So a little bit more of a fun update, Deployment news…. Good news we figured out we only have about 7 more Skype dates until my love is home. It has been the roughest deployment for me but we are almost done. We have about 60 days until he is home it is hard to believe but then again not. I know I have grown stronger, wiser and more spiritual during this deployment. I really have learned a lot about how I see myself as a mom and wife and I know what I can do better for my family. Kids update…. I know it has been 2 yrs. Kaitlyn now is in 5th grade and is doing awesome. School wise she is coming along. She really has worked hard to get where she is. I am very proud of her. She has grown into such a wonderful young lady. I love how she has one of the kindest hearts I have ever known. Lucas my silly boy, oh how I love him. He is so smart and so good. I sometimes feel I am a little hard on him. He is now in 1st grade and getting amazing grades. He is still my comedian and makes me laugh at least 5 times a day. Jerome wow what can I say. He is still in the special needs preschool for speech and he is doing so well. Most people can understand he when he slows down, he talks so fast and is so entertaining to watch. He has really grown and is becoming one of the sweetest boys I know. Rissa Jean (Merissa) the past 14 months have been amazing. I cannot believe how much you have grown in the last yr. My baby is now in a big girl bed and is not trying to get out yet. I know maybe when she learns to walk she will try to escape but as on know she is still confined. She is a sweet little girl that loves to snuggle not always with mommy but she is a snuggling someone most of the time. So that is a small update on what is going on in our lives we are really excited for Christmas. I think the kids will love their big surprise. I got a huge box I am going to wrap and weight down than when Matt gets home we will stuff him in the box and let the kids open him. I am really bad at not letting in the surprise when it comes to the kids so I am hoping that I can do this. I am so scared I am going to be so excited that I let it slip. I know I have some amazing people who surround me that will keep me in check and keep the kids while I smuggle Matthew into the box.

Dusting off and starting new

Wow…. Dusting off and going to try and do this blog thing again. Life has changed so much in the last 2 yrs. We no longer are a family of 5 but 6. Most of what has changed though has not been the outside but how I have grown and built a relationship with God. 3 yrs. ago I believe in god and thought that was good enough but know that I know god I have realized just believing is not what I need to do. My life has changed and I am happy I have grown and it makes me smile. Life is so complicated in the military and God has taught me a lot of lessons about who I am and how I affect people. I was a totally different person before I surround myself with people who love the lord. In the past I was a fallowed the crowd and did what everyone else was doing. Now I know to stand up for what I believe and I have people who know who I am and Love me for me. I have not felt like I have to be someone I am not in so long it really is a blessing of not having to worry if my hair is done or that I am not wearing makeup or what clothes I wear. I know all that can sound childish but those things were so much of my life in the past. I KNOW WILL STAND ONTOP OF MOUNTAIN AND PRAISE THE LORD FOR BLESSING ME IN THE HARD TIMES AND THE GREAT TIMES. The last few months have been the most difficult for me. Matt is in Afghanistan and it has been the hardest deployment even with all the support I have had with my amazing friends here at Minot. Even though I know that God has a plan for Matt it is still hard to understand who he is away from family. I have seen my relationship dip and I am not proud and do not like that it has. I am making a point of getting into the word daily and bettering myself more not for me but I want to be who God has intended me to be. I want to do everything in my power to live the life that was planned for me and to take the time to listen to God and not only put what I want on him. He already knows and my desires. So here I am back to start this journey of blogging but now it is not just going to be about our family but how I am doing and growing my relationship with the lord.