Ecstatic for an E-Mail!

We've heard from Jason!





Below is part of an e-mail that he sent to Krystal:

"Well, I am on my way to Afghanistan. We have made it through Maine, Germany, and I am at the other place now. We are leaving very soon. The next email I should send you will be from Afghanistan. It is pretty cold here, but just about the same as home. I am pretty tired. It is already Tuesday over here. The plane ride was long and uncomfortable, but they had pretty good food and we usually stopped every 6 hours to stretch, etc. Everywhere was rainy, it was weird. Other than that, everything is normal and good.

I know I said not to send many emails, but keep them coming. Now that we don't have cell phones, those are the only things I will be looking forward to."


It is so good to know where he is and that he is safe!

If you or your kids would like to write an e-mail to him or to the troops he's serving with, you can send your messages to:

lauren@ericblum.com and put "Thanks for Serving" in the subject line.

I will make sure he gets them.

I'll Have Some Valium with a Side of Crown, Please

My brother left for Afghanistan yesterday.

Sedate me now.

He'll only be gone for 4 months - which could be the shortest deployment in the history of the armed forces (yay!) - but he'll be east of nowhere in a warzone, so that's kind of the reason I need some narcotics.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid...
Jason and my parents...
My hero and me...
Some cuddly time with Krystal and Zoey...


Please, please pray for Jason and the other soldiers every day.

The bright side of this is that we get to have a major par-tay in April when he comes back!

So Much to be Thankful For!

We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving holiday with my family! My parents, Brandon and Grandpa joined Jason, Krystal and The Zohan at our house to eat, hang out, watch Seinfeld and play a serious game of Taboo.

Great-Grandpa and the two great-grandkids...
The Most Hilarious Little Turkey Ever...
My sweet boy and me...
Gran was sure to bring Dawson some turkey, rice and vegetable baby food so that he wouldn't miss out on the action...
Our table...
...which was too small to hold all of us AND the food, so we had a buffet of sorts: turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry salad, cranberry sauce, rolls, tea, three kinds of desserts...and, ok - I think that's it!
This was the most unique thing I made...pumpkin dip! I found it on Rachel W.'s site and it was so good! One can of pumpkin, one block of cream cheese, one cup of powered sugar and voila! Serve it with some gingersnaps and cider and you're set!
Aunt Michelle sent Dawson a very sweet "Baby's First Thanksgiving" card that was just too cute not to display!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday!

Discover Compassion

I think God uses children to teach us some of the most profound and yet simplest of lessons.



I received this photo and the following e-mail today from my best friend, Megan, who is the Volunteer Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity.

"Good Afternoon ;)! About twenty minutes ago I got to experience something very sweet and powerful. A husband, wife, and their two children came into the office. The oldest boy was carrying a small box decorated with Christmas paper, bows, etc. Inside the box was a small donation he wanted to make to Habitat.

He started collecting his money last Christmas and said he wanted to give it to builders because he likes to build things ;). I tear up as I write this b/c even in our nation's tough economy a seven year old boy gets what it is all about...compassion!

I hope you all have a GREAT Thanksgiving ;)!

Sincerely,

Megan "

May we all adopt his generousity and humble spirit!

I Call Upon the Evil Spirits to Leave You...

Be healed!

G. I. Jane

Or Zoey, as it were.



Osama bin who?

Yeah, I've gotchyo dirty bomb riiiighhhht here.

Manchester Means Family

We have had something going on nearly every weekend since the middle of August, so there are several events that I'm just now posting about! (Shameful, I know).

I thought I'd start catching up with our family reunion in Manchester...it's a town that's about 30 minutes from Murfreesboro. My grandmother and grandfather (my mom's parents) grew up there, and so I have tons of great-aunts and uncles and cousins that live there. On the last Sunday of August, we always get together - it's a tradition that's been going on as long as I can remember. Sometimes, we have it outside, but this year, we had it inside a church fellowship hall since it was so hot. Everyone brings a covered dish or two, and we all eat and talk and spend time with each other. Every year is exciting because things change so much - someone's married, engaged, going to college, pregnant, just had a baby...all the things that make life fun!

Now, someone please tell me what's wrong with these two pictures....

Why are the ladies in the kitchen working...
...while the men are just sitting there?? Um, hello? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
Dawson catches up with his Great-Aunt Robin and Great-Grandpa...
My mom and her cousins Sherri and Gary...
My cousins Meredith and Madison chill with D-Word...
When I say "some family" I'm not talking about 10 people. There's, like, 84.
My mom's cousin, Joe, and my dad attempt to share pictures of their kids with their phones. I'm not sure how well it worked, what with those new-fangled contraptions and all. (Dad, I'm so kidding. Please don't write me out of the will or anything.)

I love my family!