Monday, April 25, 2011

Curve Inn Trevor's Deployment Party and Farewell Ceremony

Hi All!
I hope you had a great Easter! I apologize for being a little AWOL the last couple of weeks. It has been absolutely crazy around here. I think we were meeting ourselves coming and going. My DFIL is still in the hospital. The poor guy is really having a tough go of it. And poor DMIL has Alzheimer's and is having a terrible time with all the changes and uncertain schedules. So, if you have any stray prayers out there, they sure could use them.

Trevor has started his deployment. He's off to El Paso, Texas to go through the final checks with the Army and then he's off to Afghanistan. I'm missing him already and I have to share some proud momma pictures from the last two weeks activities with him. So please bear with... lol

Thanks to the Curve Inn for throwing the party for him. They created some really cool banners.





They had some great food.



A DJ



And there was plenty of friends and family.






Trevor had a great time and the Curve Inn gets lots and lots of Kudos for doing this for him.




The Army had a Farewell Ceremony for his Unit at the Decatur Conference Center where a couple of key note speakers thanked them for their service and wished them God Speed and Good Luck. It was very nice and provided a nice memory for the soldiers to take with them.











Trevor had purchased a camo outfit for Kaiden on his last trip to Fort McCoy. Only thing was, he got a size 8 outfit. Now Kaiden is only in a 4T so needless to say it didn't quite fit him. lol With a few strategically placed safety pins, Jordan was able to wear it along with her present which was a "I love my soldier" hat. She looked very cute in her outfit and was a little embarrassed by all the attention she got because of it.



Don't they make a cute pair?


After the ceremony we went up and visited by DFIL and then met up with Trevor at his base where we waited for them to board their buses and head to the Saint Louis Lambert Airport for their departure. Only thing was, a tornado beat them to it and of course the airport was closed and all flights were canceled. Their commanders had to do some fast scrambling and wound up chartering them flights out of Springfield. Yahoo! I was going to be able to see them off. Originally, they were supposed to leave their base at 2:00 AM to catch their flights and by 4 AM they had all the alternative plans pretty much in place. Some pretty impressive planning if I must say so myself. So anyway, we headed for home at about 4 AM. We were all dog tired and ready for bed.

Trevor called at about 1:30PM and let us know that he was at the airport. So off I went to see my baby take flight. It took them about a 1/2 hour to get all their stuff loaded into the plane and the boarding completed.




And then in a blink of an eye, they were off, taxing down the runway.



Be safe my little one! Momma loves you!




Have a great week, plumb full of smiles!
Peggy

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A Memory Book and a Free Vintage Image

Hi Everyone!
How's your week going? It's been a little hectic around here this week. My DFI is back in the hospital. Hopefully, it will only be a short stay this time but it puts a kink in our normal schedule.

Trevor has returned from his Fort McCoy stay. He has just a little over 2 weeks before he deploys to Afghanistan. Saturday, he's having a little gathering for all his friends at a local tavern. I'm sure it will be an interesting event. lol

I decided that I'd make him a little memory book to take with him. I'm hoping that when he gets homesick, it will bring him a little comfort. I thought I'd make it in the same way I did the kid's Disney memory books, except this time I didn't leave the pockets between the pages. With the zigzag format I thought he could set it up somewhere, a shelf, a trunk, or even a bucket. I also made a little box that he could store it in. Anyway, I'm really happy with the results and I hope that he likes it.



















I'm really enjoying making these little memory books. I think I'll have to make a few for Christmas presents.. lol

Spring is showing its head around here. I noticed today that the Ornamental Pear tree has blossoms and the Lilacs are waking up. We don't have any Cherry blossoms yet. I'm looking forward to seeing them, because we usually have our last frost when they're open and I'm so ready for the cold, gloomy weather to go away.

Do you have a favorite spring flower? I must say that Jonquils, Lilacs and Pansies are my favorites. I thought I'd share a pretty Pansy image with you today. They always seem to be so bright and cheery to me. I think they're always good for a smile. :) Make sure you click on it before you save it.


Have a great week, plumb full of smiles!
Peggy