Our family was established on September 23, 1989, exactly ten days before our newly-married life was interrupted by Pete leaving for Army basic training. We were INCREDIBLY young, but since we knew everything there was to know, we figured we'd do just fine. We've since forgotten most of what we knew (haha) as God replaced our headstrong teenage egos with hearts on fire for His mission in our lives--both individually and as the "one flesh" we became all those years ago.
In just 20 short years of marriage, we were blessed with seven children (two before and five after a vasectomy and reversal), took on both the rigors of being parents of public schooled children as well as the HUGE task of being responsible for our children's education once we made the decision to homeschool, survived five deployments, 13 moves, and said goodbyes to countless friends.
The patriarch of our family is now retired from the Army, but continues to serve our country as a field engineer, working to keep the PATRIOT missile system running worldwide. Our son has followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather and is a few years into his own Army career. Our daughter is an Army wife now, standing behind and beside her husband (only another military wife can truly understand that apparent contradiction) as he begins his career with the US Army. We couldn't be prouder--of "our" soldiers or of their wives.
We also began a new phase of life as grandparents (!!!!) in late May of 2012, as tiny little Levi was born, nine weeks early, to our daughter Kelsey and her hubby. We are both thrilled and humbled by this new 'position', and look forward to many, many more adorable grandbabies!!
The adventure we began all those years ago has been a wild ride, and it will continue well into the future. We look forward to each new twist and turn!
