Tonight we had to say goodbye to part of our Hawaii family, and it was so hard!  After 12 years being married to an Army officer, goodbyes do not get any easier.  We all become so close, and then we move away from each other about every 3 years.  We were lucky enough to be together on our last duty station, and we hope our paths cross again very soon!  The nice thing about moving is that we do meet amazing people and make forever friends every time we move!  We will miss you Mckinley family, and we love you dearly!

Sisterhood

by Debbie Giusti

I am an Army Wife - a member of that sisterhood of woman who have had the courage to watch their men march into battle and the strength to survive until their return. Our sorority knows no rank for we earn our membership with a marriage license, traveling over miles or over nations to begin a new life with our soldier husbands.

Within days we turn a barren echoing building into a home, and though our quarters are inevitably white walled and un-papered, we decorate with the treasures of our travels for we shop the markets of the globe.

Using hammer and nail, we tack our pictures to the wall and our roots to the floor as firmly as if we had lived there a lifetime. We hold our family together by the bootstraps and raise the best of "brats," instilling into them the motto, "Home is togetherness," whether motel, or guesthouse, apartment or duplex.

As Army wives, we soon realize that the only good in "good-bye" is the "hello again." For as salesmen for freedom, our husbands are often on the road, leaving us behind for a week, a month, an assignment. During the separation we guard the home front existing till the homecoming.

Unlike our civilian counterparts, we measure time, not by age, but by tours ~ married at Knox, a baby born at Bliss, a promotion in Missouri. We plant trees and never see them grow tall, work on projects completed long after our departure, and enhance our community for the betterment of those who come after us. We leave a part of ourselves at every stop.

Through experience we have learned to pack a suitcase, a car, or hold baggage and live indefinitely from the contents within; and though our fingers are sore from the patches we have sewn and the silver we have shined, our hearts are always ready to help those around us.

Women of peace, we pray for a world in harmony, for the flag that leads our men into battle will also blanket them in death. Yet we are an optimistic group, thinking of the good and forgetting the bad, cherishing yesterday while anticipating tomorrow.

Never rich by monetary standards, our hearts are overflowing with a wealth of experiences common only to those united by the special tradition of military life. We pass on this legacy to every Army bride, welcoming her with outstretched arms, with love and friendship, from one sister to another sharing in the beauty of our unique, fulfilling Army way of life.

Stream of Consciousness

Monkey Doodle started school this week, and I was really apprehensive about his teacher since it was her 2nd year teaching and the first impression wasn't very good.  On the 3rd day, she told me that he was advanced in his reading and will be starting on a 3rd grade reading level with him! She is going to cater to his advancement, so that makes me feel so much better!  He is loving school already, but he is not happy about getting up earlier.  He has told us almost everyday that he wanted to stay in bed and go to school later! LOL! I hope he has a wonderful and successful school year.

Miss Priss had her testing for Kindergarten this week, and she did well.  The teacher that tested her told me that she was definitely ready for Kindergarten. We really wanted one teacher that we had heard so many good things about, but it was a 1 in 9 chance of getting her.  Well, she got her!  We are so excited that she received such an amazing teacher, and I love her already.  Since Miss Priss will not be 5 until the end of September, she will be one of the youngest in her class.  The age cutoff for Hawaii in December 31st, so it is has a much wider window than most states,  She is so mature for her age, and we are not worried about her at all. She goes to school 3 days next week, and then starts full time the week after.

I have been sick with a cold all week and not sleeping well.  By the end of the week, I was done.  Chief came home at lunch on Friday, and he saw my pain.  He sent me to bed to take a nap, and he took Miss Priss to lunch and picked Monkey Doodle up from school.  I felt so much better after having an almost 2 hour nap!

We have pizza night almost every Friday night, and last night was a special one.  Our friends at, www.chelseamckinleyphotography.com , are part of our Hawaii Family and are moving off the island on Tuesday.  We are so sad to see them go!  We had their going away pizza night last night, and it was a blast as always.  Thank goodness that I already has my homemade sauce made, and I only had to make pizza dough and prep the toppings.  You can find the recipe for both right Here ! This is our 2nd duty station with them, and we hope our paths cross again really soon.

We bought a shed yesterday, so we can make our storage room in to a bedroom like it should be.  My dad is coming to visit in September, so we want to have an actual guestroom. I am hoping that I have a lot of people come to visit us while Jeremy is in Iraq.  It sure would help the time go by faster!

Where did the time go?

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!  I am really slacking off on this blog thing, and I will try to be better.  A lot has gone on in the last few weeks, so I will try to catch everyone up.

