Decorating for the holidays

Since Jay is deployed this year and we'll be going back to Utah for Christmas I decided to decorate early this year.  Plus I am throwing a party for my fellow navy wives this weekend and I wanted it nice and festive for that event.  I spent all last Saturday decorating for it.  Here is the first batch of pictures:

I hang lights along my celing every year.

Here is Kaden helping me set up our tree.

I love Nativity sets.  Jay is trying to add to my collection.

This is my favorite Natvity set that Jay gave me for Chirstmas 3 years ago.

My other favorite, this one plays Silent Night

Annabelle discovered that stockings make great shoes.

Tragidy at Fort Hood

While I may not be a Army wife, I am a Navy wife and this affects me because it is a military base.  When an horrific event like today happens the different branches of the military become one in standing together for those who were gunned down.  The tragic events that have unfolded today at Fort Hood are absolutely awful.  Our bases are supposed to be safe and secure from attacks and today that wasn't the case.  Please pray for the families of those hurt and killed during the horrific events of this day.  I truly hope nothing like this happens ever again on any other base. 

Lessons

There have been many events in the last few weeks that have impacted our lives in ways that we still don't fully understand.  One earlier this week is a lesson I'll never forget.  I was litterally at a crossroads of choosing to continue on the stance of letting the PC (political correctness) group continue to have power or taking a stand that would quite literally change my life forever.  I took a chance and stood up for what was right and over night my life changed.  For days I was wondering if I made the right choice, even though I knew I had Jay's support in the choice I made and his full backing, until today.  All day long at church one lesson after another, one speaker after another just resonated with me and the choice I made.  The Lord made it quite clear to me that the choice I had made was the right one and that He will guide me in this choice as well as give me the strength that I will need in the coming months. 
The choice: Stand up against those who feel religion has no place in this country.  Stand up for religion was my choice.  For too long the PC group has said that the constitution states freedom from religion, well that is a lie.  In the Bill of Rights article 3 it states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I took a stand and have already paid a great price.  I have been attacked for the last several days for my stance and lost a few friends along the way.  But that was a price I was willing to pay to do the right thing.  I KNOW that I made the right choice, the Lord helped me see that quite clearly today.  And its a lesson that will change, and has already started to, my life and my family's lives for a long time to come.

Food Storage

I know many of our family do food storage as do we.  Well today in church a site was given that gives great information about doing gardening and food storage.  http://www.providentliving.org/  It is a LDS site which has incredible information about storing food and for how long and everything.  The gardening secion looked great too, especially since Jay wants a garden really bad and this gives some great tips as to how we can do one on our back porch in planter boxes. 

Port Call: Bahrian

For those who don't know where Bahrian is, it is an island in the Persian Gulf.  We happen to have a naval base there.  Well it is also a popular stop during deployments for a port visit.  This is Jay's first time ever to do this port as a port call.  The last time he was here was 2 years ago on his way to join up with the Nimitz and that was for just a few days, long enough to find our anniversarry wedding rings.  So this time he got to experience the culture through a guided tour.  These are just some of the photos from that tour:

The outside of an Islamic Mosque that they were given an opportuinity to tour.

The back of the same mosque

The interrior of the mosque

Some ancient Roman ruins.

Jared Hyde, a good friend of ours (I'm good friends with his wife, so we're family friends), petting a camel.

For security and safty reasons they had to go in groups of 3 for this port, normally it is groups of 2.

Jay petting a camel.  He said it was like a big puppy.

These are the Saudi King's uncle's camels.  Apparently the guy really loves camels.

The Tree of Life (sorry don't know much beyond this)

This is the world's largest suspension bridge in the world.  It stretches from Bahrian over to Saudi Arabia as well as some other islands in the area from what Jay was telling me.

Jay had a lot of fun in this port and we got to do some webcaming and the kids got to see their dad, which for Annabelle was a major highlight of her week.  (She's a daddy's girl) 

Annabelle's 2nd Birthday

A week ago today Annabelle turned 2.  I can't believe she's already two years old.  This was the first time Jay has missed her birthday, but he did his best to make up for it by making a specail movie for her for her special day as well as a phone call.  He has also sent sometihng for her, but we've yet to recieve it.  This year I kept it simple and did a few gifts, and a cake.  She loved the gifts she got from Jay and I and the clothes from my parents.

This is one of the dresses that was from Jay and I.

Her toy cell phone

Her new doll

Her birthday cake

And what wouldn't be a good birthday unless the icecream from her cake was on her face.

Trick or Treat: Sea World

Every year Sea World does a trick or treat for the kids on weekends straight through halloween.  Well this year the kids and I went and met up with some of the great gals from ASA.  The place was packed.  I was shocked to see how many people were there, especially considering its not peak times for the park.  We had a lot of fun.  The kids got to trick or treat and get in a few shows.  Sadly Shamu was the one we missed due to it being that packed.

Annabelle was going to be Snow White for Halloween, sadly she is a little too big for her costume and hated it.

Kaden insisted on being Bumble Bee from Transformers, that happens to be his favorite character.  He loves this costume and wears it more than his normal clothes at the moment.

Here is some of our group:  Photina (on the left) with her 3 girls and Brittnay on the right with her daughter, Cassie.  Josh is also her's and he's just slightly out of the picture in the left corner.

Here is Kaden and Lilly.  Those two just love getting to see each other.

This was at the Sesame street show.  THe kids loved it.

Here is Wendy with her little boy.

Here is Photina dancing with her girls after the show.

Annabelle in her Halloween outfit since she hated her costume.

Josh and Cassie

Kaden and Lilly. 

The whole day was fun for the kids and I.