Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Thoughts on Memorial Day

Okay, so I didn't write this...I stole it directly off of my Dad's blog, thanks daddy! (c: But I thought this was an AMAZING story that I actually hadn't heard and a fantastic reminder about why we get a day off each year in May to remember the heros that keep our nation free...

Thoughts on Memorial Day

As we celebrate Memorial Day and honor all those men and women who have defended threats to our American way of life, my thoughts turned to my Dad. He fought in the Korean war. He left college after one semester because he felt he was going to get drafted anyway. He was just a young kid fresh out of High School and a few months later he was in Korea. How about going from a kid with no cares to having to watch out for somebody trying to kill you? Makes you grow up fast!


I'm not sure how the heck they got my Dad to smile like this in a picture. I don't think I have even seen a picture where he was smiling this big except his wedding photo. Did they tell jokes? Did they threaten them? I don't know, but it is a great picture.

I think this is outside the barracks where he went through basic training.


This is Dad next to his "Willys Jeep" on a road near his outfit in Korea. He was stationed in what was called the "Punch Bowl". It was right on the front. From his position, he could see the communist (enemy) territory. He loved driving any kind of vehicle and told me that whenever they asked for volunteers to drive anything he would tell them he knew how to drive it. Then he would figure out how to drive whatever it was "on the fly". He was pretty good at it from his farm upbringing.

How would you like to live in this? If you look closely, you will notice it had about 4' - 5' of sandbags on the roof. The sandbags were in case a mortar shell made a direct hit on their bunker, they would have a better chance of survival.
This is Dad and Pete Bush, his Squad leader at this station. From things he wrote on the back of pictures, I think he thought well of Pete. Dad received the Bronze Star for taking command of his platoon when his commander was killed during an attack. I don't know if Pete was the one killed or not. His station was on a side of a mountain facing a valley and the mountain on the other side was enemy territory. Dad's job was sighting-in the artillery that shot from behind his mountain and over him into enemy territory. The enemy knew what Dad's platoon did and was always sniping at them, firing mortars and generally making life dangerous.


Talk about a "Tough Hombre". Carbine in hand, grenade on the belt.

I know Dad was proud of his service in Korea. He answered the call to serve his country. I would like to think I would do the same if I was needed in the same way, but until it actually happens you really never know how you would react. Dad never said this, but he was a real life hero - taking command of his squad under the conditions he did and serving in a dangerous position on the front lines of the war. Men like my Dad sacrificed so we can enjoy the life we do, in comfort, in safety, with the freedoms we have. I would like to honor our service men and women this Memorial Day and every day that I live in freedom. I am very grateful for all of them, especially Delmer E. Wallace.

Thanks Dad
I can't believe it's been so long since I did a post! I felt like I had an excuse for the week after mom's day because we left and were in AZ visiting while Josh was finishing up finals...and then I got sick with an AWFUL cold last week...not fun. But the trip was fun! We got to visit both of the Great Grandmas in Tucson and then it was on to Sierra Vista to see our FAVORITE cousins! (c; We had so much fun hanging out, even if the kids were INSANE from lack of sleep/being sick...correction: CADEN was insane, Skylar was an angel like she always is! Besides waking me up at 4am Arizona time...Anyways, picture time!

This is Grandma Park's "Farm"...really, it's just that she loves animals...but Caden thought all those animals were AWESOME! It was like his own personal petting zoo...


Four generations pictures...aren't those great grandmas so cute???

Didn't this picture turn out GREAT?!? ***please note the sarcasm***

But we definitely had a great time hanging out...thanks Kara and Great Grandmas!!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

To all the great mommies out there...




