Serving at Ft. Campbell, KY 

Busy week

Is it Friday yet? Seems like yesterday we were staying in the guest house waiting for housing. We are moved it and settled and getting on with our daily lives. I am working part time at a friend's pest control company with some administrative duties. I am enjoying that and am so thankful they are so flexible with my schedule. I am meeting once a week with the spouse's of Lance's unit. We will start a Bible/book study this fall. We will take the summer off due to so many traveling and busy with their kidos activities. I have committed to teach 3 & 4 grade at vacation Bible school in June at the church we joined on Sunday, First Baptist Church Oak Grove. Pastor Todd Gray is awesome and we feel right at home at church. Todd and Lance went to Southern Seminary together so Todd has already used one Lance story as a sermon illustration. Quite funny! We are loving the weather here. It finally hit 80 degrees! When we left Texas it had hit 80 a few days. It is chilly in the evening and oh so nice! I may plan to go to Charlotte to visit Lance's brother and family in July. I will drive so Simba can go with me. We have heard we may travel to China in Nov. This is estimated so it could possibly change again. We have a crib and stroller now so things are coming along. It is beginning to feel real. We also received a donation from a family who read our article in Buckner International Magazine. What a blessing to see God in people we don't even know. We are so thankful that He has provided financially for Gracie to become a part of our family. We are praying for her and hope you are too. She may or may not be born yet but God knows! Thank you for praying for us and may God bless you!

Bathroom 

Bedroom 

Living room 

Kitchen 

Backyard......Ahhhh...trees 

Our humble home at Ft. Campbell 

Change of Command Ceremony 5/6/05 

Change of Command Cermony 5/6/05 

On Post Housing...YAA HOO

We have finally moved in and are semi-settled. Lance doesn't like boxes sitting around so they are mostly unpacked. We even have curtains hung! It looks and feels like home. John & Amanda brought Simba yesterday and she is loving the small backyard. She hasn't seen the squirrels yet but I am sure it won't take her long. We sat outside today and had lunch on our cedar swing. We are loving this beautiful weather. We can finally wear our sweatshirts again. We love Ft. Campbell and will enjoy the 3 years we are going to be here. Everyone is so nice and Lance's unit has some great folks in it. Let me know if you need our new home address and new phone numbers. Gracie has a nice room and I hope to get her crib soon. This weekend is a post wide yard sale and hopefully we can find one then. We hope we can sell some of our stuff we don't have room for. Please keep us in your prayers.

We have a home again

We officially have keys to our on post housing. We love our place and it is ours. Our household goods will arrive tomorrow. We purchased 2 area rugs to fill our bedroom and the living room to go where the couch and chair will go. I will post photos as soon as I can. We are so excited to get moved in. Well we are off to dinner. We are tired from moving some things from our guest house room to our home. We are so ready to be able to sleep in our own bed. It has been almost a month. Lance was at airborne school before that so I know he is ready to sleep in it again. It rained today but now the sun is out and it is warm again. Hope the weather is nice for tomorrow's move. The past 2 days I have helped at our friend's pest control company. They needed some typing done so I helped there. I will return next week to do some more admin duties. Take care and keep us posted on you.

We have a home!

Housing called this morning, we went and looked at a place in Werner Park at Ft. Campbell that is a 2 bedroom and we are moving in next Weds! It is quite roomy for a 2 bedroom and we believe and pray all of our stuff will fit. It has quite a large kitchen and it has an attached garage which will give us storage if we need it. It has a fenced in backyard for Simba so she will be happy. She is currently in Nashville staying with friends and she is loving it since they have 2 dogs. They are all playing and getting along very well. We are so exactic that we will be able to bring her to a home next week! We were hoping to be moved in before Lance has to leave for a short time. He is very excited to go on this mission but wanted to make sure I was settled before leaving. I am still planning on going to China with Lance's Dad in Sept. or Oct. We haven't heard yet for sure when I will go or anything about our daughter. In June or July we will receive a photograph and medical report on Gracie. That will be her first name! We are loving being back at Ft. Campbell, loving the 70 degree weather with no humidity. The trees are a breath of fresh air and the red buds and tulips are in bloom! So different than Ft. Hood. Take care and thank you for your prayers for us.

