More trip photos

Bryon sent me these other photos from his trip last week. A few of them made me chuckle because no matter where you go in Africa, you will see sights like this. People and goods piled mile high on a little dingy pick up truck and long dusty dirt roads with nothing in sight for miles. You also see the sadder pictures like rows of shacks where people live and precious food stores being carefully paid attn to and guarded. With all of that said, you see so many smiles on children's faces and children making use of whatever they have access to as toys and games.

Trip to Djenne and Mopti

Bryon sent me these pictures today from his trip this week to Djenne and Mopti, neighboring cities in Mali. The mud mosque is the largest mud structure in the world. You can also see in one picture where the team handed out bookbags to local children. And in the bottom picture, the chief was scheduled to meet with the President of Mali and told the President he would have to wait until he finished entertaining his guests, Bryon's team! Talk about rolling out the red carpet.

It's A Girl!!!

The picture you see was created by Bryon, the proudest daddy in Africa! We had our 19 week ultrasound today and we saw a beautiful little girl squirming around in there. Her heart was beating away at 140 beats per minute and all of her bones and skull measured perfectly. Her organs were each located and working well. The blood is flowing from the umbilical cord to the baby as it needs to and see was even posing for the camera! She surely didnt hide anything from us but was ready and eager to show us her little hamburger girl parts and even opened her eyes for us and sucked on the placenta. She was measuring a couple of days earlier this time that the last, but they said they wouldnt be changing the due date.

Bryon is thrilled. I sent him all of the ultrasound pictures and he was practically silent in awe looking at and studying them for a good 15 minutes. Then he said(typed), "Sweetie, we're having a little Molly!" It was precious and very Bryon. He will be a wonderful little girl daddy. I remember my dad always saying that being a daddy to a little girl isnt easy. You have to have an extra helping of patience, love and encouragment to help her be strong in herself. I know my sweet husband will be just perfect for the task.

Her name has a very special significance to us. So much has gone on in Bryon and my life in the past 6 months. Engagement, Wedding, 1 month of marriage then deployment, then Baby. We wanted to remember this time in our lives which has brought us so much happiness all at once! Bryon is currently deployed to the nation of Mali, which is pronounced Molly. We decided on that name to commemorate the unexpected blessing that she is. If Bryon hadn't been deployed, we wouldnt have her now, so we felt it was fitting to name her such. Plus we love that name :)

And Jane is after my mom, Jane Hoke. My mother is the second most important person in my life, after my husband. She has raised all three of us girls with as much love, compassion and grace as any mother could. She has cared for our every need and enstilled in us all a strong sense of who we are and who we should be. She and my dad directed me into a relationship with the Lord and showed me in their lives what a Godly couple should look like. I always felt loved by her and I cant thank her enough for the role she has played in my life. So in honor of her, we decided to name our baby girl, Molly Jane.

Thanks to everyone for your support. Most of you reading this live far away but we wanted to make sure everyone knew our good news, from our mouths (so to speak). Please pray for our little girl as she continues to grow and develop. God's grace is so huge and his love for little children is far beyond even the love of a parent. We are so thankful for this little blessing.

Love to everyone,

Bryon, Haley and Molly

Military Spouse Appreciation Day: May 9th

May 9^th is Military Spouse Appreciation Day and I just wanted to let Haley know how much it means to me that she married me and the sacrifices that she is making. There are a couple of old sayings about wives and the army. The first is, “If the army wanted you to have a wife, they would issue you one.” The second, “An army wife is the toughest job in the Army.” Being in the military isn’t a job; it’s a way of life. For some that way of life will last for 20 years, for others it’s only for their initial tour. It has its own rules and is very demanding and uncompromising and is hard enough for those who have taken the oath to serve. As the two adages point out, its even harder for the people like Haley, who serve quietly back home in their own way, making sacrifices every day, and without whose support the war effort wouldn’t be able to succeed.

I just want to take a moment and thank Haley for all her love and support, without which I wouldn’t be able to do my job over here.

When I joined the army, I had three months to prepare myself and get my life in order before I left for Basic Training. Then I went through over seven months of training to learn how to become a soldier and get adjusted to structure, discipline, and pace of military life. Three times now I've had to put everything on hold: drop classes, cancel training, miss holidays/ Penn State football season, and deploy on short notice to some crazy place (near or far) not knowing what to expect. All of which is fine, that’s where the structure, discipline, and training kick in and comes with serving in the military.

