THE YEAR 2010

We will remain confident in the Lord's direction for our lives....

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Three Months

Three months ago today the Aldrich family began a new adventure.

The majority of our possessions went to live in a storage unit.  Garth packed up a few of his things and headed to "the sandbox".  The boys and I gathered what was left and transitioned to Texas.

I thought that by now I would have some grand words of wisdom to share, but I have none.

NONE!!!

We miss Garth.  The boys miss their daddy, and I miss my husband and dear friend.

The wound is not nearly as fresh and raw, but the pain of him being gone seems to grow as time goes on.  We will continue counting down the days, thankful to be another day closer to being a family again.  To those who have prayed for us, we sincerely thank you.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

From Howlin' to Growlin'

He did it!!

Dylan has completed 2nd grade and has been promoted to the 3rd grade.  We are so proud of his accomplishment.  It didn't come easy though.  He had a tremendous amount of change to deal with during this second grade year.  Dylan began as a Timberwolf at Abby Reinke Elementary School in Temecula, CA and finished up a Wampus Cat at Itasca Elementary School in Itasca, TX.  The transition was a difficult one, but he managed to work through it and completed his task.

Dylan - Way to go, buddy!!  You dad and I are very proud of you and we can't believe you are a 3rd grader now.  You are growing up so fast on us.  You are a sweet, good kid.  You will be friends with anyone who will give you the time.  You work hard at school and desire to understand and do well. You are well behaved for you teachers and a good example for you peers.  Keep up the good work!!  Now go enjoy your summer and have some FUN!!  We love you,  Mom and Dad

Here is a quick re-cap of Dylan's 2nd grade year through pictures:


First day of 2nd grade


Recognized with the "Action" Award w/ Mr. Stansbury


Traditions Day


Going Away Party


Going Away Party


Last day at Abby Reinke


Friday Flag



Field Trip



Field Day - Sack Race


Field Day - Tug -of- War



Mrs. Volcik


Sunday, May 16, 2010

Dylan's 2nd Grade Field Trip

Dylan is now an Itasca Wampus Cat!!  I transferred into Itasca during the 2nd grade and now Dylan has followed suit.  The only difference is that I came in mid-October and he made the big move in April - all that is left to do is field trips, field day, and fun.

This year the 2nd graders headed to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, TX.  If I never go back it will be too soon, but the kids sure seemed to enjoy it.


Digging for fossils with his buddy and bro


Eaten by a dino


One of Dylan's faves




Jaydon eaten by the dino




Friday, May 7, 2010

Missing Daddy

With almost two months "under our belts" the following conversation just about sums up how we all feel:

Jaydon:  I miss daddy.

Me:  I do too.

Jaydon:  He loves me??

Me:  Of course, Daddy loves you very much.



Despite missing Daddy we are keeping ourselves busy.  The boys enjoy their WHEELS.



Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Send Off

Well, we did it.  We got this nasty, dreaded day behind us.  We are both so thankful to be counting down to Garth's return home now.

I'm sitting here in bed with red, swollen eyes.  I would love to go to sleep, but I am hoping for one last phone call from Garth.  So I figured I might as well recount the day a bit for memory sake.

Yesterday was emotionally rough.  We went to church, but were both ready to be home so we could relax in our own emotions.  We tried to make it a good day, but were both just too sad.  Garth said his goodbyes to the family over the phone and computer.  He threw the football and a played a heated "memory" game with Dylan and played Star Wars with Jaydon.  We were basically glad when the day was done.  Thankfully the Lord blessed us with a night of rest.

This morning, we woke up like any morning.  Jaydon made his way into our bedroom and I listened to Garth chat with the boys.  It was so sweet to hear them interacting together, yet so sad to know this was the last morning for awhile.

We took some last minute pictures and did our best to pray as a family.  Garth told Dylan goodbye and it was hard to watch.  These two have a very special and close relationship.  They hugged each other tight and cried on each other's shoulders.  They ended with high fives and I took Dylan to school.  Jaydon and I went with him down to the base.  It was a tormenting ride.  Many, many tears.  It finally came time for us to say goodbye.  He loved on Jaydon who doesn't fully understand what's going on.  Finally it was my turn.  As difficult as it was, we did it.  I didn't want to let him go, but I did.

We said the last "I love you"s and gave the last hugs and I got in the truck and left.  I still can't believe I left him there.

The feelings are still very raw.  He as called a few times and I fight back tears everytime I hear his voice.  I am crying as I type, but I know it will get easier as everyday passes.  We will miss him so, so much, but we are very proud of him.

Many people sent words of love and encouragement and we thank you all for your sweet thoughts and prayers for our family.
"Memory" Star Wars Style

Boys being GOOFY!