Just here waiting

We are still waiting for our name to come up on the housing list. We started at number 20 and Friday we were 17. So we are moving and that is good. We did look at some homes to buy but our best option would be to move on post. We would get a 2 bedroom which is quite a bit smaller than our 3 bedroom home but we would deal with it. We may have to store some things. We will just have to wait and see. We went to Grace Chapel today. It is the chapel for 5th Group. We enjoyed it. I have my first coffee with the other 5th Group Chaplain wives tomorrow night. I am looking forward to meeting them. Lance officially starts work tomorrow. He is looking forward to that. Everyone we have met so far has been super nice and we both are so excited in being a part of the Special Forces Group. Such a different part of the Army. They are all so close and seem to love their jobs. Lance will be jumping with them Weds and I am looking forward to taking pictures and being there to see him. I'll keep you posted on us. Hope all is well where you are. Take care and keep the comments coming!

Tennessee

We are enjoying being back at Ft. Campbell. We were here in 1995-1997. We are seeing friends we haven't seen in a while. It is great! We are still waiting for on post housing. We will probably get housing in June. There is a 2-4 month waiting list. We are currently at the guest house. Simba is staying with some friends in Nashville. They have 2 pugs and Simba is enjoying having friends to play with. Lance's new unit is awesome and we are so excited to be a part of the 5th Group Special Forces. Such a different environment than a non-SF unit. Everyone is great. I'll keep you posted on us and hope you are doing well.

Bye Bye Texas

Well we are officially homeless and are no longer in TX. We closed on our home Fri. and left today Sat. in route to Ft. Campbell, KY. We are staying with a friend in Nashville, TN Sunday and he and his wife will watch Simba all week as we look for a place to live. We are hoping to get on post but we will have to wait and see how long the list list. We may have to buy or rent. I just wanted to give an update on us and to let you know how much we will miss our TX friends. What great friends we have in TX and we hope to meet up with you again. Take care and keep in touch and keep checking back here as I will post when I can.

Airborne

Lance is now Airborne! He officially finished his school yesterday and will graduate Fri. morning. We will then come back to Wadley for a BBQ Fri. evening with all our Wadley friends. We will then head back to TX on Sat. morning. We are enjoying being here and seeing all our AL friends. The weather has been nice but a storm is coming through today so it is rainy. It will probably still be raining tomorrow for the ceremony but hopefully it won't last too long. I'll be pinning Lances' wings on him. I'll be posting more when I can. Take care and hope to hear from you soon.

Blessed

Wow! What a weekend. Cleaning, packing, organizing, fence finished, spending time with friends. I thought I got a lot done but now I look back and I know I should have done a lot more. It was my last Sunday at Skyline and it was sad having to hug everyone saying goodbye. How blessed I am to have a wonderful church family but it is depressing having to say goodbye. I just don't like thinking about it. I have to reflect where God is sending us and it will be where our daughter will enter our lives in October. How exciting! I just have to take the bad (or sadness) and know that good will come sooner or later. We are looking forward to the next season in our lives.

DTC

Our Dossier (which is our completed packet for the adoption) is on its way to China!!!!!! So if you are familiar with adoption lingo, our DTC is 3/18/05!! That means in about 4 months we should receive a photograph and medical report on our daughter or children! This is exciting news! I thought I would share some positive news with you :) Thank you for your prayers.
Lance is doing great at airborne school. He is having to do a lot of push ups and flutter kicks but is surviving. He has passed a PT test and 2 running tests. So that is great! I will be traveling to see him next week until he graduates. I will get to see our friends that live in Wadley, AL. Some are going to be able to come to his graduation on April 1.
Lance's Dad is doing great and now is at home. His spirits are high and I think it is because he has been waited on so much. He says he doesn't even have to get a glass of water for himself. I am thankful Sara & Tami are able to be there for him. They must be great nurses! It will be a blessing to go up to MD to see them. Hope you have a great weekend. If you want to stop by to help me pack, feel free :)

Jennifer, Lisa & Shawna 

Friends! 

