a few of the latest...sorta.

It's me again. Hank the cowdo....oh wait. Wrong name. Let's try this again.

It's me again. Rebekah the girl with the camera (who takes way too many pictures). 

Here are a few of the latest.

Oh. And the first three are kinda late....they are from Mother's Day. But I didn't get them from my cousin's camera until a little while after the fact, and then I kinda forgot about them. But better late than never...right?

   

P.S. With the help of my beautiful and techy cousin, I have changed my blog address. It is no longer "strong-happy-adventurous.blogspot.com". It is now "rebekahleona.blogspot.com". 

27,000 words

On Memorial Day, my cousin Gretchen and her husband Merritt (who were also celebrating 7 years of marriage that day) had a passel of folks over for a BBQ. And despite the iffy weather, it was a good day full of ice cream, hamburgers, talking, laughing, and of course, lots of pictures. 

So without further ado, here they are. (Oh, and because I don't feel like going through and telling you what is happening in each of the pictures, I am going to let you use your brain/imagination to figure it out.) 

The End. 

the cost of freedom is buried in the ground

Today is Memorial Day. A day that most people think means BBQs and big get togethers and the beginning of summer.

But that is not the meaning of this day.

Memorial Day is a day to remember our fallen heroes. A day to remember that dad who will never see his little girl get married. A day to remember that cousin who will never get to meet the newest member of the family. A day to remember that wife who will never get to kiss her husband again. A day to remember that sister who will never get to tease her brother again. A day to remember that mom who will never get to hug her son again.

All gave some and some gave all
And some stood through for the red, white and blue
And some had to fall
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
Some gave all

I hate to admit it, but I used to kind of ignore military stuff. I felt like it didn't affect me. Yeah, my Dad, Gramps, and Uncle had all been in the military, but it was a long time ago. But then my big brother/best friend told me he was going to join the United States Marine Corps. And suddenly it was all so close to my heart.

My brother Matthew and dad Eric at Matt's graduation
from Officer Candidate School, Quantico VA. summer 2012. 

Now? I can't see a picture of a homecoming or hear a song related to the military without tearing up. Now it is personal. No longer is it someone else's brother. It is my brother.

So I would like to make a simple request of you today. Please take a minute the whole day and remember why we celebrate Memorial Day. Forget about the hot dogs and the sunscreen and remember the wife who is without her husband today. Remember the children who have to say goodbye.

And make sure that you thank our service men, women and their families. If you don't see any today, make a phone call. Post on Facebook. Write about it on your blog. Do whatever you have to do to let those heroes know how much you appreciate their sacrifices.

Because while to you it may just be a casket with a flag draped over it, to the man holding the folded up flag it is his little boy.

The Sergeant hands him the flag
After the prayer
The Honor Guard fires 21 rounds 
Up in the air
The sound of Taps brings a tear to all of us
But his dad will always see him as he was

A little boy in a uniform
Five years old in the back yard 
Playing war
Dreaming of everything he could be
In this land of the free
Just like his old man
Did back in Vietnam
He was gonna be a hero for sure
That little boy in a uniform

To my father who served in the Navy, thank you. To my grandfather who served in the Army, thank you. To my brother who is joining the Marine Corps, thank you. To my uncle who served in the Navy, thank you. To Tom Mask, Gene Brazel, Derrick Staffenson, Mason Acheson and all the other military men and women out there, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are the real superheroes.

Armed Forces Day and Flower Pot Pudding

First off, since it is Armed Forces Day, I would like to say a great big huge thank you to all our military personnel past, present, and future. Thank you for all your sacrifices; for the ones that we know about and the ones we will never hear of. To my big brother, you are my hero. I know you aren't a Marine yet, but you will be very soon. Thank you for your willingness to serve. I am so incredibly proud of you.  

Now, on a little bit lighter of a note, here are couple of the pictures I have taken in the past three days. 

Wednesday was pretty relaxing. In the morning I went for a long, rambling walk along the railroad track. It was just what the doctor ordered for me to de-stress a little bit. 

 Random fact: I love taking animal pictures. 

 Daniel was pretty proud of himself for putting that barn on his tractor. I quickly took a picture and then told him to take it off :) 

We have been having quite a bit of rain and some thunder showers, and this was the sky after one such storm. (In case you are wondering, that is the clothesline that the raindrop is clinging to.)

The sun actually came out yesterday to dry some laundry for us!

Making Flower Pot Pudding with Aunt Marcy. 

 Daniel was more interested in watching tractor videos than helping make the pudding, however, he had no problem with eating it! 

That's all for now folks......have a wonderful day, and don't forget to thank our service men and women (today and every day).