{ Navy Ball }

We had a wonderful time, just my man and I, at the Navy Ball. I do wish I had pictures of us all dressed up to show, but I wanted more than anything to just enjoy the night.



I did find this picture and thought it was fitting....

{ Blue has never been bluer. }

On Friday, October 8th my grandpa passed away. It was a very sad day. The phone rang, I picked up the phone to hear my very sad and tearful father on the other end of the phone, "Amber....", he didn't have to say it....I already knew. I knew this day was coming, but I just wasn't ready for it. It saddened my heart to hear my dad in so much grief and pain.
Spencer had been home from school sick that day, he was there when I hung the phone up. I could see the urgency in his eyes as he watched me talking to my dad. I hung up the phone, "Is it Grandpa Strickland?" he asked. I gave him a hug and told him yes, it was Grandpa Strickland. He walked outside to get some air and I followed him. We sat on the rocking chair of the front porch and cried together. He told me what he remembered of Grandpa.
At the funeral they had balloons for all the grandkids and great-grandkids to release in the air. It was a beautiful sight to such a sad day....


The little kids were all hopping up and down holding on to their balloon saying, "My balloon is going to get to Grandpa first!". It was sweet.


The funeral was beautiful. My cousin Kristi gave a wonderful speech, that brought a few smiles from the memories she was speaking of and a few tears knowing that he is gone from this world.
After the funeral the church had a dinner for all of the family. The kids (all of the great-grandkids) were all running around playing in the gym after the dinner. It made me smile. I remember all of the Christmas family get togethers we had growing up,running around and playing with all of my cousins. We (myself and my cousins) have all grown up now and most of us have children of our own. It brought happiness to see the kids playing as we did when we were younger.










Even the "big kids" joined in on the fun of running around laughing and playing....

{ Chief. }

He is a man of honor.
He is a loving and faithful husband.
He is a dedicated father.
He is a man of faith and honesty.
He is a man of courage, strength and discipline.
He is a man of dignity.
He is a man of trust, and he values that trust.
He is giving and kind.
He is full of compassion and hope.
He is a leader.
He is our anchor, the one that makes our family whole.

{written to my husband for something he needed for making Chief}



I love this picture. The way he is looking at Spencer with pride as his son pins the first pin on. And this one too, as I pin the other pin. He worked so hard for this and he very much deserves it. We are proud of him.













This is us. This is a part of who we are. We are a military family who has seen our fair share of deployments. We've learned how to be strong through deployments. How to have faith in our prayers. How to hope and cherish each and every moment we have together. We have pride in our country. We feel proud and get a little teary eyed at our son's middle school football games when the national anthem is sang beautifully through a quiet crowd. We know that this is where the road of our life has led us to. To serve our country when called, to keep things together on the home front while deployments seem to be never ending. To stay strong and be proud of who we are.

I am a proud Navy wife, proud of my husband who has worked very hard to get where he is today. I am proud of my husband, my best friend, my Chief.