"A Soldier's Christmas" and mine's not coming home, either.

The following poem was forwarded to me two years ago by my dad and very little did I know at that time that my own husband would be gone during this Christmas season serving his country, away from his wife and two little daughters.
I now have such a personal respect for this poem and I thank Michael Marks for writing it and sharing it with all of us.
Please think about our family and other soldier's families during this Christmas season who do not have the taken-for-granted blessing of being together during such a special time of year:

I was thinking about our servicemen overseas this Holiday Season and wrote 
the following in hope of bringing a small bit of Christmas cheer to active 
duty and veterans alike ... just a humble thanks and "God Bless." Please 
feel free to pass it along or post it as you see fit. Thank you.

Happy Holidays,
Michael Marks

*****************************************************************************************

A Soldier's Christmas
By Michael Marks

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight;
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight;
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
In perfect contentment or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear;
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near;
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold;
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light,
Then he sighed and he said "It's really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line
That separates you from the darkest of times;
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

"My Gramps died at 'Pearl' on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram' always remembers;
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

"I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile;"
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue ... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone
Away from my family, my house and my home;
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

"I can carry the weight of killing another
Or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To insure for all time that this flag will not fall.

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

"For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Michael Marks
December 7th, 2000

************************************************************************

In loving appreciation of the countless Americans who have and continued 
to serve in the Armed Forces and those who gave their lives for their 
country. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten. We look forward to the 
day you come home. God bless and keep you always, and God Bless America.

Michael

Time drags or time flies, either way it still passes.

So here I am finally updating my blog again! I haven't been able to get on here much to update so I'm sorry for the major delay.


Lots has been happening around here and most of it has been excruciatingly stressful for me, and my girls, and my family that I'm living with.


I have been deeply and painfully hurt more than I can ever think of before in my life just in the last day and I don't see any efforts in this being rectified. I just wish SO MUCH that Latter Day Saints would truly try to be beings of true Integrity, Loyalty, and strictly keep the sacred covenants they've made in holy Temples with God. 
People who choose to rationalize their behavior cause so much hurt and pain for others, especially those closest to them, and they don't see the hurt hearts of their loved ones as the real issue but that the hurt loved ones must be out of line to feel that way.


Anyway, that's all I'll say about that. I just have been thinking a LOT lately about Integrity, Honesty, and Obedience.


I've been looking for every opportunity to teach my little girls these most important and essential virtues. I enjoy teaching my girls, and I always feel directed by the Holy Ghost when doing so, and I know just what to say. It's the most amazing feeling. 
Reminds me of when I was serving a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the people of Buenos Aires Argentina. I love teaching the Truth and WITH THE SPIRIT.




Last week I had surgery. It was highly recommended by two of my doctors so I finally had it done. The pain I experience daily is more than one can bear without help from outside sources (such as a pill or two, or three). I know that I complain a lot, and I know I seem pathetic to many, but the fact is people don't REALLY CARE what you're experiencing and going through unless they've been there before and understand exactly what it's like or they're currently going through the same things right now.
I am finding so many good friends online that understand and support me and it's been a huge blessing!
Other Army Wives and other women who suffer from Interstitial Cystitis have become a HUGE strength to me! And a vast resource of information as well. It's been wonderful and I don't feel as alone as I could be.


The surgery went well. When I was coming to from the anesthesia I remember dreaming that Tyler wasn't there and I was frantic for him to be there. I was so distraught over his absence that I did not realize that I was thrashing around and they had to hold me down. How embarrassing is that? I've NEVER woken from anesthesia in such a horrible state! 
So I bruised my knee and tore my stitches a little, making them bleed, and only causing myself further pain. I guess I wasn't breathing at all because I vaguely remember them making me use an inhaler a couple of times and them giving me more meds and yada yada. 
Then my mom came in and I was totally groggy. In and out. I remember them saying every time I fell asleep I'd completely stop breathing. It's funny cuz I always warn the nurses that I have Sleep Apnea and they assume that keeping me propped up with help. lol. NOPE. I don't have the obstruction type that most people have (cuz they're fat or they have tiny air passages or enlarged adnoids, etc), but cuz my brain does not send the signal for me to breath. It sucks royally. I will never sleep well, or at all, without a CPAP machine or oxygen. Kinda a bummer huh? lol oh well!! 


Then I was super pleasantly surprised that my best friend Kristen showed up!! I had hoped she would be able to but wasn't counting on it since she's such a super busy lady working so much and taking care of her kiddos, but she came!!! It was SO NICE seeing her and she immediately cheered me up!! I was so grateful that two of the most important people in my life were there with me. I felt safe and comforted and finally could calm down enough that they could release me. 


Well, since the surgery my pain has only worsened. Honestly it's MUCH worse than I even let off it to be. I feel so awful that I'm not up and about and helping do anything. I do feel I'm doing well with the girls considering my state, but I wish I could do better. I'm especially distraught, still, over my husband not being home with me. 
Anyway, I've had a fever for 5 days now since I've been checking and my abdomen swelling won't go away. I've lost a couple pounds, too. It's hard to eat because it hurts and I get nauseated easily. 
So the doc had me come in a week early to check me out. He said to just keep an eye on myself to make sure the pain doesn't get worse or doesn't get better at all and if my fever stays or gets higher that it's a possibility that I have a little internal bleeding going on. Wonderful huh? lol.


Now on another interesting and sad note for me, my brother, Erik, is leaving for the Army in 3 days!!!!! I'm going to miss him terribly! I'm sad I probably won't see him again for YEARS. He's going to training. Okay he'll be back for Christmas that lucky dog since my husband isn't allowed the same privileges (nor do we have the money for it even if he COULD come home) so I will see him again for a couple of days at least.
He's doing infantry, the crazy man. hahaha. But I'm sure he'll do so great and that he'll love it! Erik's such a stud! But I'm very sad he's leaving.


Lacie is having a hard time with kids in school. The boys around here seem to be a little perverted or something. They relentlessly tease Lacie trying to kiss her or pretending to kiss her, trying to look up her shirt, spanking her bottom, throwing things at her, and calling her names. I don't want to tell her that boys do that if they like you because I don't think it's fair for her to accept this mean trait from boys and be okay with a jerk later on in life thinking "it's cuz he loves me that he's such a jerk". Nope. So I tell her to ignore them, walk away, tell them to grow up, and to go tell her teacher right away. At any rate I keep her teacher well informed of the happenings at her school.
Sophie has bad dreams still and asks me sometimes if her daddy is dead. It's awful! Even though she sees him sometimes on the internet talking to her, she still fears this. She's becoming more used to him being gone now, which is good, but she's still very clingy and emotional. 
Both my girls are emotional.
And suffering from depression that I'm not quite sure how to combat at this time. Especially since I can't drive and hardly walk or play or do anything. 
I do read to them a lot and encourage their cute picture drawing and have them in dance class and hopefully starting music classes soon. 
So I'm doing the best I can with what I've got.


I'm still living at my parents home and they're pretty much all that I have family-wise that's been supportive to me and my girls. 
My ward has been WONDERFUL, too! They've taken the girls so much to help and it's so wonderful and the girls love it and need it!


So there's the update for you.
NO we don't know if we're going to Korea yet. Apparently we were misinformed of being approved to go over there. WE HAVE NOT. It's NOT been approved and they're not any where near approving it either. So we're just sitting here frustrated beyond words and Tyler's lonely without us and depressed and everything else. I pray he clings to the Church and it's members while there. They'll be a huge support and blessing in his life. 


Please pray for us. We need the prayers again, very desperately. 
I cannot divulge everything on here, but I shared quite a bit already and try as I may to be positive and count my blessings every single day, life pretty much is the pits right now.


Thanks for reading another novel by me, if you read it. 

He's Listening

So things have been hard for us lately, no matter how optimistic we try to be, that's the truth. I know everybody struggles with things in their life that are hard at any given time, and sometimes we're blessed with breaks here and there I think, and other times we're blessed with really hard times that really can make or break a person depending on how they choose to accept it.
Right now things are very, very hard. I'm trying my best to be happy for the girls and Tyler and myself and others, and I know I greatly fall short of this, but I am doing my best and with the Lord's help I'm doing even better than I thought possible for myself.


