LIKES AND DISLIKES
at Saturday, December 27, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas Deployed
at Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
I wanted to write something this year on how it feels to be deployed on Christmas, but as I start to write I don’t really want to talk about how it feels to celebrate a Christian holiday in a Muslim country. I would much rather let everyone in on some of the traditions and memories that I have growing up in Indiana with all of my family so close.
Christmas for our family starts on the same day it does for a lot of Americans, the day after Thanksgiving. Our tradition was to go shopping in the morning, I am not sure why, and then go ice skating with as many relatives as we could gather. I remember being sick most years and I distinctly remember ice skating while hallucinating with a temperature of 103 on one year in particular. I like the idea of always making the traditional events no matter what.
The next big event was Christmas Eve. We used to go to my Great Grandma’s house and visit with the side of the family that felt awkward. This was a great learning experience of how a traditional event can be weird when the family is not really close knit. The real reason I wanted to go was to hang out with my Great Grandma Vesta. She was an amazing person who had the ability to remember birthdays, anniversaries, or any other date better than anyone else, well into her upper 80’s and early 90’s. She also had the purest heart that I have ever seen. She very rarely talked bad about anyone and the only time I ever heard that she got mad at someone; she hit him with a bowling pin. That’s my kind of grandma.
After leaving Great Grandma’s we would drive through a neighborhood on the way to our house that was decorated with all sorts of lights and other Christmas decorations. At the end of the road lived a man that would play his electric guitar from his roof. I remember him doing that for at least ten years out of my childhood. This was a great spectacle and would always get us excited for Santa to come to the house later that evening.
On Christmas morning Cody would wake up at 4:30 or so every year, I heard that he slept to 5:00 this year so maybe at 22 he is finally starting to grow up. We would all have to wait by our bedrooms for Mom and Dad to get up. Then all three boys would scurry into the living room together to an amazing spread. One of the family’s favorite stories was when Cody got a new bicycle. We were so excited for him, and wanted to see his reaction, but when we asked, “Hey Cody, did you see your new bicycle?” His response was “Yep, its mine.” Priceless. After opening presents at Mom and Dad’s house we were off to my maternal grandma’s house. From the beginning of time and for the rest of this story she will be referred to as “Nan.”
At 8:00 sharp, although my Aunt Sharon was usually late, we would begin our biscuit and gravy breakfast. Some people like chipped beef gravy, but I think everyone knows that sausage gravy is the only real gravy fit for a biscuit. The meal was enormous she cooked for 50 and most of the time we had at least that many in the kitchen at one time. This was followed by gift giving and the Throwing of the Wrapping Paper. Some family’s have very strict rules against throwing wrapping paper at people. Our family has similar regulations, but the difference is… we don’t follow it. I think most would agree that throwing wrapping paper at other members of the family and listening to Nan yelling for us to stop is a time honored tradition. At noon or so the Capps Family Christmas Caravan was off to my fraternal grandma’s house.
We always had to stop by my parent’s house and drop off the gifts that we had received at Nan’s to make room for more. One year we returned to find that the front door was standing wide open. We thought that someone had broken in and pulled a Grinch, but no it was Drew. Drew has never been able to figure out how to close doors, but that will be saved for another story. (I can’t prove that it was Drew, but since I am writing this story, I can place blame where I see fit.)
After the pit-stop at my parent’s house it was off to Grandma Capps’ house. As we walked into the house, 9 times out of 10 we would have leave the front door open to cool it off from the balmy 106 degrees that she thought was comfortable. One year we turned off her heat and she didn’t realize it until the house was about 50 degrees on December 28th, OOPS. We would then have lunch even though we were not really hungry. Following lunch we would exchange gifts and watch football. But the true tradition of Grandma Capps’ was Wrastlin’ on the Floor. We had the three Capps Boys, my uncle Joe, and the three Smith cousins all showing each other how much we loved each other, by way of the head-lock. Dad would never admit it, but he instigated most of the fighting.
After a few hours of hanging out with the Capps’ we would head home to play with the toys that we had been forced to leave at 7:30 that morning.
This is by no means all of the Christmas stories that I remember. I didn’t even tell the one about the apartment burning down, or when my uncle Scott bought me bikini briefs at age 9, or how ridiculously long Mom held out that Santa Claus was really behind all the Christmas presents, but that is all the stories I will tell for this year.
I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and take the time to have fun with your families and adding to your own memories of Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Shawn, Al Asad Iraq
FREEZING COLD!!
Monday, December 22, 2008
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
One Month Old
Sunday, December 14, 2008
It's true the saying you hear, "I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday." I know it's only been 4 weeks, so it's still pretty fresh....but it's amazing to me that he's really been here for that long. Where has the time gone? Yes, I am tired, my house is a mess (for me it's a mess), I rarely get dressed up or put make up on anymore...but I absolutely love being a mom!
Winter Wonderland
Friday, December 12, 2008
VMAQ-2's tree decorated with our two mascots, the Death Jester and the Playboy Bunny.
I like the way Santa is holding Caleb :o)
Heather, Phoebe, me and Caleb
As you can see Caleb did what he seems to do best.....sleep!
And last but not least......guess who won that bake off I mentioned earlier??????
ME!!!!!!!!!
A Few More Pics
at Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
This was him after listening to them :o)
Caleb got some tummy time while I straightened his room and pulled out some things for our upcoming trip home.
I purchased a new camera right before Caleb was born and I haven't really experimented with it, so I decided to play a little bit this morning. I knew it had a black and white and sepia feature and I wanted to find it......I f i n a l l y did!
A Thought This Christmas Season
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
You don't have to remind me what it means to share in the Christmas season without loved ones near by. The two biggest ones for me are Shawn, who missed Christmas last year and is once again missing it this year, and Brady, who I am now reminded on a daily basis as I watch Caleb grow, that we will never get to experience these things with him.
As I received some terrible news this afternoon, I was once again humbled in selfish thoughts of what Christmas means to me. For most of us it is a time to spend with family and friends. It's traveling home or somewhere else to spend the day with them. It's gift buying and gift giving. It's eating way too much food. And most importantly it's a time to tell those we love of the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ.
I can admit, I am not the best person at doing this. Why is that? Why does it take something terrible to bring us back or wake us up to Him or to realizewhat accepting Him can do for us?
I am reminded that we are not always in a happy situation during the holidays. This is supposed to be the greatest time of the year and yet my family is now mourning the loss of a family member. If this hadn't had happened would my heart have been opened to others who are also suffering this time of the year? Probably not. That is the world we live in.
Let us keep others in our prayers this holiday season. Although vague, we know there are others out there hurting, and they need the love of Jesus to see them through this tough time. I pray that everyone would be able to experience the joy of the season!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
at Thursday, December 04, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
What's Your Christmas Tradition?
at Thursday, December 04, 2008
My friend, Shannon, had a fun post this morning and I wanted to copy her. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year! I love everything about it......the tree, the lights, the gift buying, the music, the decorated malls and the family time that we have. I'm sure now that Caleb is here it'll be much more fun for us in the years to come. We both have big families and we love the closeness we have at the holidays. I love that Shawn turns into a kid at Christmas too! He always surprises me with his great gift ideas for family. Shawn hasn't been here the last two years at Christmas and we hate it. We pray he gets to be here next year. We haven't made any real family traditions yet (unless you count us putting our Christmas tree up Thanksgiving night while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), but since our family has grown, we will be sure to start those so our kids will have fun memories as they get older.