Adam is on the bus heading to the USO in San Diego!! He graduated as Academic Honorman, one of 3 Company Honormen. WOOO HOOO!!! He's got a limo driver, who he met during his last stay in San Diego, lined up to transport Adam and his fellow Marines to the hotel for free. I can't wait for him to get here...it just won't feel like Christmas until then. (Of course the dreary grey skies and brown ground doesn't help much) Good thing I have the sweet faces of my cheery little girls to look at instead!

Lately Livi repeats anything she finds funny. She is putting a lot of words together which is super fun to hear. She's formed a pesky little habit of thinking she needs to stay up late everynight and watch a "Moo-ee" with me. (movie) So last night we were up watching Iron Chef America while she repeated said, "Nummm!" and "Ick" depending on what dish was being made. :-) A culinary genius. I couldn't be more proud. ;-)

Bryna wrote a CLASSIC picture/letter to Santa. She asked for a real guitar, a rockstar outfit, and a Barbie set. On the back she wrote: "Jast Sapriz Me." If I save nothing else of her pictures from her youth - I'm saving that one!!! She also discovered last night that she can READ! She has been working hard on sounding words out for some time now - but she is up to words like "danger" with really no help from me at all. I mean - I was floored. We called Grandma Kathy first thing!!! In total, Bryna read 2 early reader books to me last night. She did wonderfully. I know that she is not way above the curve, but to know that your once-baby has the gift of literacy - well, it's quite a fulfilling feeling.

Got to talk to Adam last night for a little bit. He spent the night on the mountain the night before doing combat scenarios. They "slept" up there and watched for agressors. He got about 2 hours of sleep, I guess - between fire watch and guys coughing every 30 seconds. He said it was sooo cold. There was snow, and a lot of cuddling going on because of it. Poor guys. So he's officially done now. He's processing all this morning, with possible liberty this afternoon. Tomorrow is a quick cami-clad graduation. He'll be graduating with Golf Company. Adam said there are rumors that he will graduate as Company Honor Man! Wouldn't suprise me a bit, of course - but he said rumors come cheap around there, so we'll see. I guess the guy who told him about the rumor said he heard it from the Company Scribe and said Adam's scores were the highest. Nothing confirmed yet, of course. But it sure would be great if that were the case and if so, it could lead to another meritorious promotion to Corporal. Wouldn't that be nice?!

A few more pictures, and a little update:

Adam and I have been able to text message here and there over the past few weeks. The last I heard his voice was Thursday night. He is now done with training (yesterday was a 15-mile hike) and is going through processing with graduation on Friday morning.

I will make the trek up to the Minneapolis airport on Christmas Eve morning to pick him up. His flight comes in at 6AM. Still have to figure out what to do with my little girls. If it were up to me I'd leave them snug and warm in their beds, but baby sitters are hard to come by at 4AM on Christmas Eve morning! We'll see...

My sweet sleep-deprived best friend Erin took my girls last night so I could go spend 3 hours Christmas shopping. I owe you, girl!!! You'd think 3 hours would be more than enough, and yet I'll be doing another round this afternoon to finish up.

I'll pass on all the presents and just take my Marine. :-) We are SO so so fortunate to have our family together this Christmas. My heart goes out to all those families of service members who won't see their loved ones this year, and especially to those who lost a soldier this year. God keep our troops safe!

Much love and a Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

Isaiah 9:6

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I wanted to share with you, the news story that entailed more details of the Wreaths Across America Project. My cousins and aunt and uncle are in this news clip talking more about the experience.

I'm so proud and so thankful for our fallen heros.

Watch the video here.

Adam called from MCT last night. We got to talk for about a half hour under the guise of making travel arrangements. Now - booking flights around the holidays is pretty tough. Well, try finding flights on Dec 23rd and Jan 1st. I dare ya. Well, we did find him some flights - at a lovely inflated price. But he's coming home and that's worth every cent. In fact, we paid an extra 80 bucks just to keep him here until 9PM on the 1st vs. leaving at 8AM. Money well spent. :-)

He's doing very well in training. He is not guide nor squad leader. Just general population, which he said is a nice relief. He spent the last 9 days in the field - eating nothing but MREs, throwing grenades, sleeping on concrete under the stars in 20 degree weather, and "spooning with guys." I guess you'll do anything to stay warm!

He had just gotten out of the field when he called and was covered in perma-dirt. No shower for 9 days would do that. I'm sure his cammies could just about stand up on their own.