Yesterday, after a bit of bad news here and there, I was home alone (for once lol) and felt it safe to let my emotions out for a few minutes and allowed myself to cry. Or better yet, the tears just came and I didn't have to worry about hiding them like usual.
So I bawled my eyes out and was feeling very weak (as some people have called me) and pathetic and just a little hopeless and started praying to help me feel strengthened somehow and to please bless me with any good news for a change or something to keep me going. I prayed to know if Heavenly Father was hearing me, was aware of what we are going through, and if I'm all alone or have support. 
I went back out to my car where groceries were waiting in the trunk to be taken out and as I opened the trunk a car pulled up behind me. I turned and two members of my bishopric came out of the car.
I assumed they were looking for my parents, obviously, since this is their home, and felt really embarrassed that they caught me crying like an idiot. I told them nobody was home and where my dad was (at the church at the time, with  my girls), and they said "we're here to see you". 
They said they'd felt impressed to visit me.


They asked me how I was doing and I was actually kinda shocked at first and didn't really know what to say. Then I started to tell them a little bit about what was going on. They offered to help me with anything I needed. So I finally gave in and let them help me bring my groceries in, which was wonderful since the amount of pain I was in was a lot, and then my brother Josh showed up so we weren't alone in the house. It was so perfect. They asked what else they could do for me and I felt prompted to ask for a blessing. I received a blessing and a feeling of love enveloped me by the Lord. I felt comforted, loved, protected, understood, sheltered, and uplifted.


My testimony was strengthened last night as a result of this. I was feeling so sad and was asking Heavenly Father for anything, really, and he sent two angels to me right in the moment that I needed them most! He answered my prayer the instant I asked, and blessed me greatly!
I felt his love and I can tell you it was similar to what Alma the Younger said in the Book of Mormon in Alma 36:21: "Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."
Maybe my experience wasn't as grand, huge, and miraculous as Alma the Younger's was, but this is how I felt, or something very similar to it, and I know it was from my loving Heavenly Father. 


God does love us. He is aware of what we are going through and what our needs are. He understands us. And, above all else, He is listening. 
He heard my  prayers and answered them, strengthening me, lifting me, and enveloping me with the compassion, love, and sympathy I so needed and only He can understand that I need, and needed, so much. 
Thank you for blessing me with the Gift of the Holy Ghost and for my membership in God's Church where the Priesthood is real and alive and true. 

Life Won't Stop :)

So Lacie has her first loose tooth!! One of her little bottom teeth is very loose and the adult tooth is already coming out behind it. Yikes! You can also see the second adult tooth trying to push out next to it, and BOY are they crooked! Poor girl! Her baby teeth are PERFECT. They're pearly white, perfectly straight, and healthy! Now her new adult teeth are sure to be all crooked. But what can you expect with both parents having crooked teeth? haha.
She's in First Grade now and I cannot believe it! It's like it never quite sinks in how old my Lacie is getting. She's in school all day long now and I sure do miss her. But it's also nice cuz it gives me a little break to get a little more done during the day. 
I was going to sign Sophie up for preschool but I just couldn't swallow paying so much money just to send her away and have someone else do for her what I should be doing, ya know? Maybe when she's Lacie's age she'll go to school, but for now she's happy being home with mommy and grandma.
I did sign the girls up for their very first dance class!!!! I'm SO excited! I've wanted to do this since I first found out I was having a girl. Seriously! This class teaches mostly Jazz but also a little Tumbling and Ballet and also Voice! I'm THRILLED. I've been looking for singing lessons/classes for my girls everywhere! They only go once a week, but that's plenty for now :). Next I need to figure out swimming lessons lol.


We've been LOVING having Skype!! Holy cow it's such a wonderful blessing having such advanced technology! If it wasn't for Skype we'd never get to talk and I don't even have an address to write to him so we'd have NO communication at all going on right now. So I'm SUPER grateful for Skype right now! 
Of course Tyler's hours are 15 ahead of us, so trying to find a convenient time to talk to him is very, very difficult! He's asleep when I'm up and we're sleeping when he's up, or he's gone in his boring briefings for Inprocessing required by the Army during the day. *sigh*. And life goes on, right? 


Once again our effort at trying to get pregnant has failed. I guess the Lord doesn't want to send more of His children down yet. It's not the right time, or place, either. But who knows, maybe there's a child waiting for adoption somewhere eh? That would be cool!


The paperwork and extra work I have to do now is just piling up and it's an enormous amount. It's so huge that it's intimidating me so it's been a little difficult to completely delve into it. My brain just can't concentrate like it used to and right now I've been mostly thinking about us going to Korea to join Tyler there. It's kinda consumed me, but I gotta just relax and completely trust in the Lord, ya know? Yeah, there might be evil men that do things to keep us from going over there, that's their choice and God can't force anybody, but for now I KNOW it's right for us to join him, it's just a matter of being patient and having faith and hope, and pulling the right strings. 
Tyler's really anxious to get with his Unit and meet his Sponsor. I really hope things go smoothly for him there. So far they have, so that's a good sign. He was SO stressed about it all working out but now it seems to be so he can relax a little. 


So life won't stop moving along even though things aren't exactly where we want them, and our kids keep growing up even though we don't want them to, not yet anyway. I wish I had more time with them while they're little. Before we know it they're grown and I wonder if we've taught them well enough, after all, it's a HUGE responsibility to teach our children the way they should go and how they should believe and hopefully they'll choose the right thanks to our teachings and examples. I do worry about this enough to remember to teach my children the Gospel and read the Scriptures to them and pray with them daily and take them to Church and sing Primary songs with them and more. 
Okay enough rambling. This is longer than I meant it to be. As usual. :)

He's Gone!!

I cannot believe Tyler is GONE!
I talked to him a few minutes here and a few minutes there in between his flights. Poor guy was completely and entirely exhausted! He's in the air right now, on Delta, not even half-way to Korea yet.
I feel like doing NOTHING today. Funny huh?
My girls and I have been lounging around the house. Me in my PJ's and yes, I did get them dressed and fed, watching TV and wasting time on the good ol' PC. 
I go between bouts of crying and just being numb so far. 


I cannot wait to hear from him! I'm so anxious to find out what he finds out about our Command Sponsorship and Housing and a phone and Skype and all that other stuff to keep us connected. I also wonder where on earth he's going to be living! 


The saying-goodbye thing is over, thank goodness, but it was so incredibly hard!
I bawled my eyes out and so did Lacie. She and I both cried all the way home. My poor brother Josh had to listen to it all, but I was glad he was there so I wasn't alone. I hate being alone, ya know? Just the way I am I guess, although I do like my time alone, too. Hmmm. 
Anyway, Josh and Andrea got some good pics of us at the airport. I wonder if I'll ever be able to figure out how to get pictures on here like everyone does. lol. I'm just not that good at technology.


So there's a little update for now. I hope that things work out for us to be together soon! I hope I can talk to him soon, too! He'll be landing in Seoul Korea at 5:30am our time and 4:30pm his time on Wednesday. Craziness!!!
Wish us luck! As usual :)

Life Is No Party

I know that there are some of you that simply do not understand sharing feelings online. Here's why I do it. 1. I feel it has the potential to reach others out there who need it; it will help them 2. it helps me feel better 3. it's good for others to hear what others are feeling and going through so that they know that nobody is a robot and we all have feelings and deserve compassion and empathy. So if you do not like reading about my "feelings" then just stop and please, no more condescending, "well-meaning", critical and judgmental emails and comments to me. Just bug off if you don't like it. 

