A 4 hour drive - for a 1 day stay... WISCONSIN

We went to Wisconsin, Jay had a nice time visiting with his sister Joyce, while Caleb, Reign and I relaxed.

ValleyFair!

One more summer activity... We met up with the youth group from church, along with my neice Christina and a few other friends and family. we had a blast!

Surgery

Jay had surgery on his left hand, He had seen a Doc in Iraq and they suggested he see a specialist while at home on leave. They removed a thickening on his tendon, on the palm of his hand. He was able to stay home an extra week. However they wanted him back the day after the stitches were removed!

Jakes Pizza!

Before going to see the new movie "GI JOE" we went and ate at our favorite pizza place!

The Minnesota Zoo!

Dinner with Friends

Tom and Kris, Pastor Greg and Donna, Kip and Kathy, Dave and Tina

Camp Ripley

We made a stop in Little Falls to check out the museum.

Annual Canoe Trip

Jay made it home just in time to come with us on our annual vacation to the Park Rapids area. We left Thursday early afternoon. Jay was pretty tired and does not remember the first few days... he had only slept 5 hours in the past 30. Jay and I stayed at a resort near the camp site, while the boys slept at the camp ground with our friends. We had a great time, relaxing and enjoying being in each others presence. It was fun to visit with close friends during our trip up north. Jay went canoeing with the boys all day friday and was able to fish with Andrew. Saturday after eating at the logging camp we spent the day at the resort. Sunday we strapped all the canoes together and floated to the first bridge. Kris took Reign back to the camp site so Jay and I could continue down the river. Jay had a great time catching a few bass and northerns.

"My Daddy Home"

We picked Jay up on Wednesday July 15th at 4:15 pm. Tyler, Caleb, Reign and I were able to go to the airport. Andrew had to work. :-( We had talked to Reign all day about going to get daddy. We were not sure how she would respond. We could see the plane pull into the gate and when I told Reign that the door on the plane will open and daddy will come out, she asked if daddy would jump! :-) We waited an extra 20 minutes for Jay to come off the plane and when we finally saw him, Reign was a little hesitant yet she new he looked familiar. She went to him and let daddy hold her. She was still kinda shy and then all of a sudden she yells... "MY DADDY HOME" she continued to say this in a very loud voice all the way down the concourse. People were watching with tears in their eyes as Jay in full uniform carried his little girl down the concourse.

day 146

219 days to go, before this deployment is over! We are all doing very good! I know that it is because we have so many of you praying for our family... Jay and I talk about how we can feel HIS PRESENCE! continue to pray... He is so faithful!

A few weeks ago Jay was taking trash out to the dumpster, somehow the lid lifted up and hit him in the jaw. He just shook it off and after awhile he had some jaw pain... a few days later some tooth pain. Today he went to the dentist after his mouth swelled up, and found out that he has a root fracture... his tooth will be pulled on Friday and when the tour is over he will have a bridge built, thank God it is a molar! It would be worse if it were a front tooth!

My brother is doing great! thank you all for praying for him! He will be moving back to his home very soon, as he is healing and can now take care of himself!

Tylers 17!

No pictures... I forgot the camera, we went out to eat and our favorite family restaurant BWs. A few youth from the youth group and Pastor Tiffany and Josh joined us! Then the boys and I went to see the move Transformers 2. That was action packed for sure! I cannot believe that Ty is 17! Where has the time gone!? On the kid's birthday we always talk about the day they were born and share some of the highlights... When Tyler was born I had to be induced. It was taking forever and Jay decided to leave the hospital "big mistake" and go look at guns at some gun shop near by... HE ALMOST MISSED TYLER'S BIRTH! this was before cell phone days! during labor I was watching little house on the Prairie and I was crying about something Laura did. The nurse thought something was wrong with me and was very caring until I told her it was the t.v. show! :-) My sister Julie was watcihng Andrew and took him to Valley Fair, this was his first time on the WILD THING! Tyler was born at 2:24p.m. on June 30th 1992. He did not have a name until after 9p.m. Jay and I could not decide between Christian or Jacob... so we got Tyler! His name means builder of stone! It fits him perfect! God knew what he was doing when HE named Ty!

