Rebecca

If you have read my previous blog entries you know that my daughter, Rebecca, is joining the military.  She left for bootcamp on Sunday, December 11th.  We wanted to see each other one more time before she left so she flew up to Portland for a visit.

It was a quick one, about 24 hours, and not anywhere near long enough!  She wasn't feeling great so we made it a pretty low key time.  After I picked her up from the airport we went and visited her "grandma."  Grandma Joyce has been involved in Rebecca's life since she was brought home.  She was and is a great encouragement in Rebecca's life so it was a privilege to meet her.

After that we went home and had pizza and watched a movie.  Super 8.  I was so happy that the boys got to hang out with Rebecca and get to know her.  It was such a blessing to watch them accept her into the family so easily. 

The next day we went and cut down our Christmas trees.  We get 2 of them.  One for the family and one for me.  Decorating the tree is one of my favorite things about the Christmas season.  We pull out all the ornaments and the kids decorate the tree.  Every ornament has a story behind it.  When we go anywhere we pick up an ornament to mark the trip.  A lot of places don't have ornaments so we will get a key chain to use instead.  As they decorate the tree we are reminded of the things we have done together or things that have happened throughout their lives.  I got some ornaments for Rebecca.  One of them was a cheesy "our first Christmas" since it is technically our first Christmas together.  I wanted her to be part of this tradition I love so much.  I wanted her to know that there is a place for her in this family.

Before I knew it, it was time to take her back to the airport. Sad! Before she left she gave us all Christmas gifts. She is so sweet! She got Anthony a movie about snowboarding by one of her favorite directors. She got me a travel mug that is an exact replica of a camera lens. It is even a Nikon!! Love it! For Brian she got him a Han Solo ice cube tray in the shape of him after he was frozen. For the twins she got them these awesome books about how to make weapons from stuff around the house. Example, you can make a bow and arrow out of a ruler and a pen. It is awesome and they LOVED it. Funny story about the books. The title of the books are "Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction." She was stopped at security in the airport and had to explain the books to the security guard and convince him she wasn't a terrorist!



It was hard to watch her leave. I love her so much and won't be able to talk to her while she is away at bootcamp for the next 3 months. I feel so blessed that we are moving forward as a family of 6.