A Walk Down Memory Lane

On our way to the beach, we decided to leave a day early and stop to see some friends who are still living where we were stationed in the Army, some twelve years ago.  Fort Benning, GA holds a lot of memories for Adam and me.  It's where our marriage really took root, it's where his Army career began, where I lived for a year without him while he was in a war zone in OIF 3.  It's where friends became family, where God answered SO.MANY.PRAYERS (not only for ourselves, but for those around us who we were praying would come to know the Lord).  The four and half years that we spent in the Army are some of the most rich friendships even to date, so as we drove onto Post again after eight years of not living there, I welled up with emotion, my eyes were misty and I was flooded with memories of yester year.

God blessed me with some of the best friends I could have ever prayed for during our Army tenure. As I drove around Columbus (which hasn't changed all that much) and toured Post I longed to see and be with those friends and families who we did so much life with during that period of our lives. It's kind of sad for me to think that we will not ever be all back together in one place again, it was a special time, a unique situation and I will always look back on those years with fond memories.

I was thrilled to be able to catch up with Angie and Mike Maldonado whom we'd not seen in over six years, which is way.to.long, lets not wait that long next time! Getting to see their beautiful girls who are so grown up now and just getting to visit for an extended period of time was such a treat! Adam and I were once again reminded of what a blessing it is to know that there are Christ followers everywhere but also to see that this precious family is as Christ centered now as when we left them (if not more)!

Angie and Mike have opened Midtown Coffee House which uses coffee beans from Rwanda (a country that has grown near and dear to our family over the past year and half due to friends who are from there that we've gotten to know). So hearing the story of how Angie and Mike found Land of a Thousand Hills, the company that pays their farmers higher than fair trade wage, that is run on Christian principles, was really cool to find out about.  I can't wait to hear how Mike and Maddy's trip was, they left for Rwanda just this week. What a privilege to do life with friends (even if from a distance) knowing that at one point, way back when, God gave you to each other at just the right time.  For us, the Maldonado's were a God send. They were that couple that was fun to be with and who we shared a lot in common.  Just spending three and a half hours with them made me miss our daily encounters and life on the Post.

The next morning we went to visit the new Infantry Museum at Fort Benning. It was amazing and so well done!

Seeing the Infantryman known for saying "Follow Me" was really special at the entrance of the museum.

It was pretty spectacular to walk through and see all the important battles and different wars from WWI to the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).  Adam and his dad really like WWII and enjoyed all the history that the museum had recovered.

In ROTC Adam was awarded the George C. Marshall Award which was a high honor, so to see him and six other men listed next to the Army's seven values was pretty neat.

The boys thought everything was awesome, from the weapons to the armored vehicles, the dress up area to the monuments.  Adam and I were so glad to have been able to share with them our small part in American history.

Adam's unit was known as the Sledgehammer Brigade so to see the sledgehammer monuments for 3rd ID was pretty emotional.  Reading the list of fallen soldiers who Adam remembers treating in the Aid Station in Ramadi, Iraq evoked many emotional feelings for us both.   For him, it was memories of trying to save their lives; for me, it was remembering those 21 gun salutes that I will never be able to sit through without tears pouring from my eyes.  Those moments are forever seared in my memory and I'm thankful because I have a patriotic pride that I wouldn't otherwise have.  Just seeing the flag flying that day made my throat swell as tears stung my eyes.

After leaving the museum we drove around on Post to show Peyton where he was born and where our home had been.  It made me wish all the friends and neighbors were still there to see and visit with, but sadly it will never be that way again.  We have all been scattered across the United States whether still in the Army or now out in civilian jobs.  Again, I was weepy remembering all the good times shared together there on Lumpkin Road.

Here was Martin Army Community Hospital where Peyton was born, it was a far cry from the newly built and much more modern Martin Army Community Hospital that now stands on Post.

Our walk down memory lane was truly sweet!

Playing Catch Up From April

April was a fast and furious month, I hardly had time to come up for air; literally, I felt like I was drowning at times with all the plates that I had spinning.  It was all good stuff, though some was hard and some was way more fun.  I can honestly say I'm thoroughly glad that May has arrived and I'm on vacation as I type this!

My Bloom group (from church) drew to a close several weeks ago.  I absolutely loved spending time each Tuesday with these ladies.  It was always encouraging and edifying as we shared what God was (and is continuing to) teach us.

