The 19th is A Big Day Around Here

Archie, our new Labradoodle.

Mackinley 16 months old.

Tayton and Korbin having fun in the hay loft.

Three out of five members of our family birthdays that fall on the 19th of a month. And now so does the new dog. This month, on the 19th Archie will be 4 months and weighs in at a whopping 29 lbs. Mackinley will be 17 months and weighs 26lbs. Korbin will be 8 years 5 months old and weighs in at 55lbs. Oh and lets not forget Kirke, he'll be 32 years 9 months old and weighs in around 180 haha.

There's a lot going on around here. Tayton will be 10 years old next week on the 23rd. He's very excited. Our moving truck comes to take our household goods back to NY where we belong on the 24th. We'll be heading back up there ourselves later in September and hopefully have our soldier home in October. The welcome home signs will be the last thing on the moving truck!!

~Till They All Come Home~

The Coolest Gift

We just received three Christmas cards from one of Kirke's family members. Each card described a special gift given to a family in Asia in our names.

A pair of Chickens given in Tayton's name: "EGGcellent Protein. Each of these eggs are packed with nutrients. Imagine a little, malnourished child becoming smarter and stronger every day as he gobbles up his delicious eggs! And when his family’s chickens reproduce, they can sell the chicks for additional income. You can bless a South Asian family with chickens."

A pair of bunnies was given in Korbin's: "The Gift that Keeps on Giving…Quickly. A pair of Christmas bunnies will help provide a steady, nutritious diet of lean meat for a growing family. A mommy rabbit can produce several litters a year, each with up to 12 bunnies. So raising rabbits is a wonderful way for a poor family to provide food for their children and generate income as well."

And in mine and Kirke's name a family was given a took kit: "A Farmer’s Best Friends. Planting a garden may not be the first thing on your mind at Christmas—but in India, planting season is vital for a poor, rural family. You can provide a set of tools for a family to grow their own nutritious crops and maintain their home throughout the year. A tool kit includes an axe, shovel, saw, plow, sickle and crowbar."

This is an awesome gift and I'm thrilled to know that families will be benefit from these gifts!

~Till They All Come Home~

Ten Years Together

Ten years ago I was 20 years and 23 days old. He was a much older at 21 years and 29 days old. We had been out of high school for only 2 1/2 years. We were kids. I was working as a home health aide and still making pizza at the local Little Caesars where I had worked since I was 15. He had spent 2 1/2 years in the Army and was stationed at Ft Drum NY. I lived with my wonderful Aunt and he lived in the barracks 600 miles away.

The engagement lasted 6 months. We planned the wedding and ten years ago today was the day we pulled it off. We had about a 125 guests. Ten of those were his family from Texas and the rest were our friends and family in Michigan.

I hadn't met any of his family other than his mother. I was scared they would hate me. Afterall he was marrying a "northern girl". I was okay with that because we were in love.

Our friends knew us as Micky and Opie. We had lived 9 hours apart for the duration of our engagement and were anxious to begin our lives together. Two kids from different worlds but love was all we needed.

Our pastor was a man I had known since I was 8 years old. He lived next door to my grandparents (now parents) house. My Maid of Honor was one of my best friends I'd known since I was 7 years old. My bridesmaid was my exboyfriend's youngest sister. I had a 10 year old Jr Bridesmaid who I had babysat since I was 12 and her two sisters were my flower girls.

Kirke's Best Man was his best buddy at Ft Drum. His groomsman was a childhood friend from Texas who was living in Michigan only a half hour from my hometown. The Jr Groomsman was my 12 year old cousin. We had two ushers. Our buddy Mark who was like a brother to me and my 14 year old cousin.

Ten years ago we were married. We still kinda like each other now. Two and half kids later we're still in love. I love you Kirke and I'd do it all over again if I had the chance!

~Till They All Come Home~

Korbin Plans Ahead

We had this discussion in the car yesterday...

Korbin: I'm going to have four kids. Two girls and two boys.

Me: Which do you want to have first?

Korbin: The girls because they're cuter!

Me: Why do you want us to have a girl?

Korbin: Because girls are sooooooo cute!

Korbin: Or probably I'll just have two kids. One boy and one girl.

Tayton: Why not four? Then you can have a bigger house.

Korbin: Just two.

Tayton: Or are four too expensive? What are you a cheap freak?

~Till They All Come Home~

Best Friends Shouldn't Be Separated

We love our Army life most of the time. We love that we get to move around and meet new people. We develop very fast friendships that become our families.