Hurricane

Is it hurricane season? I guess I am just busy and it feels like a hurricane!!
I am busy preparing to move. What fun that is.
Lance passed his PT test this morning. He was so excited! I am going to see him on the 24th and am very excited to watch him jump out of an airplane on April 1st! It should be awesome.
Lance's Dad will be getting out of the hospital tomorrow. That is such an answered prayer. I just hope he can take it easy for awhile.
Some of you know Lisa Smith & her husband Michael came home from Iraq today. What a joy to have him home as well as the others that have arrived over the weekend. I am so excited for all of them and am thankful the Lord kept them all safe.
I have a friend coming over tomorrow to record Jesus Loves Me in Chinese for our Chinese daughter. I am so excited to have that for her.
Well I need to get back to organizing and getting ready to move.

Busy as ever

Well Pops (Lance's Dad) ended up having a quadrouple bypass on Friday. He is doing well but in a lot of pain. I haven't heard when he'll be going home. Lance's first day of airborne school didn't go so well. He said he had to do a lot of push ups (around 500?). He is picked on by the non-commissioned officers teaching the course, non-air assault soldiers because he has been to air assault school, he says "ROGER" & "HOOAH" a lot but you aren't allowed to say those words there. If you want to see a video on what Lance is learning, click here
http://www.infantry.army.mil/videos/video05/index.htm
I'll be driving to Ft. Benning on March 24th to visit folks around Wadley, which is about an hour from Ft. Benning and then see Lance graduate on April 1. We will then come back to close on our house April 8th and then head to Maryland to see Lance's family. So I am trying to get things gathered that we will have to move. My last day of work will hopefully be the 23rd. Earlier if I can but I just found out today that Lance wants me to come that weekend since he has Friday off for the Easter weekend.
Our adoption paperwork is on its way to the agency in New York and will be translated and sent to China. Then in about 4 months we should receive a photograph and medical report on our child or children to adopt! We will head to China hopefully in October to pick her or them up. I'll keep you posted.
Many of my friends' husbands are either home or are their way home from Iraq. What a joy it is to be a part of that awesome celebration and the reunion process. My heart leaps for joy when I think about it! Thank you Lord for bringing them home safely. I pray their reunion will be sweeter than honey :)
Well I am off to catch some much needed sleep. Take care and hope you have a blessed week.

Much news to report

We have sold our home!! YEAH HOO! What an answer to prayer. I have another prayer request. Lance's Dad, Dave is probably in surgery right now. He is getting a heart cath done so they aren't sure where that will progress to surgery wise whether a by pass will be needed or what. So please pray for him. Lance's brother flew from Charlotte and his sister was driving from southern Maryland to be there. Lance couldn't go due to him starting Airborne school at Ft. Benning, GA today. So please also keep Lance in your prayers. He will graduate on April 1 from there and then come back here April 3. We will be CLOSING ON OUR HOME April 8!! That is so great to be able to say. So we will drive to Maryland after that to see Lance's folks. We were going to drive to Montana but we feel we need to go and see his parents. Lance also found out he will not be deploying so he will probably be going to China with me in Oct. to pick up our daughter. Another answered prayer. I am so thankful for all that God is doing in our lives. Even though it will be sad to leave our home and our awesome friends here, we are excited about going to Ft. Campbell, KY. We are hoping to live on post but will rent if we can't. Hope all is well where you are.

No surprise

We were going to go to the Waco Zoo but it is a bit chilly today to be outside. So we just ran some errands today and hopefully will able to go to dinner tonight or tomorrow.
Hope you have a great weekend as well!

