And 2 days later...Hallelujah Day!

She did it! On June 26th Danielle graduated. By the skin of her teeth she passed Chemistry and we had a fantastic Graduation Day! Praise God and Danielle's hard work. Doug too for his tutoring talents!

Danielle, holding her diploma close to her heart.

One happy Daddy.

Showing off her diploma.

Danielle with her sister.

Chris and I with the Graduate!

Grandpa and Grandma with the Graduate!

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU DANIELLE!!!!

Retirement from active duty

Praise God! It all went well. My hubby retired from the Marine Corps on May 24th. A few minor stressors early in the morning...like someone dropped the ball and didn't have all the chairs and tents set up when we drove up at 8:15 (ceremony was at 9am). I have never seen Marines scramble like that before. The Colonel came out of his office when hubby said "Am I here on the right day?" and chaos set in, but only for a short time. In 20 minutes the truck was there with the tents and chairs, 20 Marines had those tents up in 10 min, and all the chairs WITH name place labels on each chair was finished. We only started 15 minutes late, and it was all God because there is no way it could have been humanly possible to do all that needed done in that time. Yes I cried. But only when I saw him standing there alone after the passing of the flag and the poem that was read stated "Marine you have stood the watch all these years and protected us, Stand down Marine...We have the watch!" I was boo hooing like crazy. My father in law reached over and gave me a big hug. Well here are some pictures:

The last morning dressing in camies.

The chaotic moments after our arrival!

The cermony starts..


I got flowers and a certificate from the Corps thanking me for my support (it's part of the tradition during the retirement ceremony. Felt a bit odd, I've always seen it but never imagined receiving it.)

My spontaneous "speech" for my husbands retirement gift. I was so nervous I changed my outfit at the last minute just so I could wear my boots. I am most comfortable in my boots.

Chris grinning while I spoke.

My husband, standing alone, while the flag is passed from rank to rank of all the different ones he has held through the years. The poem of Old Glory was read during this part.

Yep, that's me with tears. I wanted to run out and stand next to him.

Chris receives the flag from the last rank he held.

Both Chris' daughters hugging during the last moments of the retirment ceremony.

He gives his last command and salute to the color guard to retire the colors.

The Peterson family.

Happy Father's Day!

Aren't they silly!

My family celebrates father's day with a big breakfast and the day doing what Dad wants to do. This morning we had homemade rolls (Thanks Farmgirlcyn! http://cindy50.blogspot.com/) and gravey from scratch, eggs and bacon. Then he went down to the neighbors to finish some work on a pair of Adirondak chairs they are building for us. Later church and now we just had a great big lunch. Grilled steaks, with grilled sweet potato chips and seasoned green beans. This afternoon is going to be a lazy time, he is putting the final coat of sealant on our chairs and we may head over to a friends house for a bit.

I would like to wish my husband a Happy Father's Day. He has always been the sound balanced one when things get rocky in our home. {How does he stay so calm?!} He is the man who has set a steadfast example to my 2 step-daughters of what a man should be like, and always shown them how much he loves them even when they've not been very angelic. I am so grateful to see their relationship with him grow through the years. I love you Chris! May God grant you many years of blessings.

God's Story

I am writing this a few months after the fact, but the story still blows my socks off and each time I share it I still get "chill bumps" as the folks here in the south say.

It was a Friday morning in January. My beloved husband had been reading a book written by Scott Hahn in an effort to try and develop a deeper understanding of his (my husband's) faith. I had been reading a book called Women of Grace since I've been trying to read and learn more about living the life of a Christian wife, what God created me for. As I was waiting for my shower to warm up I was reading a chapter in my book and I heard, what I believe, the Holy Spirit tell me "Dee you and Chris are moving to Steubenville Ohio so Chris can study Theology." In all my not-so-humility I yelled out "What about Virginia" - we had been planning on moving to Virginia for a year and that is where all the big $$ was for him working. Then my first thought was "Oh God, how did Mary answer you in such humility and what have I done?" So I prayed, Lord if this is you, YOU have to tell my husband. Everything I have offered in the past has been shot down. And if this is not you, please make it go away and protect me.

Two hours later my husband called. Here is the conversation:

Chris: "Are you sitting down?"

Me: "I can"

"What do you think about moving to Ohio?"

Silence, then tears.

"What's wrong Dee?"

"Honey, the Holy Spirit told me a couple of hours ago we were moving to Steubenville Ohio so you could study Theology."

Silence.

Silence.

Chris: "Really?"

Me: "yep"

Silence.

Chris: "I'm on the university's web site looking at their Theology page."

