things that they taught me and knowing that because of the Plan of Salvation of our Savior I will see my mom again.
I am thankful for my brothers and sisters and for the things that I have learned from them. I am glad that at this point in my life I can be good friends with them and am glad that I am closer in proximity to them (than we were in Europe though I still love and miss Europe a lot!) so that it can be easier to visit with them and takes a little less planning and a lot less money to make those visits happen.
I know that there are some of you who are getting this email who are going through difficult times right now, it is through the Atonement and suffering that our Savior Jesus Christ went through in the Garden of Gethsemane, that we can get through our trials if we only turn to him and trust in him in all that we do.
I also know that there are some who don't believe the same things that I believe but I still love you for who you are and what I can learn from the things that you do believe in.
I am also grateful for all of the friends that I have made throughout my life so far. I am grateful that I was able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ over 17 years ago and that because I did so made some wonderful friends and met my husband because of my mission. I am grateful for the opportunities that having my husband be in the military has brought to our family. For being able to go and travel throughout Europe and meeting people from all over and making friendships that I hope will last a lifetime.
I am grateful for modern inventions like the telephone (including cellphones) and internet so that I can communicate with family and friends all over the world and receive a reply in a short amount of time.
I am thankful that I have a place to call home that protects me from the elements and that I have a way to get my children to their various activities. I really do love my kids even though they fight and misbehave during meetings, they really are good kids and when I meet with their teachers or advisors and they tell me what good kids they are in school or in church and how much they enjoy working with my kids. I think I have gone on enough.
I Love each and everyone of you. THANK YOU for all that you have taught me and continue to teach me as I am always learning.
I hope that you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving week.
Love from the Northwest Norris'

Veteran's Day or Remembrance Day 11/11/11.

This is what I posted on my Facebook profile today to honor the veterans in my family. Though I just realized that I forgot some of my husband family, Father was in the Air Force, Maternal Grandfather in the Navy and others but I can't remember exactly what service they were in though his brother is in the US Army National Guard, his paternal grandfather as well as a stepbrother were also in the service.

Thanks to all who have served, currently serve and will serve in the future to preserve our freedoms.

On this Veteran's Day I would like to thank my very own veteran Rick,(even though he is not here currently on deployment #4) for helping to protect and serve this country. I am also grateful for my other ancestors who have fought for freedom and sacrificed with their lives.

Thanks to my brother Mark for setting this up:

Lt. Percy Watkiss Fisher DCM. Born 15 Dec 1881. KIA 12 Sep 1916 Battle of the Somme.

Capt. Raymond Wadams Fisher. Born 13 Feb 1883. KIA 13 Sep 1916 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Lt. Francis Joseph Bore. Born 15 Feb 1913. KIA 17 Sep 1944 Sanatorium, Bray Dunes Plage, France. South Saskatchewan Regiment

F.O. Robert Jordan Sheen. Born 7 Sep 1918. KIA 13 Jul 1944 over the North Sea. Royal Canadian Air Force

Joseph Fisher. Home Guard WWI

Lt. Reginald William Fisher. 19th Alberta Dragoons, 52nd Batt.Canadian Divisional Cavalry & 10 Northumberland Fusiliers. WWI

Cpl. Archibald Rooke Fisher. 10 Hussars & Warwickshire Yeomanry WWI

Joseph Bernard Fisher. South Staffordshire Regiment WWI

John William Fisher. WWI

Percy Raymond Shapcote Bore. Royal Canadian Navy WWII

Sgt Clarence Sheen. WWII

Howard Coombs Stutz. US 3rd Army WWII.

I am also grateful that I have been named after my Grandfather Francis Joseph Bore (Jill Frances) and that I have had the opportunity and privilege to go and visit his burial place in Belgium as well as that of my great great Percy Watkiss Fisher, during our time that we lived in Europe.

Thank you also to all others currently serving that I have met on our military journey so far.

You all are appreciated very much.

New changes

This summer has brought a lot of changes for our family. The biggest one was moving from Europe after having lived there for almost 9 years. We are now located in the state of Washington. We are slowly getting settled into the area and the ward. We are part of the Ft. Lewis Ward. Our kids are all registered for school and will start on the 7th. We picked up our van on the 26th of August and moved into a 3 bedroom apartment off post while waiting for a place on post, as of right now we are just waiting for our household goods to arrive so that we no longer have to sit on the floor or sleep on little mats on the floor. We got cable and internet hooked up yesterday Aug 31 and we have had cell phones for a couple of weeks now. We are able to call or text any other cell number in the US for free and unlimited so if you want our number send me yours to my email: jnorris96@hotmail.com. That is all for now more to come when we get more settled.

Happy New Year

Well we have come to another year and this one brings big changes to the Norris Family. Before you go reading any further NO I am not pregnant. the big change is that we will be leaving Europe after almost spending 9 years on this beautiful continent. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here in Europe and are sad that it must come to an end. I can only hope that we will be back some day soon. The reason that we will be leaving Europe is that the military has decided that we need to spend some time in the Northwest part of the United States. While it isn;t like staying in Europe by moving to another country I am happy with the move as it will allow us to get reacquainted with Rick's mom. Rick has been in the army for 10 years now and the last time Rick physically saw his mom was right before he flew from SLC to head to SC for basic training. So this will give us a chance to get to know her again, and give her a chance to get to know Amina who she hasn't met yet only seen in pictures. I can't even say that Mother(Grandma Jackie) has talked to Amina on the phone because Amina doesn't like to talk on the phone. I am sure that will change though once she becomes a teenager. So as of now we have about 6 months left to explore Europe as well as take care of everything that comes with the whole moving process. We are planning on a Baltic Cruise as our last major touring of Europe. I have at least one brother (hopefully 2) that want to come over and visit us before we leave so we will show them around the local area here in the Netherlands and branching out to surrounding countries. I hope that I can get as much last minute trips to cross of my list as I can so that I can be truly satisfied and not think if only we (I) could have gone to.... I am excited for the new opportunities that lie before us in the upcoming months and years. I always try to look on the positive aspects of each adventure we get with moving. I only hate to say goodbye (or see you later) to dear friends that I make. At least we have email and facebook in which to stay in touch. That is all I got for now I will try to be more on top of this blogging process as time goes on. I hope you all have a fabulous day.