Thanksgiving in New Jersey

The night before, Chris took some time to make fun Christmas crafts with the girls. Gingerbread trees and houses :)

Our table. Ready to give thanks.

Oops! Have some turkey juice Tom :)

The final product...yummy!

Alysia took some time to do a Thanksgiving craft with the girls.

Christian and Alysia taking advantage of the beautiful weather we had.

Beautiful center piece from my Mother-in-law.

So thankful that my best friend of 18 years was able to share this holiday with our family!

My hubby, Tom, working on the stuffing for the turkey. Brian and Tom cooked an amazing turkey this year!

Happy Thanksgiving from New Jersey!

From left to right: Ashley, Brian, Kellen, Grandma Brady, Fred, Julia, Tom, Christian, Alysia, Chris, Natalie and Kailey.

Thank you to everyone who came for our family Thanksgiving dinner! Despite the Pneumonia Tom and I had a great time with everyone.

Gearing up for Thanksgiving 2011

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this year! We have friends and family joining us in Jersey, and we can't wait! We will miss the family members that can't make it but we understand it's hard to travel these days with the economy. We are thankful for those that can come and we look forward to sharing some good times and laughs. Especially with Alysia and Christian here, Julia and Alysia are bound to get into some kind of mischief. We always do :)

I'm very thankful that my brother is coming as well. The girls love having their Uncle Brian around. They are excited about everyone coming. They keep asking me when everyone is arriving so I think I need to mark the calendar for them.

I was reading Alysia and Christian's blog earlier and catching up on their happenings, and I just can't believe how long we have all been friends. We have been miles apart but we still remain friends. Alysia and I have been friends since the 8th grade...so let's see that was around 1993...so that's a grand total of 18 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So on this Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things. My family, Tom safely returning home to us, my girls who are so precious to us, and to our friends who have been constant in our lives. Thank you for joining us on this special day and may we always remember to be thankful for Christ and what he did for us.

Hope your Thanksgiving is warm and delicious!

Tom & Julia

A Hot Day at Cape May

The girls and I braved the heat and humidity of Jersey last week. I drove us to the Cape May zoo which is at the southern tip of New Jersey. It's a beautiful town to visit. In fact, I have been told to go back during the Christmas holiday. All the Victorian homes are decorated and look amazing. Tom, the girls and I were in Cape May back in March and toured the lighthouse, walked on the beach and drove through the town. It's just beautiful. But the zoo was so much fun! The girls love going to zoo's and I love watching their faces when they see the animals. Although it was incredibly hot and sticky we had so much fun. Enjoy the pictures!

Don't try this at home...

So we all know by now that I am have a degree in accidents. I am extremely prone to accidents. I am posting a picture of my recent, well a few weeks ago at least, accident. Here's the scoop:

A few days afer Tom left, I was cleaning up the deck. One item in paticular...a fishing pole...with a brand new hook and a very pretty plastic fish. I grabbed the pole and walked over to the shed. My neighbor across the lagoon asked how we were doing with Tom away, and I said pretty good. She said if we ever needed help to ask. I said okay and proceeded to put the fishing pole in the shed. I slid my hand down the pole and ouch! I hooked my finger! I tried to get it out but it wouldn't budge at all. The interesting part, there wasn't any blood. So I yelled across the lagoon to my neighbor that I needed to take her up on that offer! So here she comes along with her husband and none of us could get the hook out. It was bedtime for the girls so I sent them to bed. My other neighbor came over as well to check things out and we all agreed that the hook wasn't coming out. I needed to go to the ER. So my neighbor drove me to the nearest ER while the other neighbor stayed with the girls. And yes, I did cut the line so all that was hanging out was the hook.

Once I got to the ER they took me back right away. After three shots in the webbing area of the fingers, which was painful, they proceeded to take it out. But even the doctor couldn't get it out. So he asked for a scalpel and I asked for more drugs. No such luck. I had to toughen up but I was flipping out because there was a lot of blood. Finally, they got it out. Turns out it was hooked on a tendon. No stitches because of how long the hook was in there. They said it would be worse to stitch it up. So they wrapped it up, updated my tetnus shot and home I went. It's healed now but whenever I bend that finger it still hurts.

