We are grateful for family!

It was so great to have Dad, Susan, Eric and Hannah over for the Thanksgiving Holiday!

The annual ward turkey bowl was held behind our home, and Madison had to get in and injure her eye - this makes the third shiner on that same eye this year - all sports related, thank goodness! Madison wanted to get back in the game until I came out and threatned her with her life. Eric, Garrett, and Hannah also played while the rest of us cooked, ate the cheese ball, and watched the Macy's parade!

Eric turned sweet 16 while he was here. We went to "Joe's Crab Shack" for lunch, and Susan made Eric's favorite for dinner - Crepes with the works! It was a great idea and one that we will try for our kids. We watched "Nacho Libre", and had lots of laughs. Eric is a great young man, and has grown so much - he's really tall now!

Hannah is also a lovely teenager now, and she & Livi raided the dress-up box.

As a tradition with the kids, everyone slept together in the basement. We've been

doing this since everyone could walk. It's pretty cool that the buddies are all teenagers now.

Having family for the holiday made everything feel warm and loving. We braved the black friday rush and found a few screaming deals, and saw the Disney movie "Enchanted".

Great Visit!

Since dad has always volunteered to watch kids instead of going to see Mt. Vernon, which he has been wanting to see for years, we surprised everyone by taking everyone up to George and Martha's home for the day! The leaves are late in turning, so the trees are still in full, brilliant color! The day was sunny and warm, and we had a great time. We also brought our bikes up and took turns riding up the trail along the Potomac river.

This is George and Martha's back porch. Something like 8 million people come through each

year!

Some of us chilled on the grass instead of tourning the home. The daughers of Mt. Vernon organization bought all the land across the Potomac river to preserve the view as it would be

in the 1700's.

Garrett keeps Cecily from tumbling down the hill.

Rhett hears about everythng via web cam! We love him!

Filling Y'all In

Election day and parent teacher conference day all rolled into one! In our neck of the woods, that means you see a lot of well dressed retired people heading to the polls, then you follow them as they drive slowly down the road, follow them again to the grocery store, and stand in line behind them as we all wait for our prescriptions to be filled at the pharmacy. Maybe I'm not following them...maybe I AM one of them!
Rhett has safely arrived "in country", and his luggage finally made it a few days later. He is adjusting to the time change, his new home, and "inprocessing" to his new work. We saw him yesterday on the webcam. Our words took several seconds to get to him, so he was laughing at something we said about five seconds after we said it, and visa versa. It was great to see him! He and another guy were out in the courtyard talking to their families on their laptops. He found the times for the LDS church meetings, but only the Chaplain, Rhett, and another woman from Utah showed up to the meeting. The Chaplain is not LDS, but she explained that there had once been a group of LDS that met regularly, but they had lost momentum and had stopped. There are over 400 military enlisted members who are security personnel and can never leave the compound. Rhett has the Stake President's number, and is going to try and get something started again on the base. He is sure that out of those 400 military, there have to be some members of the church! So it's good to see that our go-getter Rhett already has a goal and a purpose where the church is concerned. He said that the church on the compound has a guitar and drums - no keyboard and no piano. He asked the chaplain if she could order one. I think I'll send him one from the distribution center. I'll E-mail you his new address and phone number.
His phone goes through a switchboard at an Air Force base in Ohio, and costs the same as a domestic call - that's exciting! Rhett is not hurting for food, but the commissary sells out of fresh produce very soon after it arrives, and their grocery shipments are sporadic. He'll be online next week as his temporary housemate is leaving next week, and is plugged into the internet.
We tied him a fleece blanket last night, and made him some cards. Livi suggested we sign the back, so we did! Week one has gone pretty well! Madison's team goes the State Championships this week, and I think we're going down to Virginia Beach Thursday and Friday to see them!
I tried a new exercize class this week - called "Zumba" - Latin American aerobics to latin music is a BLAST! Try it if you dare! You'll be shaking things you didn't know your ango-saxton heritage would allow you to shake!

Head over Heels

"The Year" has begun today. We took Rhett to the airport last night and held him tight - pressing our faces against his face, and feeling his skin. What do you do when the love of your life and joy of your days goes away? You cry, you smile, you know that they have your heart in their hands, and that they will return to you again - your love stronger. My heart is full and feels squeezed and twisted this morning! As sat in the car and watched for a while as he walked into the busy terminal and soon we could just see the back of his head far away as he walked. It was good to sit and have a good cry - Garrett, Cecily, and I. Madison had a ton of homework at home, and Cecily and Livi were at the Smiths - having fun playing. I was in kind of a daze on the way home, and I took the wrong turn and got stuck on Highway 66 going East in heavy traffic. Eventually we found our way to 495 and the beltway and made our way home. As I was thinking about Rhett and I turned on the radio station, I couldn't believe it! The first song that came on was "Something Happens and I'm Head over Heels", a song that was one of "our" songs when we were dating. I felt chills up and down my spine, and all those amazing dating memories came flooding back - the snow in Boulder, Colorado. Floating home in a cloud back and forth on the Diagonal after a date with Rhett, or seeing him again. Though we married young, I don't regret one minute of it - not one!
I'm trying to write down all the things Rhett used to do that I am now going to do - I won't bore you with all of them, but when I came home, Garrett and I took the trash and the recycling in, I locked the doors and activated the alarm system, wrote a note to remind myself to set the clocks back, set the alarm, and woke up the older kids this morning at 5:15 - all things that Rhett does and has always done, as a kindness to me. This morning when I logged in, a message came on that said "Please remember to change the air filters". Rhett put all these reminders in the computer so I can remember them. I am also going to try and remember and write down all the "tender mercies" and ways that God shows his hand in our daily lives. I know that he is with us! Last night- the thing that got me is turning down the covers and seeing Rhett's pillow that he left, and the indentation in the sheets made by his sleeping body! I touched the indentation and felt it, imaginating that it was him and what he would feel like. I guess I will know now a little more how people feel who sleep alone, and have a little more empathy for the lonely. Becca remedied that by getting up in the middle of the night and crawling into Rhett's side of the bed. I know this blog is kind-of personal today, but it is really good to write and let the tears come. Don't worry about us! We are going to be just fine. I also know that Rhett will be fine too, and that we will grow together as a family. We love you all!