Letters From Tim

The highlight of our Christmas Day was having Tim join us for our premier video conference. It was great for us all to see him for the first time in 146 days wearing a Santa hat! We stayed connected for three hours as we opened presents and talked. He even had me move the camera so he could watch the girls eat in their highchairs.

The remainder of the day was trying for me. The girls, especially Campbell, cried and wanted to be held almost constantly. Now how can you actually manage Christmas Day holding two babies? Don’t they instinctively know to be on their best behavior on one of the most joyous days of the year? Ugh!

And…how do you teach your children to be grateful for each gift they receive? I am convinced this will take some time. I have to dig deep for patience in this area and realize what a huge responsibility it is to be a parent Was I grateful at their ages or did I just want to rip through the mound of beautifully-wrapped presents from Santa under the tree?

I try to find humor in even the most frustrating situations, and after a few days I suppose it is easier. Get this…I am supporting a mild black eye from a sword swung across my face by Campbell (my wild girl). Talk about adding insult to injury. Hope everyone else had a ’stress-free’ Christmas!

One of my favorite people (thanks Sara) gave me this quote on a canvas…

PEACE. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

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Special thanks to…Mark Kleis for filling our water softener and hanging bike hooks in our garage. All of the neighbors that dropped off holiday sweets…Amie, Sheryl, Cathy, Beth, Matt, Alfega, Eileen and Heather. On second thought, from the looks of my hiney maybe I shouldn’t thank you. Beth for one of the nicest cards I have ever received. Norm for a grocery run. Sara for the visit home…we miss you. Stacy (our new roommate) for playing such an enormous role in our family…you are Stacy the Great. Mark and Terry for making the trip up to Indy to visit us. Mark Casavant for being an overall wiz at electronics and car maintenance…thanks for looking our for us.

And most importantly to Helena, Nate and my mom for continuing to be my backbone during this deployment. You can sense when I need help the most! Thanks Nate for the pictures!