home again

Jiggidy Jig.  We return to home base with no little sadness and resignation that life as we know it continues, with work and "back to normal" and learning what that means all over again.  If deployment is our dividing line for time together, the child is the line of a new race for us to run.  May our hearts rise to the occasion.

fair warning

Her majesty Orual has rescued and revivified her journal: Deadlands and Courtyards, as linked to the right.

Blog Friend

On these wintry days, it's a pleasure to hole up in the warm house and read, drink hot beverages, and talk.

One of our good friends sent us a link to their new blog, created as a forum for discussion.  As a group who meets regularly, they are thinking through the book of Hebrews.  Now,  the rest of us can join in on their musings and add to the community of thought.

Check out the side link of "Batter my Heart"
http://battermyheartblog.blogspot.com/

Did you see it?

Excerpt from an email Eric sent when the moon was full:

It is a beautiful evening here.  The moon is full, and there is to be a partial eclipse at midnight.  I may walk outside to see it.  I got some great pics of the very full, big moon rising this eve.  It was lovely.  We see such shadows here.  In the midst of war, death, and fear there is beauty.  God's mercy is indeed evident in everything, and I can not wait until we all can see it beyond the shadows.

Three moons since he left, and we look to each new moon with the anticipation of pilgrims seeking their homeland, where their heart may rest and their true love waits.

New Addition

Our blog family is growing....again.  Check it out on the sidebar: Talking Lion.  Now, he won't quite take over the shelf of red tulips.  

First Christmas

He got lots of presents, little gift-child!  We think he enjoyed the tree lights.  He most loves the swing that we put in front of the tree, thanks to the Smiths for loaning it!

Daily diaper

...and out of his newborn clothes!

He's growing into his cloth ones....

Second Leg

From the hospital, he travelled to his first temporary quarters at the Air Force Base Inn...

...then on to Tennessee to visit the farm where his daddy grew up.

Welcome home, baby boy!

He slept as he flew out of the hospital.

New Addition

Welcome baby Omari!  Born 15 December 2009, Kansas.

Turkey Trot!

On a team of five, we ran, shuffled, and pushed our aching legs for 4.97 miles!  Through a thin white fog, we trod a track of stately homes and fallen leaves, past deluxe duplexes and fancy hotels back to the Bojangles where the warm biscuits and coffee went home on the arms of moms, dad, and grandpas in bright yellow boxes, the sunshine of happy taste buds.  The start line was packed; it was the obvious the race had sold out.  Though we five started out together, we separated in the massive herd, so Kathryn, Patrick and I ran the whole way together, despite Kat's aching joints and side stitches.  Kristie and Elizabeth kept a brisk pace for themselves, wisely pacing their jog to gently challenge their muscular endurance.  They finished a mere quarter hour after us.

We finished with quickened beat and wheezing lungs--but fast!--over the finish line, right under an hour for the 8K. 

Visiting the hills of Tennessee in the fall of the year is a walk into another world than the one we live daily on the flat coastland. On the flight over, we saw the Appalachians crowned with deep lava-red and girded with remnants of green at their warmer feet, where lakes and winding rivers lie like piles and necklaces of diamonds that glitter in the sun. This time of year, they are no mere hills and hollers. With the sun shining through thinning branches of yellow, red, orange, and punctuated by sturdy evergreens, the wind whistles and hums tunes of long-ago memories and hints of the future, preparation for coming storms.