Wedding Pictures

The super tired flower girl and her mommy

Aneta with her bridesmaids

Mr. and Mrs. Mergen

I finally have a sister!

Congratulations!

My youngest brother is getting married this weekend. It's hard for me to think it's time for him to start a family of his own! Aneta, his bride to be, is the most sweet, caring, and loving individual. Sometimes I wonder if she's ready for this crazy hunter, but I guess we'll find out!  

Congratulations Rane and Aneta!

Update

We're on day 5 of Operation Potty Training and all is well! A couple of accidents here and there, but that's to be expected. Each day she's getting better about letting me know when she has to go and getting annoyed when I say, "Let me know when you have to go" every 10 minutes.

I'm so proud of my little sweets!

Progress!

She's making progress! The 5 pony stickers are from today!

She had three accidents... 63%... I can handle that for the first day!

I Will Be Here

Tomorrow morning if you wake up

and the sun does not appear

I will be here

If in the dark, we lose sight of love

Hold my hand, and have no fear

'Cause I will be here

I will be here

When you feel like being quiet

When you need to speak your mind

I will listen

And I will be here

When the laughter turns to cryin'

Through the winning, losing and trying

We'll be together

I will be here

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up

And the future is unclear

I will be here

Just as sure as seasons were made for change

Our lifetimes were made for these years

So I will be here

I will be here

And you can cry on my shoulder

When the mirror tells us we're older

I will hold you

And I will be here

To watch you grow in beauty

And tell you all the things you are to me

I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made

To you and to the One who gave you to me

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up

And the sun does not appear

I will be here

Oh, I will be here.

I Will Be Here - Steven Curtis Chapman

42 Down... 10 to Go!

Top 10 Things I'm Looking Forward To

10.) A day off of parenting without calling for someone to watch Braelyn.

9.) No more worrying.Were the missions successful? How's everyone feeling? Is everyone okay? How's Heath? Is he stressed? Is there anything I can send to make him feel the love of home? 

Yup, no more worrying.

8.) No more weekly trips to the post office.

7.) Not feeling guilty for taking time to myself.

6.) Hugs & kisses

5.) Sending someone else to the grocery store if I don't have what I need.

4.) Sending a man to the "man" stores. Sorry Campbells and ProBuild and True Value and Lake Area Vet. You will no longer see my face!

3.) Celebrating holidays as a family.

2.) Having a teammate again... taking turns cooking, cleaning, playing with Braelyn, bed time routine, etc.

1.) Family time! Church, riding bike, walks, runs, trips to SF, going to the lake or the park...

Bring on the last 10 weeks!

HaPpY 4tH of JuLY!

Home of the free...

Because of the brave...

Summer Tour

The cement is in! We have a sidewalk!
Woo hoo!

The building permit asked who the contractor was and I put self... That's right! I did it!

(With the help of my dad!)

Pouring concrete at 7 am on a Saturday.

A beautiful lily that bloomed. I think we planted these last summer.

A hanging basket of flowers I received from one of my students on the last day of school. They're still alive!

My mother's day gift from Heath and Braelyn.

It's a miniature weeping willow tree.

LOVE it!

Yellow flowers and a flag.

My soldier will be home soon.

Yeah for July!

July is finally here! By no means have I ever wished for my summer to move as quickly as I have this year. I'm not looking forward to another school year. Because, truthfully, I love summer. I feel I am called to live in warm weather year round with a pool in my backyard. LOVE summertime. LOVE it. But, I'm looking forward to the end of September. I'm looking forward to having my husband, my best friend, home with Braelyn and I. So excited, I can hardly stand it! What will I be like in September??? Yikes!

78 days until September 18!

Woo hoo!

Salute to Our Troops 5k

The runners with our cheerleaders/water girls! They're the best!

Running for our soldiers!

It's Getting Closer!

Time until September 18, 2010

88 days

2113 hours

126812 minutes

7608746 seconds

Enough said.

**Granted, this is the army we're talking about, I'm not getting too excited because things don't always go as planned with the army. But, it's getting closer!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Guest Blogger: Braelyn Abraham

I have some pictures to show...

This is a picture of me and my Daddy when I was first born. He loved me from the start. I knew that because my Mommy was so tired from getting me out of her tummy that he took care of me for the first few hours while Mommy slept. I was a guinea pig. Daddy had never changed a diaper before. I gave him my best dirty diaper that I could at the time, and he cleaned me right up! Good job Daddy!

My Daddy is a cop. When I was little he would come home to have supper with me and Mommy. He would work from 4pm - 2am. Then he'd sleep until I woke up and take care of me until 1 pm. I went to my friend Sether's house until my Mommy picked me up. He took very good care of me and lost a lot of sleep in the process. He's the best!