Haley has been given a crash course and welcome into the army family. Within 10 days of being engaged we were put on notice of my deployment. Her first sacrifice was to put aside her plans for our wedding in June. Then she learned the hurry up and wait meter to military life as we had to prepare for a wedding without knowing when or how much time I would even get before deploying. When we were given the word, she organized our amazing wedding in less than 4 days and it turned out absolutely perfect.

Haley’s next lesson was learning that the army was going to take some of the limited time we had together before I left. As she worked hard to turn my apartment into our home, she saw me coming and going with last minute training and a night jump to make sure I was prepared to leave. She was amazing and because of her hard work we were able to spend quality time together as well as get things in order as best we could before I left.

Now Haley’s biggest sacrifice is having her husband taken away for the better part of her first year of marriage. She saw me off to the airport after less than a month of being married. Fortunately we’re able to communicate regularly and I’m in a fairly safe assignment. There are still times though where I can’t talk about all the stuff that I’m doing and I know that is hard on her and she worries. That alone is a noble sacrifice, but she is also doing it while she’s pregnant. Not only that but she has just completed the work on her Masters degree in Nursing, which is a challenge enough without everything else she is doing. Still she is loving and supporting and is soldiering on and meeting the challenge. All of this in less time than it took me to complete all of my training and be ready for my unit at Fort Bragg. I am so thankful and proud of her.

I love you sweetie. Thank you for your love and support and I cherish you.

Just because I get up early and wear a uniform, doesn't mean that I'm the only one that is serving my country during this deployment. As one of my pastor's (who is a Vietnam veteran) said before I left this time, there are those that serve in silence; those that aren't thanked when they're walking through an airport, or in the mall, or just down the street. They are the people like Haley, who have married into the army. If you know any, be sure to thank them for their service and sacrifices as well.

Dogwoods

I took this picture of one of the dogwood trees lining my parents driveway. How beautiful these magnificent and delicate trees are. One of my favorite spring stories is that of the dogwood. How much we have to be thankful for. Give praise to the Lord for His greatness whenever you see this majestic tree and hear this moving story.

The Story of the Dogwood

It is said that at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, the Dogwood was a very large tree, big as an oak.The Dogwood was so even-textured,firm and strong that it was chosen as the timber for the cross. Thus to be used for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the tree. Jesus sensed this. He--who noted even the sparrow's fall--whose last compassion was for a repentant thief--similarly forgave the repentant Dogwood Tree for its unfortunate fate. As he was nailed upon it, he sensed the painful remorse of the tree. In gentle pity for all the sorrow and suffering of every living thing, he said to the tree,"Because of your share of my suffering, never again shall the Dogwood Tree grow large enough and strong enough to be put to such a purpose as this."

He said, "Henceforth,the Dogwood shall be slender and bent and twisted,that it might forever remain unmolested by the tools of cruel men. And the blossoms shall be in the form of a cross. Two long petals and two short. And in the center of each petal there will be nail prints, Crown with rust and stained with red. And in the center of the flower will be a crown--of thorns. And all who pass and see the Dogwood tree. Will remember me."

Author Unknown

Happy Birthday Haley!!!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!
Have a piece of cake for me, and one for the baby too. I love you ~ Bryon
(Couldn't think of a better occasion for my first post)

Check out my Slide Show!

What A Shiner!

I wanted to show you all a picture I took today on Skype of my tough husband. He and some other Army and Marine guys were playing football this morning and he took a hit while trying to get the ball. Check out his lovely shiner. That's a black eye if I ever saw one! And you should have seen it before he had the ice on it all day! I love you sweetie!

Mali News Reports

Below is a link from allafrica.com which describes some of what Bryon and his team are working on now. This is a recent public article so anyone has access to read it.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803310349.html


This next article is one from the Economist which describes the role Africa is playing on the War on Terror, specifically focusing on the vulnerabilities of West Africa (where Bryon is stationed).
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9340544


When articles show up in the news, Bryon can tell me about them and I will share them on here for you to see. Before they become public news, they are classified. Every little bit helps us stay informed and helps us know how to route our prayers.

Volleyball Tournament

Bryon has been a part of a volleyball league the last few months while in Mali and has really loved it. This past Friday, they had a tournament and these are pictures from the tournament.