Silence.

Me: " I gotta go"

Chris: "Me too. Love you."

Me: " Love you too."

We prayed for the first time together that night, on our knees. And each night after for 2 weeks before we told a soul. A friend knew something was up because we both withdrew from socializing at church. After I explained the generics, she said she would pray for us too. We both sought spiritual advice and it was recommended that we pray for God to block this or make the bottom fall out of it if it is not from Him, otherwise keep going. If we don't follow God's will, who knows what will happen. So that's what we did.

Well, 4 weeks after that Friday we were in Ohio looking at houses and Chris and my step-daughter Danielle toured the campus for new students. We were there for 5 days, drove up and back. Never found a house and I grumbled all the way home. Yep, 15 hours worth, poor hubby.
I thought if God wanted us there then there would be a house for us.

Little did I know. Duh Dee, in God's time not Dee's time. We eventually found a house and it's on the street we hoped to live on. More on the house later.

I used to call this Our Story. I changed it to God's story, because this is about God and His plan. No, we don't know anything else other than we are going to Steubenville for now. I have a deep feeling we will be living there for quite some time. Chris thinks we are going to go back to New Mexico in 4 years. I'm not convinced of that yet. God has a reason for my husband to be in this specific place and I don't know what it is, won't even pretend to, but I do know more than a handfull of people have said "you are going to be a teacher at that college!"

Praise God, Danielle is going to the same school. First time in the school's history a Dad and daughter are attending at the same time. Me, I've been praying for what I'm to do. I feel lost and left out. Through my prayers I keep getting directed to Proverbs 31 and verses that indicate a woman's place is to take care of her husband. So, I figure I am going to be setting up a home for the next several months, then after Christmas I will ask again. {wink}

God's peace~

Homemade Meatballs

This is such an easy recipe, and everyone loves the flavor. The one item that gives it the "ohh this is so tastey" comment is the Fire Roasted Tomatoes by Muir Glenn.

Meatballs with Fireroasted Tomatoes

1 lb. grd beef or turkey

2 T. Ketchup

1/2 c. breadcrumbs (I nix these)

1/2 sml. onion - finely chopped

1 carrot - finely chopped

1//4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 c. Tomato chunks (fireroasted is preferred for flavor)

Mix, make 1 1/2" meatballs. Place meatballs on baking sheet, top with 2 C. Tomato chunks. Bake 350 for 40 min uncovered. The last 10 min pour 1 c. tomato sauce over to keep moist. Serve over pasta.

We had Italian greenbeans with oil and salt and pepper as a vegi. This is one even I can't screw up, LOL! Let me know if you try it.

PS In the picture above you'll see I cheated. I cooked the meatballs in my cast iron and heated the tomatoes in a pan and poured over. Ran a little behind and had to get dinner on pronto!

I love my cast irons!

God's peace

Our move is set!

Praise God! We survived my husband's retirement ceremony (from active duty Marine Corps) on the 24th of May, a graduation on the 26th of May and now we are on to the move. We are moving to Steubenville OH the end of the month. Excitement, anxiousness and a bit of stress are in the air here in the Peterson home.

We are excited because this has been a God thing since before we even knew Steubenville was an option in our places to go list. Excited to see, what does God have in store for us? What is this town like? Then the anxiousness kicks in...what in the world are we doing? We don't know anyone there (family is in N.M.). What work is going to need to be done on the house to get it up to where we would like it to be? Where do I go grocery shopping? You know, I think change is good for me. I get in a routine and sometimes a rut and don't know it. God throws something out there for me and I freak out until I see that it's ok and He has me by the hand and will not let go. The gentleness and love I feel when I let my feelings calm down and see God has a plan and I just need to be obedient, it's awesome.

We just closed on our home up there. This is our first purchase. Quite stressfull I might add, when you don't have a realtor that is, umm, very knowledgable. But, this is the house God had for us. We prayed, ALOT, before we found this one and even afterwards asking for signs if this is it. Praying for roadblocks if it's not. None of that happened. Besides a few hitches with the sellers and the bank forgetting to do our paperwork (oh that's a whole nother story..no rave!) all went well. I haven't seen it but my husband went up to see it and go through it with our home inspector. He loves it and thinks I will too. I'm excited.

I think I'm more excited because he told me he was going to carry me across the threshold. .

I will post a picture later, but pray for us in this transition. My husband will be attending college full time, and my step daughter wants to go to the same school so we are working on that too. Two family members in the same school.

Ohh, better go get dinner started...I sure can carry on when I'm excited!

God's peace.