Over the past two years we've been lucky enough to meet some of the very best friends we could imagine. Tayton and Cadie had a slow go at their friendship because they are both pretty shy. And Tayton isn't one bit into girly stuff. Lucky for him Cadie doesn't care much for pink pretty girly things most of the time either. She's never asked him to play barbies and he respected her for that. In first grade they were seated together and he relied greatly on her being there to help him through his days. She took care of him and made him feel safe at times that he might have otherwise melted down. They spend afternoons and weekends together hanging out and learning about Pokemon and riding bikes. Their bond is amazing. We've promised to make sure they can make it to prom together! As they said goodbye today Tayton hugged Cadie a million times, requested that I take a picture of him and Cadie together a few times. He's an amazing kid and she was a fantastic part of his emotional development the past two years. As they left he stood on my van waving until they were out of sight. He then said "I'm pretty sure this is going to be a rough day for me." I held him for the next 20 or so minutes. It's too hard to say goodbye sometimes.

Cassidy has gone from being a creepy little slobbery, girly, smelly baby to just another part of the group. The boys were thrilled with this change. Korbin has taken to including Cassidy in his fun in the recent months. He was very "big brotherish" with her and that means lots of fighting, bossing and a little bit of fun! It was a sweet transition for the kids to see a child go from a one year old to a 3 1/2 year old.

Christian came on the scene quiet and reserved. Brandy I were certain he hated us. We still wonder. Then we realized he does think we're funny and is as much a smarty pants as us!He proved to be much more fun to be around since we weren't scared he secretly wished we'd choke on our drinks. We're really gonna miss his quiet snickering in the corner while we're being stupid. And his witty answers in the game of Things.

And then there's Vicki. Amber's mom who lives with them. She's fantastic. She thinks that I'm funny and that makes me happy. She's fun and crazy and she just kinda "gets us" which is hard to find in our "parental" types.

Last but not least we have Amber. Amber was brought into this madness by Brandy. She was thrown full force into our group, probably somewhat involuntarily, as the deployment planning started taking shape. We convinced her to move on post into our friend Summer's old house cause we're cool like that. And it was convenient for us and we're all about what's best for us, right? Since she was thrown in head first she didn't get time to ease into our group which would have given her an escape route. Instead she was trapped! Sucker!

Well here's my beef. We got here before her. We've been her longer and damn it she gets to leave first? Not fair! Leaving first is the easiest. It's the ones left back waiting (or stuck forever, sorry Brandy) that are suckin! It's harder to fill the voids left by friends who've come and gone than to start fresh in a new adventure.

We spent nearly everyday doing something together. We survived the deployment together as well as the post deployment struggles. It's been a rough road we've travelled but we laugh. We can always laugh even if half the group thinks Brandy and I shouldn't mix according to game night answers that is....liars, you love it!

Some friendships are meant to be temporary and eventually fade into memories. The ones we've made here aren't that type. We're not saying goodbye, we're saying "see you later" even though later may be really far away. We love you guys and you're going to be missed more than you or I could have imagined!

Enjoy your new adventure Sud's Family. It's gonna be hard to find people like Brandy and I and our crazy families again you know? You're welcome!

~Till They All Come Home~

Half Naked Foreigner OR Trick-or-Treat OR Men Dressed as Women

First off let me just mention that we encountered this guy along our trick-or-treat route. He and a trusty companion were passing out candy. He talked with a crazy accent. His friend that was with him was in a military uniform but it wasn't United States so we're not sure where they came from since we do have a lot of foreign military here on the Fort. But I was cool with him stopping to hand out candy to our kids.

Right up until I realized he wasn't wearing any pants. At which point I couldn't stop staring and laughing. And my real camera had been put away since it was dark so I was left with this terrible image from my phone. But you can clearly see that his legs are painted but there are no pants.

Creepy.


Oh and one more thing. No Pants Guy should have been told by his trusty companion not to be squatting down because his little speedo's weren't enough...

So, On to the good pictures. Here's our group of kids. Somehow Megan and Abby are missing from this picture. This was right before we started trick-or-treating. Tayton is chewbacca and Korbin's a dinosaur after he decided that he wasn't going to wear his werewolf costume so he loaned it to Nicholas because he's so stinking sweet!

Everyone really loved my milk jug skeleton's that I slaved over for the past couple weeks!

I wasn't kidding. They LOVED them. Those guys got an awful lot of attention!

This is what Kirke would look like if he had hair like Dorothy from Wizard of OZ. I"m glad he doesn't. But it also kinda makes me wonder what a baby girl would have looked like .....scary!

