Where Past Meets Present Part VI

May 21, 2011~ Adam's High School Graduation.

Our first born~ A huge mile stone....

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Adam's graduating class.

Baccalaureate Mass

We are in the School gym waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin. Nana and Papa, Aunt Marianne and Uncle Paul, Aunt Jennifer and her sweet little guy, and my dear friend, shea!

Adam in the door way preparing to walk.

Adam plays trumpet in the band...they played for graduation.

Tossing their caps.

Our family. (It seems as if Andrew couldn't wait to untuck and roll-up...boys!)

I'm so proud of my Adam!

Adam with proud Dad!

The guys.

The Tucker Men.

Myself, along with several other mom's of graduating senior boys threw a collective graduation party. Each of the boys had a table dedicated to them. On display were pictures and things that represent what they have done and what they are going to do in their future. Adam's table displayed a few of his awards, Sports, Army things (since he is a reservist), The University of Hawaii where he will attend next year and his beloved Woody Doll from his childhood etc....

The food was excellent.

I made the flower arrangements....I wish I had some better pictures of them. The ladies and I went the evening before to decorate.

The Group....those Senior boys are such close friends. Many of them grew up together. A few of them are boarding students from other countries. Adam was the military kid....they embraced him in his junior year when we moved to Kansas. Adam's third High School. This is a special group.

A favorite saying...

Adam and his table.

Adam with his Nana and Papa.

Adam with his Aunt Marianne and Uncle Paul.

My Shea....my boys adore her. She is the kind of special friend who loves my kids almost as much as I do. My boys call her and text her from their cell phones. They love her and I'm so happy she came to be with us (from Alabama).

Sweet Lucey Lu.....

Present--

Lucey is in front of the office building where she does speech therapy. Miss Mary is her therapist. What a blessing she is. Miss Mary is amazing and in three sessions we see huge improvements. Mary is about 60 years old...lot's of experience. She adores Lucey and offered to sit for Lucey if we ever needed someone. Lucey has that affect on others. Such a ray of sunshine.

Army Ten-Miler

Each year tens of thousands of runners and spectators go to Washington, DC to join in this race classic. Produced by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, the Army Ten-Miler proceeds support Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation, a comprehensive network of support and leisure services designed to enhance the lives of soldiers and their families. The race starts and finishes at the Pentagon, passing by DC landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building.

This is where my sweet husband is today. He is a runner and has ran several marathons but today, he is there on business. His new job here at Ft. Sill is one of public relations for Air Defense Artillery ~putting it very simplistically. I'm sure he wishes he were wearing a number on his back! That's okay though, my poor guy has thrown out his back several times in the past several weeks. Resting it is a good thing!

Back to the Ten-Miler~ I'm in awe of all the money that has been raised. MWR~ Morale, Welfare and Recreation does a lot for the Soldier and military families.

MWR is committed to the well-being of the community of people who serve and stand ready to defend the nation, to enhance the lives of Soldiers, their families, civilian employees, and military retirees.” The mission is to serve the needs, interests and responsibilities of each individual in the Army community for as long as they are associated with the Army, no matter where they are.

MWR, through the Army Family Covenant, seeks to bridge the gap between the garrison and the local community, and contribute to the Army’s strength and readiness by offering services that reduce stress, build skills and self confidence for Soldiers and their families.

Our lifestyle is odd to most people. It's where The Lord put me over 20 years ago when I married my Soldier. I'm so very proud of him. I'm in awe and proud of Adam, our oldest, who has also made the same choice. MWR has been a huge benefit to us....the list is huge. But here is one example... before Ron deployed to Iraq in 2005, Steven Curtis Chapman performed for us. Through MWR...he came to our small Air Defense Battalion. He gave a lovely concert. There were only about 100 of us and he came. He spent time with us. He ministered to us. It was through his story that we had heard on Focus on the Family back in 2002 that we considered adoption as a possibility. God kept whispering in our ear. Then to meet Mr. Chapman in person.... an amazing experience. He is just a very nice guy with a huge heart!

My guys! Ron was on a business trip to South Carolina just 9 days ago and detoured over to Augusta, Ga to see Adam and take him to dinner. They had a great time even though it was a brief visit.

My Soldiers.

Where Past Meets Present Part V

May 2011 (I'll have to share the month of May in two posts...so much to share.)

May 8~ Mother's Day

My parents came to town so my Mom could spend Mother's Day with my beautiful Grandma. I wish I had a current picture to share of this remarkable woman. She is 98 years old. While My Mom was with her mom, Ron took me, the kiddos and my Dad out for a special Mother's Day lunch after Church. The weather was perfect. We had a wonderful time.

My Dad's birthday is May 9th~ after we all got settled after the Mother's day celebration~ we celebrated my Dad's birthday. (We also did a pre-birthday celebration for me. Our birthday's and Mother's Day are all squeezed together. If you have been following along or know me....you know how we all do a group thing every year. I was tired and looked terrible on the pictures so I didn't include any of me; except this one with my Dad and his birthday pie.)

Lucey on her favorite spot...Papa's lap. And with a book...that's icing on the cake!

Princess Lucey took a swim in her new princess pool. She saw this at T*rget and tugged at Ron's heart a little and he caved in and bought it for her.

Lucey's Godmother, Renee, is so kind to pass to us her daughter's (adorable Emma) clothes. This little Gap skirt came from her so we did a little photo session so we could share how cute it works for Lucey. We get hand-me-downs from several friends and we are so grateful for the generosity.