Okay now that I got that out I can go on :)

Our trip home from Virginia was not without a few bumps and adventures on the way. It took us 4 days to get home. That's what happens when you have Buddy Passes. They're so unreliable. But on top of those nasty things, the Army messed up with Tyler's paperwork so made us stay a day over. Civvies who do the paperwork don't ever go above and beyond nor do they act like they care that they're messing around with people's LIVES and families here. So it cost us SO much money. We had to change flights, add hotels and car rental days, food, gas, etc. It was horrible on our wallet and our psyches, but it was good, so good, to be together for those days. I just feel bad that it robbed our children of those days with their father. But I suppose everything happens for a reason. 
We had many wonderful people step up and offer to help us find a way home. It was a miracle how things worked out. My mom got busy notifying her many email groups of our situation and many, many people jumped to our aid!! We're eternally grateful to these people who helped! Tyler's sister helped fly us home, too, when our Buddy Passes didn't work. 
We went from Virginia to Boston, Boston to Las Vegas, Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. We stayed in Boston for a whole day and night and WOW it was an amazing place! We were right down-town historical Boston. We stayed at the oldest running hotel in the country and it was surreal for us. Cost us a pretty penny, though, but we had no other choice unless we wanted to sleep on the dirty streets and possibly get mugged lol. We also got to stay the night in Vegas at a member's home. They fed us and took such good care of us! Like a 5-star hotel!! They wanted to pay our way home but Tyler's sister beat them to it. They were such a wonderful couple!

Since we've been home, we've been able to do a lot of things together as a family. We've seen some movies, gone to Trafalga for bumper cars, carnival rides, XD theatre, arcade games, and more. It was a blast! We also got to go to Utah's Hogle Zoo. That was so fun! The girls had so much fun there! And best of all we've been to the Temple several times to help do one of my best friend's family Temple work. It was AMAZING and truly the work of God.
Besides having to deal with unecessary and exaggerated drama, things were really, really good! And it went by too fast. Of course. 

Tyler leaves today for South Korea. We are not happy. We are dreading the likelihood that our family will be split apart for TWO YEARS!!!!!!
There are many who are trying to stay positive for us, which we appreciate, but I think we deserve to cry about it, too. It's all very hard and discouraging. It's almost too much to bear.
Tonight so far we've been crying. There's no party going on over here! Just heartache, despair, sorrow, fear, hope, sadness, anger, confusion, humbleness, prayers, and more.
The girls beg Tyler to stay home.
I cannot believe he's leaving already, and for so very long!

You know, it's one thing to have a family member or close friend go away for a while, but when it's YOUR SPOUSE it's waaaaay different. We're used to sleeping in bed next to each other, our intimacy, being best friends, doing everything together, and experiencing everything in life together. Now being forced apart is torturous.
People say "I could never do that". well, neither can we. But we don't have a choice so we deal with it. Other people say "I know how you feel. My husband has gone on business trips for x amount of time" You can know a tiny bit, but really not as much. Being gone for weeks at a time vs months at a time..... um, big difference. Much harder. My mom can't even bear to think about what it'd feel like to have my dad gone for 6 months to 2 years. It's just too much, ya know?

What gets me even more upset than anything is knowing there are people out there that do not apreciate or support our soldiers and families. It makes me SICK. How ungrateful and selfish and self-centered are these people!! Do you even realize the HUGE SACRIFICE our family is going through and other families like ours? Do you understand? Do you care? Are you capable of having feeling for someone else's situation besides your own? 
Right now we both feel like there are some that are only thinking of how this is affecting them and not us. He feels slightly smothered. But meh, what can ya do, right?

So Tyler leaves today. He flies to VA, then from VA to Detroit, then Detroit to we think Tokyo for a gas-stop, then to Seoul Korea where he'll get a bus ticket for a 4 hour ride to Camp Carroll for inprocessing. We have no idea where he'll go after that and we have no idea if we'll get to come over later to join him or not.
You know, him doing this is better than serving a mission. 1. he's safer 2. he can use skype 3. he can use phones whenever not just twice a year 4. he can come home to visit 1-2 a year 5. he's getting paid for it. It's not worse than a mission as some seem to think lol.

Anyway, this time Tyler leaving is a lot harder than the first time. It's WAY harder. And it's making us both sick. I feel bad for both my girls and for us. Our situation isn't one that anybody can be jealous of, that's for sure, BUT, our marriage is soooo strong and our family so tight! The Lord has greatly blessed us and kept us and he's blessed our family with His Spirit and I KNOW that because of our obedience to Him that we've been blessed. It's almost as if God has been carrying us through all of this.

Honestly, we are not your average military family. It seems as if other military families handle this just fine and don't mind being apart so much. But with us it's pure torture and we hate every minute of it, BUT, we know it's right, we know it's what the Lord wants of us, of Tyler. So, we "go and do as the Lord doth command" (1 Nephi 3:7). 

Please, if you will, pray that we'll be able to join Tyler in Korea soon! And pray that we're all kept safe and strong!
Thank you for all your support!

And thank you mom and dad for all the sacrifices you have made for us! For the money you've given us, the home to live in, the food, the spirituality we've needed, the support, and more. You haven't been intrusive or manipulative, you haven't been worrying about your feelings above ours, and you've been a huge blessing to us, being an answer to many prayers! I know Heavenly Father has blessed you for it and will continue to do so. 
And thank you to our best friends who have stood by our side through it all! Through the ups and downs, and for your support and encouragement, for your listening ear and more. 
And thanks to all other family and friends who have been here for us, supported us, blessed us, prayed for us, helped us, encouraged us, loved us both, accepted us both. You support me, you support Tyler and if you support Tyler you support me. We are ONE. :)

okay, now I better get off so I can supposedly and maybe get some sleep.

Feeling Anxious

Time is getting closer and closer to when I get to go get Tyler and bring him home. I WAS looking forward to having just our family at the airport to welcome him home, give us a few moments alone before everybody else.... but that's not going to happen now. It was going to be a surprise for my girls and them alone. I feel so bad for my little girls, their moment is going to be stolen from them.


I cannot wait to have my husband home again, with our family. It feels so unnatural to not have him with us as a family. The girls and I and he have all suffered being apart. I pray God allows us to be together for the next while, even if it's in Korea. 


Anyway, my brother Erik wrote something a while ago that my sister Andrea came across and I really wanted to share it on here. It's profound, true, and I wish that not only would members really read this and understand it, but that other people of other faiths would, too.


For some strange reason, members/Mormons identify prosperity with righteousness. They want to prove they are righteous by being wealthy. This is a mistake. If anyone really believes that blessedness in its fullest sense can be measured in dollars and cents, he is wrong.

On the other hand, the promise remains true that if we keep the commandments of God, if we are generous, if we care about others, if we don't trust in riches, if we are willing to consecrate in spirit--eventually all we possess--then we will be magnified and will have sufficientfor our needs. 

What you want is not always what you need. 


So there ya go. 


Now to get back to my many, huge chores. They sure feel mountainous right now. 
I'm still praying for our family to be together in South Korea. I hope you guys are praying for us, too.

SOUTH KOREA???? ............ :/

I know I haven't written for a little bit so I just felt I ought to anyway. I've been waiting for some really good news to write about but things are on hold and I don't for how much longer they will be.


The process to get my family ready for Korea has been an INSANE one! It's been very difficult!
If it wasn't for the surprise move to my mother's house then things wouldn't have been so hectic, stressful, and difficult.


The girls and I had FOURTEEN doctor visits in ONE WEEK. Let's see all of you do that, eh? hahaha. Okay I know many do this on a regular basis, but we're not used to it. Plus they weren't all in one place but all over Utah and Salt Lake counties. It was so crazy! There was tonz of paperwork. We had to fill out 3 forms plus a stack of more medical paperwork, plus get all our legal paperwork together, and I had to get signatures from all my doctors and notes, plus the dentist for all three of us. 
I had a very tight deadline to get all of this done. Luckily all my doctors and the new dentist understood and put us top priority, and even then we still had a lot of hurrying-up and waiting to do (the Military's Motto: Hurry up and wait). 


Meantime Tyler was doing his own running around at Fort Lee VA. He had appointments left and right, paperwork to fill out, and he had to completely rely on me to get my stuff done by a certain deadline and I had to rely on him for the same. Talk about a time-crunch!