And as if it wasn't bad enough that Kirke put on the wig but Christian dressed up as a Spartan Cheerleader from SNL.

Kirke and I ditched our Roman God and Goddess costumes we originally planned on for a more simple Thing 1 and Thing 2. We got way more attention than I'd have liked. Too many people talked to us and pointed us out and that's not really my thing. Really it's not....

All in all we had a fantastic day. Sadly our Halloween was also a going away party for some of our very closest friends. Tayton's best friend and one of mine.

~Till They All Come Home~

Holy Crow You're Really 50??

Today one of the most wonderful people I know turned 50! Wow 50!

I remember when you were only 26 for so many years. Although I was too smart to fall for your crazy antics even when I was only six....and then seven, eight and nine. Nice try!


When I was a little girl you always kept an open dialect between us. I knew that I could talk to you about anything. Even when I was in 5th grade and thought I met the love of my life. You didn't laugh at me or shrug me off. Instead you shared details of your childhood loves. Even though you knew that it was something that would pass quickly you valued my feelings and took care to protect them. I remember that day by the kitchen sink as we talked.

I always loved the time that it was just the two of us and we'd get a chance to really talk. As I got a little older those talks often took place as we drove to Battle Creek to pick up dad from the trucking company he worked for through the weeks. I love that I could tell you anything without judgement or harsh words and lectures.

Later in high school I thought I met the love of my life again. This time everyone else thought so too. I know how hard it was for you when I was 19 and I told you that my 4 year relationship with that boy was over and then just 2 months later was truly in love and planning to marry Kirke. Most parents would have told me I was an idiot and was making a huge mistake. Instead you listened. You looked into my eyes and I saw that you were a little unsure but your words were loving and encouraging and full of support. You trusted me to make a good decision.

Later that year you turned 40. Another new decade and I turned 20 and I was marrying the man who truly is the love of my life. You were there for me even though I knew you were worried. You made sure that my day went smoothly. We went together, just the two of us to get our hair and make up done for the wedding and you were proud of the woman you'd raised me to be and I was proud that you're my mom.

Since getting married (almost 10 years ago now!) our relationship has transformed. We've gone from being mother/daughter to sharing a bond and a closeness that has no definition or label to clearly explain our relationship. Sometimes it's mother/daughter, sometimes its friends, sometimes its two girls giggling their heads off over something ridiculous.

The most important thing I learned from you was how to be a playful parent. I remember the times of playing sports (which you were terrible at, haha), hide n seek in the dark, board games and cards, our own lip syncing contests, and a gazillion other things we did just being crazy and laughing together.

I know that I can always call you and I value our relationship and it's many aspects. I wish that I could be there to celebrate your birthday with you today. I'll be home in two weeks and we'll have a day out just you and I.

I love you Mom Happy Birthday!!

~Till They All Come Home~

They Are Gone

With the move to New York in our future and the fact that I'll be spending about a month in Michigan with my family waiting for our baby to arrive, we had to let go of the chinchillas.

We loved them but knew that they couldn't live in a tiny travel cage for a month while we're in transition. Kirke's going to be taking the dogs and going on to NY to get us a place and get settled in a tad while I go to the last few baby appointments before he/she is born.

It was a tough decision but I guess it was the right one. We placed a free classified ad online and we got one call and they were sold. The family has an 11 yr old and 6 yr old boy as well as a 1 yr old girl. The chinchilla's will be loved and we'll miss them terribly.

~Till They All Come Home~

Surprise! We're expecting!!

Wait a minute...... I had a hysterectomy nearly 5 years ago. Oh yeah and Kirke had a vasectomy two years before that because me+pregnancy=horrible! I didn't handle being pregnant so well. so while we always wanted more than two kids we knew that I would not handle another pregnancy especially with two naughty little blond boys running around.

So you are probably wondering what on Earth I'm talking about then right?

Well we have a family member who has found herself in a situation with an unexpected pregnancy. There is no way she can keep this baby as she struggles to make it work with the two small children she already has.

My mom has been the communication link between me and this family member, we'll call her Jane just to keep things straight. Mom told Jane that we would like to adopt the baby. Jane was very happy about this and has already told her doctor that she is giving this wonderful gift of being able to add to our family!

Our baby is due in March. Jane and Kirke and I will be communicating and working together to find an adoption facilitator in their area that will help us with the process. Due to this being a direct placement adoption between relatives things will be handled a little differently than a regular adoption.