I was a little worried about my Daddy's hairdressing skills. But, like the diaper, he learned quickly.

My Daddy makes me laugh. He's so funny. Sometimes he makes funny faces and I think that's just silly.

My Daddy likes to go on trips with me. We like to go to zoos and see all the animals. This year we went to the Omaha Zoo. Daddy took me to see the birds because Mommy doesn't like birds. We had fun and saw lots of pretty birds.
My Daddy likes to eat snacks with me. Our favorite snack to eat together is ice cream!


I'm almost 3 years old and I (think) still have my Daddy wrapped around my finger! I will always be his little girl.

My Daddy is working. He will be working for 13 more weeks and then he gets to come home to me and Mommy and Dex and Maggie Wou. It's hard not having him here, but Mommy and I talk to him on the computer and I get to see him. He still makes silly faces to make me laugh.

I love you Daddy!
Happy Father's Day!

My Favorites

My two favorite people.

I just love 'em!

Thinking of Those that Serve

My soldier.

Love him.

Always will.

The men of the 211th.

Proud of them.

Thankful for their sacrifices.

16 weeks remain in this journey.

Soon it'll be over with.

Soon they'll all be home with us.

*Photos taken by Estelle's Photography - Madison, SD

It'S sUMmeR tiME!

It's offically summer time at the Abraham household! Three months of doing anything and everything I want is one of the many perks of being a teacher. Summer brings lots of mommy and Braelyn time, learning, sleeping, swimming, and being outside. After a L...O...N...G..., cold, and miserable winter, I'm thrilled summer finally here!

Life is Good Again

Together. Us three. It doesn't get much better.

Positive Attitude

On Saturday I checked my home answering machine and there was a message asking me to speak to mothers of military members. Moms of the 211th were invited; therefore, they wanted the Captain's wife to speak. I felt obligated and usually do when I'm asked to do different things because I am married to the Commander. I agreed to do it and began thinking about what I'd say to the moms. The lady asked if I'd talk a little bit about my perspective on this deployment. I instantly knew that was out of the question. My life now is not comparable to that of a mom of a soldier. My life, my daily routine, my world is completely different now that my husband is overseas. Anyways... to make a long story short here's my speech after talking about the soldier's job and what it's like over there...

No one ever said life was going to be easy. In fact, sometimes we're dealt a crummy hand of cards. Deployments are just that. A crummy hand of cards. There's no sense in sitting around feeling sorry for yourself or being upset about the situation because, well, we can't change the hand we're dealt. We knew when we got married or when we said we'd support our child's decision on joining the guards that deployment was a possibility. So here we are. Our husbands or children are away and we're left to worry and take care of everything. There's only one thing we have complete control over and that's our attitude. How we're going to deal with this hand of cards is up to us. A positive attitude will help this deployment go by faster and smoother. So, for the next four months, find your positive attitude, and finish strong!

Happy Anniversary Heath!

April 20, 2007

You are the love of my life.

And I'm so glad you found me.

I will love you forever and for always.

Independent

The other day I was visiting with a co-worker and she gave me the best compliment I've heard in a long time... We were talking about the weekend and what we were going to be doing. I told her what I had lined up (getting a garden ready, lining up plans for a sidewalk, mowing, etc.) and she replied, "I'm envious of you. You are so independent and I wish I could be more like you." At first I thought, well thanks. The more I think about it, wow! Here this lady is older than me, has everything going for her, perfect family, beautiful house, wonderful personality, and she wants to be like me? Wow. Now I guess when I look at tasks that need to be done, I just do them. Whereas before, projects this big would freak me out and I was intimidated by them. I do feel more confident in choices I make and I feel I can do (just about) anything. I feel like a stronger person because of this deployment. It's amazing how one person's compliment can give you strength to keep going.

Easter 2010

On Easter Braelyn woke up to find that the Easter Bunny left her new books, candy, and a new My Little Pony! We've gradually been reading her books and eating the candy, but the My Little Pony is, by far, the most played with. We attended the early service so we could be to Dell Rapids in time for lunch at my Grandma and Grandpa's. There's just something about Grandmas and Grandpas that make you feel better even when your heart hurts. I bet it's the food. ;) Anyways, after lunch Hallee (my cousin's kid) and Braelyn had an Easter egg hunt. Braelyn is one serious hunter! We opened the door and she was off! It was hilarious! The girl can run in heels!
Here are a few pictures from the day:

Finding the next egg!

(Future) Aunt Aneta giving Braelyn some love.

Hallee and Braelyn with their light up bunnies.

Mommy and Braelyn in our Easter outfits.

I love it when we match! ;)

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