Photography By Angela » My family life

Our first deployment | Manhattan Kansas

Angela — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:19:43 +0000

Well, Im not much for words these days…it is a lot harder than I thought it would be. No I didn’t think it would be easy to say goodbye to the love of my life for a year, but I just didn’t expect the hurt to grip the way it did. First I want to share some pictures I took with my phone of the last few moments together…

As we were driving up to the ceremony location…these guys were driving up also…not so much fun to see!

Here he is with each of the girls

He and I

Saying goodbye for now

and a moment captured by William McNeill of our family

I knew what people said it would be like, the ceremony, the last goodbye…but I was not prepared for the raw emotions that came seeing my three daughters realize that they would not see their daddy for a long long time. I wasn’t prepared to be upset that I couldn’t go chase after my husband as he walked out those big doors, because my three daughters would be so confused. I wasn’t prepared for the lonely walk back to the car even though I was surrounded by hundreds of families doing the same thing. Or for the desire to stay awake as long as I can because I don’t want to sleep without him laying next to me. It has been a little harder road to walk than I thought, but I know that I couldn’t be walking it without the strength from my Savior! I also couldn’t have gotten through the week without the amazing women I have met on this journey! Many who have walked this same road more times than I have by a lot. The prayers from family and friends have been amazingly encouraging and I can only hope they continue as we go through this year.

We are taking this each day at a time. Every day that goes by is another one closer to seeing our soldier! We are so proud of him and so blessed to have a man who sacrifices his life to serve our country and provide for his family.

I will leave you with a verse I read on another military wife’s blog today that really encouraged me…

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…

II Corinthians 12:9

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Family Visit | Fort Riley Kansas Photographer

Angela — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:47:36 +0000

It has been a while since I have posted anything personal on here. I thought I would share a little about our life here in Kansas and some pictures from a visit with TJ’s Mom and Jerry over the weekend.

We are really loving it here in Manhattan Kansas! It is a really fun town and we have found a lot to do here, and Fort Riley is just beautiful. We are so glad we got here before all the leaves fell off of the trees because it sure isn’t as pretty in the winter =) Here are a few pictures of the beautiful fall colors…

Our girls started school right away…and they were SO excited to be riding the bus to school.

We started doing some exploring around the different towns close by. We found this beautiful church in Topeka Kansas…maybe a future wedding location I can shoot =)

We are gearing up for TJ’s deployment that is coming up way WAY too quickly! He will be going very very soon. His mom and step dad came to visit us before he leaves and we had a wonderful time with them. TJ got to show us the Hanger where he works and it was really cool! We all loved seeing the Black Hawks so close.

We sure are going to miss him! We know that God has a great plan for us though and that TJ is surely in His hands through it all! If you pray, please keep our family in your prayers this next year, and all those who are serving our country! I leave you with this sweet promise…

“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”‘ ~Jeremiah 29:11

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Thank you!

Angela — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:06:43 +0000

Today has a new meaning for me and my family. I have always been proud of my country and so thankful for all the men, women and families who have served our country, but today, I am a wife of a soldier and I could not be more proud. Some people may not agree with the war we are fighting or the ones we have fought, but we should always be supportive of the men and women who put their lives on the line so that we can have the amazing freedom we have now. So when you are out and about your day today, remember to say Thank You to those men & women who are keeping us safe here in our cozy America.

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Today I became an Army wife | Personal life | Prescott Arizona Photographer

Angela — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:50:38 +0000

It is a big day for us as a family. My husband and the wonderful father to my three daughters left for boot camp today. We are embarking on a huge new adventure and are really excited to see what the Lord will do in our lives. We went to the drop off location to say our goodbyes along with his family and it was so much harder than I could have tried to prepare myself for. I stayed strong up until we were walking up to the doors, then I completely lost it. It hit me that I wont get to see his beautiful face or hold his strong hands for at least 10 weeks, if not longer. I wont hear the girls scream “Daaaaaaadeeeeeeee” when he walks in the door from work. I will miss so many things on this short time apart. Yes, I said short! We are committing our family to our country for the next six years and I KNOW that will mean deployments and long job trainings. Those will be very hard times, but I am coming to find out that we will be held up and supported by our Lord and a wonderful community called “The Army family”. I have a handful of friends who are military wives and can only hope to have a sliver of strength that I see in them. We will all grow and learn so much about each other and ourselves in this adventure. I will learn how to do many things on my own and learn how to step out of my comfort zone and reach out. My girls will learn how to love the moments they spend with daddy and grow strong when he is not around. They will see many new places and we will teach them to share the amazing love of Jesus where ever He takes us. We will make life long friends and will also learn how to say goodbye as well.

The girls and I are going to be here in Prescott through September of 2009. TJ will find out where he will be stationed and we will move with him at that point. I have weddings booked from April through September to keep me busy while we are apart. It will be good to keep my mind busy and give me more to do! I will update on our family life as things change and will keep plugging away!

As you think of us please pray for Gods hand over TJ and for His angels to watch over him as he is tried and tested in physical and spiritual ways. Pray that he will be protected at every step of this new adventure and that he will be brave…but not too brave ) Pray that I can be strong for my girls and also show them that it is okay to cry when we miss daddy at the same time. Please pray that the Lord will keep our hearts open to His plan and that we will take a step when He says and go through the doors that He opens. We lift this time up to Him and know that He has us in His loving arms every step of the way.

I am sharing a picture that TJ took of a very special bible that was given to him. This bible was his dad’s dad’s bible and he had it in the Korean war. It is very special and he took this amazing picture of it the other day.

I know…its awesome! Thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers!

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