and finally...

Okay, I only have a few more 'lemons to squeeze' and then I am moving on...

because life is too short...

and God is in control!

So, to put things somewhat in perspective, Steve's former boss was a friend. We have known her and her husband for over 15 years. We worshiped with them for many years. They are the couple that checked on our house while we were in England. We thought she was a good Christian friend. Of course, when Steve was offered the job I had my reservations about him working for her, but we needed an income....

I am not saying that because we were friends there should have been leeway given. Job performance should be honestly and truthfully accessed, friend or not. We, as employees, should do our best and give our all. Employers should be truthful and fair with their workers. Sadly, this was not the case with his boss.

Only she knows why she has acted the way she has. Only she knows why she has said the untruths she has.

But, I find it interesting that the attack on job performance began after Steve confronted her, as a friend, not on company time, about the sins he had seen her partaking in at work. She told him she had wondered when he was going to bring it up to her and that was who she was and she was not going to change.

I can not say that his confronting her was the beginning of the end, but it is slightly coincidental don't ya' think?

And lastly, SHE ESCORTED HIM TO HIS OFFICE AND OUT THE DOOR!

E.S.C.O.R.T.E.D. H.I.M!!!

She has known this man for over 15 years. She knows there is not a more honest, good-hearted person out there, and she escorted him like a common criminal.

Shew!

I am done. It is time to move on. What's done is done! We can only move forward. We were given lemons and we are making lemonade.

We have good Christian friends that are there for us. And God has a plan. We just have to put our faith in Him and know that His will for us will be done.

and yes, as sure as I may be sounding in the above sentences, I am still worried. I am still making myself sick thinking about what is to come, but I am trying to give it to God! Really, I am!!

a taste of cincinnati!

Last night, the girls had a treat for dinner---SKYLINE CHILI.

One of the police on base had to go to a

school in Lexington (or maybe Louisville?) and he brought us back 2 cans of the chili. Joe and Kathy had sent us 10 cans last year, but we ate all of that and this was the first taste of it in over a year. You can see from the picture of Michaela how delicious she thought it was. She smelled it cooking and begged to eat it then and not have to wait until Steve finished his softball game!--she got her way:) Emma enjoyed it, especially sucking up the noodles. She actually ate TWO helpings--which for her is unusual. The only things missing were the oyster crackers!!

a trip to pooh country

On Saturday, we loaded up into the van and headed south toward London. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we had been trying to get to Ashdown Forest for weeks and something always came up--so we braved the weather anyways. The drive down was dry, so we held out hope that the weathermen were wrong! We arrived at Pooh Corner, bought a few souvenirs, and then headed to the forest. Our luck was holding out and we were feeling confident about staying dry. We hiked up and down hills, seeing the sites Pooh and his friends explored during their adventures. After about 45 minutes, we began the 2.5 mile hike over to Pooh Bridge to play Pooh Sticks--it is no wonder Pooh and his friends got lost in the 100 acre woods. That is alot of area to play in!!. The girls enjoyed collecting sticks and playing the same game we have read about in The Adventures of Pooh. We finished up at the bridge and began walking back up the hill--and the sky let loose! We were drenched!! We continued walking the 2.5 miles back and about 15 minutes before arriving at the car park the rain stopped!! We sludged through the mud and decided since we were already drenched we might as well continue to the other side of the forest to look for Eeyore (he was smart and was in his house staying dry).

We hiked some more, following the meandering (Michaela's word!!!) stream that A.A. Milne played in as a boy and then continued back to the car.

We had a great family day out.

Emma walked all but the last 30 minutes of the hike ( 4 hours of hiking is pretty good I think for her little legs!) and was asleep within minutes of getting into the car to head to the hotel at Lakenheath. You can see from the picture how she completed the hike--much to her Daddy's delight!!

what's been happening in croughton, england

Well, the girls are back in school for the last term.
Michaela danced at the Brackley fair with her jazz class from school--they did very well and have been asked to dance on July 7 for another group. She is looking forward to the end of school, but that will last about a week and then she will be ready to go back! She has had a good time marching in a parade, dancing at the Calypso Carnival, seeing Polynesian dancers, and riding her bike and playing with her friends after school. She enjoys the freedoms she has on this VERY small base and I am afraid is going to have a hard adjustment if we come back to the states and she cannot just ride her bike 2 miles to her friends. Being on a military base certainly has its benefits (especially when your dad is a cop and is patrolling or one of our friends is patrolling), but it also allows for a false sense of safety--that is not there "out in the civilian world".

(No pic here because I HATE my pic taken:) My friend Justine and I walked in the RACE FOR LIFE last week at Silverstone race track--one of Britain's Formula One race tracks. Michaela and three of her friends from school joined us--of course they had to make sure they beat us "old ladies"--which they did. We all had a great time and the rain stayed away until we were finished.

Emma is enjoying school and playing with friends. Today was Storytime at the library--she LOVES the stories and the activity--and then lunch at the bowling alley. That is one of our two choices for fast food restaurants!!! Subway is the other choice. What will she do if she goes back to the states and has 7 restaurants 2 miles up the road from the house???. Emma is enjoying her two ballet classes and playing with her friends. The weather has been back and forth between cold and rainy and sunny and hot--so we are outside as often as the weather permits. Emma is funny to listen to--if you were in a different room listening you would think there was a British child in the house. She has picked up the accent, but unfortunately will lose it quickly when she is away from her schoolmates for a few weeks. I am trying to record her to remember this speech. She told us yesterday she planted a tomato plant at school--pronounced TOE-MAW-to.:) She definitely keeps us on our toes!!

Steve is doing well. He works his 15 days a month--ROUGH!
He just finished his 2 Microsoft classes--A's in both. YEAH! There are two civilian jobs he has applied for--one here on Croughton and the other is a State Dept. job--in Foreign Embassies around the world. He has also been asked to extend here in Security Forces for another year. I guess time will tell. The girls and I are planning to be home the second week of September. We are going on that premise and if things change we will go on to the next stage of our lives.


I am not doing much at all. I am still driving Megan to school in the morning and picking her up in the afternoon, but other than that I play with Emma in the morning and take her to school in the afternoon. I am a lady of leisure!!!

Things in England should be interesting in a few weeks. On July 1, it will be illegal to smoke in any building in all of the UK. All pubs, restaurants, etc.. will be smoke-free. I can't see that ever happening in Kentucky. We will also be here for the change of Prime Ministers. Elections here are great--No commercials, no billboards... just an announcement that Tony Blair will be stepping down and that there is a new PM. We will see how this affects our lives. We are just wishing either the economy here would suffer a little or the economy in the States would improve so that the exchange rate could be better than $2.05 to a British pound. It is ugly when you buy something for 40 pounds but have to subtract $80.00 from your account. UGH!!!!

We are loving it here and pray that we will be able to stay longer, but we do miss the conveniences of the States--T.J Maxx, Target, Crest Neat Squeeze toothpaste,mixer taps in the faucets, pay-at-the-pump petrol stations...and Michaela misses OLIVE GARDEN. It's the little things.....

the thoughts nightmares are made of!!!!!

It just struck me that Michaela is the exact age Emma will be when we are sending Michaela off to college. That is a scary thought---a college freshman and a middle school pre-teen!!!! What were we thinking:):)