Prayers for safety. Prayers for healing. Prayers for justice.

Posted by Poki
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.






As I start this blog, there are sirens running down 231. I say a quick prayer that God keeps the emergency service workers safe and that wherever they are running, there is a better outcome than what took place on Monday afternoon in Terre Haute. Then my thoughts run to the family and friends of Officer Brent Long in Terre Haute. Such a terrible situation and my heart aches for his wife and children.
It's times like this that I really want to thank all of the police officers, along with all other EMS workers (military, fire, etc.) as we often forget how much they really do put on the line. Right after this terrible event on Monday, there was a storm of status changes of Facebook, talking about how he got up and went to work without knowing what would happen. I wish I could find and copy it to this blog, but I cannot. It was sad and humbling to see so many people acknowledge what Officer Long did that day, along with his K9 Shadow and the other officers present. I just read in an article that Long's wife is a dispatcher, and was working when this situation occured and cannot imagine what she endured on Monday. While I do not know her name, I continue to lift her up in prayer daily.
With Adam being a state trooper, things like this hit close to home. Many, many people in our area feel as though police work is easy because we do not have truly dangerous crime here. That, especially in the Midwest, police work is easy because it's basically traffic work. Well clearly that is not the case. To those who feel this way, don't assume anything, espeically that you know what our police men and women encounter or what their job is like. Like the old adage "until you've walked a mile in their shoes" you know the rest!
We need to all remember that we are not guaranteed that anything "is as it seems" and that life is never "easy", especially for police officers. These police officers, all police officers, put themselves in situations of the unknown willingly, on a daily basis, to help serve and protect all of us. Can you imagine what they have to do to mentally prepare themselves for going to work everyday? To go to work not knowing what the day holds? To prepare themselves for all of the "what if's" they may encounter in that shift? I, for one, cannot. I cannot imagine. I don't want to imagine. I just want to say thanks. Thank you to all of you!
Many of you saw Adam on the news Monday night and called, text, messaged a word of prayer that he was safe (to clarify, he was not one of the original officers there). I want to say thanks to all you. Thank you to all who pray for his safety continually. Adam is just one of many, please pray for them all. Please pray for the Long family and for the Terre Haute P.D. in their time of mourning.


God bless my family when I am away,

Leave the lights on I'll return from harms way,

Grant me courage and strength to protect others each day,

So they live in peace without worry, fear or dismay,

Bless those who have fallen given their life for another

May their spirit live on from then and forever,

Return me home to my family at the end of each night,

May I pass through the door before the morning's first light,

Shall I give my life for another before the dawn breaks today,

God bless my family when I am away.

By D. Adams





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Vacation! Much needed!

Posted by Poki
As you all know, we are really, super busy and run ourselves ragged most of the time. With our opposite schedules and busy-ness, we rarely have time to just relax and enjoy our family. We were so excited to finally take our first, real family vacation last month. We had a connection to rent a home in Cape Coral, Florida and were able to go down for a week and a half and just relax, enjoy our family and rejuvenate.  We were even blessed that my wonderful parents were able to come along with us. It was not full of running 24/7, but more relaxing by the pool or on the beach. :) Although, I did have to do homework while there, because it was my last 2 weeks of school before finishing my Associates Degree (which I did graduate, and with a 3.94! Very excited to start the Bachelor program this fall!).
Anyway, it was nice to be in a house while there because it was like our home, away from home. We hardly ate out and we had a pool there and were able to do laundry! Yes, we packed half as much because we had this feature and that what wonderful. Not to mention, we didn't come home with a bunch of dirty laundry either!
We spent some time in Ft. Myers and had an amazing day at Sanibel Island. The weather was absolutely perfect!
Yes, this is a picture I took of one of the many sunset we watched while walking the beach at night shelling! The kids all became quite the water bugs and Savannah even learned to swim better above water thanks to her pawpaw! Though, by day 3 she had a bad outer ear infection that sent us to the Urgent Care for meds, and it but a damper on things as she couldn't swim for 2 whole days and then had to use both ear plugs and a swim cap, she still enjoyed her time there!
Tyler, who is the only one who said he would not move to Florida, missed his baseball tournament this year because of vacation, but didn't complain. He was a little sad to miss his best friends birthday, but found the perfect gift. Just had to know how his team was doing and was thankful for the updates from everyone. Turning 12 days before we left, about killed me because he's turning into quite the young man, and I'm proud to say he's mine!

We did go out to an aquarium one day and saw alot of neat creatures there. We mini golfed on the hottest day we were there (then when home for a nice, cool swim!). We had the best ice cream in waffle cones one night while strolling the boardwalk and beach. We really enjoyed ourselves and were blessed with a fabulous trip. Even the 20 hour drive there and back wasn't too bad! The nature lover in Adam, had a blast shelling and finding all of the live sea creatures on the beaches.

Adam, who needed the vaca more than anyone, even let loose enough to let the kids bury him in the sand at Sanibel, which, for anyone who knows him, knows that is a big step for him!
Our little tree climbing monkeys did well, especially being away from home for so long. There were even quiet moments that they proved they loved each other! :) Made my heart smile!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Addison! Her eyes are just amazing! And rarely do we get a good smile from her in pictures! She looks so big in this picture! And, Savannah was totally jealous that her baby sister had such a great tan! LOL!


I know vacations happen all of the time and are no big deal to most, but for us, it was a special time. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to DO NOTHING, for a while at least. So thankful that we had a good, safe time together as a family. And even more thankful that my parents joined us, especially since they just celebrated their 25th Anniversary. On a side note, I was so proud of my mother for really challenging herself against her fear of water. She became quite a waterbug too! We had some great conversations sitting on the back deck at night with my parents after the kids were in bed. Great laughs too!
Griffin, though only 3, was wonderful around water. He never even remotely ventured in without Adam or I and had a great time in our pool because it had this little ledge that he was able to use as his own little baby pool.

Here's a great pic of all the guys on the boardwalk in Ft. Myers.
Cannot wait to go back. Cannot wait to go with the WHOLE family! Though, we'd def need a bigger place.

Oh, and once we returned, Adam went to dayshift for the first time in 12 years which has been another answered prayer. It's making a huge difference in our lives.

That's our story for vacation this year. Hope you all have wonderful times as well. I hope to get to go back to Mexico next year! Happy summer everyone, take time to enjoy the little things!

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