Decided I would continue the saga of my life. Once we were at Castle AFB, we lived in Merced, CA for a short time then moved to Atwater which was much closer to the base. We were married by the justice of the peace on the 16th of December. This is the funny part of our marriage. Oh and yes, I wanted a full blown wedding, but it was not possibe, as I was nine months pregnant, and my family was all back in Minnesota and couldn't afford to do anything.
Anyway, back to the marriage. For one, I was nine months pregnant and had a belly that looked like someone had shoved a basketball in me. I wasn't heavy then either. Second, there was a couple married before us. The woman was sitting in there when her husband to be was brought in; they were married; kissed, and he went back to jail. We looked at each other and said, "We're doomed." Well, we did have our struggles, but have been married 27 years!!!!!
Our son was born December 24th! He was a blessing to us. I thought how special. I always believed and still do that God had given us this child to carry out a special task. Some day he will discover what it is that the Lord has planned for him and will carry it out. I'll tell you, have a child for Christmas is a wonderful experience. Our nurse wasn't happy though. The midwife delivering him was wonderful! Jas was a very easy birth as far as everthing happening fast. This is a story in itself. A moment I'll never forget.
We had gone to the hospital the 23rd. I thought sure I was in labor. I was only a centimeter dialated and they sent me home. The next day, hubby calls to see how I'm doing (he worked 24 on 24 off shifts in the Fire Department). As we were talking my water broke, and I mean broke. I was sitting in a pool of water and was like, "Oh my gosh, I think my water just broke!" Hubby asks if I'm sure. I'm like, "Yes, I'm soaked, it's time!"
I'm sitting on the toilet when he gets home in record time I might add and he says lets go. Well dear hubby, I have no pants on. So he goes into the bedroom, comes back and says he can't find any pants for me. HUH? He says, "Lets go." I started laughing and said, "Dear, I can't go out like this, you have to calm down and find me some pants--labor pains hadn't gotten too bad yet, so he did. He was so cute, bless his heart. I don't know how, but I managed to stay calm.
Then the labor pains hit! Oh my gosh, did they hit. Hubby became even more excited. Tee hee. We managed to get to the car, he's almost hyperventilating--the man who always stays in control--(have to tease him about this one)--and takes off. I'm on him to take it easy on the bumps, as the labor was coming fast and hard. We make it to the hospital and I'm already 4 centimeters. They get me all hooked up and realize my labor is off the charts. Duh! You don't have to tell me that. Poor hubby is lucky to have a hand left. We went to LaMaze classes, but guess what, that pretty much went out the door. I tried hard to breath, which I did for the most part, but at the peak of each contraction had a hard time. It got to the point where hubby would not give me his hand. Hmmm, can't imagine why. ;)
Anyway. My water broke at one; by 4:24 pm our son was born. Talk about going fast. Wow! A couple of pushes and there he was. Birth is hard. Ha! I thought wow, this is great! Yeah the labor was rough, but it didn't last all that long and there he was, our beautiful bouncing baby boy! Thank you Lord for our beautiful gift!
Oh, I left out a step. With being pregnant, hubby and I weren't allowed to be on the same shift, or one of us work 8 hours, so we decided it was time for me to get out of the service. Woman were still allowed to do that at that time. We figured it wasn't worth my staying in when we would only see one another 2 days every two weeks. This certianlly was no way to raise a family. I knew I was going to miss it, but on the same token would enjoy just being a mommy. Dec. 1st I left the A.F. This gave me time to prepare for our bundle of joy too.
May of 1982 we left for Grand Forks AFB, N.D. Woo hoo, what an assignment that was. We had a wonderful F.D. family. The housing was great. There was a nice yard and neighborhood for the kids. Oops, did I say kids? Yup. I got pregnant again while on the way to our next station. :) Our daughter AJ (nickname) was born March 24th, 1983. So she became a Nodakian. Another blessing in our lives. I'll tell you, as a parent, I was one of the few lucky moms with great children that very seldom fussed and smiled a lot. They were such joys in our lives.
Our winters there, wow! One year we had to dig our way out the back door, literally. We lived in a 2 story with a basement. The drift was up to the second level. Our garages were drifted in as well. So we had this tunnel that we walked through to get to the garage. We had talked my middle sister into moving out there at that time too, and she had a hatchback car. Hee hee, poor girl, apparently the hatch hadn't gotten closed all the way and was blown open. Her car was packed with snow. The little ones made out though. We bought a sled and they loved sliding down the big hill. Well, mound. :) I put in an iceskating rink in the back yard at one point too. Oops, don't try this at home, it kills the grass off. We had fun though!
We spent 6 years in Grand Forks. We never expected to leave there. It was nice as I was only 3 hours away from home. So we were able to make many trips to see my family. But then the orders came in. I wasn't none to happy. Going to a foreign country. But then again, some of my ancestors were full blooded German, and dad was in the army over there and loved it there, so off we go. We went to see family first and took the kids to Disneyland and Sea World. We had a blast. Rick went alone to get us set up. I was left to clean the house and pack up and make the move alone with two litte ones!!!! Auuugggghhhh. All was going well until...AJ fell, bumped into someone and put a whole in her bottom lip. Not a litttle one mind you. She had to have 6 stiches. She was a little trooper. Then to top it off, the poor baby ended up with the flu. Thankfully our best friends let us stay with them until it was time to leave. I ended up hiring someone to finish the cleaning of the place. Talk about stressed out! I wasn't sure what to pack. And of course, I've never been a light packer. Needless to say, we had a butt load of luggage to carry. :( Hubby had bought us new vehicle before leaving so the kids and I would have something dependable to drive out to Philadelphia.
The time comes, teary good byes, we head to my parents, spend a couple of days there, then to my mom's parents and see my favorite Aunt who was in a nursing home. Took pictures of everyone. Then hubby's oldest brother who had his family living in VA at the time flew out to help us drive out there and ship our car off. It was a beautiful drive, and the kids were amazing! We stayed in VA for a few days, then drove to DE to visit his sister and brother-in-law. Stayed there a couple of days, then we flew out of Philly to Germany. It was a 9 hour flight! Uggghhhh.
Okay, end it here. I'll do more later. There will be two, possibly three more segments to bring us to current times. :)
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