This is a shout out to all the absolutely FANTASTIC mothers that I have the priveledge of knowing...YOU ALL ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! This day is just a little moment to remember all the labor, crying, diaper changing, feeding, cleaning, band/drama/orchestra performances, sports games, "boo-boos", car accidents, broken hearts, weddings that we couldn't have gotten through without our wonderful mothers...
I am so thankful for 5 mothers in particular: first and foremost, my own wonderful mom and the fabulous mom/friend she still is...my mom-in-law who is the BEST in-law a girl could ask for and just about the sweetest person on the planet...my little sister Karesy who became a mom before I did and showed me how wonderful motherhood is...and my two sweet grandmothers who have been a wonderful part of my life!!!!
I LOVE YOU GUYS! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Lucky Day!!!

So when I decided to have Skylar's six month pictures done, I knew I could pretty much plan on stuff going wrong that day. Optimistic, right? True to form, Skylar didn't get her nap that morning because Caden decided to go in and wake her up and she didn't sleep on the way there either because Caden kept *screaming* at the top of his lungs. Ah, the joys of motherhood. So really, I didn't have high hopes for this session...but lo and behold, in ten minutes (it probably would have been longer if Caden hadn't decided pictures were over by dumping Skylar on her face...) VOILA! The cutest pictures I could ever ask for...you would never know from those faces that they almost got sent to live with their grandma that day...***




***I am just joking, by the way!!! Stop calling CPS on me... hahaha(c:

Monday, May 4, 2009

Tats, Graffiti, Sittin' and Fishin'


Little Skylar hit another milestone...she can sit all by her lonesome! (c: It makes her look so big! *sniff* But she is still my little baby and has decided that anything that gets close to her gets grabbed. I must say it is a little annoying, Caden was never a grabby/touchy-feely baby, so I don't have a lot of experience with the evasive manuvering yet. The picture of her and Caden is of Caden holding her hand and her laughing, a very fleeting and rare sweet moment, so I had to catch it on film.

Just a little of what we've been doing to keep ourselves entertained...Caden got a bike "tattoo"...I have no idea why he was licking it...but it was funny. One of his favorite activities at Grandma Lisa's house is mowing the grass on the riding lawn mower...I can't imagine why, could it be because it requires machinery???

Yesterday we decided that we should drive through Placitas and up the back of the mountain. It is a GORGEOUS drive and we hadn't done it in a while so we packed up the little ones and headed out. When we got to the picnic site, we were so furious to discover that the gate was closed and locked because some JERKS had graffitied all over the bathrooms and everything else. ***Grrrr...*** Sometimes I just hate stupid people. But we parked outside the gate and hiked in because we had promised Caden he could "fish" in the stream. He had so much fun just casting out into this stream and reeling it in...but after a while he did catch on that he wasn't actually catching anything! But it was just one of those just nice and relaxing afternoons with the fam...

Friday, May 1, 2009

Lame, lame, lame!

I admit it, I have been a completely lame blogger lately...and this is no exception. I'm not at home right now and I can't get my stupid memory card to work in my parent's computer (lame excuse #1) and so I'm just going to have to use my mom's pictures even though I took some adorable ones specifically for the purpose of blogging (lame excuse #2). SO...even though I'm pretty sure I have posted about a JILLION pictures of the aquarium, our lives pretty much revolve around kid-friendly entertainment...(lame excuse #3). Anybody else feeling the "lazy days of summer" comin' on strong??? (c:

This is just seconds before he decided that all the pretty flowers that grandma was trying to get in the picture were so much more fun if you are stomping straight through them...
Can you all tell that Caden has DEFINITELY reached the terrible two's???


Pointing at all those cute little duckies that swam away after being run-off by the Two-foot Terror aka Caden


The obligatory "riding the ant" picture...we were trying to get him to pretend like it was bucking him off... that was a no-go.


If you have not been to the aquarium lately, they just opened their "petting zoo"...no really, the "shark and sting ray experience" where you can touch them! Hopefully the nazi lady won't be there lecturing everyone and yelling at anyone who didn't follow all of her mile long list of rules...)c:


So for a good laugh about my borderline out-of-control brain squeezer, you would have to visit the blog "mormon in manhattan"...it pretty much says it all. I still love them. Skylar deals with it well...