My 4th Grader....

I'm still in denial that I have a 10 year old. Even with his new school picture that makes him look 13, I refuse to believe that he is 10. I will probably remain in denial until he leaves for college....and even then I may shut my eyes to the whole business. Love you Ian!

Happy Veterans Day!

It's weird but I never really thought at some point in my life I would ever reflect on Veterans Day with as much pride as I do now. I wasn't in the Air Force for any real length of time...6 years is all. But, they still call me a Veteran and I almost feel guilty claiming that title. I joined the Air Force for selfish reasons really. Not with the idea that I would be proudly serving my country, but as a means to end. I wanted to get my student loans paid off and then finish school while I was serving. Perhaps even get a job with the FBI when I got out. I never realized that I would ever get to the point where I could truly feel pride when I told someone I had been in the Air Force. I didn't understand that concept at all. Now here I am, some 15 years later and I'm lucky if I can get through the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem without bawling. I learned a lot while I was selfishly serving, but I think the most important lessons that I took from the experience were these:

1. I came to know exactly what Patriotism means and why it is so important to pass on to my children.
2. I became associated with true Patriots and Veterans who chose to selflessly serve our country for the right reasons and loved/love doing it. I think of these people often, especially during this time of war and wonder where they are; but I know exactly what they are doing and I feel much love and gratitude for these soldiers/airmen/seamen/marines.
3. I learned a lot of lessons in patience, strength; both emotional and physical, perseverance, and even more lessons in self awareness.
4. I learned that despite its flaws, we live in a pretty great country.... and I understand fully what it means to be "Proud to be an American".

So, on this Veterans Day I guess I not only want to send out a cyber 'Thank You' to those who have served and continue to serve but I wanted to also express thanks for my experience in those 6 short years and say that even though I didn't physically fight or even sacrifice much, I am very proud of what I did give and even more proud to tell those stories to my children. I love that they are proud to tell their friends that their Mom was in the Air Force (even though they are really just excited to tell them that I shot guns...Hoo-Rah!)

ESPN & Pizza...(and a flat tire)

Seems like a strange combination for me, I know. But, here is the story... Today was the boys' last soccer games for the Fall season. Thank heavens. I dont know that I have ever been so glad to have one of their activities be over with. Not that I don't enjoy watching them but this was a crazy Fall and truthfully I never really got to watch much of any game completely due to running back and forth between fields!!

After Ian's first game at 8am, his coach cooked up pancakes/sausage/eggs...I brought fresh fruit and we all enjoyed a great breakfast before they played a second game at 10:30....after we ate, I had to run Evan over to his field for a 10am game. Sadly, when I got up to the van, the back tire was completely flat. It has a nail in it. I didn't have time to do anything so a nice mom took us over to the game and then another mom from Evan's team drove us back to the other field to deal with the tire. Ive never changed a flat tire before so I figured I may as well learn how! I got the van jacked up but was having major trouble getting the lug nuts off. They were on soooo tight. I was completely floored by the number of soccer Dad's who walked right past me as I sat on the ground struggling with the tire, and didn't so much as look at me let alone offer to help. It actually became quite comical and the boys even were in on the joke. I took the opportunity to point out to them how important it is to offer help when you see someone in need. Hopefully they will remember it. Ian did announce the situation once we returned to the apartment to one of the women in our court....obviously the whole thing made an impression on him. But, I did get the tire changed all by myself and I felt accomplished for doing so!

When we got home, we had planned on watching some of the Harry Potter movies but a friend of mine from the choir that I sing in called me and asked for some help.

She is friends with Trevor Matich who is an announcer for ESPN (he played football at BYU and then the Redskins in the NFL).... she wanted to stop by and say hello to him since they were set up at the University of Utah for the big game today (which the Utes lost miserably).

She lives in Provo though and wanted to know if I could drive her to where he was because she isn't familiar with the campus up here. It was fun for the boys to watch the live broadcast of ESPN and then get to take pictures with Trevor Matich.

Ian kept saying "I cant believe I am watching this live!" Afterward, we all went out for pizza. It was a good time...I'm so glad she called me. She has really become such a great friend! Here are a couple of more pics.....