We started this blog to keep in touch with all our wonderful friends and family. We hope you enjoy it and leave lots of comments because we love hearing from you!
It all started in June when we moved from Fresno, CA to Dayton, OH.
We traveled across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana with my parents and Hyrum.
We stopped to see Carthage Jail.
and beautiful Nauvoo.
We arrived at our new house. Benjamin informed us that he wanted to go back to his "clean house."
We got settled in.
Neal got his new wardrobe ready.
Neal went to COT (Commissioned Officer Training) in Alabama.
Benjamin and I went to Arizona and then on to the family cabin in Utah.
Benjamin and I had lots of fun together, just the two of us. I learned that I can do it on my own (and by on my own I mean with my parents and siblings help ;) ), but life is definitely better with Neal.
We got to see our favorite people.
Neal Graduated!
I swooned over seeing him in his uniform.
We went back to Ohio across through Tennessee and Kentucky.
Neal got used to getting up early and wearing the same thing to work every day. I got used to meeting lots of new people on a daily basis.
We traveled some more.
Kirtland Temple.
We camped on Lake Eerie
We saw Niagra Falls.
We laughed at Neal's silly faces.
Smith Farm and Sacred Grove.
Mom K came to visit.
We went to Chicago to pick her up.
We had brunch on the 96th floor of the Hancock building.
Then she went to Kirtland to meet her sister...
and hung out with the prophet.
We went back to Chicago to drop her off.
The big city I never knew I would love!
Then Nicki came to visit for Halloween.
Benjamin dressed up as Skywalker. Nicki dressed up as scary Dora.
But then she went back to being just beautiful Nicki.
Neal ran a 5K!
Benjamin said everybody ran slow except his daddy.
My parents surprised me with a weekend trip to AZ for my sister, Jenny's shower.
I got a new car!
I prefer driving to running long distances.
We went to Toronto to Visit Michelle's family for Thanksgiving
The CN tower in Toronto.
The Dock on the Toronto Side of Lake Ontario.
We came home to prepare for Christmas in AZ.
And last, but not least, I got a haircut that is a cross between a bowl cut and a mullet or "the bullet" if you will.
I cried.
Then I got mad.
We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!! We love you and miss you!
I just thought I would post a few pictures of our new life in Ohio. Everything here is going really well here. I had a few moments of temporary insanity immediately after moving here, thinking what in the world have we done!!?? Fortunately, those passed quickly.
Our ward and neighborhood are great! For those of you who don't know, we chose to live on base. It's been a good decision, because though the military housing here is considered small for what you can get for the money, it's very convenient. Also, our neighbors are all military, so the first day we were here three families came over and introduced themselves. It's really true what they say about the military being like a family.
Neal has taken to the military like a fish to water. How could I not know this is where he was meant to be? He loves it! He loves the structure, he loves the sense of purpose he feels, he loves not having to think about what he's wearing every morning, and the early hours and short commute, and most of all he loves the work he's doing. He absolutely loves working with soldiers and their families.
I love that he has so many federal holidays off and thirty days of leave every year! I also love that we get to see so many new places and meet new people. Over the summer I counted 14 new states we'd been to. We just got back from a trip across upstate New York and down through mid Pennsylvania. It was awsome to be able to see Lake Eerie and Niagra Falls and then go see all the church history sites in that area, not to mention the beautiful landscapes and forrests. Being here really is an adventure.
We do miss our friends and family terribly, and that is the downside. As wonderful as our ward has been, it's hard to feel really settled when we know and they know we're only here for a year. But I am grateful, nonetheless. Time is passing so quickly, and we're already looking forward to finding out where our next assignment we'll be. We should know by March and then we'll be moving in August mostly likely.
I’m awake at 6:30 this morning, saying good bye to my husband as he heads to work on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and I can’t help but think back eight years. It was a typical morning. I was working as a teacher. My husband was working as the assistant city planner of our quiet community. We had just bought our first home. It was an adorable fixer-upper with plaster walls and thick wood floors that needed to be refinished.
The alarm had already gone off once which turned the radio on in our room. As usual, I was still asleep waiting for my own personal alarm (Neal) to wake me up when I really couldn’t spare another minute of sleep.
Like every other morning I felt his hand on my shoulder, “Candi, wake up.” I grunted, probably unintelligibly. Then his shaking was more insistent, “Candi. Wake. Up. Our country has been attacked.”
Those were words I had never expected to hear. I rolled over quickly and sat up. “What!?” I said as he turned off the radio and flipped on the TV in our room, searching for the news.
“Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers,” he said. I was about to ask him more, but then I stopped. We both stared at the screen at the image we all know so well.
Live camera crews were on the ground filming the disaster. They were talking about the mass chaos, speculating on what had happened. You could hear the shock in everyone’s voice as they watched the scene in front of them. Then the first tower fell. It happened so fast and a thick, black cloud of dust and debris rolled like a wave through the streets. I remember so clearly the horrible recognition of what had just happened, how many people had died in an instant. Then it happened again. Then the third plane hit the Pentagon. My sister lived in Washington DC. Then the fourth plane crashed. I remember thinking, how long is this going to go on? When will it stop? How many more people are going to die?
Above us we could hear the afterburners of the F-14s taking off from the Air National Guard Base that was just a few miles from our home. That was to become a common sound in the coming months as they continually patrolled the coast. It always shook the old windows of our little house.
We learned in the weeks that followed that the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history had taken the lives of 2,974 innocent victims and 19 hijackers. A national tragedy gripped the nation. It’s was as if all of us had been affected. For weeks all I could do when I get home at night was turn on the news and stare.