This was my "littles" last year to do Bloom with me since Emerson will be starting Kindergarten and Ava Jane will do pre K 3 on Tuesdays this fall.  They both sang and performed for all the Moms and Dads but Ava Jane ate.it.up, she loved being center stage and sang her little heart.

Several weeks ago our church along with St. Mark Baptist Church (which is a predominately African American church) collaborated together to do a city-wide day of service from midtown to west Little Rock.  There were groups working at lots of area schools doing cleanup, landscape and painting, working on Habitat for Humanity houses, cleaning up yards and working on projects all across Little Rock.  On Sunday our two churches met at the River Market Amphitheater to enjoy a time of worship and praise together as we got to witness all that God accomplished through His people that weekend.  With the sea of both white and black people worshipping one God, as one church, it was truly a little taste of heaven in the real world.  It made me long for the day when all of us will worship God together with no hindrances of song preference, pastor preference or lighting preferences---all we'll be concerned with is praising God face to face!  Come Lord Jesus Come!


Adam and I were so pleased to see Peyton receive the A-B Honor Roll Award, the Perseverance of Character Award and the Perfect Attendance.  We are so proud of him, he has worked very hard this year and were so glad to see him rewarded for his efforts!

One thing that kept me hopping over the last five weeks, was helping to provide snacks for the teachers and staff at my kids school during the four weeks of testing and into Teacher Appreciation week.  I literally set up and took down the snacks almost every day for five.whole.weeks but before setting up I had to plan for, buy for and coordinate all the snacks and treats!   Here are just a few of the snack days I did; I think they turned out really cute if I do say so myself.  It's been a privilege getting to love on and thank the teachers and staff for all that they do each and every day to educate and encourage our kids.

Teacher Appreciation week came to a close on Friday as we had the food truck Southern Gourmasian come and serve the teachers and staff for lunch.  I wasn't there, but I think it was a hit!



Adam and I got tickets back in December for the Carrie Underwood concert.  We asked some good friends to join us on a double date and ended up having another set of friends tag along too. We had a terrific night out at Samantha's Tap Room for dinner and then caught the trolley across the bridge to the concert.  It was a great night spent with wonderful friends!  And let me just say, Carrie did NOT disappoint!  She was awesome to watch and listen to, and might I say, she did it with class and style!  I thoroughly loved every.single.minute!!

Our friends had floor tickets and were literally right beside Carrie, so halfway through the concert John came and got me and gave me his wrist band and ticket so that I could go stand and sing with Carol.  What a treat!  Thanks again for sharing!!

Our family also did the Walk for the Waiting several weekends ago.  Walk for the Waiting is a collaboration of three foster care/orphan ministries in Little Rock who are helping to raise awareness and money for kids who are in the Arkansas Foster System.  These kids are waiting to find a forever family, or simply need a loving home to be in until their Mom or Dad can prove that they are stable enough to keep their child.  These organizations are raising awareness of the need for foster families, adoptive families or simply just mentors to come along side the children and youth (who are aging out of the foster system who have no guidance or means to provide for themselves.)  It was a great day of celebrating.  Seeing hundreds of people come together in the name of Jesus to pray for and raise money to help, with this great need right here in our city, was really so inspiring!  Below is a gallery of pictures of children who are waiting to be adopted, its such a visible reminder of the great need in our city.

I ran into my high school mentor (and life long friend, Mrs. P) so we snapped this picture at the walk.

My brother in law, Joseph, led worship that morning and my friend Jenn sang along with him.  It was a great morning of praising God for what He's done as we begged Him to raise up more families who can serve the least of these, to open their homes to these children, whether through foster care or adoption.  It was really something, to see so many rallying for such a deserving and desperate cause.

Even some cousins were there to play, eat and walk with!

Our kids walked with some of their friends and getting to eat free ice cream helped them cooperate for this group picture!

Last Thursday I enjoyed a fun Mother's Day treat with my two youngest kiddos!  Their preschool displayed all the cute art the kids have done this past school year and then brought in several food trucks so that the moms and their kids could hang out and eat lunch together.  We certainly enjoyed it, what a great school with some of THE.BEST.TEACHERS!

Before heading to the Mothers Day luncheon  (mentioned above) I met up with my good friend and got my first pedicure for the year to get my toes ready for the beach!


April, and the start of May, have been a bit of a whirl wind.  I'm grateful to have been apart of all the events over the past thirty days but am glad for a little down time now.  Beach picture overload is yet to come!