During all of this we were moving the SAME TIME!!! Because I was not anticipating a move so soon nothing was packed or cleaned or ready to go, so I had a huge job to do. Thank Heavens I was blessed with a few angels who came and helped! Nancy Bentley and her daughter and sons, my relief society president Sis Nielson, my sweet sister Andrea Pearson, my sister-in-law Alicia Pearson, my best friend Kristen Lanier, another good friend Mollee Suafo'a, and my other sister-in-law Andrea K. Pearson, my mother Betty Pearson, (these last two watched my girls for hours!!!!), and my home-teachers, most of the Elder's Quorum, and other friends and family here and there. It was a huge blessing to receive all this help! If it wasn't for these people, and others, I would NOT have made it!!! Simply put. It would've been impossible. Of course I was still left with A LOT to do and it was overwhelming. 
After the move I got sick and exhausted. I knew I would. I usually do after such stressful and difficult things that grind me to the bone. 


On top of all of this Tyler got his orders to S. Korea. This has me TERRIFIED. Not because of any danger, because Korea is THE PLACE TO GO right now for families and soldiers alike (it's a HUGE blessing he got this!!!), but because being apart from Tyler has nearly been crippling for me. A few have called me weak. Well, that's their short-sightedness I think, and their "fault" for thinking that way. Tyler and I have a very good and close relationship. We have a different relationship. And being apart is NOT easy on either of us. NOT because of weakness, but because we are best friends with each other and we enjoy each other's company and we equally carry the yoke of our marriage and children and responsibilities. We build each other up and carry the other one if we're having a hard time. 
The part that's the absolute most torturous for both of us is having the girls away from their father. They are DADDY'S GIRLS. He is VERY VERY good with children. Children naturally love him, trust him, and surround him. That's one that that attracted me to him from the beginning. He is my girls' life-line. It's not because he's done everything for them, but because he's done as much for them as I have. From what I've seen most fathers don't do this, unfortunately. Either because they cannot, or because they choose not. The latter is a very, very sad thing. Tyler chose to be close to his girls. 


Anyway, right now we're WAITING and WAITING and WAITING and WAITING to hear if we get to accompany him to Korea!!! We've both been earnestly praying and fasting for this. It's a righteous desire, and very possible. So far we've had so many miracles along the way and we're praying for another miracle. We are really hoping all our family and friends will pray for this, too. Tyler will be a much happier and productive soldier, and safer, if his family is with him in a very family-friendly and safe place.


So right now I'm excited and also very hesitant about the Korea idea. If we get the YES I will be ECSTATIC and then I'll start the grieving process for leaving my friends and family behind for YEARS, but until then I'm walking around in this very frail bubble (as my family is coming to experience and realize this first-hand, sorry guys) until we can know what the final decision will be. 


If anybody has any free time at all and a willing hand, PLEASE come visit me and my girls!! Please pray for us! Please help if you can/will! Don't be shy or hesitant. Trust me, GOD WILL BLESS YOU IF YOU DO, I know this!!! 


Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been so helpful to us already! Even if you might not like me very much, if you're helping me you're helping our CHILDREN and TYLER and GOD. 


And please, if you feel like being calloused toward me then pray for understanding and compassion and charity. And pray for our family to stay together!!
And thank you for reading this entire novel! hahaha!!


If you are in Korea or moving there or have lived there please write me! I want to know everything possible about that place, AND, if there's anything else I/we can do to ensure us traveling WITH Tyler to Korea and living there with him!!


Thank you all!!! 

Too Much Is Happening!

WOW I cannot believe how time has flown by lately! 
And WOW I can't believe all the things that have been happening!


On a good starting note, I've maintained the weight I've lost, which makes me very happy :D I hope to lose more soon, but I'm not ready yet. It takes sheer will power and hard work to do it and you have to be 100% dedicated or you'll probably fail! So I have to be READY and I'm not quite there yet. I will be very soon, though!


In a little over a month Tyler will be graduating from Advanced Individual Training!!! (AIT). I am SO excited!!!!!!! He was offered to sign up with the Rangers and the Old Guard, too, but passed on the Rangers since neither of us felt it was quite right. I didn't tell him what to do either way, but when we talked about it we both knew already what was right. The Old Guard would be SO awesome since he'd be guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier!!! That would be the most HONORABLE thing to do in the military, in my opinion, but his waist isn't tiny enough and he may be just 1" too short!! lol I love him just the way that he is, but the Army is very strict with how they do EVERYTHING. 


So I leave TOMORROW to fly out to see Tyler!!! I am ECSTATIC!! It's all I can think about!! Of course I get anxiety over my safety getting to and from there, over Tyler being allowed a Pass to spend time with me, over spending money we do not have, over leaving the girls with friends and family and trusting they'll be 100% completely safe, and also anxiety over everything that will be staying at home alone without us to protect it from crappy neighbors, and every other little and big responsibility I have. WOW I feel overwhelmed right now!! (and NO I am not "FRANTIC", as one anonymous person said to me a little while ago. Try walking in my shoes for ONE DAY before passing judgment!). 
Anyway, Tyler and I NEED this time together and we're so excited! I cannot wait! We were hoping to go to Washington D.C. to the Temple and to the Holocaust Museum and the White House, but it's a crazy commute there so I'm not sure if it'll work out or not. I have everything prepared to go there, but we'll see. We may just go to Busch Gardens (for free, thank you to those who honor and respect military families and give awesome discounts!!!) and to the beach or to Williamsburg or whatever. I'll just be happy to BE WITH Tyler!! OF course I'm going to miss my little girlies so very very much, and I know Tyler will hate not having them come with me, but he requested that just I come so we could be alone together for a little bit. Of course he cannot stay in the hotel with me, but I'll be happy with being with him in the daytime :) At least I'm already familiar with the area so I feel comfortable going there alone.


Okay, so we had a recent trauma (well, I did anyway) in the last few days. I couldn't bring myself to write it here since it was so recent, but here's a shorter version of a long, sad story.
My neighbors do not like me because I am LDS. They have told me so. They know where all the LDS people live in our neighborhood/area and have pointed them out and said they "hate" them, no kidding. They don't even know any of us! Anyway, we're friendly and nice but these neighbors are what you call "Jack Mormon's". These people are those who were either offended by other church members or don't like to "be told what to do" (give me a break!!) or think that the Church somehow wronged them or don't like their "rules" and blah blah blah. Pretty much they range anywhere from people who have negative feelings towards the Church and it's members but nothing hostile to completely hostile and do everything they can in their power to try to bring the Church and it's members down. All of these Jack Mormon's were baptized at some point in their life into the Church and didn't get what they thought was owed to them so they left, or they just don't care and like to party instead. This may offend some people to say it, so I'm sorry, just don't be so easily offended ;) lol. 
Anyway, my neighborhood is full of these Jack Mormon's. They all party all night long on most nights, and throw up in my yard, break my kids toys, throw cigarettes at our stuff and into our mail box, tear Military stickers off my car, steal the Military magnets (twice now) from my car, steal my kids toys, and torment and tease and hurt my children. 
Just yesterday one jerk fed my little Sophie chewed on sunflower seed casings telling her they were nuts. How cruel is that? Makes me SO ANGRY! I seriously want to go kick him in the face. Okay, that was probably too much haha, but really, these guys have pushed it over the line.
They've called the cops on me FOUR TIMES now making things up! I'm SICK of it!! DONE with it. Anyway, they look for reasons to cause fights or problems with me. I usually just mind my own business, keep my distance, wave and say hi once in a while just to show I can be nice, and I try to keep my girls from bothering any of them. It's hard work, especially when they make comments about me almost every time I go outside. I just ignore them, though, realizing they're probably drunk or high, or both, and just want to fight.
One neighbor lady actually attacked me. I don't want to get into all the details here since it'll just make this a lot longer than it needs to be, but she wanted a fight and that's all she was interested in. She was extremely offensive and vulgar, contentious, out-of-control, violent, irrational, and PSYCHO!!!!!!! If I didn't have training in martial arts I would've been on my butt the first time she rammed into me with her gargantuan chest. I blocked all her hits and punches and even though she kept ramming me with her gargantuan chest and body, I managed to stay upright and finally just turned around and walked away. Of course I was yelling back at her, just like "You can't talk to me? You have to swear? I'm not hitting you; I don't want to fight" etc etc. It was SOOO LAME. And it scared the crap out of me!!!!
I do NOT respect any woman who tries to act like a manly street bully. sor ry. no way. She acted like she was some huge black man and seriously it was so annoying and offensive. She's a 6 foot plus white woman, about 300+ pounds. TWICE my size!!! Come on..... pick on someone your own size, right? Wrong. She was out of control. 
Anyway, needless to say I do NOT feel safe here!!! I feel like my life is in danger as are my daughters' lives, too. So after the Police came and took contradicting statements from all our druggy neighbors who are her party-pals, and he advised me to move from all these hostile neighbors and situation, I called my mom, the landlord, and the storage unit place and made arrangements to start moving IMMEDIATELY. I am moving to my mom's house. 


