Bring Me That Horizon

Welcome to jennyweber dot com

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Home of Jenny the Pirate

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Our four children

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Our eight grandchildren

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This will go better if you

check your expectations at the door.

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We're not big on logic

but there's no shortage of irony.

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 Nice is different than good.

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Oh and ...

I flunked charm school.

So what.

Can't write anything.

> Jennifer <

Causing considerable consternation
to many fine folk since 1957

Pepper and me ... Seattle 1962

  

In The Market, As It Were

 

 

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Contributor to

American Cemetery

published by Kates-Boylston

Hoist The Colors

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Insist on yourself; never imitate.

Your own gift you can present

every moment

with the cumulative force

of a whole life’s cultivation;

but of the adopted talent of another

you have only an extemporaneous

half possession.

That which each can do best,

none but his Maker can teach him.

> Ralph Waldo Emerson <

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Represent:

The Black Velvet Coat

Belay That!

This blog does not contain and its author will not condone profanity, crude language, or verbal abuse. Commenters, you are welcome to speak your mind but do not cuss or I will delete either the word or your entire comment, depending on my mood. Continued use of bad words or inappropriate sentiments will result in the offending individual being banned, after which they'll be obliged to walk the plank. Thankee for your understanding and compliance.

> Jenny the Pirate <

A Pistol With One Shot

Ecstatically shooting everything in sight using my beloved Nikon D3100 with AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VR kit lens and AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 G prime lens.

Also capturing outrageous beauty left and right with my Nikon D7000 blissfully married to my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D AF prime glass. Don't be jeal.

And then there was the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f:3.5-5.6G ED VR II zoom. We're done here.

Dying Is A Day Worth Living For

I am a taphophile

Word. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010

Great things are happening at

Find A Grave

If you don't believe me, click the pics.

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Dying is a wild night

and a new road.

Emily Dickinson

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REMEMBRANCE

When I am gone

Please remember me

 As a heartfelt laugh,

 As a tenderness.

 Hold fast to the image of me

When my soul was on fire,

The light of love shining

Through my eyes.

Remember me when I was singing

And seemed to know my way.

Remember always

When we were together

And time stood still.

Remember most not what I did,

Or who I was;

Oh please remember me

For what I always desired to be:

A smile on the face of God.

David Robert Brooks

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 Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.

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Keep To The Code

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You Want To Find This
The Promise Of Redemption

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I BELIEVED, AND THEREFORE HAVE I SPOKEN; we also believe, and therefore speak;

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

II Corinthians 4

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THE DREAMERS

In the dawn of the day of ages,
 In the youth of a wondrous race,
 'Twas the dreamer who saw the marvel,
 'Twas the dreamer who saw God's face.


On the mountains and in the valleys,
By the banks of the crystal stream,
He wandered whose eyes grew heavy
With the grandeur of his dream.

The seer whose grave none knoweth,
The leader who rent the sea,
The lover of men who, smiling,
Walked safe on Galilee --

All dreamed their dreams and whispered
To the weary and worn and sad
Of a vision that passeth knowledge.
They said to the world: "Be glad!

"Be glad for the words we utter,
Be glad for the dreams we dream;
Be glad, for the shadows fleeing
Shall let God's sunlight beam."

But the dreams and the dreamers vanish,
The world with its cares grows old;
The night, with the stars that gem it,
Is passing fair, but cold.

What light in the heavens shining
Shall the eye of the dreamer see?
Was the glory of old a phantom,
The wraith of a mockery?

Oh, man, with your soul that crieth
In gloom for a guiding gleam,
To you are the voices speaking
Of those who dream their dream.

If their vision be false and fleeting,
If its glory delude their sight --
Ah, well, 'tis a dream shall brighten
The long, dark hours of night.

> Edward Sims Van Zile <

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Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.

~ Ronald Reagan

Photo Jennifer Weber 2010

Not Without My Effects

My Compass Works Fine

The Courage Of Our Hearts

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Daft Like Jack

 "I can name fingers and point names ..."

