Friday

Today we woke up, opened the windows, and saw cattle grazing on the front lawn of the Marriott. Yep--it's Texas! Pictures tomorrow; I neglected to get them today.

We hit WalMart. We always hit the hot spots on vacation. I had my nails done; toes and fingers! Mary did, too. She got flowers on hers. I did not. We also picked up things for breakfast. $9.95 for breakfast buffet is way overpriced when you're a cereal and fruit family!

Lunch was at Johnny Carino's. 25 of us ate lunch! It was a fun reunion.

Tonight was fajita buffet at an outdoor restaurant, swimming for the kids and the hotel bar for the moms and dads. The buffet was the rehearsal dinner. Across the patio John saw a face and said, "That looks a lot like Scott," a guy we know from our church. I said, "That's because it is Scott." He'd been invited by the groom. So we said hi and confused a few people who couldn't figure out how we knew each other.

Don't worry about us. We're eating and drinking more than we should!

Leaving, On a Jet Plane

I will be heading out tomorrow night, to be belted into a thin, metal tube and flung through the air. A friend's son (who is also a friend)(as is his intended)(what do we say when they ask, "Friend of the bride, or the groom?")(I digress) is getting married in Dallas or Fort Worth (I can never tell the difference) and we are tickled to have been invited. Their wedding gift is on the way, and so are we.

I don't know if I'll be blogging. I probably will, but the laptop may stay home this time. Ethan watched far too many movies on my battery, and it really needs to be plugged in now, in order to work.

Who am I kidding? Laptop will be coming along.

Have a good weekend! I intend to!

Changeless Warriors

This weekend, our synod put an emphasis on those who serve in the military. Because our congregation's associate pastor is a military chaplain with the Reserves, some information was shared that I am passing along to you.

**The LCMS has 71 active duty military chaplains. Another 96 chaplains serve Reserve and National Guard units. Currently, 8 chaplains are in Iraq or Afghanistan, including 4 Reserve chaplains mobilized from their parishes. We also endorse 23 Veterans Administration chaplains, 25 Civil Air Patrol and 5 chaplains for Federal Bureau of Prison ministry. In addition, we have 12 Reserve/Guard chaplains mobilized and serving in the United States.

**In addition to recruiting, training and endorsing chaplains, the Ministry to the Armed Forces (MAF) office orders Ministry-By-mail support to 6,000 Lutheran military personnel and their families stationed throughout the world. Please send military contact information to lcmschaps@lcms.org


**A special endowment exists to enable our chaplains to complete the Doctor on Ministry degree with Military Concentration and sharpen their Gospel proclamation skills.

**Designated funds support Operation Barnabas, which provides assistance to returning chaplains and military personnel in re-adjusting to their life after military deployment.

**You can find helpful information and materials on the LCMS World Mission site at www.lcmsworldmission.org/armedforces

Memorial Day

Our small town has an annual observance of Memorial Day that we habitually attend. The American Legion post, the Boy Scouts and the high school marching band lead a short parade from the fire station to the town cemetery, where a wreath is laid on a monument to Abraham Lincoln and the soldiers who fell during the Civil War.

This year, our two older boys marched with the American Legion, of which Jay was recently elected Sergeant-At-Arms. Matthew helped with the laying of the wreath, (I wish I could figure out why the video of that would not download) and Jay was in the honor guard/rifle salute. It's always a touching morning, but, this year...well, I really enjoyed seeing my boys be thanked for what they've done for this country.



This is what always chokes me up. Not the American flag, although that's a close second. It's the hay wagon with the "old soldiers," those who can't walk the parade route anymore. -sniff-







There they are; on the left, in their ACUs.







I wish I had a dollar for every person who looked at their nametapes and said, "Uh...are you two brothers?"



Our chaplain-pastor was in "dad uniform" today.



Thank you.



Thank you.

Pro-Life Corner

"As many as an estimated nine out of ten children with Down Syndrome are aborted in the womb, sought out by increasingly sophisticated prenatal tests and eliminated as too flawed, too burdensome, too different to live. This is the ugly eugenic underbelly of American life, even as we congratulate ourselves on our tolerance and diversity."

Rich Lowry, columnist

Saturday Report

Another Saturday. Pretty pathetic. I talked to a few people this morning, and it seems everyone has Memorial Day plans except us. We'll smoke a brisket tomorrow, and head over to the Memorial Day observance on Monday. Otherwise, it's fencing and farm things. Maybe I'll get the garden in...

Today Mary is again taking Wakiya to the "beach." This time my horse, Hope, tagged along. Now Hope, in general, dislikes water. She hates getting her little feeties wet, and taking her through any wet ground is...fun. Today is warm, though, and that may have made a difference. She went into the pond. Mary led her, but she went in. We were a little nervous because Wakiya followed her of her own accord. That left Mary in the water with two 1100+ pound animals. She handled it well, though.

For her part, Wakiya was very accommodating. She gave Hope lessons in water fun!



Hope responded by swimming further in and then getting up on shore. No video for that; Mary was concerned, and I put down the camera, just. In. Case. Which means I missed a cute shot of Wakiya rolling in the pond. But that's OK; just as she finished, Hope, um, well, what she did would have closed down a public swimming pool, if you get my drift. You didn't want to see that, did you?

But she stayed in and practiced the lesson Wakiya had taught her, adding some of her own water fun, too.



But enough was enough for her, as you saw. She headed out and Mary and Wakiya returned. Here are the bathing beauties;

Friday Fun, including Furlough and Farm and Fleet!

John is home today. This is one of those furlough days; he doesn't go to work, and doesn't get paid, either. We're doing farm stuff today.

We began our day with a walk and a talk with our neighbors. Marty and Nicole are both Air Force Reservists, and both just returned from separate deployments. It's good to see them up on the hill, and to see their For Sale sign come down! No, they didn't sell! That's the good part. We would miss them.

UPS pulled in shortly before we headed out to Farm and Fleet. A package arrived from Lodge. It had no packing slip or any other identification, so I called Lodge to see if they could tell me who had sent it. Mary said it was one of my stalkers; she was right! As I waited, I checked the mailing label again. Seeing that the sender had used my legal name, and since I knew only one person in the world (besides the IRS) calls me by my name, I realized my dad had sent me the deep skillet that has been on my wish list for some time now. Thanks, Papa!

And since I picked up Four Season Harvest this afternoon, it seems that all my wishes have been fulfilled! Oh, wait. There's that "touch of sanity" thing.

We've moved the pigs to new digs today; they'll be excavating the cowshed for a couple of weeks. John and Matthew have started on the fencing for the horse pasture. Mary did some dishes. I have been mowing the lawn. It's time for a coffee break!

Oh, before she did the dishes, Mary played with Wakiya for a bit. The following video is of her longing the horse into our pond. Horse people; both the horse and Mary survived. Mary had fun. The horse looked like she did, too. Should we do this again? And are we reading the body language correctly; did the horse have fun?