My boys

A proud Dylan with his Daddy

A sad Lynita with her handsome Hubby

Jaydon with his Daddy

A tough goodbye

Getting the gear out of the truck

Goodbye sweet boy!!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Counting the Hours

It is getting late on this Saturday night.

Sunday is quickly approaching - even faster with the time change.

Thankfully we get to spend Sunday together as a family.  We are planning to go to church.  I find that only fitting and honoring to the Lord.

Lots and lots of emotions running through us all.

I am so ready for this "knot" in the pit of my stomach to disappear.  I feel like I am on the edge of a serious breakdown at any moment, but am fighting it back with all that is in me.  Sadly, there is nothing to prepare you for a "good-bye" of this nature.  So many unknowns.

That is all I have for now.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Just Keepin' it REAL

What is a "blog" good for if I doesn't show the true colors of someone and the life they lead.  

Well the following story is sadly very true....


Once upon a time, on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 to be exact, the day started like any other day.  Garth headed for work and the boys and I got ready to head to school.  Jaydon and I got Dylan delivered to school for his day.  We headed to the grocery store to get a couple of things and then returned home.  I worked out on my bike and Jaydon played with his toys and I'm sure squeezed in some Lego Star Wars action too.  We had lunch and then enjoyed a regular afternoon at home.  I could tell that Jaydon was getting a bit tired because he would curl up on the couch with his blanket.  

Are you still with me.  Hang in there.  You will be so glad you did.

There was no time for a nap because it was time to go get big brother.  We arrived at school and all seemed normal.  While waiting around Dylan's class for the bell to ring, Jaydon began running to this grassy area on the backside of the school.  I said "hey" to Dylan and went to round up Jaydon.  I told him it was time to go, but he informed me that he was waiting for a friend.  I explained that this friend was not here today and we needed to go to the car.  A couple of exchanges back and forth and he began to cry.  He told me he couldn't go to the car because he was crying.  I sat down with him for a couple of minutes explaining that he needed to stop crying and walk to the car.  He still didn't want to walk, so Dylan and I acted like we were walking away.  Jaydon didn't like us leaving but was still not budging and still crying LOUDLY, I might add.  

Okay, so this is where it gets fun.  I gave him one more opportunity to walk by himself.  He opted not.  So, I picked him up like a sack of potatoes with my one good arm.  Well, he began kicking, screaming, and crying.  I had to walk holding this crazy child from the back side of the school all the way to my car.  We passed many children and parents and teachers.  I just had to keep walking.  We finally made it to the crosswalk and I held his hand and basically dragged him across the street.  By this time, I am not only a crazy mom with an out of control child, I am a crying mom.  Somehow, I got him in the car, threw him in his carseat and got him buckled up.  We drove home and he is still at it.  Into the house and he is still at it.  I pull his pants down and spank and spank and spank his little bottom all the while trying not to loose total control.  Up to his room he goes.  I have to hold the door closed and am amazed at his strength.  By this time I am just praying.  I don't know what else to do.  I explain that he must calm down to come out.  He does a bit and I open the door.  I have him sit and explain how hurt, sad, embarrassed I am.  I have him tell me he is sorry, which he does only because he has to.  I then make him say "I will obey you mommy."  Well, not so much.  I have to shut him in his room again.  Finally he gives in and says it.  I head downstairs and he continues to yell at me to come back up.  I don't go back up and he finally makes his way down.  A few minutes more and he grabs his blanket and heads for the couch.  Next thing I know is that he is ASLEEP.

This is a text I sent to Garth during the ordeal:
  
I had to carry your son from the backside of school property kicking and screaming to the car.  I was embarrassed and in tears.  Shoved in the carseat and at home.  Many spankings, locked in his room and still at it after over 30 min.  Please pray for us.  Seriously!!!

That was how the Aldrich crew spent their afternoon.  I was emotionally and physically exhausted afterward and still feeling it today.  I felt so embarrassed and defeated.

However, there are some people who made the worst moments a tiny bit less horrible. 

 First, at school a good friend who had witnessed the entire ordeal tried to be as encouraging as possible.  "We've all been there.  All kids have their meltdowns. What can I do to help?"  Thanks Melissa.

Then as Jaydon was winding down from the fit, Garth called and let me cry and explain.  We talked through it and I'm thankful I don't have to parent totally alone.  Thanks so much honey.

Finally, not two minutes after the fun, my phone rang.  I almost didn't answer it because I was still winding down, but I really wanted to visit with this friend.  I answered and heard her voice.  I tried to keep things together, but when she asked about my day - well, you know the rest.  Sadly she got to hear my baggage, but still loved me through it.  Thanks for listening Heidi.

Thanks to my hubby and friends for loving me and not judging me while I was 

THAT MOM WITH THAT KID.