Jay's R & R

Jay will be coming home for his 2 week leave! Hopefully in July! I am asking for all of you to pray for NO DELAYS with his flight or leaving the Middle East in Jesus name. A few soldiers have been delayed for several days due to weather and other issues. We do have a vacation planned and reservations made. I am believing for God's Favor and that everything will work out great in Jesus name! We can hardly wait to see him!!!! :-)

The 4th of July

We have celebrated Easter, Mothers Day, Our 19th Anniversary, Fathers Day, Jay's Birthday, RFKC, Tyler's 17th Birthday without Jay, and now its the 4th of July! Holidays in general are just hard without being together. However the 4th just seemed a little harder than the rest. We had a great time out at the Lake with friends, food, boating, tubing, illegal fireworks! It was a blast and thanks to our church family... The Kranz' we had had a great time! We just missed a very important person... Our Dad, my Husband! On Sunday we went to the MN Twins game. It was military appreciation day... jeeze that was tough! I cried half way up there and during the ceremony! of course baseball is Jay's favorite sport, so I was thinking how much fun Jay would be having if he could be here with us. Caleb was honored during the pre-game stuff. He was able to go down to the field and play a MBL-2 game against one of his friends from Military Kids Camp, Matt Bedessem. Matt's Mom is deployed with Jay. Matt and his Dad ended up sitting next to us... So it was a great treat for Caleb! Andrew went down to the field with Caleb while Tyler helped me keep Reign busy. We had two very busy, fun filled, packed days! WE JUST MISSED OUR MAN!

June...

The picture posted above is of Caleb, staff at military kids camp "in the center" his name was tree! and Chris, Caleb's new army buddy!

I'm not sure where the month of June went!? Perhaps that is a good thing?! Caleb went from Kids Camp at Lake Geneva to Military Kids Camp and then to a friends house so Tyler and I could go to Royal Family Kids Camp. I think Caleb was home 2 days in the last 3 weeks... WOW!

Jay and I are back down to limited communication. I hear from him twice a week, and then one or both of us are exhausted, and there really is not much either of us care to discuss other than we love each other and say good-night. Jay will be home in a few weeks for his 15 day leave. Our time together is already filled up. I really hope time will slow down while he is home. I pray that we all get "Our Time" with him! It has been 5 months since the kids have seen there dad.

Jay will need to see a specialist while he is home to have a couple cysts removed on his hand. It is not a big deal just very painful. I had the same surgery a few years ago. Hopefully he will recover quickly before he heads back on tour. The post op will be in Iraq, however we both feel better with him having the procedure here in the U.S. There is just something about ARMY DOCTORS one is a little leery about! :-)

RFKC "Royal Family Kids Camp" is a camp that our family has been involved with for the past 6 years. It is a camp that offers a week of positive memories for children that are in Foster Care, abused, or neglected children. It is always so rewarding and this year was no different. My niece Christina flew in from Sweden and was able to be there for a couple of days. It was nice to spend some time with her. It has been almost a year since we have seen each other. She brought me some amazing chocolate... I'M NOT GOING TO SHARE WITH ANYONE! Tyler was a staff assistant and counselor assistant this year. He really worked hard and had a servants heart all week! I am so very proud of him! It was such a blessing to watch him interact with the campers. Andrew came out to camp in the evenings and helped give the counselors a break... The boys just loved him! Caleb and Reign stayed with the Langworthy's! PRAISE GOD for Tom and Kris, they have been key players in my sanity and being there for me when ever I need them! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! thank you to Kit and Doree, and Tina Wagner for being there for my kids and Kris when all craziness broke loose! when I told Jay what was going on he simply said... "thank God, for our family" you all mean so very much to us!
Blessings to you all! and Good-night!

Army Doctor...

Pray for Jay he is seeing an ARMY DOC today, Praying for perfect health and that the Lord guides the Doctors in Jesus name!

The Sandstorm

Jay said that there was a sand storm. He said the winds picked up and then the rain and lighting came, overall it was pretty cool to watch. I'm sure he was glad that he was watching and not actually in it!

Its been awhile...