So the moral of this story? If you ever want to know how a fish feels....just ask it :) Enjoy the pictures!

Trying Something New

So as you all know the weight loss battle has been rough for me. I'm not winning right now. I'm eating good, exercising but my body is not cooperating. So, I have done research into the HCG diet. It's a hard one to do, especially the second phase. 40 days of a 500 calorie a day meals/snacks. Very small portions. I'm not sure how I will do on this but we will see.

I so want to win this battle. I am hoping to lose at least 40 lbs by the time Tom comes home. If you have never had a weight problem, be thankful. Because it consumes your life. But at the same time if you don't have a weight problem you did something that I didn't do in the past...eat right and exercise regularly. So good for you! Keep it up! Don't get in my position...ever! I hope to join you soon :)

Having said that I am going to get dinner ready. Fish, jasmine rice and steamed veggies.

A Different Father's Day

I woke up this morning and finished watching my recorded episode of "The Talk" from yesterday. I was eager to finish this episode as they were surprising a military family with a very special gift. Their husband/father for Father's Day. He was stationed overseas in Iraq for at least 7 months. This was the first Father's Day they have been apart. The surprise was amazing for the family, and for myself watching I felt happy for this family. I also wished that I could somehow do that for Kailey and Natalie but I can't. For now, Skype is their only connection to Tom.

I asked both girls how they felt about Daddy missing Father's Day this year. They both said they were sad but they said it's not so bad because they see him on the computer. I've never been one to be thankful for technology because of all the flaws it seems to have, but this I am thankful for.

I found myself thinking about the past ten years of my life with Tom. In July we will celebrate our ten year anniversary....but he will not be here to celebrate with me. Ten years is a milestone. We have been through so much since we met in 2001. Our lives have grown, our family has grown, and God has given us so much to be thankful for. I always tell God that he gave me an amazing blessing with Tom and the girls. Ten years in the military hasn't been easy for any of us. Tom has to go when they say "go" and we have to tackles problems at home without him. Sometimes I am mad at him for leaving us but I know it's not his decision. Tom was already in the Air Force when I met him, and I knew some of the things I was getting into by having a brother in the Army, but you are never prepared. Long shifts, no paternity leave when Natalie was born (and having a 1 year old toddler with a newborn is no picnic), missing school functions, and shifts that change so much it makes your head spin. Although it isn't always easy, I have seen the world with Tom because of his career in the Air Force. I chose to be his wife because he asked me and because I couldn't imagine one day without him in my life. He makes me laugh and brings me so much joy. Part of being a military wife is living life without the man you love for a short time. But knowing he is doing it because he loves us and he loves his country. Nine more years of being a military wife and I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to his retiring. But until then I will stand by him, do my part by raising our kids, and supporting him even when times are tough....like Father's Day and our anniversary.

Even though my husband isn't here on this special day, my heavenly father is here and we are not alone. His presence is constant.

Spring

Despite the extreme heat temps we had last week, Spring is back. I would like to have a few more Spring days for the Summer heat waves settle in. It was way too hot to go outside and poor Bella was so hot with her fur. I let her out to do her business, then right back in. We didn't even walk her. She has a permanent fur coat and I am sure she can quickly have a heat stroke.

This is the last week of school for the girls, and they are excited. They love school but I can tell they are ready for a break. I have so many fun activities planned for them. I love being a SAHM...Stay At Home Mom....and I feel that I have so many opportunities to help them grow this summer. Eventually I will go back to work so I want to cherish this time I have with them and show them the world outside of our home.

We miss Tom so much. He is doing well but misses us too. Thank goodness for Skype! The connection isn't always the best but it brings so much joy to our hearts to just have ten minutes with him. October seems so far away. I try not to think about the time. But every day I tell the girls it's another day closer to Daddy coming home.

I'm posting some Spring photos. Some of Cape May and the lighthouse we visited, our German Shepherd of four months, Bella, and of course the fam.