I felt the need to share this story because I never want another mom to feel like I did.  I felt like I was the only mom in the world to ever experience such nastiness.  I felt that every parent was watching and judging.  I desire others to know you aren't alone and someone has gone through the same things with their own children.  And if they haven't, they probably will.  

Well, I could use a break from this whole parenting thing, but that won't happen for many, many more years.  So, I will just continue on and try to do better next time.  

Hope your day was better than mine!!!  



Monday, March 1, 2010

This Month

March is here!!  

Now the talk around the Aldrich house is - 

"This month...."  or "In a couple of weeks....".

The big sendoff is quickly approaching.

We will miss these precious moments.


But will look forward to sharing them again soon.

Drag Races

The fun continues...

After we returned from our trip up the coast, my family arrived in town for a few days.  The highlight of the weekend for the "big" boys was getting to go to the drag races.

Now, to most this is not a big deal.  But for the LLOYD family this is "cool" stuff.  The Winter Nationals are held in Pomona, California in February every year.  This year was the 50th Anniversary of the race.  So after Dylan's football game the guys - Garth, Dylan, Dad and Blake - headed up to the races.

I think they all had a great day.

Dad got to share his love for the cars and the sport with his grandson and sons-in-law and the boys found a new interest.  The only downer was the the cars were SOOOO loud that Dylan didn't handle it too well, but Garth got him doubled up on ear protection and all was better.  It was so cute when they arrived home that evening.  They were all talking the races up and who won and wanted to find it on ESPN so that we could all watch it again.  Here are some pictures from their special day:










As a wife, mom, daughter, and sis-in-law to these special guys, it meant a lot to me that the guys enjoyed this day and it will always be a special memory for them.   I know they wish all the other LLOYD guys could have been there too!!!
 

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Central Coast

We left Sunday the 7th to take a short trip up the Central Coast.  We left here with an ultimate destination of Monterey, California.  We started our way up around Malibu.  We stopped for lunch in Santa Barbara.  We loved this little place.  It would be fun to revisit and explore some more sometime.  From there we departed from the Hwy. 1 coastline and made our way to Slovang.  It is a cute town full of windmills and danishes.  The town was cute, but the best part was the beautiful drive to get there.  Our drive then took us back toward Hwy. 1.  The coastline is breathtaking.  We stopped for the night in Grover Beach.  The next morning we drove up Hwy. 1 to Monterey.  Along the way we stopped in Morro Bay and at Hearst Castle.  We also enjoyed a beautiful drive through Big Sur.  We stayed at the Navy Lodge in Monterey.  The next day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then off to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  The 17 Mile Drive was closed due to a golf tournament, so we ventured off the beaten path to a state park.  We are so glad we did. It was absolutely wonderful.  The next morning we headed home.  Enjoy the slideshow!!

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Boys' Day Out

So much to catch up on.  We have been blessed to have Garth off the last couple of weeks and have had some very fun times to share.

Saturday, February 6th, Garth and Dylan headed out in the rain to San Diego to watch Supercross.  It was a first for both of them.  They arrived early to walk around the pits.

Garth put his name in a raffle and won a signed jersey from the top ranking rider Ryan Dungey.  Dylan had his picture taken with him and couldn't wait to show me the jersey when he got home.  Dylan got a few other autographs and lots of new posters to decorate the trailer with sometime.  The rain subsided about the time to begin racing and the guys really enjoyed watching all the action in person.

Here are a few pictures from there fun daddy/son day:




Dylan with Ryan Dungey






Monday, February 15, 2010

Family Pics

We took the time on V-day to have some family pictures taken by Amy Boring.  Surprisingly, we had a very fun family afternoon and really enjoyed meeting Amy.  To see a few of the pictures she took click on the link and head on over to her blog.  Leave a comment and if we get 30+, we get something fun.  Enjoy!!!

http://www.aboringphoto.com/

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Anything but THAT!!!

And by THAT, I mean cleaning the house.

Cleaning is not my most favorite thing to do.  It never has been.  So, I am procrastinating.  It reminds me of being in college and knowing that I needed to study for a test or write a paper, but doing anything but sounded good.  Back then I would go run or get in the kitchen and bake.  Today I am blogging.  I already rode my bike this morning and I don't want to dirty up the kitchen baking (you know I'm supposed to be cleaning).  Besides, I bought like $20 worth of Girl Scout cookies this morning and that equates to 5 boxes of cookies.  Further solidifies the whole no-baking thing today.

SO here I am blogging.

The big boys - Garth and Dylan - headed down to San Diego this morning to attend the Supercross event.  The races don't begin until 7 p.m., but you could go down early and walk around the pits.  I hope they have a fabulous time together.  Dylan was so excited to go to the races and hang with his dad.  It is raining today, sadly, but the races go on anyways.  I sent the camera with Garth, so I will post pictures soon.

