Thanks to our Troops

Today we had the opportunity for Ashton to sing at the tree lighting ceremony on a local military base. We often see military personnel around town in their uniforms but it was an awesome site to see so many of them gathered for an event like this. I watched as they stood in a long line to collect vouchers for Christmas trees that were donated and wondered what their stories were ... had they recently returned from Iraq? Were their husbands or wives deployed? Had they spent the holidays away from their families before? Were they friends with any of those soldiers who had lost their lives in the war? I noticed women standing with their children and imagined them "doing it on their own" while their husbands were deployed while I was frustrated with the idea of my husband being gone overnight. At 5:00 P.M. the national anthem began to play over the loud speakers on base and everyone turned toward the flag and those in uniform saluted while the rest of us placed our hands over our hearts in respect. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the men and women who willingly serve our country and am grateful to have had the experience to catch this glimpse of "reality."I walked out of the house without my "good" camera and was left to use my dinosaur point-and-shoot camera. It is a painful reminder that I need to get a new one!! I hate to spend the money on a P&S when I'd rather invest in new lenses and a flash for my Nikon but I love having a smaller camera to keep in the diaper bag or my purse for instances just like today ;) Perhaps I should have Santa take a look .... The choir did a fabulous job and performed for almost 45 minutes! After that the girls wanted to go over and play in the snow they had made for the celebration (with the billions of other kids). They each threw one snowball and were done - guess we truly are warm weathered!A quick follow up - Cougar went back in to the doctor today and we were told he sounds much better! He had his last dose of antibiotics and oral steroids today and only has to use his nebulizer for steroids once a day now (vs. twice) and we will only have to administer Albuterol breathing treatments as needed!! His doctor said his pneumonia was a mild case and that we caught it early so we felt very fortunate for that. She had no concerns about our upcoming trip and will order a follow up chest x-ray when we return just to make sure everything looks clear. Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes on his behalf!