Fast forward eight years. Last week I get a call from my sister. One of her friends has been killed in Afghanistan, leaving behind a young wife. She expresses feelings of frustration at news media and politicians who are effusive at times and silent at others. Their concern over the troops seems to be closely correlated with how much it will help or hurt their agenda to talk about them. A young man dying in Mesa, AZ is not a national tragedy, but it is completely devastating to one family. I realize that the September 11th death toll is still rising. More than 5,000 U.S. troops have died in the war on terror and countless other innocent civilians and foreign troops.
I had a realization as I was walking through the commissary a few days ago. I saw a young veteran at the end of the line where I stood. He had three prosthetic limbs and one stump. He had lost all four limbs for his country. I almost didn’t want to look. It made me feel ashamed of my own weaknesses and selfish tendencies. It made me feel ashamed of the fact that I’m scared to be away from my husband for a matter of a few months. In that moment I realized that for the majority of Americans freedom is cheap, even free. There is no personal cost. All it takes is a few of their tax dollars. Big deal. But for a very few Americans freedom costs an unimaginable price: their lives, their limbs, their loved ones, the precious moments watching their children grow up.
One of my neighbor’s husbands has been deployed for the fifth time. She has four children. Another of my neighbor’s children listen to their dad’s voice on CD each night say recited prayers and read their favorite stories. She said that the first year of their marriage her husband was gone 260 days. To them freedom is not cheap. But it has not cost them yet more than they are willing to pay. They know it’s true worth.
One of the most amazing things to me is that those who have paid the highest price for freedom are those who will tell you that it is worth the cost. My husband sees injured and scarred soldiers whose only desire is to get back and keep fighting.
I can’t help but think about a time when every person in our country knew and understood the cost of freedom. Almost every family had a father or brother or son that had fought for that freedom. I don’t wish to go back to those days. We are incredibly blessed that so many do not have to suffer the horrors of war, but I do wish to share a thought from those who knew what Freedom truly cost and how much it was worth paying the price for.
The following speech is attributed to John Adams:
Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote… I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see clearly, through this day’s business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die, colonists ; die, slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the scaffold. Be it so ; be it so ! If it be the pleasure of heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But, while I do live, let me have a country, or at least, the hope of a country, and that a free country.
But whatever may be our fate, be assured; be assured that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood, but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires and illuminations. On its annual return, they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that, live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, Independence now, and INDEPENDENCE FOREVER !
Freedom may not cost us personally, but my hope and prayer is that it is never cheap in our hearts. I believe whole- heartedly that for the vast majority of Americans who will never have to see war or it’s effects, all that freedom requires is for them to remember and appreciate. And that is a very small price to pay.
I thought I would share pictures from a recent "eighties" party Neal and I attended with our good friends, Kasie and Jared. We took a slightly different route with the costumes than everyone else who came. It was hilarious to see everyone's reactions. See if you can pick us out of the picture. You might have to blow it up to see it better. All I have to say is, I've seen the future, and it's scary!
So by now most of you probably know that we are moving to Ohio, but for those of you who don't, I thought I'd do a quick post. Here's the skinny:
Where: Dayton, Ohio When: Mid June Why: Neal got an internship with the Air Force and will be working in a hospital on base at Wright Patterson How Long: One year for internship and then we have a three year commintment with the Air Force, so we will be stationed somewhere else (we have no idea where) for the three years following. Neal is really excited and hopes he loves the Air Force so he can make a career out of it.
Benjamin just turned four. And what an adorable and smart four year old he is. He gives constant hugs and kisses and is fond of telling people, "I think you're cute." He even tell strangers they're cute sometimes. He also loves to sing and paint and draw and do kung fu (he's got some amazing moves). He can sing his abc's and count to ten in English and Spanish. He loves to write the letter B and draw pictures of his family. Neal and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives. He brings us joy everyday!
This year for his birthday party I made him a Spongebob cake. It was a hit. All the cousins came over and had lunch and played games and then sat and watched his new Star Wars, Clone Wars movie while the adults played board games. We all had a great time.
We just returned from 10 days in San Antonio and Phoenix. Neal had a couple of his internship interviews, and I tagged along. My wonderful sisters and brother watched Benjamin for a few days while we were in San Antonio, and I think he didn't miss us one bit. He had so much fun playing with "baby J" and his uncles Tyler and Tyler and aunts Nicki, Jenny, and Natalie. He also loved the fact that his Grandma and Grandpa and uncles Hyrum and Matt came for a few days. I really have the best family in the whole world!
After Neal's interviews were finished we got to just hang out and relax for a few days during which time Tyler, Tyler, and Neal played a whole lot of rock band, and Nicki, Jenny, Natalie, and I did a whole lotta talking. Since we've been home Benjamin has lamented the loss of Tyler W's full size drum set (which he let him play constantly), and Jenny and Tyler's stairs. He's reminded me several times that our house does NOT have stairs.
So I just though I'd share some recent Benjamisms from the past week.
"Jesus is going to visit us in our house and he's going to drive his car"
"Mommy can you sing, 'I am a Chive of God' and 'Give Said the Little Scream.'"
"We don't eat quiche and we don't eat trash!"
"Mommy is my favorite Aunt!" (Glad to know where I rank ;)
This was the cutest little wrestling match I've ever seen. Benjamin and Carter were playing together in their dress ups, when all the sudden I heard laughing, punctuated by the occasional grunt, coming from the office. I started snapping pictures because it was just so funny! I think the final result was a draw. ;)
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