My husband came home from Afghanistan on New Years Eve! This deployment lasted 353 days apart total, lasting from December 29, 2010 to December 31, 2011. It was one long year! 

My husband's career in the military will be ending in 2013, so we are blessed knowing that we are done with deployments - this was our final homecoming.

Back in August I came across the song "After All" - I had heard it before, but it was almost like I was hearing it for the first time. And I realized that it was our story in a song." After all the stops and starts, we keep coming back to these two hearts." I listened to that song on average about four times a day for the last half of the deployment - I had to listen to it each night just to fall asleep. The tears would flow and I would just imagine the day when we would be reunited again after all this time apart. 

The video below shows tells the story of our homecoming in detail. It's around 10 minutes long but I hope that you will take the time to watch it. 

I've also added a whole new page on the site for our homecoming video, youtube clip of the entire ceremony, and photos (smug mug album). There will be a lot of pictures to come as well as an upcoming post about reintegration. Just know that he's home safe, and we are so happy to have him home for good!

The Donaldson's Homecoming from Michaela Jacobs on Vimeo.

I'm participating in some of the days in the Wives of Faith Christmas Blog Carnival. It's a lot of fun because they give us topics to write about and we get to read other people's blogs and connect and make friends, not to mention just enjoying Christmas. 

This post is going to be short and sweet...literally! :)

Most people think of cranberry sauce as a standard traditional holiday dish, but it's rare to find a person who actually likes it. That's because most people go to the store and get this "stuff" that comes in a can. You slice it and watch it wiggle on your plate. Weird.

That's not cranberry sauce in our house. Our cranberry sauce is my Grandma Lining's recipe - and it's actually SAUCE! Not only is it amazing and easy, but it is a precious memory. My grandmother passed away when I was four years old, and I don't remember her much at all. But her recipe lives on and will be a part of our holiday season every year if I have any say in the matter.

Recipe is easy

1 bag of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 apple

Boil all of the ingredients, stirring frequently, until the cranberries split and the sugar is dissolved. Run through a food mill (we use a foley food mill like the one pictured below), the texture should be about like that of homemade applesauce, and VOILA! The best cranberry sauce EVER! You have to have the apple in it because it helps counter the tartness you will normally find in cranberries. 

 



 

 
  

Is it possible to catch you up on the last 3 months of random, everyday fun and Ezra's developmental milestones in 10 pictures or less?

It is when you know how to cheat! :)

So what's happening these days?

Ezra has made a lot of progress in his eating! He's almost completely off of baby food and onto table solids. He also likes to drink water and juice, as well as mommy-milk. His new favorite food is soup - of any kind. Which is great because I can sneak in meat and vegetables when he isn't looking! He makes a huge mess at EVERY MEAL and uses his hands a lot more often than his fork and spoon, but we have a BLAST!




Ezra has also gotten a LOT taller. He can now reach MY COUNTERTOPS! And he's learned how to climb on things! Like this:




Ezra has gotten REALLY good at making messes:




But, on the other hand, Ezra has a very sweet and helpful spirit. He loves to help mommy sweep, swiff, water the flowers, put his bath toys away, put things (any things) in the dryer, put things (any things) away in the cupboards, and load and unload the dishwasher whether the dishes are clean or dirty.



Ezra and I have a ton of fun together, just being ourselves. We play games, read books, take walks, and just be goofballs together.



As any mother to a very active, mess-making, couch climbing, into EVERYTHING toddler knows, (especially one who often waits up til midnight to talk to her husband), there are two things necessary for a mom's survival: coffee and adult socialization. So, when I found out that a Starbucks was opening on post, I was pretty thrilled. However, as any mother to a very active, mess-making, couch climbing, into EVERYTHING toddler knows, toddlers and coffeehouses don't really get along. Try trying to talk to your friend about ANYTHING when your kid is knocking coffee, CDs, and breakable mugs off the shelves! So, when I found out that this new Starbucks was right next to and practically attached to an outdoor playground, I pretty much died and went to heaven.

So, on about the second day that it was open, I decided I was going to check it out. On the spur of the moment I put a shoutout on Facebook, texted a bunch of friends, and was all like "Hey, Ezra and I are going to Starbucks! Please join us!" It was awesome, because I've never had such an amazing response to an impromptu playdate. We ended up having six moms and eight children under the age of three. Funny thing was that none of them knew each other, but they all knew me! And this is why I love modern technology and social networking. We all had an amazing time on a BEAUTIFUL 75 degree breezy day, and new friendships were made!




Another awesome place to hang out in our town is Fiddlesticks - an educational play space and mommy hangout! Another genius idea! It's not free, but for $5 you can come and stay as long as your like - let your kids play with the clean, "natural" (mostly wooden and old fashioned) toys or play in the craft and dress-up areas (for older children), while you sit in the nice "mommy corner" and chat with your friends. It's simply...amazing!



So, that's pretty much what's been happening "these days"...and wraps up this "Frenzy of Fall" blog series.

(Aside from Ezra finding yet another million reasons to be the cutest baby in the earth...)




And, in case you lost count, that was only eight "photos."

See, I told you I could do it... :)