Springtime in El Paso

Yes, I'm a little late with this post, too, but I didn't want to skip it. I showed you Winter in El Paso, and couldn't possibly forget the Spring. It happened early; blooms began in March, but continue on. It really is a beautiful place all year round.

Oh, and I'll post some shots of the Balloon Fest they have every year in Spring here. We had such a good time!

I hope you enjoy!

Deployment Day

Some of you didn't get to see the pictures of Deployment Day. It was a little to sad to post at the time, and I've been crazy busy ever since, so here they are.

As you view, remember, we're nearly six months into this now, and all is well. Steve is very busy with ministering and counseling and trying to stay out of the 130-degree summer heat.

We're all missing each other, but all is well!

Please continue to pray for his safety and for God to continue to sustain us all in our time apart. We appreciate your prayers so much!

Winter in El Paso

Many of you think it doesn't snow in El Paso, but guess what??! Not only have we gotten to enjoy building a snowman at home, but this weekend we took an excursion to Ruidoso, NM (2.5 hours away) and encountered blizzard-like conditions! That may not sound so exciting to you who have snow on the ground all winter but for us who get it 3 times per year (and especially for two little girls!), it's VERY exciting!

In Ruidoso, we got 6 inches overnight and the girls and Daddy went tubing and thoroughly enjoyed it! The next day, we all went sledding on the retreat grounds and had a blast...that is, until Hannah ran into a tree and sprained her ankle. BUT, if you're going to sprain an ankle, it sure is fun to say you sprained it sledding; she'll testify to that!

The pictures with trees are in Ruidoso; the others (like the one with the snow-covered cactus) are right here in our own backyard. Beautiful, isn't it?

Steve in Action

So what does Steve do now that he's in the Army? The girls and I got to see first hand this week when they had a "Family Day" out at their deployment site. It was very impressive.

Steve is a Battalion Chaplain and has 700 Soldiers (and their families) in his care. When he deploys, he sets up a chapel (a tent with cots as pews) for a central worship location, but also travels each day to the troops at all different work sites throughout the deployment area. It can be a location with just one Soldier or many, and he is there not just for spiritual guidance, but for encouragment of any kind.

He has his own jeep, which his assitant drives. He is not allowed to carry a weapon. At night, he generally "camps out" in the chapel or in a tent with other one-of-a-kind positioned people, such as executive officer, etc.

On this 18-day deployment that we got to witness, Steve's setting up a "no talent show" for fun and he and his assistant can be seen passing out granola bars and cookies everywhere they go. People smile when the Chaplain comes around. I know I did when I was in the Marine Corps. They always meant "fun and happiness," and isn't that what God wants us all to portray?

So, be proud of him friends and family. I know I am. God has him right where He wants him and Steve's allowing God to use him in the best of ways. Please pray that He always will.

Home Again

We're very happy to report that we're in our new home together in El Paso, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves!

Hannah loves her new school; Steve is very busy at work and enjoying his new responsibilities of caring for 700 Soldiers and their families; Cali and I are enjoying Mom's Day Out and getting the house in order. The Army doesn't expect our household goods to arrive until mid-October so in the meantime, we're camping out on an air mattress in our new home and spending much time enjoying the mountain views. The large picture shown here is at the end of our street. The pictures below are of our neighborhood. Yes, it's truly that beautiful!

First Grader!

Time flies! Hannah's in First Grade -- oh my goodness!

Although we're still looking for a place to live (we have to find a place out in town because the waiting list for housing is VERY long), we got Hannah started at Fort Bliss Elementary. She has a great, very artistic, teacher and has already made many friends, of course. She also has to wear a uniform. Navy blue bottoms and a red, white or blue shirt each day. She looks so all-American cute!

Three Blessed Amigos

Although this is a picture from our first "Formal" and could have been in the previous "First Formal" section, I wanted to dedicate a section to this picture alone because it represents such a blessing. During school, Steve had the privilege of meeting two other Chaplains who were on their way to Fort Bliss, just like us. During the last week of school, a Wive's Seminar brought us ladies together and, immediately, we all hit it off. We have been great buddies ever since. We laughed because two of these three Chaplain families (us and the Wrights) had a car break down on the way from South Carolina to Texas. Ours died completely, with no hope of revival. Theirs was on its last leg but is now being repaired half-way across country for them to pick up at some much later date. The third family, the Pridgens, had only a flat tire and yet they had the oldest cars! Ed Wright said it seems some evil force didn't want the Chaplains here but God prevailed! Since then, we all got to live at the Lodge together and we're slowly finding housing and all are looking for cars to replace our old ones! In the meantime, we're having great times each time we see each other and our kids get along fantastically! The kids stayed back at our rooms the other night (8 kids altogether) while the six of us went out to a wonderful authentic Mexican restaurant and had a perfectly wonderful time! We're looking forward to years together, hoping we'll be stationed together many times throughout our careers. God is so good to give us such love and support!

In the picture above, meet Charles and Ada Pridgen (right), us (of course), and Ed and Shawn Wright. All but Shawn are former military. All have been pastors and pastor's wives and are now Chaplains and Chaplain's wives! All are truly blessed by God!

CH-BOLC Graduation

The graduation of Chaplain's Basic Officer Leadership Course 09-002, including Steve's 5th Platoon known as "First Team", graduated on August 28, 2009, with great pomp and circumstance! Mom and Dad (Zaremba) and Uncle Don and Aunt Ann all drove down to attend and it was such a wonderful time! The Platoons all sang "Soldiers of God," the Chaplains' Anthem, and their platoon songs, and it was so beautiful to hear all of those mens (and a few womens) voices raised in the auditorium. Unfortuntaly, my camera was acting up that day so I got few pictures; but I'll attach the few I did get. We were all so proud of our Soldier!

Our First "Formal"

Two days before graduation, we had the pleasure of attending our first, of what we've been told will be many, formal dinners. There was a receiving line where we were introduced, a beautiful procession of colors (flags), a fun skit by the graduates, singing by each platoon and lots and lots of food! We had a great time with our many new friends including Steve's Battle Buddy Tony and his beautiful wife, Marie, Ed and his wife Shawn, Charles and his wife Ada (pictured below) and a very sweet, sweet lady named Dextricia (also pictured below) whose husband will be the first Muslim chaplain in the National Guard.

When the girls first saw us, they both said I looked like a princess and that Daddy looked like a band leader!!! They proceeded to try on his "band" hat and act the part!

Love you, Sis!

It's been a while, so I'm going to try to catch up. Steve came the second weekend in August to take his family to South Carolina with him to see him graduate. We had to say good-bye to Aunt Deana, which was no small feat. I've always loved her as my sister-in-law, but now I have a chance to love her as my best friend! We had a wonderful summer together and the girls and I miss her dearly, but wouldn't trade the time for anything! Blessings, Sis! We love you so much!