Great Friends!!

I just wanted to post tonight and express how thankful I am for these wonderful gals!! These are some of the wives of the guys Doug is deployed with. I cannot convey how important it is to have these gals in my life. When you are going through all of the things that deployment puts you through it is so great to be able to hang out and talk to someone who knows exactly what you are going through, someone to bring you ice cream and chocolate, or just to watch a movie with. Thanks for the great dinner tonight, and all of your support through this last year. I have truly gained valuable friendships for life!!! Again thank you!!!!

Wow Has it really been this long.....

Since I have posted?!?! What a slacker I am huh!!! Well, things have been going pretty well. I have had my breakdowns here and there, and at times life has seemed to hard to even get out of bed. But, Doug will be home in two to three weeks. YAY!!!! We have had our share of problems during this deployment (i.e. washer breaking, water heater breaking, Doug's mom passing away, couple of car problems, going to the emergency room to find I have to have emergency surgery to take my appendix out) I could probably go on for a lot longer. I have learned a valuable lesson during this deployment, if you are looking for the negative you WILL find it. Hard times will always arise. I have spent a lot of time during this deployment feeling bitter towards the world and the Army, I also spent a lot of time crying. It is so hard to have someone you love with all that you are, and have life be so great and all of a sudden you find out that they have to leave you and your family for a year. I would never be able to describe the way it feels to everyday wonder if your husband is okay, or when a phone call is late you are on your knees praying nothing has happened to him or his unit. All I can say is it is hard.

I must say that I have had blessings galore. The blessings I have had far out weigh all of the tough times and problems that I was faced with on my own. Doug only has like I said earlier two to three weeks left and he has remained unharmed through it all so far, also I never knew two people could be so close from so far away. I have a wonderful friend who says that deployment doesn't make a weak marriage stronger, but it does make a strong and healthy marriage stronger. I know with all of my heart that Doug and I are meant to be. This deployment has brought us so close it is just unreal. Next, Doug was able to come home for leave in September, my oh my was that a blessing in itself. As many of you know we had been working on Doug adopting Olivia for 1 1/2 to 2 years and it just so happened that our court date was during Doug's leave and Olivia became a York. Olivia and I continued to stay safe here on our own. It was very sad that Doug's mom passed away, but that made it so he was home for Christmas. Less than a week before Doug was on his way home we got his sealing clearance, the weekend after his mother's funeral we were able to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, and since the adoption was final Olivia went to the temple with us. This is more than a mere coincidence it is a blessing. I see God's hand in my life always sometimes without even looking, but most of the time I have to seek it. It is a choice whether we see all the negative that happens or choose to remember our blessings.


This has been a VERY long journey and I am glad that it is almost over.

A fun night out!!

On Friday we went to Cornbelly's Corn Maze in Lehi. It was a great time! Olivia was so excited to see Sammy, and I was excited to see Amy Jo. I am so glad that Olivia and I were able to meet Amy Jo and Sammy. They have been such great friends to us through this whole deployment. With Brock (Amy's husband) being gone too we have really been good resources for each other and to top it off great friends!! The girls had tons of fun at Cornbelly's.

Here are the girls trying to lead us through the maze. It was so cute to watch them find our way and take turns leading the way. I am sure we would have gotten lost without them!

All aboard, oh wait where is everyone?!?

It was a great night!!

Doug's Leave

It was so nice to have Doug here for a bit! We did so many fun things as a family. We went to the State Fair and had tons of fun there. We also took a day trip to Logan to watch the Utes vs. Aggies game. Some of my favorite times was just time spent at home as our little family. When you are out and about being busy time goes by so fast, but it seems to slow (only a little) when we just relax at home. We had court and Olivia was able to officially become a York so that was really exciting!! I love Doug and Olivia so much, and I cannot wait until we are able to just be together again and not have to say anymore goodbyes. It is a really hard thing to do. You can say it over and over again but the hardest moment is when you actually have to let go and watch your loved one walk away. Doug tells me all the time, and I also had a really good friend remind me tonight that in the whole grand scheme of things this is just but a moment of our lives together. It is a VERY long moment, but it is stuff like this that just makes us stronger. Doug is doing okay. I think this time it was really hard for him to go back and he REALLY misses being home. He always has a good attitude and I know will make it through.

We had a great time at the State Fair! Doug, Olivia and some of our other family members took some beautiful pictures.

We walked ALL over Logan. We parked at the Stadium and we walked down to see the Temple and the Tabernacle. It was so beautiful.

Lastly, our day in court was a wonderful success. The road to this point was very rocky and at times we just weren't sure if things were going to turn out in our favor, but it was definitely worth waiting for. Olivia was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She was just bouncing all over the place and still if anyone talks about it she gets the biggest smile on her face that I think I have EVER seen!!

It has been about a year!

So I guess I was right huh!? I have been very busy and am now posting my only second post!!!! Doug has been home on leave for the last two weeks, and it has been absolutely wonderful!! I am VERY sad that he had to leave again and pray that these next 6 months fly by.

Taking a leap!!

Wow!! I am taking a leap in to the world of blog. I thought that I would never have a blog, I thought that it would be too much work , and consume too much of my time. But, the more I look at blogs and hear people talking about it I am convinced. I really don't know what I am doing, so for the first little while it may seem a bit unorganized but I will for sure catch on.