And We'll Sing It All The Time
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That Dog Is Never Going To Move

~ RIP JAVIER ~

1999 - 2016

Columbia's Finest Chihuahua

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~ RIP SHILOH ~

2017 - 2021

My Tar Heel Granddog

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~ RIP RAMBO ~

2008 - 2022

Andrew's Beloved Pet

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Monday
Dec142020

Heart and soul at Christmas

I included a print of this in my South Carolina Christmas cards

I don't want to be guilty of allowing the entire festive season to elapse without showing you the results of our family Christmas card shoot.

Fully realizing, as I do, how important it is to each of you.

I will thank you not to snicker. Just go and get your hot chocolate with extra mini marshmallows, and settle in. There are fewer than two thousand pictures in this post.

The Weber Clan Black Friday shoot (we don't shop on that day, unless it's online or unless it's our Brittany, who does tend to hit a few stores in person) has become an annual tradition, although in the early years, the purpose of the outing was only to give our eldest daughter, Stephanie, and her husband, Joel, some photos to work with for their family Christmas card.

Stephanoel plus Melanie, Allissa, and Andrew :: Christmas 2020

Occasionally we'd get a whole-family photo for TG's and my card, if everyone was around, but it wasn't an every-year thing.

At least I don't think it was. Sometimes, to be perfectly honest, I forget.

At any rate, last year, in addition to Christmas card photos of Stephanie's family, I took pictures of Audrey and Dagny, and of Chad and Erica, for their cards.

For TG's and my 2019 card, I used a picture of us at the wheel of the vintage vessel Friendship of Salem, taken by an obliging fellow tourist, during our visit to that storied Massachusetts city in November.

Salem, MA :: November 3, 2019 :: Click to Embiggen

I think I look right piratey in that picture. If you disagree, do feel free to share keep it to yourself.

But this year, as you know because I've told you at least fourteen times, all fourteen of us -- TG and me plus our four children and two sons-in-law (it's not son-in-laws; don't say that) and one daughter-in-law and the five grandchildren -- were present and accounted for on Thanksgiving day and indeed for the entire weekend.

This isn't the one I used for our 2020 Christmas card. In fact I don't know why I'm showing it to you. We look like ghosts.

Late November can be chilly in South Carolina but this time it was a warm day, and in the mid afternoon, when the light was pretty, we all headed downtown to the State House grounds.The possibilities for varied and interesting backdrops there are practically endless.

Before swarming the capitol building grounds, however, we spent a half hour across the street, in the graveyard of historic Trinity Episcopal Church.

I am always drawn to the small, salmon-colored mausoleum with its gothic arches and a huge broken stone leaning against it, inscribed PARR 1817. Our Andrew and his wife, Brittany, and little Ember were dressed in colors that looked as though they'd planned to be photographed there.

Brandrew plus Ember :: Christmas 2020

Brittany didn't use any of the pictures I took for their actual Christmas card, since they'd already had their pictures done by a professional photographer and her cards were ordered. But I took delight in the family's posing for me anyway.

I got our Erica and her beloved, our son-in-law Chad, to stand by the mausoleum too, with Sibyl the Chorkie as a mischievous, furry little prop.

Cherica plus Sibi :: Christmas 2020

I think I told you that TG and I, plus Chad and Erica and Audrey and Dagny, went back to the State House the following Tuesday, December first, when it was freezing and windy, and did retakes because I felt that this first lot did not look Christmasy enough. 

But on balmy Black Friday, having taken many photos of Stephanie's brood both in the graveyard and in the gorgeous grounds on the opposite side of the church, and having all finally assembled (since we'd come at staggered times in separate cars), we headed across the street to the State House.

Our Tar Heel treasures :: Christmas 2020

In a few days I hope to share with you photographic evidence of our whole-family Christmas celebration, slated to take place this Friday, December eighteenth, again at our house. 

The following Monday, Stephanie's five will head up to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with Joel's family.

This isn't the one we used for our card either, but it's a lot like one of the two that we used

But before they do, we will mark not only Christmas but our Melanie's sixteenth birthday, which is on the first day of winter, or the shortest day of the year.

Melly was born and has lived with semi-serious health issues and yet is so precious, so brave, so good a girl. I wish you could know her. Her siblings are devoted to her and a great help to their mother.

Audag :: Christmas 2020

Audrey, our second daughter, and six-year-old Dagny, our third granddaughter, are both photogenic and experienced at posing for their picture. I estimate that I alone have snapped eighty-two thousand photographs of Dagny Clare, give or take, and that doesn't even account for the approximately one point two million her mother has taken of her.

