ShenanINGRAMS

Proud Parents with the graduate:  Many of you know Chloe as our butterfly...the one that flutters here and there, spreading joy and happiness and laughter wherever she goes.  You may also remember that from the time she could walk and talk she wanted to be a veterinarian, and she even got a job at a vet clinic from 13-16 years old before she made the tough decision to let that dream go because her allergies are just too severe.  She quickly changed gears to her second love(s), music & art, almost a simultaneous word that fully encompasses her passions.  She also, at 16, helped me open a music & art academy, becoming my right-hand-woman for 2 years of intense work.  She graduated with her Bachelor's degree in 2 years during which she studied music, art, and photography. She then moved right into her Master's Degree, graduating May 13th after 2 years of study.  She got her Bachelor's and Master's in 4 years, something it usually takes 5-6 years to acc...

 I realize that this post is a couple of weeks too late, but Caylea knew it would be.  Between Joe's big birthday bash and us going up to PA to help Caylea & Noah move, I haven't had time to sit and write. Caylea was due on Joe's birthday but came 2 days later so she could have her own entrance on her own day.  She was born in sunny CA because Joe was stationed there at the Defense Language Institute, where we met and got married.  Kevin Oliver, a long-time family friend, and Joe's mom were there for her birth and it was peaceful and lacking in any of the drama of my subsequent childrens' births.  The pregnancy was easy enough.  I was attending college classes in between bouts of vomiting, something I had with all 3 pregnancies, and life was simpler.  Joe and I took walks together often, played games at friends' homes on base, and just waited for our precious girl to arrive. I went into labor at 6 p.m. and I knew it was labor because I got the shak...

 Joe's 50th birthday was last week, and instead of doing the blog post then, I'm doing it now, with pics from his suprise party.  Before we get to those, though, I just want to share why Joe's 50th has been such a big deal. Joe's Dad, the one who raised him, not the biological we found out about 3 years ago, was 50 years old when he passed away from a heart attack with no warning.  Joe was 30 and devastated.  For the past 20 years, we have heard songs, seen tv shows, and had momentous occasions in life when Joe (or any son) would usually reach out and call his Dad, and those times have brought my husband to tears with memories and what-ifs and if-onlys.  He has missed his Dad terribly and he always will.  They had reached that stage in life where they could be friends...and we were finally back on U.S. soil so they could see each other more often.  As it was, Joe saw his Dad when Wayne flew over to Korea for Chloe's birth (for 3 weeks), then spent a we...