What the world would be like if...

My friend Keri sent me this story in an email. While you read it, just think about how different the world would be if we were all like this lady!

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap, I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.

'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.
'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan .'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time...

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base.'

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'
'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.

'This is your thanks..'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did.. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base... It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.

As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America 'for an amount of up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

Prayer for our soldiers.

Time to Catch Up

Hi! Sorry it's been so long. We have been busy. I guess the most important thing that has happened since I last posted is DADDY IS HOME!!!




Harrison's bedding finally came in for his room and it matches perfectly! I'm so glad I have a creative, talented sister...thanks Katie!







Finally, we had a great July 4th. We stayed with Ben's sister, Liz and her family all weekend. We went up to Ben's mom and got to see most of the family. One of Ben's nieces has a guinea pig that Harrison was fascinated with. I was surprised he touched it, but he was very interested in it! Liz and her husband Nick will be having another baby girl July 23rd. We are excited to have a new addition to the family! Sadly, Harrison won't be the baby anymore :)!

18 month pictures

Janet Ledford took these pictures and I absolutely LOVE them! We met at the Botantical Gardends in Birmingham on Father's Day for her to take them. Harrison finally warmed up and Janet got some great shots.

Harrison's Room Part 2

Katie finished Harrison's room. Katie did such a good job!!! She didn't finish it until Friday afternoon so when we got home, I took him up to see it and he was so excited! He ran from wall to wall and pointed and was talking about all the cars and trucks. It was so sweet. I should've videoed it but of course I didn't have my camera upstairs with me. I ordered the bedding to match today so hopefully I'll have it by this weekend. I can't wait to get it all finished!







I'll post a Part 3 after I get his bedding and things. Ben will be home in 3 days! Please pray for safe travels for him!

Harrison's New Room Part 1

When we lived in Spain we had a 2 bedroom house, so Harrison's room was the office, guest room, Auburn room, etc. He never really had his own room. Well...now he does! I told Ben that I was going all out on his room since he never really had his own nursery. So of course while blog stalking, I found this girl named Lyndsey and on her blog she redid her son's room and I loved it! It is a totally copied room but it's so cute! Katie is painting it for me and I think it's turned into more work than she thought. Katie, mom, and the kids have been here since Tuesday and she has been working on it. Here are the pics from day 1...






Everyone could use a good pic of A.J. Man he is a cutie!!!



Here are the pictures from today. It's really looking good!





I'll post more when it's finished! I love it! Thanks to Katie for all her hard work!

Guess who is 18 months old???

Yes, he is. Can you believe it? I can't. He is such a toddler now. He doesn't walk, he runs. All the time! I guess that's what he is supposed to do, but man it is exhausting! We went for his well baby on Monday and he is right where he is supposed to be. We finally got over the 22lb mark. He now weighs 23.6 lbs, still skinny, but working on it! His little personality is really shining thru these days. He is saying some words like momma, dadda, bubble, ball, hot, baby (he says bobo),outside, and trying really hard to say Dixie. The other morning I was in the shower and I could smell that he pooped. I said Harrison did you poo poo. He made this funny face and said poo poo butt butt and pulled on his diaper...too cute! He is doing really well with daycare now. He doesn't cry anymore which is such a blessing. He eats there now and is taking a nap. The teachers tell me he is starting to play with the other kids so I'm glad that's going well. He walks in every morning by himself. He is still a pretty picky eater, but is getting better.

Here is a pic of our little guy...well he will always be my little guy...you mommas know how it is! Love to all!

Livin' in America

I haven't posted anything since April 9th...that has been a long time ago, but I have several good reasons. Harrison and I have been living back in the good ole USA since the end of April. This whole transition has been challenging, but we are hanging in there. 18 days until daddy joins us, but who is counting, right? I guess the biggest change, at least in Harrison's world, is I've gone back to work and he goes to daycare now. He has been going for about 4 weeks now and he just now doesn't cry when I drop him off. It's such a good feeling to know he isn't going to have a huge meltdown every morning. He is really good at school and he loves the teachers there. He has already been sick, but that's just part of it. As for me, I'm working at Navy Federal again. I still don't feel like I just click with any one person there, but I do like it. I like getting dressed up and out of the house. All the girls I work with are really sweet and my bosses are great! That's half the battle right there. Our stuff arrived from Spain 2 weeks ago on Wednesday. Needless to say working 40 hours a week with a toddler by myself, the boxes aren't coming along very quickly. This weekend I finally got the kitchen unpacked. Now, I just have to get it organized which I'm almost finished with. Like I mentioned above Ben will be here soon. He gets here June 25th and will have a couple of weeks off before he starts his school down here. In December he will leave for 8 months (I've gone crazy after not even 2 so not quite sure how I'm going to handle 8) so we must make the most of our time together as a family. The day after he comes home we are going to New Orleans to take Harrison to the zoo. I'm sure it will be a fun day!
Moving back to the USA has been very overwhelming. The hardest part has been not having many friends to rely on. It's so hard to do everything by myself. At least both of our moms are close if something bad happened. I do finally have Internet and Saturday I'll get cable so maybe our life is getting back to normal. Sorry no pics, but I would be embarrassed for anyone to see my house right now. After I get it decorated and organized I'll post pics. Love to all!