I edited this one on the dark side due to their expressions, and we've jokingly named it Covid Christmas

Don't you think it's amazing, these phones? Especially the iPhone 11, which I have, and that portrait mode thing. I used my expensive Nikons and the phone for these shoots. You can probably tell which is which, but only if you look closely.

I think this is one of the two they used for their Christmas card

And with the phone it's so easy! The blasted thing is almost part of our hands anyway. It makes my first point-and-shoot camera look like a difficult dinosaur, thirty-five pixels or whatever it was.

At the State House, in addition to the massive wreaths bedecking the building itself, there's a stately Christmas tree on the north lawn.

Chad was under the weather on the cold day when we did retakes, but he was a good sport

If news outlets are to be believed about anything this year (iffy), the 2020 South Carolina State Christmas Tree is a thirty-foot-tall concolor fir grown by Pinetum Tree Farm in Swanton, Maryland. Dominion Energy and the Columbia Garden Club decorated it with thirteen thousand lights and nine hundred ornaments.

We made good use of that Christmas tree and the steps of the Confederate monument beside which the tree stands

Dagny was keen to pose beside the tree, with Sibi in the frame. She wants a dog. Not this year. Well she wants one this year but she will not be getting one this year.

Sibi is not Dagny's dog but she sort of doesn't mind acting like it

There was no method to our shooting session; we just walked around and someone would say, we'd like our picture there, and so we'd do that, or I would say so-and-so, pose up right there, and we'd do that.

What are these pink things

I knew that Brittany and Andrew wanted some photos of Ember by herself. They only have approximately five hundred thousand pictures and videos of her, so this was of paramount importance. Oddly enough, I did not complain.

I found some leaves

The baby took her first steps on November ninth at age eleven months and six days, and was still a trifle unsteady on Black Friday but not enough to cause any alarm.

Even so, we sat her on a bench.

Ember. Click to Embiggen.

Naturally, Andrew and Brittany wanted the classic hand-holding-while-walking-the-tot shot.

Wherever we go, we go together

Sibi, being the only dog present (well, Stephanie's family dog, Shiloh, was in their vehicle but wasn't invited out to play), got her picture taken several times.

Sibi, in mama's arms, with a Christmas sweater

She even climbed the steps of the State House -- there are lots of those -- and posed at the top.

High Sibi :: Click to Embiggen

The non-Christmasy outfits on our first outing, weren't the only reason I insisted that we go back for retakes early the next week.

The sun was melting through the trees :: Click to Embiggen

There was also the issue of lights. As in, after we'd worked hard to get pictures of each group in front of a giant wreath, and had moved fifty yards away to the Christmas tree, I looked back at the State House.

We feel small

And realized that, precisely at five o'clock, the lights that adorned all four of the gigantic wreaths plus the decoration at the building's apex had twinkled on, resulting in a breathtaking sight.

May the circle be unbroken

We'd taken all of our wreath pictures with a lovely melting sunset behind, but no lights aglow on the wreaths themselves.

Posing beside the path

I said, this will never do. But no one was amenable to going back to redo the wreath poses, on a warm day when they'd already been posing off and on for over ninety minutes.

Stephanie and Joel's group were headed home. The rest wanted to go back to my house and order pizza.

After this we are going to Cracker Barrel

Five days later, since the sun set five minutes earlier, we had illuminated wreaths and a melty sunset at the same time.

Keep me warm, Mommy

And we took full advantage of it.

Overall we pretty well covered the north and west sides of the State House grounds. It would have taken two more hours to pose up on the other sides, as the place is huge.

One more by the big tree

I'm never ready for the chagrin I experience on those occasions when, certain groups of loved ones having assembled, I fail to get the pictures. Get the pictures. It's important.

Autumn days with you

It doesn't matter really, how much you plan it, or what form the shoot takes. It's irrelevant whether you take five pictures, or fifty, or five hundred.

Just you and me, and baby makes three :: Click to Embiggen

Just take them. You will never be sorry that you took the time, to take the pictures.

When we did phase two of our Christmas shoot on December first, as I have said, it was cold. There was a stiff wind out of the west, and because of that. the flags are flying full-out on top of the dome, in the photo at the top of this post.

