My Haylee

Oh my sweet Haylee girl.  She is 12 and a half -well almost- and she is growing like a weed.  Only about 2 inches shorter than me!  She will catch up for sure.  She really is growing emotionally too but there is of course some pre-teen drama that happens when you are 12 and at times things seem much worse than they actually are.  Last night I was at a stake meeting and I came home to find out there had been an incident with a neighbor kiddo who is about 5 and whose mom does not watch him at all so he often plays down at our end of the court.  Well the kids were all out playing baseball in the yard and this boy decided he did not like how Haylee was holding the ball so he hit her in the leg with the whiffle bat.  Haylee gets really upset by anyone who is not "following the rules" in any situation she is a stickler for what you should do and when.  So she had a bit of a meltdown.  Anyway, when I got home she was upstairs and still very upset.  Dad isn't as compassionate as mom and sometimes she feels like he doesn't care when really he is just very practical about the situation, I'll admit that is sometimes frustrating to me as well.  :)  As girls we often want someone to be as dramatic as we are about the problem we are having so we can really feel the empathy.  For my sweet pre-teen girl this was definitely the case.  I went up and spoke to her and hugged her while she cried.  It was hard to hear her say "I don't like your calling because you weren't here!" Its hard sometimes to balance church and family and I never want her to feel like I put church before her because I don't, but this situation I am sure seemed to her like if I didn't have the calling I do I would have been home and therefore able to comfort her.  She told me how she cried and cried while holding "Shapes" her stuffed turtle.  I got her calmed down and assured her I would speak to the little boy who hit her (this is the second time, the first time I let it go) and tell him if it happened again he would not be allowed to play at this end of the street.  Haylee has a very large adult vocabulary and often uses big or less common words when speaking.  I love it because it shows how much she reads and comprehends the words that are used by a good writer.  So I had to laugh when after telling her what I was going to say to the boy she says "You should also inform him its UNLAWFUL!"  LOL.  I will be sure to inform the kindergartner that it is unlawful to hit a person.  I am sure that will put him on a path to make better choices.  :)  She laughed too which was a good ending to the evening.   Love that Haylee of mine.

SENIOR Master Sergeant

Wednesday night the 19th Joe had to work late. Haylee has piano before mutual so she was at her lesson and I was in the car and Joe called me from work our convo:

Him: are you home?

Me: nope at piano what's up?

Him: when will you be home?

Me: well after piano and mutual so about 8:30.

Him: ok I need to talk to you about some stuff. 

Me: (totally freaked out) why? What's going on?  Did you get orders? Are we moving?  

Him: no we are not moving, I just need to talk to you about some scheduling stuff.

Me: ooookaaaay -

Him: I'll see you at 8:30

It was such an odd conversation but I thought whatever maybe they wanted him to go on a long TDY or something and he just wanted to talk to me about it. Didn't think much of it. He called me back five minutes later -he cannot keep a good secret for more than 5 minutes I get birthday and Christmas presents early he just can't wait- this time he says "I made Senior" -meaning Senior Master Sergeant- I was like "what?!? Oh my gosh!" Then I told him how proud I was of him and started to cry.  I just could not believe it. I don't think he could either. He had been telling me for months that there was no way he was going to make it. That he would need an insane board score.  Well, he got it!! 14,000 people tested and only the top six percent made it!  999 out of 14,000!!!!  So CRAZY!! In a time where the military is getting downsized and people are getting forced out Joe gets promoted.  So insane. I am so proud of him for all it has taken to get to this point.  For my non military friends a quick explanation of rank:  enlisted people come into the Air Force as an E-1 a.k.a Airman; the enlisted ranks go up to E-9 which  is a Chief Master Sergeant. Senior Master sergeant is an E-8.  E-8 and E-9 makes up the top three percent of enlisted Air Force.  Only three percent! 

Most people retire as Master Sergeants -that was sort of our plan too. We had not decided anything for sure but I was definitely leaning towards getting out of the military in just over two years. I was ready to be done :) this new rank brings a whole new list of possibilities. We have not decided anything concrete but we will stay in the military for at least another four years. 

It has been such a whirlwind since he found out. So many thoughts going through my mind. My heart overflowing with pride and gratitude and love. So many friends and family calling, texting, face booking their most sincere congratulations. It has really touched me. Not that you don't expect people to congratulate you when you accomplish something but it has just been over the top with sweet messages about how deserving Joe is of the promotion.

  I am so very grateful for the blessings in our lives.  The future is uncertain but as a wise missionary once wrote to his mom, a favorite quote of his: "hope on, journey on". I know that Heavenly Father has a plan and that His hand is in our lives even more than usual because of that missionary who is serving Him in a jungle in Brazil.  We will face whatever new adventure lies before us together and go forth with faith.