Meanwhile the girls and I are keeping plenty busy getting ready for Christmas. We've baked cookies, sat on Santa's lap (twice), had our "friends" gift exchange party. Today is Bryna's school concert, Sunday is her chruch concert and I think next week we have one more party. Phew! Oh, tonight we are heading up to Minneapolis to watch the hollidazzle parade with my sister and nephew. Bryna will spend the night there while Mommy and Livi get some Christmas shopping done. I'll probably try to sneak in some office hours in there too.

Before we know it, next week will be over and Adam will be home again! Even if only for a week.

Wreaths Across America


My aunt sent me info about a meaningful tribute done for fallen soldiers called Wreaths Across America. Nathanael has been chosen to represent Minnesota. Jim and Betsy will receive a wreath and attend the ceremony at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery. They will place Nate's wreath on the grave of our great-uncle Merlin Doring in Nathanael's honor.

Lately, when it comes to life - especially in cultivating joy and thankfulness - I've been feeling a lot like one of my girls' wind up toys. I go for a while and hit a wall then fall over, get wound up once more and hit the same wall only to fall over yet again. I've been trying harder to seperate emotion and actions. "Acting" happy, even when I'm not, etc, and in turn those actions sway the emotions. Why do I do this? Well, for one - I owe it to my two gorgeous girls to be a happy mom. They deserve nothing less. Secondly - what do I have to be "unhappy" about? Nothing. I am blessed beyond imagination - by worldy and non-worldly standards alike.

Failure has been a familiar tune being sung into my ear lately. I understand, very plainly, that a very real enemy plots to keep me unhappy. And while I'm down - the failures begin to emerge: "Lost patience with children, Let house get too messy, Ate too many snacks before bedtime, Got up too late to do devotional, Didn't organize everything well for work the next day, Said the wrong thing to that lady in the grocery store, etc. etc." Eventually you begin to believe these things and convince yourself - well, then I must be a failure. In life. In everything.

Well, I'm tired of believing all that. I know I'm not a failure. I know that God did not give me whatever time on earth He's given me to continue to wallow my way through life.

This morning's sermon, I do believe was written just for me. One line in particular. This key ingredient I've been missing in all MY "effortful cultivation" of joy. The line goes like this: "Faith is the supernatural exchange of fact for truth." Oh - and the Bible says that faith is a gift. You have to ask for it! Because you can't just make faith "happen." It's given to us - and for good reason. All of our own efforts - our "cultivation", our winding up and falling over - gets us nowhere. It's the gift of faith. The fact is, I may feel unhappy - I may "feel" like I've failed everything. But that's not the truth. The truth is that in my heavenly father's eyes: I'm perfect. I am loved. The mere call of his name: "Daddy." - and He melts just because I called Him. Me, Gena.

In all the ups and downs and somewhere inbetweens, there's been a song that snaps me back to that perfect place of peace everytime. It has become my anthem. I'd like to share it with you. Here are the lyrics and below is a link to the MP3 file. And in the meantime - thanks for listening to my ramblings. It's late, which probably means I should not share from the heart, but here I am doing it anyway. Love to all - Gena.

All I Have
What have I in this life
But the love in Your eyes
This empty world will one day fade
Only Your truth will remain

Jesus, all I have is You
You're the hope I'm holding to
I might weep but still my faith

Rests in You
As the heavens hold the skies
It's Your hand that holds my life
And Your love will lead me on
When all else is gone

All I Have

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. The first week - we were in San Diego, second week - Adam was home and we were having too much fun as a family, and last week - my mac was broken for most of the week, so I did not have access to files.

So! Here we are again, back in (not-so-snowy) Minnesota. The graduation: Where to begin...

We got to base (MCRD) very early Tuesday morning for Family Day - in time to watch Mike Company practice the graduation ceremony. We all eagerly looked for Adam and could not find him for anything! We looked in all the logical places - at the front of his platoon with the guide-on, etc. Nowhere. And then - the moment we finally saw him was indescribable. Kathy had Bryna in our stroller and she booked it down to where they were at to get a closer look. The platoon was marching at a solid pace, but that she was one determined mama! I could not keep up with her! We got right up to him and saw - yes! it really was him. He looked about 10 years younger, lean, tall, and SO so handsome. I can't even put into words what it meant to see with my own eyes that my husband truly did exist! And the pride. Oh, my. Those Marines are sharp. Just being in their presence, and in that atmosphere - it's just awesome. The precision, prestige, dignity, and bearing - truly remarkable. At one point Kathy noted to me - "and to think that they are all here voluntarily." We agreed - how awesome.