Surprise

I worked today so I could take tomorrow off. Lance has planned some sort of surprise! I am excited! He will be leaving for Airbourne school the week of March 4 so we are trying to spend some time together. He just got back from being in the field for a week so we haven't seen much of each other this year. He has been super busy with funerals, counseling here and out of town and having to have the 24 hour Chaplain phone and the 24 hour funeral phone. So we are ready for some quality time together. The weather is suppose to be decent so that will be nice if it actually decent. I will let you know what the surprise is later. If Lance had a blog maybe he would post the surprise....................maybe............maybe not! This Sunday will be his last Sunday preaching in chapel at Fort Hood. He is excited to move on to the next phase of his life in the Army. He is excited to join the 5th Group at Fort Campbell.
Have a great weekend.

Friendship

I spent some quality time with some friends this weekend. God sends just the right people into my life at just the right time. Lance has been in the field for 8 days and I just needed some girl time! I had a 3 day weekend from work and I just enjoyed being around friends. I feel so refreshed. It could have been partly because we are going through EKG at our church and the sermons hit home to me about being a Kingdom worker. I also laughed with friends until my cheeks hurt, which is always such a blessing to me. So thank you friends! I am so blessed.

Women's Retreat 

From the One who loves you...always

"For God so loV ed the world,
That He gA ve
His onL y
BegottE n
SoN
T hat whosever
Believeth I n Him
Should N ot perish,
But have E verlasting life."
John 3:16

Just another day....

at the office. Except I was able to eat lunch with my wonderful husband. That made my day! He is going to the field this afternoon and will return home on Friday. The weather is beautiful...a whopping 80 degrees and it is February! We were able to walk Simba yesterday and had a great time in the sun. It is quite a pleasant change to have sunshine! The youth did an awesome job at the youth led service last night. We have an awesome youth group. The 27th will be our last day at chapel. Lance will go to jump school around March 8th. He graduates on April 1st. Our household goods will be packed on April 7th & 8th. So we are heading to Fort Campbell mid April. We may stop somewhere for a couple of days for a little R&R. We probably won't get any days off before he is deployed July 1st. So the next few months will go by fast for us.
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you know you are loved.

Wait for me! 

Game Time! 

Pamala Kathy Donna Kathy 

Judy 

Lisa playing Guesstures 

Visiting 

Having some fun at the Women's Retreat 

Donna is a vessel used by the Potter 

Sharon 

SBC Women's Retreat 

SBC Women's Retreat 

Women's Retreat 

Lance & Shawna 

Escort

Lance will be escorting the Deputy Chief of Chaplains General Jerome Haberek around today through Thursday. He has to pick him up from the Austin airport and then escort him around. So I won't be seeing him much this week. Tonight I have a unit coffee. They are fun to get together to visit with the other spouses of Lance's unit. I have to work Weds-Fri this week due to another lady taking vacation. So it will be a busy week for me. I am cleaning today. Hopefully if I clean, someone will come and look at our house to buy. We haven't had any lookers in a couple of weeks. A lot have called about it to the realitor and all our flyers were taken. They had to come and refill our bin. So that is a good sign.
We are filling out more paperwork for the adoption. I don't know if they just come up with things to fill out but this is a never ending story. We don't see the light yet nor do we have a definite date when we will be going to China.
Have a blessed week.

Awesome Retreat

We had a great time at the retreat this weekend. 23 ladies attended. Lance calls it a Hen Party and believes we just sit around and gab. Oh how he is so wrong. God was moving in many hearts this weekend and it was so awesome to be a part of God working. The retreat center was perfect and so beautiful. They decorated with a lot of moose and looked like a place you would find in Montana.
Donna did an outstanding job of communicating to us what God had her to say. You can view her ministry web site at

http://www.foreverfamilyministries.com/

She ended up leaving yesterday because her mother-in-law was on her death bed. Her family needed her there. Moma Nell passed away at 6:10pm last night, just 3 hours after Donna had arrived home. It was like Moma Nell was waiting for Donna to get there before passing away. It is so amazing how that works.