I am honestly so overwhelmed right now that I've made myself sick. I've had a fever for days now, stomach aches, headaches, and poor concentration. My hair is falling out, I feel nauseated, my skin has broken out, and I'm so tired I can hardly sleep and having violent and disturbing dreams every night. It seems like to most people my situation is annoying but nothing more than that. One person told me "what you're going through would be so easy for me because I can handle stress really well, but I can see how you would be having a hard time with it because you can't handle very much". OUCH WHAT???? She's NEVER been even close to what I've gone through and am going through. Talk about arrogance! Holy cow!! She's like 10 years younger than me.... she has more to learn. Of course she probably didn't realize she came across so harshly. FAIL. (as Josh would put it LOL).
I have a lot to juggle! And right now at this moment I feel torn apart, torn to go in multiple directions so much that it's causing me confusion and stress beyond words. 


I have to clean my super messy house (my vacuum is broken), pack everything, sort through and organize my stuff, most has to go to storage and some to my parents, I have to do all of this within a few days, clean the place, change my address at a million different places, cancel contracts with different providers, pack my luggage for the trip, pack my girl's luggages for their "trips", and do all of this in 1 1/2 weeks while taking 6 days of that 1 1/2 weeks and being away with Tyler. My landlord expects me to have my entire place moved out of and cleaned spotless in ONE DAY!!!!!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!! I have to find people who can help me because I literally cannot do this alone. It's impossible. Plain and simple. I do not have a truck. I do not have big enough muscles or a strong enough back to lift even my stupid sofa, let alone the other heavy things I have. I do not have enough boxes. I do not have enough time. I do not have enough brain power at the moment to keep it all organized. SHEESH!!! 


Okay, enough complaining. I guess I really felt a need to vent!!! 
I just pray that things fall into place as they should and that things won't turn out as bad as I'm fearing them to!!


I know that the Lord is blessing us and has been. I know that these things will make me stronger, wiser, more experienced. But I tell you what, right now it's so hard that I feel like I cannot see an end in sight. I feel trampled on and torn apart, sick and stretched too thin. 
I don't even know exactly what to pray for!! haha. But at any rate, at least my life isn't boring, right? :D 


PS Thank you to my friends who have come through and helped me! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I have needed you SO much right now, you were an answer to my prayers!!!!!!! And thank you to my family who have helped me!! Thank you soooooooooooo much!!!


PSS I have left a lot of stuff out that has added to my stress. No need to tell everything that is going on, right? lol

Tyler at Advanced Individual Training (AIT) AND MIRACLES!!

Tyler is having an interesting time at AIT right now. Very interesting. Actually, he put it this way: "It SUCKS. I hate it! I want to come home!" Of course it's only his first week and the first week at BCT he hated it there, too, but in the end loved it and thanked his Drill Sergeants. 
He had amazing training at Ft Knox. One of the best Basic Training places you can go to in the U.S. Army. Discipline and honor, exactness and integrity, and much more, are instilled in the soldiers at Fort Knox during BCT (Basic Combat Training). 
Tyler learned how to be a REAL soldier there. He's really seeing a difference between the soldiers who were trained elsewhere compared to his battle buddies trained at Ft Knox, and honestly it's really frustrating him. He takes what he does very seriously, as I believe he should, and he feels that many other soldiers do not. Just like in the "real" world, there are soldiers that just refuse to practice self-control and discipline, respect and honor, integrity and responsibility. When one person falls out or goes AWOL or disrespects the rules or their command, they not only get themselves into serious trouble, but their Platoon, and sometimes even their entire Unit or Company.
The other night one of the Sergeants supposedly went into all of the barracks while the soldiers slept and if ANY electronics were left out or their lockers left unlocked these electronics found were taken. So far everything has been returned BUT the cell phones. 
So, Tyler is TICKED. His cell phone was taken.
He was placed in the old barracks after they were told they'd be staying in the new barracks. The thing that sucks about the old ones are not only are the roaches really big, bad and ugly, but they have no internet. Tyler's laptop sits mostly unused because of this. And now that his cell phone is gone, too, almost no communication is possible. He's lucky to have made a few good friends at BCT that are with him at AIT that let him use their phone for a few minutes at night to update me or vent to me. I love talking to Tyler, even when he's frustrated :D. 
He has asked for prayers to help him get through this, though. He's feeling frustrated and wishing he wasn't there right now. He's wishing he'd chosen Infantry instead of Cooking, and honestly I don't blame him at all. He'd be great at it. But of course he's great at cooking, too!


Today he got to cook! :D He made a Chef's salad and potatoe salad and learned how to make a rose out of tomatoes, I believe. He's an amazing artist so I'm sure his food designs will look awesome! I'm so proud of him! He's just so rad!
He wears a chef's hat, the big, tall white ones, and a chef's coat. I wish I could see him!!!


Now about the miracles!!


I already mentioned the miracle of being able to drive Tyler to AIT, but I must also mention that a very good friend of mine is helping me get to see Tyler over the 4th of July weekend. I can barely contain myself for the excitement from spilling over!!! :D (not sure if that sentence made sense, it's midnight and I'm on pain killers lol). Anyway, another miracle is how quickly I was able to find help from family and friend to take my girlies while I will be away. Thank you SO MUCH Michelle and Mom & Dad Frampton!!! You guys are the BOMB!! :D hahaha. They pulled through right away and I'm just so grateful because both of these people are going through some very hard trials right now and are greatly sacrificing for Tyler and I so that we can be together.
Heavenly Father knows Tyler and I NEED this time together. He's helped every piece fall into place for this to happen. 


Also, last night, my mom, dad and I walked to their church so that I could get a Father's Blessing from my dad and some people, who I won't mention here, were asked to watch my girls for me while we were gone. Well..... Sophie was not noticed when she slipped out the door to "follow mommy". We never saw her coming after us. We got to the church and while inside, before the blessing, we heard somebody come in through the church doors and were walking around the foyer sounding a little confused. We assumed it was guys coming to play basketball, like usual, when we heard a little girl's voice. My dad felt to open the office door and see what was going on when we saw Sophie with red little eyes there and two strangers with her. They said they were driving by and saw Sophie wandering the sidewalk crying. She directed them to the church where they came because there was a light on.
Here's the interesting thing about this. My mom doesn't normally leave the foyer light on, but for some reason she felt she ought to. AND, the biggest part of this that was complete proof to my parents and I that God is VERY mindful of my family is that THE CHURCH DOORS WERE LOCKED. There should have been NO possible way for this couple to be able to come in those doors. The Church keeps everything very well sealed, locked and protected. And it's electronically done somehow with the church doors. 
If they couldn't have entered the building they would probably have called the police wondering to whom this little 4 yr old girls belonged to. Sophie's small for her age and she looks 3 and sometimes 2 to most people. By a miracle they stopped and picked her up and took her to the Church, opened locked doors, and brought her straight to me. 


I have been thanking my Heavenly Father since then for all these miracles. 


Tyler and I have been through A LOT. I mean  A  L O T.  I know not as much as most people. But for us, it's been a huge burden. We were tempted with many things, including giving up, but we never did. 
We remained faithful to God and His Church; to our testimonies. We remained faithful to each other and to the Covenants we have made with each other and with God. We have persevered, unshaken, immovable, despite all the many different trials and hardships we have been through. We have been persecuted, judged, dismissed, denied, tried, tested, and more, even from those who should've/could've been the best support for us (including the economy hahaha), and have not given up or blamed God. We knew that what we've been going through has been required of us. 


We both know that in order to appreciate and know the sweet, we must know the bitter.