Jay has a 7am-9pm job; give or take a few hours, and he gets Sundays off! for the most part. So that is pretty good. He was able to travel to the biblical city of Ur. If he would have had time he could have went on a tour with the chaplains to see Abraham's house, or at least where it is believed to have been. He flew over the Euphrates River. He thought the flight was pretty awesome in a helicopter! Jay is able to call home everyday! I want to thank you to those that have sent phone cards. Keep sending the cards... it is nice to hear each others voices. He still does not have any personal Internet. I am the one that puts stuff on his facebook... not Jay. He is unable to access that stuff or this Blog for that matter.

Reign was looking at pictures of Daddy with me the other day and she referred to the pictures as Andrew... yes, Andrew looks like his dad, but it was kind of sad because she is forgetting who her daddy is. :-( We are praying that the Internet gets hooked up very soon so we can skype. She needs to see and talk to her Daddy. Jay might be coming home for 2 weeks sometime this summer. We cannot wait to see him!

Reign is growing up and talking so much it is absolutely incredible. Andrew is working construction, Tyler and Caleb will be busy going from camp to camp this summer. June will be over before we know it. My brother is staying with us for a few weeks while he recovers from a car accident, continue to pray for healing for him.

Blessings to all of you!

Elmo leaving Ft. Lewis...

This is what you need to go to the desert. The essentials... your back pack, Elmo, gun, and your coffee cup

deep sigh..

My computer got a nasty virus and I lost everything.. need I say more. I get to start all over yippee, NOT!

Things are busy... My brother is now staying at our home. It has been good. He is able to care for himself for the most part and he can be left alone so that is good. Continue to pray for him. His name is Tom.

Jay has been busy and a few things have happened over there, however I cannot say anything other than GOD IS PROTECTING HIM. I am waiting for some pictures to come in the mail from him. He downloaded them onto a thumb drive.. I should be getting them soon.

Once again I am completely amazed by how God uses our church family. My peeps saved our family a lot of money these past few days.

#1 our computer - Best Buy was going to charge me over $300.00 to repair it. A person from church offered to have it fixed for us not costing us a dime!

#2 Jay's truck - We just spent over $500.00 to fix it and now it needed another $250.00 worth of repair, once again someone from our church stepped up to the plates and fixed it for us.

#3 Nancy's sanity - I was going to put Reign into Daycare once a week so I could get some kind of a break. I was willing to pay the extra money even though we don't have it. A lady from church offered to take Reign one day a week for me, for free!

I praise God for him giving each of these people the gifts to serve! I'm in tears as I type this. I am forever grateful to JESUS CHRIST for all he has done and continues to do for our family!

A word from Jay...

Here is a combination of several e-mails from Jay, that I put together.

I am doing well; my new chu is a lot nicer than the old one and cleaner. We will have to add some blocks to raise the beds up. My new roommate is Jacob Raleigh. I am very happy to finally have my permanent residence, and I can unpack most of my stuff and bag the rest and throw it in the corner. A Brit is giving me a small frig. That will be great for our living space.

I love to receive the text from you in the morning. They make my day start out great. Andrew sent me a text and said they are 4 and 0 to start the season. I wish I could play some softball, I don't know if it will happen here, not much room. I can play catch; a lot of people brought their gloves. I am glad that Reign is having fun with the new slide, and that Tyler got to go to prom. I am always thinking about you and the kids.

It was awesome to hear your voice yesterday. It is amazing how you can long to hear the voice of someone you love and miss so much. Like you have said in the past that is how Jesus longs to hear from us. I have tried on numerous times to use the phones here and cannot get through; I cannot wait until I get the AT&T cards. I am still real busy so the days are going by fast.

I put in for leave in fall. I will wait and see what happens. I am looking for our date spot. I have not found a spot I like yet.

Love You! I try and imagine your smell; even if it just me spraying some of your perfume on my pillow. I just finished a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure. I have some more pictures that I took in the last couple of days. I will send the thumb drive back as soon as I get it. I did get a chance to go to church today; it was okay I just miss our praise and worship from church. I put my I-Pod on and imagine I am standing next to you at church.

I am very hot right now it is about 106 degrees today and just finished inventorying a bunch more of the containers on the base. . I love you more each day. I love to hear from you in the text messages and phone calls; like you say it sounds like we are just a few miles away not thousands. I hope you have a Blessed Day. I will call you later Love You!!