God is so good and I am thankful I am a part of His work. I pray I can take what I learned about being a vessel that He can use for His glory and be a faithful steward for Him.

May you have a blessed week and focus on the goodness He has in store for your life.

What an amazing day....in Iraq?

Received this email from a friend of a soldier deployed to Iraq (Sadr City).

Family and Friends,
I hope you are having a great Sunday morning where ever you may be in America. I want to thank each of you for the pride you feel for America and for the support you extend to those of us who serve her. Today I may be the proudest I have ever been of being and American Soldier. As I walked the streets of Sadr City today, I saw the best the human spirit has to offer. Despite the many cultural and religious differences between our soldiers and the local people, I saw men, women, and children genuinely ecstatic and thankful because they had tasted the first morsel of freedom. Don't believe any negativity that may be in the news today. There were a few very isolated incidents in which Iraqi patriots lost their lives, but freedom and democracy moved forward despite it. You may have seen on the news that there was a rocket attack in Sadr City today. That was in our area of operations and I went there after the incident. The rocket hit about 40 meters from a polling station and killed 3 adults and a child, destroyed 7 vehicles and damaged buildings. Despite that, the people cleaned up the mess and continued to flood into the polling center to vote. While neighborhood members mopped the blood into the gutter, others continued to enter the station to take advantage of their new found freedom. The mother of the dead child voted, despite her grief. Elsewhere in our brigade's sector two suicide bombers attacked polling stations. People were killed and injured, but the polling stations remained open.
I walked with my patrol today throughout Sadr City, down the very same street on which I was almost killed on the 7th of September, and the people thanked us for providing them the security they needed to see this day through. It was heart-warming, it made me full of pride for our soldiers and their efforts, not just this week but since this all began. It convinced me, maybe for the first time, that this is genuinely worth it. It absolutely convinced me that David Heath, Brandon Titus, Henry Risner, Yoe Aneiros, David Waters, Mark Stubenhofer, and the over 1000 others did not die in vain. It convinced me that SGT Mendoza lost both of his legs in the pursuit of a higher purpose. I am assured that the 91soldiers from this task force that have bled in the streets of this city did so in order to make this day a reality. Today exceeded my wildest expectations, and while much remains to be done, a seed is planted, and I don't believe any amount of tyranny and terror can thwart its growth. Today as I watched men and woman swell with joy and pride as they showed me the indelible ink on their finger that proved they had voted, I developed new hope for the future. It took today, made possible by nearly two years worth of blood, sweat, and tears of both Iraqis and coalition forces, to make the hope for freedom a reality and paint genuine hope for the future in both the minds of our soldiers and that of the people of Iraq. I don't know if deep down, anyone ever thought today could happen. IT DID!
There will be more violence and deaths, and there is so much more work to do here that on any given day it seems overwhelming. Today convinced us who witnessed it, beyond any doubt, that the cause is just and the cost and effort are worth it. Today was an amazing day for Iraq, for America and her allies, and for the world. As I type this I am nearly brought to tears by the pride I feel for the flag that adorns my right sleeve, and for all that it stands for. God Bless you all, God bless the seeds of freedom, and God Bless America!
John

Friends

Some people make the world more special just by being in it.

Thanks for being in it!

337...

days left until Christmas! Can't believe January of 2005 is over. I feel as I get older, my days just slip away from me. There is nothing I can do about it but let it happen. That is life!
The weather has been wonderful, in the 70s. But he past couple of days it rained. It is suppose to rain through the weekend. It is currently 55 degrees so we can't complain. I just hope we have good weather for the retreat next weekend. It is mostly going to be indoors but it would be nice to be able to walk around outside and enjoy the outdoors. There are 29 signed up for the retreat. I am so excited for it and am excited for Donna to come from AL to lead it.
No bites on our home. A lot of people have taken the flyer out by the for sale sign. We are still planning to move in April. We still do not have orders in our hands yet.
No new adoption news but will let you know if something happens.
Well nothing exciting to report about but my husband likes to read my blog :) and so I thought I would write, even if it is nothing.
I did speak at my church last Sunday for the Stewardship banquet. I gave my stewardship testimony. I was nervous but I got through it. Many have been very encouraging to me about it and I love my Skyline family! They are great!
Take care & hope 2005 is bringing you many blessings.