I know that the bitterness in life has not finished with us. There will be more to come. But I am grateful for this! It has given us experiences for our good, for our learning, and for our happiness. We more appreciate the blessings and miracles when they come and recognize them as such when we remain humble, accepting the trials God gives us knowing that they are helping us, not hindering us, and that they are not punishments, but blessings to help us grow and become more and more like God every day. 
I know that there are two ways to look at things in this life as they come: 1. bitterly, resentfully, angrily, hatefully, disgustedly, and come out worse people. 2. gratefully, humbly, teachable, happily, prayerfully, faithfully, and come out strong and experienced, eyes open wide, hearts softened, and ears ready to hear what God has to teach us. 


I pray that we continue faithfully, despite all the trials we are continually going through, and all the trials we have yet to face. 
Just keep up your prayers for us as we keep up our prayers for you.


Thank you, Heavenly Father, for EVERYthing. 

The Adventures of BCT Graduation with Tyler!!! :D

WOW what a week!!! 

I am exhausted! But SO HAPPY!!!!!

Pre-Grad Day:

Early Wednesday morning Mike Liu, a "brother" from Taiwan, picked up our luggage and followed us to my mom's house in Lehi. There I drove Mike's Lexus, Mike, and the girls and our luggage to the SLC Airport. 1/4 way there I realized I'd forgotten my phone, so we had to turn around and go back to my moms, which made us LATE!

I drove as fast as I dared and while I checked my luggage at the curb-side late luggage guys place Mike took the girls into the airport then had to leave. I grabbed my luggage and two carry-ons (one was my CPAP) and started to RUN. Sophie was busy looking around and tipping her little luggage w/wheels to keep her from running, so I'd run back and urge her one. We finally got to security where we had to wait in line. Finally there I had to take off the girls shoes and jackets, my shoes and jacket and belt, take out my cell phone, and my CPAP machine, load up all our luggage onto the belt, then take out the laptop. Meantime things are falling off the belt and nice people are catching my stuff left and right. Thankfully they were all so nice and patient! I think they felt sorry for me haha. 

I was juggling a million things it seemed like and was flustered because our flight was to leave at 9am and I was going through security at 9!! I was praying for a miracle!

I put our shoes, jackets, and belt back on, put my CPAP away, the laptop away, got the girls their luggage, grabbed my 3 bags (all super heavy, of course!!) and started RUNNING! Daniel called to tell me they were about to take off and they were seated on the plane! I said "Please please run to me and help me or we'll never make it!"

Daniel told the flight attendants the situation who said "tell the pilot". He did so and the pilot, who was already in the cockpit, got out and walked up the ramp to wait for us!!!

Daniel ran like a sprinter to us. It was about 2 football fields long how far away we were! He showed up and without pausing whisked the slow little Sophie right into his arms along with her heavy luggage and turned and ran hardly skipping a beat. Lacie was running ahead like a little lightning bolt. I told her "if we don't run as fast as we can we might not get to go see daddy!" so she took off!

I got there with our tickets, the pilot smiled at us and I thanked them profusely.

We delayed the plane over 10 minutes! Yikes!!

Finally we were off!

The flights to Louisville were just fine, for the most part. At first the girls were excited and thrilled to be in a big plane and feeling the take-off. Then they got wiggly. Then tired. Then noisy. 

I was soooo grateful my brothers Josh & Dan were with me. We all took turns taking the girls to the tiny little latrine and getting toys and coloring things out and treats. In Chicago we had several hours before we'd leave for Louisville so the girls and I took a nap on the floor. They made sure to empty out their carry-ons all over the floor, and Sophie bossed around another little boy, stealing his chair every chance she got and acting nonchalant about it. 

We got to Louisville finally and almost didn't get our rental van! But it worked out thankfully. When we went outside to pick it up (daniel and I) it was like hitting a wall of steam in a sauna!! 

The van was soooo nice! It had TV's in it and all sorts of gadgets, and the AC worked wonderfully!!! lol

We got the girls and Josh, loaded up all our garb and picked up my checked bag, and were off! It took us a little longer to get to our hotel than anticipated. We stopped off at 2 or 3 stores to buy some food, a stroller, and swim trunks for Dan.

The hotel was nice-ish. haha. We went to bed early that night.

Graduation:

We all got up at 6am I believe (May have been earlier, I don't remember now) and took showers, did our hair, got all dressed up nice, and left LATE!! haha. Completely missed New Family Orientation, then couldn't find a place to park! I drove through the building's parking lot and saw the Company in formation. I knew Tyler was in one of the two Platoons in the middle and was embarrassed that I had to drive past a barrier of "no parking" cones and behind their Company to turn around in our huge van! Tonz of soldiers and even a Drill Sergeant were yelling at us like we were stupid thinking we were going to park there hahahaha.

Tyler said "Who's that idiot?"

Well, when the girls and Josh and I got out for Daniel to go park somewhere out in the boonies Tyler's buddies said, "Hey Frampton. Aren't those your kids". Well, that "idiot" Tyler said "was MY idiot", meaning me! hahaha! He hadn't seen me yet, though.

Inside the bleachers were FULL! We walked around forever until we found a place on a front row that would've fit 3 people and squished 5 of us there instead. 

I went back outside to take pictures of the Company and find Tyler. One of his buddies was like "isn't that your wife, Frampton?". well it's kinda funny cuz Ty and his buddy were checking me out calling me "hot" and other things when Tyler realized I was HIS "hotty" hahaha. He gave me a HUGE happy grin, which I got a couple pictures of. I was on CLOUD 9!!!

The ceremony was really cool. Good speakers, good awards given out, and  FINALLY they let the soldiers fall out and we ran to him!

The girls jumped into their daddy's arms and it was an emotional time for all of us. Such pure joy and excitement and relief to be together again!!!

Tyler was so relieved to have finished BCT, and who can blame him? lol

I got to meet several soldiers, one after another, praising Tyler in how amazing he is! They said he was just as good, if not better, than all the younger guys! One soldier kept bowing at Tyler (he's Asian) and going on and on about how good and amazing Ty is and that he's his "dad" hahaha. It was so cute and cool.

I met his branch president who said Tyler was a huge help in their branch, always busy doing good things. He asked if I was the one who sent all the email and said it was good. :) It was funny. I met a couple missionaries (who are not allowed to wear name tags there for some weird reason) and then met "big" Simmons who Tyler had baptized! He has a very cute family! I met a ton of good soldiers who were excited to meet us since Tyler talked about his girls and I a lot to all of them. They acted like they knew us pretty well. 

Then we got to sign him out!!! While standing there I met Senior Drill Sergeant Genthner who happened to really like Tyler a lot. Then we got out of there!

Graduation Day:

The day didn't go by too fast or too slow. It was SO PERFECT!!!

We drove all the way out to Louisville KY for "lunch", looking for The Outback Steakhouse, where we got lost for a couple of hours, then found it wasn't going to open for 3 or 4 more hours!!!

So we went back to Elizabethtown I believe, where we ate at Applebees. We had such a blast!!!

The girls were non-stop chatting at their dad and asking him tonz of questions almost all day long! They were climbing all over him as often as possible.

DANG Tyler looked so good!!!! So much skinnier, ripped, and handsomer than ever!! He just glowed! :D 

We then went back to the hotel where Dan & Josh took the little girls out swimming for a little while so Tyler and I could have some time alone. That time was so precious to us; we hugged and cried and our love was multiplied by a million!!!!! 

Then for the rest of the day we weren't sure what to do! So we all hung out in the hotel room, piddlydinking around haha. It was so relaxing, though! We finally decided to go back on the base to take pictures of Tyler's adventure at BCT (Basic Combat Training) and experiences and then a few family photos, too. The entire day we all laughed and listened to Tyler's non-stop story-telling. It was SO FUN!!! He has a few GREAT stories to share! They were gut-splitting funny!! hahaha. It was SO FUN!!

Then he had to report. He checked in and while we stood around waiting for the DS's to yell for formation I had a distinct impression for Tyler to introduce me to one of his Drill Sergeants. Senior Drill Sergeant Genthner, again. The thing was, earlier that day, right after graduation, we were told we would NOT be driving Tyler to AIT as we were told previously that we were and we'd planned on it.