So at this point we're on cloud nine. We have to get through some briefings, wait for what seemed like forever...and then we got to line up to watch the motovational run. Adam was guide of course and this made him very easy to find - he had that big red flag a-wavin'. The guides came out a good 10 or more minutes before their platoons came out. So there we were only 15 or so yards away from Adam. I was shaking. I could not hold my camera still for anything. Poor, tender Bryna was in tears. This really suprised me for some reason. I knew, of course, that she greatly missed her daddy being gone for so long - but it was interesting to myself in her shoes - a six year old, missing her daddy so much and then emoting like that. It nearly broke my heart. She can be a toughie a lot of the time - but she's a pretty sensitive gal afterall.

So they do their run and then we have to wait even longer with more briefings and presentations, etc. Finally the EGA ceremony. This is where they have the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor metal presented to them and pinned on their covers. The moment they symbolically become a Marine. They marched in and looked SO sharp. Between Kathy and I the bleachers were shaking. She tells me her camera was doing the same thing. ;-) We were certainly overwhelmed with pride while having the priveledge of witnessing Adam "become" a Marine.

And then - Liberty. Weeding through the crowd and finally meeting. Heart-stopping, what can I say. I couldn't really cry at that point becuase it was just way too surreal. It was just a really, really happy meeting. The girls hugged their daddy for the first time in 4 months. We were so blessed to have Kathy, Jerry, Clay, and Jamie their with us. What a reunion that was. I was mostly speechless. Had NO idea what to say to the guy, and wasn't completely convinced he even was the same guy!

I can't speak for everyone, but I just don't think we knew how to contain our pride for Adam. I tear up, now even, as I'm typing this. He just - you look at him, and it's just amazing. He's home. He has become that man that God called him to be. So self-assured, so confident. To be in his presence as this whole new person was... just - phenomonal.

We thoroughly enjoyed our liberty as we walked around MCRD, had dinner at the Bay View (none too soon for poor, hungry Clay :-) All afternoon as we walked, it seemed as though we could not go 10 feet without being stopped by one of Adam's "boys" to congratulate and/or thank him. The respect that these boys have for him - Wow.

But before we knew it, it was time for him to get back to his barracks.

OH! Did I mention - the night before Family Day, Adam was promoted! Lance Corporal Adam T. Disney. He will have to tell the story behind it - but in a nutshell, it was fairly unprecidented for something like that to happen.

Wednesday - Graduation. We got there EARLY. So early, in fact, that we were the first ones in the bleachers. So - we had some time (like 3 hours?) to wait. We just did a lot of walking and scraping knees while we waited. (Who said clutziness wasn't genetic?) We ended up getting seats, however, right in the very, very front at almost the last minute. We were in front of the reviewing stands - even in front of the Brigadere General, which felt a little weird, but still a total honor. The band played, there was special drill from the Honormen, lots of marching, and some speeches. To be honest - I was concentrating more on waiting for that final order of "dismissed" than anything else - but it really was a cool ceremony.

Well, we spent the rest of the day hanging out on base (Grandma and Grandad, Clay and Jamie - really can't thank you enough for helping with the girls all week). Adam bought some "civi's" (civilian clothing) on base and we headed over to the bowling alley and met up with all his drill instructors. Man, oh man. I wish I would have had a video camera then. They were all like a bunch of proud papas when Adam came into the room. We spent the next 3 hours hearing how well Adam did in training and what a good Marine he'll make. I have a TON of respect for those guys. They have a hard job, and do it very well. We had so much fun hanging out and hearing all their stories. Hope to have the privilege to meet them again someday. (Oh, and they ordered him to dance a slow dance with me. Thanks, guys.)

San Diego was just gorgeous. We spent Thanksgiving at Sea World and had an absolute blast. Tried in vain to find a good restaurant for dinner and ended up at Baker's Square. (no offense to the baker's square fans out there....) And since we've been back in Minnesota, we just had a lot of fun. So much fun that I have about 5lbs to work off now. But oh well.

Adam is back in California as of last Sunday. He is currently completing his the MCT (Marine Corps Combat Training) portion of his overall training. He will be back home just in time for Christmas. January 5th, i think, he'll fly back to 29 Palms to complete his MOS for four months. Not looking forward to that, but at least we can talk on the phone and hopeuflly fly out for a weekend or two. One foot at a time, one day at a time, and we'll be together again someday.

I have so much more to write, but I've already made this a long one. Feel free to email or call or comment. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for your patience. I will try to get more of the 600+ wonderful pictures that my dear mom-in-law took.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has helped watch girls, given meals, helped around the house, listened to my whining and sometimes crying, picked lice and nits, helped with ANYTHING, and most of all, prayed us through the past four months. The support and love we feel as a family is truly priceless.

Love to all,
Gena

PS - I'm trying to get Adam to put a word or two on here also. Hopefully when he's home for Christmas.