House for sale

Our home is officially on the market http://www.evasells.com/115624.htm
It is very depressing to be selling a home I love. But God has other plans for us.
We are still planning on being at Fort Campbell, KY on May 1. We will probably move in April, no sooner. So if you are looking to moving to Central Texas, give us a call. Pres. Bush has a ranch at Crawford just 30 miles from here.
No exciting plans for the weekend here. Lance has an upper resp. infection so he has been under the weather since Tues. YUCK for the both of us! I try and baby him but it is so hard. I don't have much simpathy for him. I know I should but when he keeps me awake with his coughing and coughing and stuffed up head, it is so difficult. Then I have to pick up after him because he isn't feeling well enough to help around the house. But then he is well enough to do laundry??? I just don't know about him.
Hope you have a great weekend and I'll keep you posted on our exciting lives.

Moving sooner than later

With help from Lance, here is a Fadeley update!
We found out yesterday that Lance's report date to the 5th special forces group is May 1st. Again 5th group is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky which is about 1 hour northwest of Nashville. He will attend airborne school prior to leaving. This is a three week school at Fort Benning, Georgia. 5th group will deploy on July 1st of this year for 7 months. The bad news is that Lance is going to deploy, the good news is that it will not be a year long tour. He anticipates many "short" deployments like this during his tenure with 5th group. He is not sure if he will going to Iraq or Afghanistan yet as both countries are in 5th groups area of operation. While we knew this was coming it will still be a difficult time for us as Shawna will probably have to fly to China for the adoption without me, unless the Army will send him to China from where he is. And even though this will be the second time around for Lance deploying it will still difficult to say goodbye and be separated for 7 months. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
(Lance) Aside from my faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, i am drawing an incredile amount of strength from that fact that i will deploy as a husband and return as a husband and a father! God truly is good!!
(Shawna) I am excited about moving but nervous about moving so soon. It will be very hard to say goodbye to our friends and Skyline family here but God has bigger plans than our own. We have friends around Fort Campbell and they have already said they would take care of me. What a joy and comfort that brings me. Simba (our dog) and I will survive again a few months while Lance is away doing God's work.
Please also pray for a women's retreat we are planning here Feb. 4 & 5. It will be held at www.peaceablekingdomretreat.org. Our friend, Donna Allen from AL is coming to lead it. Donna is such a blessing to us and I just pray those will come that need some nourishment from God. Check out her web site www.foreverfamilyministries.com
Thank you for your prayers and friendship. They mean the world to us.

Silent Ranks

Silent Ranks - author unknown

I wear no uniforms, no blues or army greens.
But I am in the military in the ranks rarely seen.
I have no rank upon my shoulders, salutes I do not give.
But the military world is the place where I live.
I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get.
But my husband is the one who does, this I cannot forget.
I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line.
But my job is just as tough.
I'm the one that's left behind.
My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man.
And the call to serve his country, not all can understand.
Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free.
My husband makes the sacrifice, but so do our kids and me.
I love the man I married.
Soldiering is his life.
But I stand among the silent ranks known as the military wife

Hello 2005

Happy New Year! Hope 2005 will be good to you. Lance and I are happy & healthy so we are starting the new year off right. We are hoping to add a little one to our family this year. Now it sounds like we may travel to China in October to get her. So we are excited but wishing it was sooner. We will probably be moving to Fort Campbell, KY this summer so we will go to China after we are settled into our home there. All of this is in God's time and He knows what is best for us. Lance and I celebrated 10 years together this year. Wow! What a milestone! Hope this year brings you much happiness.