So we talked with SDS Genthner for about an hour and he shared some good advice with us. The thing was, just before we stood around chatting with him, Tyler had approached all the DS's inside their office asking about doing ANYTHING to let me drive him to AIT (Advanced Individual Training). Genthner was pulling for it, but one of them was saying N-O and the others were saying "no... not possible". So while Tyler and I were chatting with him, Ty had to run inside and change into his PT uniform, I had the guts to ask Genthner about it again. He said "no, there's nothing we can do at all. There's just no way" so I told him "well dang. That sucks. We'd been told yes so I bought plane tickets, reserved the hotel and the rental van already and I can't change them". Then I dropped it. He sincerely looked sad! He looked at the ground and I could tell he felt bad. But there was nothing he could do.

Then Tyler came out and soon afterwards they put them all into formation. All the soldiers weren't there so they all got "smoked" pretty good. Thing was, some of them were laughing cuz this "smoking" was the lightest one they'd had yet. To us it looked bad, but to them it was nothing.

They let two platoons go early to spend another hour or so with their families, but Tyler was in the Platoon where 2 of the soldiers still hadn't shown up! They didn't show up for a long and instead of smoking them the rest of the night they finally let them join us!!! So we had 40 minutes left with Tyler before we had to say our good-byes!!

We sat on the grass and just talked. I was trying to figure out if there was ANYTHING that I could do still to take him. I just was not going to just take a NO after they told us yes for weeks! Come to find out it was just the Drill Sergeants being lazy about doing the paperwork! The thing was there were 90 soldiers going to Ft Lee for AIT. A LOT more than we'd realized! So what I think is that they got "lazy" about the paperwork because so many people were asking about taking their soldiers to AIT, so because of the liability risks of having so many soldiers driven by civilians it was just too much so instead of saying yes to only a few and no to the rest they had to say no to everyone. It was a very hard thing to swallow, so I never quite swallowed it lol.

We gave a very tearful goodbye. The girls were crying, I was bawling, Tyler was crying. SDS Genthner stood out there and watched us the entire time and you could tell it broke his heart. When Ty left SDS Genthner said "I've been through a few of these myself (he was deployed atleast 7 different times!!) and I don't like it. Be sure to do what I told you and this won't have to happen as much" I said "thank you. Thank you so much" and we waved goodbye.

That night I went back to the hotel and was on the verge of tears again, but the determination and frustration and stress was too much to let me give up like a baby and cry, so I got online and looked up, for two hours at the LEAST, phone numbers to call first thing in the morning! Tyler knew there was no way to get around the DS's N-O's, but I realized otherwise.

One friend made a good point that gave me hope and more "umph" to get permission. He said that soldiers can only do so much since they have to follow their chain of command but civilians have more pull. So.......

Another Miracle:

I got up before 6am and with all those phone numbers I'd collected I started making phone calls. Most had been disconnected, several had no answer, and the rest lead me in circles.

I prayed so fervently the night before and this morning for help and guidance because I KNEW it was right to drive him!! So I said to Heavenly Father in prayer, "I know this is right. Everything fell into place as it should, and it was a MIRACLE to get here. Please bless me with another miracle. And please guide me to what I need to do to make it happen". Realize that in order to be blessed with miracles we must do all that we can do to make them come. God doesn't hand out anything! We must work for what we want and need!

So then I got a strong impression to go onto a high security website for Army spouses of Active Duty soldiers and looked up a leader in the group and found an old message from months ago with a phone number to the Ft Knox Army base that is not listed online and called the number and I got through! FINALLY! It was about 7 or 7:30 by this time and I was sweating I was so anxious! We were wasting time (or so I felt) and Tyler would be loaded up into the buses at any minute and hauled away from me!!!!!

So I asked for so-and-so (won't give the names out on here) who I told my story to: "Hi, this is the wife of a soldier that graduated yesterday from BCT and he is headed for AIT to Ft Lee today. He and I both talked to Drill Sergeants about me taking him to AIT and we were both told a Yes, although it was an unofficial yes. Then yesterday they told us no. The necessary paperwork was never done. I already bought the plane tickets, rented a car and reserved a hotel room to take him out there to Virginia and I can't change those plans. Is there ANYTHING that I can do to still take him?" This is the same thing I told 3 or 4 people. One of them said "you need to talk to the Commander". And so I did.

After telling him the same story he sternly and bluntly asked "How did you get this number?!" "I.. um..." "You need to call us back in a minute" "Can I have your direct number?" "Does your soldier have your number?" "Yes, he does" "We'll call you back". 

Sweating, shaking, tummy-turns, pacing, finger-nail bighting...... I was so afraid I got Tyler into trouble!!! I'd skipped up the entire chain of command straight to the Commander and boldly asked for what I wanted and that was it! Now either the Commander was offended I'd called his direct, unpublished number, or he was impressed. I would know which within the next few minutes.

Within five minutes I got a call from Tyler's Drill Sergeant, Genthner, and I was SURE he was going to reprimand me for not dropping it and letting it go and for getting Tyler and himself in trouble but instead he said, "It looks like you're going to be driving your husband to AIT. How soon can you get here?" I said, in between bursts of THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!, "within 10 minutes!" which he laughed at, then said, "Give us an hour. We have a lot of paperwork to do now" hahaha!!!

Then Tyler wrote me a text saying, "You are My Wife!!!!!!!!" He was one super proud man!! The other soldiers got it out of him that I'd somehow, and miraculously, convinced the "top dogs" to let me drive him and all of them were happy for him (except when his back was turned they were probably holding each other back from pounding on him since they didn't get the same privileges - hahaha just kidding!!). 

I was NOT going to stand by after all the work I did to get out there, set things up to drive him to AIT, and to find a way home, all to be told a big fat stupid ugly NO after we'd been told yes!!! NO WAY JOSE!!!!!!!

So in an hour, or around there sometime, we drove to Tyler's base where SDS Genthner walked Tyler out to us with all his heavy packs and the girls gave him big kisses on his cheeks and I shook his hand like 2 or 3 times (I should've given him a hug!!!! He deserved it! Dangit!!).

The reason Genthner was our here here, was the Captain/Commander shouted for Genthner to come to him at my phone call and I could hear in the background SDS Genthner explaining to the Cpt what I'd done, what was arranged... he was pulling for us!!!! It took just him and me together to convince the Commander within seconds to get out the paperwork, sign it, and order Tyler out of formation and send him with ME!!!

Tyler said that Genthner yelled for him a couple of times and Tyler ran up to him and he said "Come with me, Frampton" and they marched into the building and into the office of the Commander. Tyler was shaking in his boots, not knowing what was going on! Was he in trouble? Had something happened? Was he getting more responsibilities or not going to Ft Lee? What??

Then Genthner said "You realize your wife is taking you to AIT". Tyler was so overjoyed his eyes filled with tears and he was bursting at the seems!! He tried his best not to smile and Genthner said "Don't smile, Private!" hahaha. Then that was when SDS called me on the phone while Tyler stood there listening. 

I signed official papers (like 3 or 4 of them) and so did Tyler and his Drill Sergeant and the Commander and another dude or two to make it official that I would be primarily responsible for him, that he could NOT drive or smoke or drink, etc etc etc (oh yeah, you know us! The real ol' partiers!! hahaha). 

Then we were off!!!!

The Day After Graduation/the Road Trip To AIT:

So, we drove to Louisville, then got lost.

For like one or two hours we drove around the entire city of Louisville because we'd missed the exit to head towards Virginia! Oh my gosh I was so frustrated! We drove all over the place. We got lost several times! Driving way out of the way, going in the opposite direction of where we should be headed, and constantly having to stop for food, gas, potty breaks, and what-not, it took the entire day to get there!!!

I drove SIXTEEN HOURS + that day!!!!!!! 

Along the way we saw lots of really cool things! My bros had fun taking lots of pictures. Mostly of rocks, trees, grass and other random things, instead of us hahaha. So funny!!!

It was a long day driving, but I literally enjoyed every single minute of it!! At first it started out Tyler telling more awesome stories and we were laughing most of the way there. Funny jokes, funny conversations, and fun buying and eating junk food and drinks and meeting people everywhere.

We FINALLY made it to Richmond Virginia!! We decided we needed some real food instead of chips, gatorade, licorice, chocolate, (I had apples and oranges and Subway), so we went to Denny's right off their highway.