I'm excited, and scared and most of all grateful that Kirke and I will be adding to our family and the boys are very excited about having a baby brother or sister! I'm scared that Jane might change her mind. That's really the only thing I'm afraid of at this point. I'm praying Jane is taking care of herself. She is giving us a wonderful gift and I'm certain that she will do her best to make sure this child healthy.

We weren't expecting this opportunity to come up and many of you are probably shocked by this news but we're excited and happy and we know in our hearts that this is right for us!!

**Please reserve any negative feelings/thought/opinions for somewhere else. We have been talking this out for a few weeks now and come to a decision that we believe is right for our family. Thoughts, prayers, well wishes and other positive comments are always welcome and much appreciated!

~Till They All Come Home~

Old Friends New Committments and an 8 Year Survival

We made the most out of our leave (vacation) time. It all started with a camping trip to Arkansas with good friends of the present. Then we sent our boys off to Texas with my in-laws who joined us on our camping trip. From Arkansas we drove to Chicago. Wait let me back up. We were supposed to take the train, the day after we got home from AR, but there is NO parking beyond 24 hours at the damn Amtrak station. They wanted us to pay to park at the Sheraton. $17/freakin day! It only cost $99 for the damn tickets! We had to park for 4 days! So we drove.

Ok so we drove to Chicago for one of my best childhood friends wedding. I was a bridesmaid. It was beautiful, fancy and amazing! My friend, Diane and I met when I was 7. That was 22 years ago. Her sister is another of my best friends and was also a bridesmaid. Two of the other bridesmaids were long time friends of mine as well. I met Jody and Amanda both when I was 12. I probably met Jody before that but I don't remember. I had seen all of them in within the past 2 years but it had been a while. We had a great time and celebrated a fabulous union of two wonderful people. I danced, and I shouldn't cause I have no rhythm and my dress was about 8 sizes too small on my hips and I looked like a pregnant mermaid. We laughed, we hugged, we had a fantastic time!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Clancy!
The wedding party getting ready to party.

Kirke was a good sport and spent the weekend piddling around while I did bridesmaid stuff. By the time this picture was taken the makeup had worn off and the hair had gone flat but I sure was happy!

We left the morning after the wedding and drove to our home in Missouri to pick up our two dogs. We were home about 15 minutes and back on the road to Texas to retrieve the naughty little blond boys. While we were in Texas (3 whole days) we decided to have a birthday for our oldest son Tayton. I wanted to keep it small and simple.

Well for all of you who live close to relatives know that you can't invite without inviting them all. I intended to invite my long lost buddy Mark. I haven't seen him since my brothers wedding 8 years ago and he lives just an hour south of Kirke's family. I hadn't met his wife and he now has a 10 month old son. Any of you who know Mark know this is definitely something you have to see to believe! Love ya Mark! I also wanted to invite Korbins first wife, big Megan and her daughter Jada. Kirke's nephews and parents (their mom is another of my best friends) as well as Kirke's cousin and her family who we try hard to stay in touch with and looked forward to seeing. But we ended up with around 25 adults and a mess of kids. It was fantastic!

We loved getting to see everyone. Especially Mark, Marcie, Peyton, Megan and Jada who we miss dearly. I hope that our families understand that our family grows with each new duty station. So these friends aren't just friends but also important parts of our families.

Mark, Marcie, Peyton, Me and Kirke in Texas. We always end up there in August! HOT!!

Here's Korbin with his first wife. They are still obviously in love even though he married that "other Megan"!

We drove back home on the 21st and on the 23rd our little Tayton turned 8 years old. He's such an awesome kid and I've loved watching him grow. Over the past year he has progressed (according to his testing at OT) over 4 years in most areas and over 6 years in one area. Sorry I can't remember which were which because that news was so incredible to hear! I find it hard to believe that we've had a kid survive 8 years with our parenting! He's an amazing little boy and despite my wanting to string him up by his toes I love being his mommy!

These pictures are in random order, thanks blogger!


There's nothing like a good book for a 2 year old!

He still dresses kind of funny!

Pot holders made by Grandma Vettel can double as hats!

As Eskimo as my little Alaskan born boy gets!

He was so freakin cute! He had to have been close to 2 in this picture cause I wasn't pregnant with Korbin anymore.

He's always been inventive.

Long and skinny! He was maybe 2 in this picture. That's one of Korbins blankets in it so he had have been at least 19 months old.

Korbin was 3 months old so Tayton was 21 or 22 months old here.

And now he's 8 years old. Amazing!

~Till They All Come Home~