Sunday, September 23, 2007

Two Brave Young Men

This past week we proudly said our good-bye's to Michael. Michael is Dylan & Kyra's dad who just signed up for the Army National Guard. After a Sunday celebration by the family for Michael, he left for camp in Missouri on Tuesday to start his basic training. We wish him well.

Below is a picture of Michael playing with Dylan, Erica holding Kyra and Valerie looking on. Dylan already misses his daddy very much.


Although Brandon arrived home on leave September 6th, it wasn't until last Friday night that we got to spend some time with him for the first time, at Thalia's birthday party. Brandon is Thalia, Megan & Zac's older brother. Brandon is in the Marine Corp stationed at Camp Pendleton, California but has been overseas for most of the time. He spent some time in Okinawa, Japan and in Iraq. He is currently home for 30 days then he is back to Japan and on to Iraq for a second tour next February.
We're proud of our young men in uniform who are fighting for our country and wish them well. At a time where there is no longer a draft we must rely on volunteers to keep us safe from harm. Jimmy & I are very proud of the courage it took these young men to sign up, especially during these times when they are almost assured of going to Iraq, Pakistan or Afganistan at some point during their enlistment. Brandon has already been there and will be returning again. We pray that both of these boys will return safely from wherever they are sent and we also pray that all of the other young men & women who are serving our country come home safely too. May God Bless them all.
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Now lets lighten things up with a little cartoon that I received today from my dear relatives in California.

We are in drought conditions....
We are still waiting for rain here in our little community and have been told to voluntarily cut our water usage by 10%, because there are only 145 days of water left in our reservoirs. This sounds pretty bad to me. We are no longer allowed to water our lawns or wash our cars...and I guess that means motorcycles to. The city is planning on closing down all car washes and if we don't get any rain soon we will be asked not to wash dishes, clothes or take showers....(hello pond.) We are being asked to cut our water usage to 1000 gallons per household per month. That means no flushing of toilets either, of course only when absolutely necessary for #2.
Jimmy's brother sold off all of his cattle because his ponds dried up and there is no fresh green grass in the fields, and feed & hay have become very expensive. Our creek has also dried up and thank goodness the swamp across the road has too.
The excessive heat hasn't helped either. I suspect that much of our water supply has evaporated away. Jimmy & I have spotted several large dead trees that are standing with curled up dried leaves still on the branches. It's a sad state of affairs to watch trees & plants die of thirst, creeks drying up killing the life that lived beneath its waters. This has been a strange year starting with that fruit killing frost, the excessively hot temperatures and now the lack of rain....I hope we at least have lots of winter snow this year to fill our streams, ponds and reservoirs, and to quench the thirst of the land.
Now I fully understand the pictures of rain clouds that Alice would post on her blog...wishing that they would drop rain upon her farm. Those beautiful dark rain clouds, heavy with rain, just passing over.

13 comments:

Carole Burant said...

Good morning Sandy:-) Happy Belated Birthday to you my friend...I'm afraid I forgot it was your birthday yesterday but I posted a card for you on my blog today!! I do hope you had a wonderful day. The very best of luck to your two men in uniform..I can imagine how hard it is to have to say goodbye to them. Gosh, you really are going through quite a bad drought, hopefully you will get that much needed rain soon! Take care dear Sandy!! xoxo

Anonymous said...

Good morning. I found your page while visiting Pea. I read your blog and want you to know I understand and im very proud of the boys serving our country. My son Rian just got home from seven months in Qatar. He is Airforce. He has been back on base a few weeks and will get to come visit us soon. I can't wait. Come visit anytime and if you ever need to talk im here.

Ava said...

I hope Michael well and I too am very proud of our men and women who are serving out country.

Rachel said...

I'm proud of all those who serve too. I wish all the best for Michael and Brandon.

Hope your birthday was wonderful!!

I think rain is on the way. Now if it will just not bypass us! I have seen some of those dead trees too. So sad.

Tammy said...

My best to all of the young men in your family!

Mercy...I thought sure ya'll would have had rain by now...Praying that some comes your way!

Heard it from a little birdy that today is your birthday so...

Happy Birthday to YOU
Happy Birthday to YOU
Happy Birthday dear Sandy!!
Happy Birthday to YOU
...and many, many more!!
<(:-D)
Love YOU!

Doug Bagley said...

Happy B-day. Love the cartoon.

Kerri said...

Darn...I was remembering your birthday before hand, and then when it came, I forgot it! I hope it was a very happy day for you...(I'm singing Happy Birthday to you....."and many more!" :)
Ross and I share your pride in all those brave souls who are willing to stand up and fight for our freedoms. We'll keep Michael and Brandon in our prayers.
Gosh, you are having a terrible time with that drought! Yes, it's easy to understand how desperate Australians can get for rain. Alice grew up on a farm, but left when she married her hubby. They live in suburbia now.
We have rain predicted for tonight and the rest of the week. Hope you get some too!!! Feels like summer tonight, and today got up to almost 90ºF (32ºC) I wish it would last for many more weeks....but it'll be gone all too soon.
Hey, I'm hearing raindrops! I'll try to send some your way.

Merle said...

Dear Sandy ~~ Happy Birthday for the 24th. Better late than never. I hope you had a wonderful day. I can see how proud you are of your boys in the
services. I pray theu will be safe
along with all who serve their countries. Take care Sandy, Hope you had a happy day. Love, Merle.

David Edward said...

that is a serious drought, wishing you a wet fall, and winter.

we are short on water, too, but not as bad

LZ Blogger said...

Sandy ~ "May God Bless them all. Every single BRAVE one of them!" FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! ~ jb///

Granny said...

A belated Happy Birthday to you. Sorry I missed it.

Alipurr said...

i am proud of them, too
what a sacrifice for us

happy birthday too
love you

JunieRose2005 said...

Sandy,

Two young men to be very proud of there!

May God keep them safe!

Junie