So Much

So very much has been happening and I just have not made the time to sit and blog it all.  Since Russ' retirement ceremony and party, life has kept us hopping!
First, our son-in-law Jonathan finished his military training and came home!  Lex and Matrim were beyond happy to see him!  Matrim took right to his daddy and his daddy stepped right up into the role.  It's a beautiful thing to see!
Next, we celebrated Kerrie's 13th birthday.

She received lots of fun things but her two biggest gifts were her very own makeup and a Kindle touch.  Then we took a "pizza" cake to church to celebrate with friends.
A couple weeks later we said "good luck and farewell" to Jonathan, Lex, and Matrim as they moved off to Missouri to their first duty station.  They stopped to visit grandparents and Great Grandma along the way and made it safe and sound.  They are planning to live on base and will finally be out of their hotel the first of October.

We tried to have some down time to plan after the kids left, but it didn't work.  We still got our planning done, but we were as busy as ever with projects, friends new and old, and getting things lined up for coming adventures.
As public school has started so has MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and I have volunteered to be the mentor to the local group this year.  They had they kick off and I have already been greatly blessed!
Then it was time to take our trailer in for a check up at the dealer down near San Antonio.  So we made the appt and off we went.  We decided to combine some fun in with  that so we dropped the trailer off and headed for Natural Bridge Caverns.  What a NEAT place!  The pictures don't do it justice, but here are some that I took....

See the Natural Bridge going across?

Just amazing....

Notice the "jelly fish" formation

There were pools of water everywhere and the sound of dripping water.  we even got dripped on a few times.  They called it "Cave Kisses".  Temperature is a constant 70 degrees with 99% humidity.

The "witches face" in the top of this structure

the wall of one of the rooms.  The super thin pieces grow about an inch every 100 years.

and the light is shining on the "profile of the mountain king"

It was all just incredible!  

So if you find yourself needing to escape and you are in San Antonio, head for the caverns for a tremendous treat!

More adventures to come.....

We are....

RETIRED!!!!
Yep you read that right.  Russ had his retirement ceremony Tuesday, July 3.  We were surrounded by family and military comrades.  And it was a beautifully done event.

Our Narrator, Lt. Stayton...

His commander, Lt Col Huisman, gave a brief rundown of Russ' 

accomplishments during his time of service....

The Meritorious Service Medal ...

Many awards...

His retirement pin...

Even a few awards for me...

And some gorgeous roses from the unit...

(Russ gave some to his mom too and they were equally beautiful!)

The kids received the Military Brat award ....

Grandson just chilled and watched the show...

A wonderfully done shadow box commemorating his time in both the Army and the Air Force...

A few last words...

And it was PARTY TIME!!

We were surrounded by both our local family and those from out of town for a wonderful evening of fellowship and good food.  

Our military career has been a good one.  It was a life we enjoyed for the most part.  The time has come though to move forward to new adventures and playing the part of home support team as the next generation steps up.  Lex and Jonathan and Matrim leave for their first duty station later this month!  

Tis bittersweet as we are so excited for them but will greatly miss having them close.

....but hey!  We're retired now....and we have a travel trailer.....I think I feel a road trip coming on!

May your lives be as richly blessed as ours!

More pics and our garden now

So here are more pictures that Russ' mom took before we left for the faire on Saturday.    I made the pants for the guys, Mykhal's tunic, my blouse, the outer dress on Kerrie, and the grey belts with pouches and cup straps around our waists.  Modifications have already been thought of for the next go round.  So of course there will be more pix in the future!

And here are a few pix of our garden now.

There's just one huge tomato plant there in the foreground.  Okra plants are the tall things in the back, and that's gobs of wonderful red leaf lettuce in between.  Right in front of the okra our leeks are getting big and hidden by the tomato plant are the onions that have really taken off.  Such a difference from last year.

Rosemary is the closest bush, then there's the basil, and cilantro, and you can hardly see the huge parsley bushes below all that!  I didn't get pix of the sweet potato slips around the corner but they are growing like crazy too.

This is mostly watermelon with a few weeds thrown in the mix.  I think we will be enjoying LOTS of watermelon this year!  YEA!!

Beside the watermelon are strawberry plants that are starting to produce and I neglected to get a picture of our fig tree too but it's still alive and well!  We will have a great bounty of garden fresh goodies this year!!