We had a terrific vacation in Texas, and we were sad to go.  We THOUGHT we were moving there in November for a year while Chief is in Iraq, but the Army had different plans for us.  The kids and I will be staying in Hawaii while Chief is gone, and we are OK with that.  The kids will have stability for school, stay in their current home, and keep their current friends.  We will make it back to Texas for Christmas though!  This does make the year a little harder on us, but we have fantastic friends here that will make it easier on us.  I hope everyone will come and visit us to make the time go by quicker though! We should be here until June 2012, and then we will hopefully be moving to Wiesbaden, Germany for 3 years.  I am excited to be able to live in 1 house for the next 2 years, and then I am very excited to move to Germany!  What a great adventure for us and the kids!  The places we will see and the culture we will experience will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I dream of the day that I can tell Jeremy that I want to go to Paris for lunch, and off we go!

We had a terrific 4th of July that we spent with friends and had a huge BBQ at our house.  Schofield had a celebration right here on post, and it was fantastic!  We sat around and listen to the band, Smash Mouth (think of the theme song from Shrek, and that is what they sing),  chatted with lots of friends, danced, and watched the fireworks display. It was really really good!

We have been spending quite a bit of time at the beach since we got home, and we are loving it!  We went to Shark's Cove last week, and me and some friends snorkeled all the way from Shark's Cove to 3 Tables Beach and back.  It took us about 1.5 hours, and it was a beautiful trip!  Monkey Doodle has really taken off with snorkeling as well, and he goes out really far with us while not even holding on to us.  I hold his hand about 50% of the time, even though he doesn't need me to.  That is the helicopter parent in me, I guess.

Miss Priss had an accident on the trampoline a few days ago.  She hit her mouth on Monkey Doodle's head, and she has a fat lip, some bruised and cut gums, and 2 loose teeth!  Chief took her Urgent Care, and they said she should be fine and not lose the teeth. It has been a few days now, and they are definitely tightening up, PRAISE GOD!  I would have hated to see her lose one of her 2 front teeth along with the one next to it.

We also added a 12 week old kitten to our family!  Isabella Claire is a Blue Point/Snowshoe Siamese, and is absolutely beautiful!  She is exactly the kind of kitty we wanted, and is a great addition to the family.  She took to us right away and already sleeps with Chief and I.  Her and Lucy are already the best of friends, and Lucy treats her as her baby.

Chief's niece is here visiting along with her girlfriend, and we are having a great time!  We will get to enjoy them until July 22nd!  Then, BOTH kids start back to school on August 2nd!  I cannot believe the summer is more than half over!  I already bought a lot of the kids' school supplies, and it was bittersweet.  I cannot believe we will have both kids in school!  What in the world will I do with my free time?  Gym, running, beach, yoga, cooking??  The possibilities are endless, at least until 2:00 PM everyday!

I will work on getting up another post on our Texas trip along with pictures soon.  I also need to post pictures of our house all finished and decorated!  That post is a few months late, but my friend at www.chelseamckinleyphotography.com took some pictures for me on 4th of July, so I hope to post them soon.

The loves of my lives

• I am a 33 year old stay at home mom living in gorgeous Hawaii. First and foremost, I am a Christian, wife, and mother. I am a wife to Chief Warrant Officer 4 Light that has been in the Army for 22 years. We have been married for 11 years and have been thrown many curve balls during our marriage. But, with faith in our Lord and each other, we have always come out with a better understanding of each other and have a much stronger marriage because of it. My Chief is my rock and the love of my life. He has loved me unconditionally through good times and bad. He is such an amazing husband, father, and provider and I cannot imagine life without him.

We have 4 children that keep us on our toes. Lauren, AKA Mookie, is 17 and a senior in High School in Texas. She lives with her mother and is as beautiful and as smart as any girl could get. She excels in everything she does and is such a fantastic young woman.

Our child with wings, Beckam, is living in heaven with his Father. He was Jackson's twin that blessed this earth for 2 1/2 hours after being born 19 weeks premature. His little body was just too small, and he was just too precious to stay on this earth. He was born/died on Christmas Eve, 2003.



Jackson, AKA Monkey Doodle, is 5 1/2 years old and is the sweetest child you will ever meet. Jackson has a way about him that makes everyone he comes in contact with fall completely in love with him. He started life on this earth also too early, on 02-03-04 at 11:11 am. He was born 13 weeks premature at 27 weeks gestation, but is completely without long term issues. Praise the Lord! We were given a less than 3% chance that he would live, and an 80% chance of having Cerebral Palsy and long term disabilities if he did live. He is our miracle baby and by all odds should not be on this earth. He continues to amaze us every day with his intelligence, tenacity, and his precious heart.

Ava, AKA Miss Priss, is our almost 4 year old beautiful daughter. She is as girly as you can get! She keeps us on our toes with her diva qualities, but she is the sweetest little girl. She always has her baby, purse, and "jewelry" on. 

Welcome to my blog! I read quite a few blogs everyday, and I finally decided to start my own! I will be sharing snapshots of my life, and I hope that you will get something out of it like I hope to as well. After becoming an Army wife over 11 years ago, my life has been a roller coaster. From moving over 13 times, battling infertility, losing a child, having a preemie, battling my weight, dealing with deployments, and dealing with health issues, I have many stories to tell. So please sit back and enjoy the ride!