Because of the cold and the lateness of the hour, few people were there.

An even dozen of our countless reasons to celebrate

It seems to me that America is in a late hour, and cold, and few people are cognizant of the big picture.

We reared our four children to love their country and to serve it, if only by being good citizens. Working. Worshiping. Paying taxes. Paying attention.

Not only have they done that and more, but they are teaching their own children to do the same.

Merry Christmas from me and TG

As this year draws to a close, I am concerned that freedoms I have never once taken for granted, are being systematically and surgically removed from me and from my family.

I pray that God intervenes once more on our behalf. The hour is late, there is a dearth of warmth, and the day grows dark. I don't think I'm being dramatic to say that we are in a season of sorrow.

May God bless and keep your family this Christmas, and may He graciously again -- still -- bless America, and confound her enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Especially domestic.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Monday :: Happy Week

Reader Comments (19)

I want you to know there were no snickers here in anticipation of the photo shoot. You have a gorgeous family and I love seeing them!
These are all so good. Little Ember walking - so cute! Melanie is turning 16? How can that be?
I laughed when you said Audrey and Dagny are used to having their picture taken because I was taking pics at our family party and Alaina said - "Grandma, I heard that! I can tell when you're taking pictures because I hear that camera click". They are used to it too, but I often get goofy faces instead of those nice poses.
Yes - take the pictures and always remember.
PS - we got a nice card in the mail. Now I have a pirate watching me every time I walk near the kitchen or dining room!

December 14, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterMari

@Mari ... hahahaha the pirate be watching you so belay that, matey! Thank you for your kind words and you know that I always enjoy seeing your pictures too, especially of Ruby and Alaina. I am truly excited about your new grandbaby coming any day. What a wonderful Christmas it will be for you! Praying for Heather and for you too. xoxo

December 14, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

You have such a gorgeous family! and all the pics turned our wonderfully! I'm especially fond of Ember studying that huge leaf. The bad times don't last forever; this too shall pass. But n the deep dark winter, it sure doesn't feel like it.

December 15, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterGinny Hartzler

Forgot to say that my other favorite is you in full pirate mode!

December 15, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterGinny Hartzler

I really enjoyed your photos of your lovely family. It looks like you all know the value of enjoying the days we have! Take care of each other! Have a fun holiday!

December 15, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterGayla

@Ginny ... Ember was so interested in everything she could find on the ground, on her voyage of discovery down the sidewalk. Leaves held particular allure and she tasted a few too, haaaahaha! Yes that piratey shot on the old ship is one of my favorites as well. Merry Christmas to you and yours! xoxo

@Gayla ... Welcome to IHATH and thank you! Yes we do try to wring all the activity that we can, out of the day at hand. Merry Christmas! xoxo

December 15, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

You have a lovely and photogenic family, and your expertise, captures them beautifully. But why wouldn't they be lovely and photogenic, with you and your husband, being their source...?

The posed ones are lovely....

And the spontaneous ones, of Ember picking up leaves, are a delight toooooo!

-sigh- Yes, it is a horrible time, in/for our Country. In our 80 odd years, we have seen much. But never, the Horrors, which are rampant now.

Not sharing your Faith, I do not see any solution. Am thus, glad, we are at the late part of our life. We won't have to see the Path of Destruction, of our Beloved Country, play out and out and out.....

So... We take as much Joy in today, as we can manage. -smile- Even when it gets hard. As my post today, states.

Thank you for all these lovely Family photos! Which certainly added some of my today's Joy.

Gentle hugs,
Mari-Nanci
"Beside a babbling brook" blog
🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄

December 15, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterMari-Nanci

@Mari-Nanci ... we don't all have to believe the same, to see what is happening. We only have to SEE ... which I know that you do, as I do. It is appalling how easy it was for traitors and seditious characters IN OUR EMPLOY who are supposed to REPRESENT us, to summarily separate us from our liberties. It will only get worse. Let's have a joyous Christmas in spite of them! xoxo

December 15, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

Your Christmas card was stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you.

