For the Veterans in Our Family

Many, many members of my family have served (and some are still serving) this great country of ours. Today, I would like to honor them for putting their lives on the line for our freedoms. My father, Joe. Dad served in 3 branches of the military, finally retiring from the United States Air Force Reserves. Pictures are, from left to right, of Dad in his Air Force blues, Dad when he was in the United States Navy and Dad when he was a member of the Oklahoma Army National Guard. (He joined the Guard illegally, at the age of 16, then did a hitch in the Navy and then signed up with the Air Force. )
My husband, Randey, who is currently serving in the United States Air Force Reserves after having spent 10 years on active duty.
My precious son, Nicholas, who is serving in the United States Air Force and has flown in too many combat missions for me to count.
My mother, Betty, who retired from the United States Air Force Reserves.

My darling Uncle Wally, who retired from the United States Navy (yes, guys...this is Aunt Sandi's husband).
My brother-in-law, Ken, who retired from the United States Air Force Reserves after first having spent around 10 years in active duty.
My nephew, Joseph, who is currently serving in the United States Air Force Reserves.
My step-father-in-law, Wally, who retired from the United States Navy.
My Uncle Mac, who served in the United States Navy.

My brother-in-law, Andrew, who is retired from the United States Army.

I have many other relatives that served in the military whose pictures aren't shown. They include my Uncle Lonnie, who retired from the United States Army; my step-father, Jack, who retired from the United States Navy; my cousin Alonna, who served in the United States Air Force Reserve; my cousin Don (Dutchie) who retired from the United States Air Force; my uncle Don, who served in the United States Air Force; my cousin Stephen, who served in the United States Army; my cousin Frank, who served in the United States Army; my husband's step-brother, Scott, who is currently serving in the United States Air Force Reserves; my Great Uncle, Sentiff Charles McBride, who served in the United States Navy back in the 1930's; and my Great Uncle Hiram Wallace McBride, Jr., who served with the Office of Strategic Services back in WW II and is a true, blue American hero. In fact, all of these people are heroes to me. You all have done, or are doing, a job that can often times be downright thankless. But I thank you...every moment of every day that I breathe free air, I thank you.

Halloween 1989

Halloween 1989 was great for us. My sister and her husband (who many of you know is also my husband's brother. Yeah, think that over for a second and you'll work it out. lol) lived in Niceville, Florida and we lived in Valparaiso, Florida (these 2 towns are right next to each other - I mean right next to each other. Our homes were probably only 2 miles apart). Living so close to one another, naturally our families got together to take the kids trick-or-treating. My nephew, Joseph, was dressed as a Mad Scientist. Nicholas, my oldest son, was dressed as the Hunchback. They were both 9 years old for that Halloween and, if I remember correctly, they had a fabulous time that year. So much laughter, so many smiles. Gotta love it. My niece, Megen, age 4 1/2, was dressed as a Jack-in-the-Box. She was the cutest little thing you ever saw. (Check out how long her braided hair is in the picture. That kid was born with more hair than most humans grow over a lifetime. lol). And Desiree', who at the time was 2 1/2 years old, was dressed as, what else?, a Christmas present. She was hysterically funny because she kept tripping over her own feet, but once she'd fall, she couldn't get herself back up because of the box she was wearing. I know, I know. We were all wrong to laugh at her like we did, but good grief...it was just so funny. All you could see was this box with a head, 2 arms and these short little legs sticking out of the bottom, kicking for all they were worth. Funny stuff. Oh hush. You'd have laughed, too, if you'd seen her!
And just so you don't think I laughed at my daughter with no idea of how that would make her feel, let me tell you this little story. Joseph and Nick were Cub Scouts that year and their troop decided to have a Halloween themed meeting that month. Complete with costumes. Yeah, everyone was supposed to dress up, including the parents. Well, being relatively young and extremely foolish, we all took them seriously and dressed up. Sherri was smart. She dressed as a Bunny. That meant she wore pastel pants and a giant sweatshirt with a big cotton ball pinned to her butt and a headband with cute little bunny ears. Oh, and she drew whiskers on her face, too. Randey and Ken (Sherri's husband, Randey's brother. Come on now, keep up!) were really smart. Randey dressed like a hunchback. Which basically meant he stuffed a pillow under his shirt up by his shoulders. Ken dressed as a mummy. He just had a bunch of torn pieces of sheet wrapped around him. Me? Oh I went all out. I mean, all out. I had a bridesmaid dress that I never actually cared for (just look at it...all us bridesmaids looked like giant fluffs of cotton candy wearing those things!) and a pair of Randey's BDU pants and an old shirt from the thrift store. I combined all these things and went as Half Man/Half Woman. Complete with mascara painted full beard and moustache and one honkin' thick eyebrow (I was trying to look manly on that side, remember?). And guess what? We arrived at the meeting and no other parents were dressed up. None. Nada. No.Body.Else. And to top it all off, they looked at us like we were insane. What the heck? Randey and Ken quickly "removed" their costumes (i.e., the pillow and the torn strips of sheets) and Sherri thought about removing her tail and ears until I threatened her with her life. Still...she only had on tiny little ears, a fluffy little tail and thinly drawn whiskers. I, on the other hand, looked like a complete freak. That was the last year I ever dressed up for Halloween. There's nothing like little children pointing and snickering at you while their parents gaze at you with smirks and even a little pity to make you realize that the time for dressing up has come and gone. One good thing that came of it, though. I finally got rid of that horrific bridesmaid dress! lol
**Correction*** Randey informs me that he was the mummy and Ken was the hunchback. You can understand why I was confused, though, right? I mean they were out of their costumes so fast (those sniveling little cowards!), it's hard to remember exactly who wore what. Apparently, I've blocked out more of that evening that I thought I had but, honestly, who could blame me? lol