May 13~ My Birthday.

Ron always does a little something special for me even though there is a pre-celebration many times with Mom and Dad and whoever else is visiting....he always makes me feel special on my birthday. He wants me to feel set a part. He wants me to feel treasured and I really do. He is such a good example to our children. They also are very good that way. I also know our Heavenly Father sets us a part and treasures us. Isn't that a wonderful feeling?

Ron ordered this cake from my favorite bakery~ Marigold's~ it's in a different town. I found out a few weeks ago that Adam and Andrew were on cake duty and went together to pick it up. Andrew was sharing that with me the other day as he was telling me how much he misses Adam. He loves his drives with Adam and the chats. Adam makes him feel very special. We all need that boost.

(This was one of those 1/2 birthdays....now I'm sliding towards that really big number...oh my!)

May 16th~ National Junior Honor Society Induction

Christian was inducted. We are so proud of him!

May 18th~ Piano Recital

The recital was held at the high school. Nothing Fancy but good practice for the students.

Andrew

Christian

May 20th~ Lucey's last day with Carol, Speech Therapist.

Lucey has made so much progress with her speech. She has terrific receptive language...we are working with her pronunciation or, expressive language. Again~ her hearing aid works so very well for her. It truly makes a difference for Lucey. I just wish it stayed on her head, in the correct location. Lucey will have the surgery to implant it as soon as her skull is thick enough to do so.

Present: (I almost forgot) No more boxes on the main two floors. That makes me so very happy. Our basement has boxes we still need to go through. We are going through them so we can purge....our favorite word! We move again in less than 8 months. Wow! I am really going to miss this place.

We live in a historic Spanish revival. This is our entry way for now. I'll share more pictures of the house soon. I am going to research more history on the house. It really is neat but it also has many quirks. I love my neighbors and have plugged in so quickly. This place has been a real blessing. We head to Carlisle, Pennsylvania next....the United States Army War College. I have heard that the housing is quite small. I leave it at that. :-)

Where Past Meets Present Part IV

Okay, so back to the past. I ended the last WPMP in April of this year and our amazing son being sworn into the United States Army Reserves (and Lucey's dental). This post takes us through the rest of April. Which was a very busy month and the start of the many busy months that followed.

April 17--Palm Sunday

Andrew and Christian confirmed their faith and their love for Jesus in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. They spent two years studying God's word. Every week they learned a new memory verse and studied their lessons. It was at times, difficult. It was a commitment and time consuming. In the end, rewarding, as they confirmed that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

We had a small celebration for the boys.

The table is set and ready for our guests to arrive.

The confirmands are ready to go to church and share with the congregation that they are committed in Christ.

Andrew and Christian's class.

Pastor Mease and the boys. We miss our church family, Pastor Mease and his precious family...I'm so happy we shared this together.

Aunt Marianne and Uncle Paul came to support the boys and share the day with us.

April 21st--We drove to St. Louis for Lucey's Cranio-facial team appointment.

With the cap on her head, she is ready to get her picture taken.

There she is on the computer screen.

They are measuring head growth and comparing to other kiddos who also have their skulls measured.

Lucey's appointment went very well. She is growing just as she should be. The plastic surgeon spoke with us for about 45 min. He was ready to start jaw reconstruction this past summer. We chose to wait. He showed us pictures of his ear reconstructions. We are praying for wisdom in how we are to proceed with Lucey. Such big decisions. We knew the teeth needed to be fixed first and that was a must. Not too much new news. This was her third team appointment. This went much better than last year. I was so happy Ron could go with us.

April 23--Coloring Easter Eggs! My sister and her little guy came over to Mom and Dad's to have fun with the eggs.

Nana and Lucey working on the eggs.

April 24th-- Easter! He has Risen!

I brought their baskets/buckets with us...I love doing them and the boys get a kick out of them still. We have had these buckets for quite a few years! Lucey was so excited to see her basket.

Lucey putting her ears on Mr. Max. He can tolerate a lot!

The Tucker Troops--Easter 2011

April 25-- Adam wins and American Legion Award

This award recognizes the boys and girls who are deemed most worthy of the high qualities of citizenship and of true Americanism. I think this award was most appropriately given to Adam.

Adam and Peter were the boys awarded from his school.

April 26th--Adam celebrated his 18th birthday! I feel like his special day was crammed into this very busy month. He is such a go-with-the -flow kind of guy...he was happy to have a cupcake.

This is what 18 looks like! A man....an honorable man. A man I'm so proud to call son.

April 27th--Christian at a home track meet. Christian is in Gold and Navy closest to the camera.

As you can see by this picture, he was not happy with his time. He ran a 6 min. 2 sec. mile. He is very hard on himself and disappointed. He went out there to break the 6 min. mark. Christian also has asthma. The kind that requires daily medication....the kind that can scare a mom to tears. I have been in the ER with him more than I can count. I'm so proud of Christian! I think his time was amazing!

April 30th-- The Ft. Leavenworth Post Wide Yard Sale.

I have to say, I was organized and ready despite 5 teenage boys spending the night at my house the night before....what was I thinking?

We sold quite a bit of our "stuff" to help lighten the load of our move. Lucey was loving the boys Hulk Hands. I think all the kids had fun with them....by the end...they were ready for the trash. The little car was not for sale despite people asking.

October 6, 2011

Present---Lucey and her pumpkins....it's a beautiful day here!