December 15, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterJudy

@Judy ... thank you, you're welcome, and Merry Christmas! xoxo

December 15, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

Your pictures are wonderful and every one of your family members beautiful! I

December 15, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterJeanette

@Jeanette ... thank you my friend, and Merry Christmas to you! xoxo

December 15, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

Hi there Jenny, so glad you stopped in to visit and yes, isn't that birdcage on the porch huge and neat and strange?! LOL Oh, yes, I do love nutmeg sprinkled on top of my eggnog too, I forgot that! Well, it says to grab a hot chocolate w/th marshmallows......hope you don't mind---I have grabbed an ICE COLD COKE IN A GLASS BOTTLE, the little old fashioned kind----instead! LOL I'm hot.....been last minute wrapping presents and finishing a scrapbook of paper dolls for lil Fairy Granddaughter----so I'm plum worn out and needed A COLD DRINK instead. LOL!! Sure enjoyed all these great family holiday pictures, they all look great and so glad y'all got to be together, that is the important part.....the most important thing. the ladies look glamourous, the gents handsome and dashing, and the children adorable! Wow, the State House looks all pretty and festive, all decked out for the holidays, I'm glad you posted those as we probably won't be over that way this month. The big tree is GORGEOUS, isn't it?! Love all the ornaments, you said over 900 I think? How do they keep those on if there is a big wind.....are they tied on or what? .Little Sibyl is adorable!!--what a cute doggie! Looks like your family celebration is coming up tomorrow---y'all have a wonderful wonderful time and treasure the precious moments together. And happy happy birthday to Melanie! Make lots of pictures for us please, okay?

December 18, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterDebbi

Loved seeing the family Christmas shoot. My favorite photo was Ember walking with Mommy and Daddy. So many photogenic people in one spot! AND - most of the time looking at the camera and smiling. Either you command attention, or they all realize that to get it over with they must comply. (It's the same with our family....) As we countdown to Christmas, I send much love to you and your family. Hugs from Colorado.

December 19, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterBarb

@Debbi ... I totally understand the need for a cold drink! We have had a few chilly days but when bustling around the house, one does manage to get hot. I use my ceiling fans year round, and right now the heat isn't even ON because it's getting up to 60 today, with ample sunshine! Thanks for all of your kind words and most of all for taking the time to stop in and read and look at eight thousand pictures of folks you don't even know! But that's what is special about blogland ... you feel as if you DO know folks. Yes the State House looked gorgeous this year and I am similarly mind-boggled by that big tree on Gervais Street and the 900 ornaments. They HAVE to be secured to that tree pretty well or they would be blowing around down in the Vista, hahahaha! I hope you get up our way soon and if you do, let me know and we can meet for coffee. Meanwhile have a very merry Lowcountry Christmas, my new friend!~ xoxo

@Barb ... Yes the pirate commands attention, hahahaha but you know, my kids just naturally pose up and smile, they've been photographed so much in the last sixteen years since they gave me my first digital camera, right after Melanie was born! They have gifted me all of my cameras save one, and many of my lenses. They are so generous to me and they know that not many things give me more pleasure than taking pictures of THEM. Isn't Ember darling? And yes: as we count down to Christmas Day, I return much love to you and Bob and your family (little Sam especially), and send hugs and kisses, and please know that I WILL be thinking of you that day as I thank God for ALL of my friends, met and unmet, near and far, old and new. xoxo

December 21, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

Gentle hugs,
and Wishes for a Peaceful
Eve of Christmas,
and Christmas Day,
to you and yours...
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

December 24, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterMari-Nanci

@Mari-Nanci ... I hope you see my post of today! I wish you the merriest Christmas ever, and the coziest. xoxo

December 24, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

Hello,
A powerful post my friend.
Our oldest is in the Wisconsin National Guard, he is on Standby for next week. The verdict regarding the officer who shot J. Blake will be announced.
Praying for America..
Thank you for this post Jenny.
Carla

December 30, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterCarla TePaske

@Carla ... Thanks so much and God bless your son and his service, especially in these turbulent times. Our son was a boom operator (in-flight air refueler) for many years but in October he completed OTS and now is an officer, getting ready to begin pilot training. Unfortunately due to present circumstances, his training start date has been delayed and he's working at the base in Knoxville until he moves his family to the next base. I read in your blog about your son's deployments and I know some of what you go through. Praying for America indeed! Only He can save her. xoxo

December 30, 2020 | Registered CommenterJennifer

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