We are all trying to enjoy some husband/daddy time with Garth.  I think it has something to do with being in that "next-month" phase.  He leaves NEXT MONTH.  We have known since this summer he would be leaving, and here we are saying "next month".

Next month -

I will say good-bye to my husband.

The boys will say good-bye to their daddy.

But the upside is that we will finally be able to look forward to his return instead of dreading his departure.  YEA!!

Thanks for everyones kind words and prayers.  Each is treasured.

Okay, back to cleaning!  Yeah right.....  ;)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Jaydon's Bedtime Prayer

I have been praying with Jaydon before he goes to bed.  Sometimes he will say his own prayer.  Tonight I was blessed by the following:

"Jesus, thank you.  I love you very much.  Amen!  Yea!! " ((Clap))

Most precious moments.  

Thank you Jesus for these most precious moments.  I love you too.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Flag Football - Dylan



These pictures were taken by a gentleman who's grandson plays for the other team.  He was taking pictures all throughout the game.  He approached us and asked if Dylan was our son because he said he thought he got a really great shot of him - and he DID!!  The last shot here is the best out of his entire group and shows Dylan's great effort while on the field.  We were proud to get this photo.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Jaydon NOW

This is our Jaydon today!!

Our little man with LOTS of personality





Dylan NOW!!

This is our Dylan!!

Football is his world










Eleven Years

Garth and I celebrated 11 years of marriage on January 30th.

Friday night some friends kept the boys for us so we could attend a pre-deployment brief on base.  It was nice to have a few kid-free hours, but we both wish we could have been somewhere else.  I kept thinking to myself that eleven years ago I never imagined being at a point ready to send my husband off for a year. Craziness, I tell you.

Saturday we didn't do anything too special.  We have never really done anything big for our anniversary - that is just us.  We went to Dylan's football game in the morning.  I sure do wish his little team could win one.  However, he is a scrappy little player and fun to watch.  He is a flag pulling dude.  We get lots of joy watching him crash to the ground making moaning sounds in the process of pulling off some pour little soul's flag - pure JOY!!!  :)  After the game Garth went and bought us a new camera.  It is a Canon Rebel XSi and so much fun to use.  I can actually take a picture of the boys without it being blurry and get the picture when I actually hit the button.  Who knew??  Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a visit from a friend that Garth worked with in Corpus.  It was great to see him and catch up on life and the family.

Sunday was just another family day.  We love those around here, but especially here as we approach the leave date.  We got a little air pistol which is lots of fun for all of us to shoot.  We spend the day in our little backyard shooting a squirrel target.  Yes, I just said that.

That was our anniversary in a nutshell.  We were blessed to have Garth off today also.  It is so great to have him around.  Who knew I would love him more today than I did 11 years ago??

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Eleven days until Eleven years

Garth and I are 11 days away from celebrating our 11th anniversary.

Friday, January 8, 2010

WELCOME 2010

Happy New Year to You!! 

Another year has dawned and we have even moved on to another decade.

As we turn the calendar to a new year these are a few of things we have to look forward to in 2010:

1.  Garth and I will celebrate 11 years of marriage on January 30th.

2.  Garth will leave for his year long deployment in mid-March.

3.  The boys and I will move back to TX to be with family until Garth returns.

4.  Dylan will have to adjust to a new school.

5.  With Garth gone, we hope to spend a lot of the summer in CO.

6.  Garth and I will turn another year older in July.

7.  Our toddler boy Jaydon will turn the BIG 4 in August.

8.  In October, Dylan will turn an unbelievable 9 years old.

9.  In November, our little nephew Landon will be ONE!!!  :)

These are a few of the things we have facing us this year.  Some are very exciting and fun, others are painful, but enduring.  We are thankful the Lord has brought us to yet another year.  Without HIM we would be nothing.  My prayer is that we do not lose focus on HIM.  Amid all the uncertainly and change, we pledge to stand firm on the ROCK.  I know that when we look back at 2010 someday, we will certainly see the Lord's hand of guidance and protection on our lives as we always have.  I pray the same thing for you.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for giving us 2010.  Things are crazy these days.  I'm so grateful to be called your child.  I dedicate this year to you and you alone.  Do with it and me as you would.  May my life be a witness for you this year.  Bring Garth back to me and while he is gone continue your work in him.  (He is my love, you know that right?? )  Help me be the mommy my boys need while he is gone.  Thank you for loving me.  Thank you for your promises.  May 2010 be a beautifully crafted work of art by YOUR HANDS in the end.  Amen.


Happy 2010!!!!