We were given top service!! 

It was here that this older fellow (not too old, mind you) who walked up to our table and he asked Tyler "Are you in the Army?" "Yes" and Tyler stood to shake his hand. The man said to Tyler "Thank you for for your sacrifice so that I can be free!". It was the most amazing and powerful thing said yet to Tyler. The man stood straight for Ty, looked him square in the eyes when he said it, and then walked away. It brought tears to my eyes and impressed our group so much we were speechless. Tyler sat in a complete daze. He said "it's hitting me what it means to wear this Uniform".

He was the only one out of his entire Company that got this opportunity. The entire trip over from Kentucky to Virginia we were met with stares and waves and head-nods all for Tyler. I was even given huge amounts of respect by others! I could not believe the respect I was given! Men would literally bow out of my way and say "excuse me ma'am" when they'd see me walk into a store or anywhere with my Soldier. It was truly humbling!

When we finished our meal I went to pay and the waitress and the manager of the store gabbed my head off about the Military and the manager gave us a nice discount and I gave a nice tip :). They also told me "thank you for your sacrifice". It was so sweet!

Saying Goodbye. Again:

After an hour or so of driving around, or maybe like 2 hours, and getting lost AGAIN, we finally found our way to Ft Lee! I'd had to pull over to a scary-looking gas station where two very nice men helped me find my way there. 

We drove around inside of the huge base in the pitch-dark, completely clueless of where we'd need to go. I finally asked Military Police who gave us a rough idea of where to start looking. We drove right to them! We saw a bunch of soldiers in formation next to two huge buses and Tyler felt it was his group. He was right!

What was another complete miracle was that we got there shortly after they had! We were sure we were half a day late getting him there and we were all so worried he'd be in huge trouble! But everything was just fine. We were so surprised at how relaxed they all were there.

We took him to the soldiers, unloaded all his stuff, and said our goodbyes. I cried again, of course, and Tyler did, too. We watched for a couple of minutes while Tyler reacquainted with his fellow soldiers who were happy to see him, but everyone looked so beat! Tyler looked the brightest and happiest and I'm sure it was cuz he is! He got to ride with his family the entire day and none of them had. And we got to stop whenever we wanted to and they hadn't. We were truly blessed with a miracle!!

Well, we left, and I'd had a feeling to delay leaving the base so we stopped at the Base Lodging to check on prices and rules. While there Tyler texted or called me and told me I had his paperwork in the van, so we had to drive it back to him. In the pitch black I was surprised I could find the way back to him! He walked up to the van and Daniel handed it to him and we all yelled our goodbyes again and drove off. Tyler waved one last time.

Our Scary Adventures That Night!:

We could NOT find our way out of the base! We drove around it for about an hour, or more maybe, and found one way out, but it wasn't the way we'd come in. We found ourselves in Petersburgh, or something like that, and it was NOT a nice town. Probably one of the worst I've been in my entire life, and Daniel's too (that's including our missions). We were actually scared for our lives! It was in the middle of the night, we had on idea where we were or how to get anywhere and so we just drove and drove. The neighborhoods were getting worse as we went. The houses were dark but people sat on the porches. Not to be racist, but everyone was black. Everyone, but us. And they didn't look friendly, either.

We saw many drunk men wandering the streets and saw cops only one time in an abandoned parking lot leaning on their patrol cars apparently shooting the breeze as if there was nothing else to do! Even they looked "scary" lol. 

I was thanking my lucky stars that our windows were well tinted so nobody could see my little girls in the back seat with their eyes wide-open looking around at the "scary" place. The Spirit was screaming "get out of here!" that it was unnerving to say the least. Finally I saw a gas station that was bursting at the seams with black people coming and going. We pulled up and everyone stared like "What are you doing here??" We stuck out like sore thumbs! Daniel braved exiting the van, I locked the doors, and he ran inside to ask for directions "follow this road here for a ways" was all he got. So we did that. Still lead us to nowhere. 

Finally Daniel called our hotel and the receptionist was nice and gave good directions which we followed and finally made it back to our hotel! It was about 1am or 2am, I can't remember which, when we made it back. Sophie and I took a shower then we all zonked out cold! 

Coming Home:

Early, but not early enough, the next morning we all got up and cleaned out the van, packed up all our garb, had hotel breakfast, and sped our way to the airport back in Richmond. We were late. Again.

We prayed for a miracle and BARELY made the flight!!! 

In New York it was NUTS!!!

It was super busy and we had a long lay-over. By the time they called our names out there were only 2 or 3 seats left! No way Jose was I sending my baby girls alone on such a LONG LONG flight without their mommy! Talk about completely unsafe and stupid! Sophie was in pull-ups, they have to go potty several times and need help when they go, and they get restless and rambunctious. So it was completely not an option. I didn't want to send my brothers without us. If we did that then me and the girls would be waiting until Tuesday to go home! I could NOT afford a hotel in New York City and another rental car!! I couldn't leave Daniel and Josh there, either, because they had NO MONEY in the first place, they'd have to stay until Tuesday, and aren't old enough to rent a car! And have no credit cards anyway. So they shut the door to the plane before the 3 of us could discuss our options so we were left with almost no options. 

One man missed the flight entirely (he was drunk and didn't wake up to hear his plane being called so he was raving angry and yelling in his strong New York accent at everyone but me until he was escorted out of the Airport by security!!!). 

The lady who at first was cold and rude to me did a complete 180 and turned into my Angel who saved us!!!

I prayed she'd take compassion on us and she did the instant I prayed for it!! I'm not kidding, the change was so fast and so surprising. She "broke" some rules for us to get us onto a flight so I won't say who she was here. She saved our skin and I hope God blesses her greatly for what she did!!

First, she had us booked on a flight from NY to Oakland Cali, then from there to Long Beach Cali, then from there to SLC. Well, we ran our behinds off to the gate to board the plane that was already boarded only to have it delayed because the pilots didn't show up, they unboarded it, then she came running over to where we waited to tell me this flight plan won't work anymore since it was delayed and we'd miss our flight in Oakland or Long Beach. *sigh*. So we went back to her desk where she scrounged around and we did some brainstorming on how to get us home.

We then checked the nearby airports. Pheonix was too far, Denver closer, but too far and I couldn't rent another car out of State for the price plus we didn't have round-trip tickets or a major credit card, so impossible, then there was California or Las Vegas. Hands-down it was Vegas. She booked us and gave me tickets to take to the desk at that Gate and sent us on her way, but not before I profusely thanked her for her help and telling her how awesome she was!! :D

We sat around the airport for another 2-3 hours after being there alllll day long already. Our next trick was finding someone to take us home to Utah from Las Vegas, or take us to St George at least so I could rent a car to drive home.

Daniel asked my brother, Erik, who volunteered to come pick us up. So Erik borrowed his brother-in-laws huge van and drove the 5 1/2 hours down to Vegas with their new little baby screaming her little eyes out for a good portion of the trip, and my sis-in-law Alicia bringing us food and drink realizing we'd probably be hungry and thirsty, which we were.

So after we waited for a little while they came and loaded us into the big van. I sat squished in the backseat between both my girls and tried to sleep, unsuccessfully. 

You have to realize I was EXHAUSTED beyond exhaustion!! I'd driving 16 hours straight the day before, sat in the airport all day, then had a long flight from one end of the country to the other, and had to be the one that planned the entire trip, and save our butts to get us home. It was very exhausting in more ways than one!

The trip from Vegas to Utah was not a pleasant one, to say the least. I gave Erik 30.00 in tips for picking us up and will be covering the gas for the trip as well. 

So, that was our trip in a tiny little nutshell!!!

We were blessed with many miracles this entire trip!! Safety, health, transportation, and being with my hunny and the girls seeing their daddy!

We were overjoyed and I would do this entire trip, and worse, all over again a million times just for this time we had together with him!!!

Now today we are tired, and our clocks are a bit confused, and the girls and I have fevers and the girls are crying a lot and the house is a WRECK lol. But it was such a wonderful and glorious and learning experience for me!!!

Thank you to all of those who made it possible for us to go on this trip!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!