Okay, on a totally lighter subject... We're packing, ahem! I mean we're supposed to be packing for a one week vacation to Yosemite. We're planning to leave tomorrow morning early.
Yesterday we were supposed to be doing all the baking for the trip and we were having pizza night. Pizza night turned into spaghetti night when we discovered that our oven was not functioning properly. It was such a relaxing problem for me since I didn't have to make all the pizzas for a change! =)
We ended up having over 50 people come, some from as far away as Jordan, and I really enjoyed the fellowship.
Around 11 we had our special friend share a presentation about her ministry in the mid east. It was very enlightening. She, Melissa was such an inspiration to me in joy, contentment, peace and love! I was impressed by her sacrificial love towards the lost and towards the believers.
There's a lot more that I would like to blog about but I'd better get back to packing! The Gramms are on their way over to spend the night so we can car-pool up together in the morning! FUN!!! If you've never been to Yosemite you should!
In closing:
A small contingent of Dortignacs drove out to the Creightons today. It happens to be Mr. Creighton's birthday, and also their one niece's first birthday whom they lamented that Alex was never able to meet. As you can imagine they're pretty torn up inside.
Zachary has been allowed to visit yesterday and today. He came expecting to stay, bringing all his stuff, but the social worker wouldn't hear of it and has picked him up the past two evenings.
Please continue to pray for their family!!!
Here's an article about the accident that Alex was involved in.
Schofield soldier killed in training
Nine others are hurt in a truck rollover in the Mojave Desert
FORT IRWIN, Calif. » A 25th Infantry Division soldier was killed and nine others received minor injuries this week when the truck they were in rolled over and caught on fire.
John Wagstaff, National Training Center spokesman, identified the Schofield Barracks soldier last night as Pfc. Alexander E. Creighton, 23, of Romoland, Calif.
Pfc. Alexander Creighton: The California man, 23, talked to his mother just 12 hours before he died
The nine soldiers were treated and released from Weed Army Community Hospital following the Thursday morning accident. The Army did not release their names.
Creighton, 23, talked to his mother less than 12 hours before he died, and the Hawaii-based soldier had planned to meet his parents today to spend some time together.
"We were going to drive up there and meet him," Charlotte Creighton of Romoland, Calif., said last night.
Creighton said her son, who had always been into "military kind of stuff," was considering the Army as a career.
Before joining up in June, he had been working in construction with his father.
"He was a good man and a good son and a good brother," Creighton said. "He was a man of dignity and character. He sure will be missed by a lot of people."
In addition to his parents, Charlotte and Jim, Creighton is survived by four sisters and 10 brothers. Services are pending.
The accident occurred at 9:15 a.m. Thursday, and Alexander Creighton was pronounced dead at 9:34 a.m.
Creighton was a passenger in the truck, but it was not known whether he was in the cab or sitting in the rear of the vehicle.
All 10 soldiers were assigned to 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lt. Col. Bryan Rudacille. Although the 10 were part of the current training mission to the National Training Center, they were members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is not going to Iraq this summer, but was supporting the training of the 3rd Brigade, the Army said.
This was the National Training Center's first training death since 2003.
The center -- one of two used by the Army to train soldiers in counterinsurgency tactics for combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan -- is located north of Barstow in the Mojave Desert about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The other is the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.
The accident occurred on a dusty, unimproved road in the eastern remote end of "the box" -- a training area as big as Rhode Island -- close to the mock Iraqi village of Al Sharq, which was under the jurisdiction of soldiers of Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry.
The accident is being investigated by the Fort Irwin Criminal Investigation Department and jointly by the 25th Division and Fort Irwin safety boards.
"The entire Army Hawaii community is saddened by this loss," said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army Hawaii.
More than 5,000 soldiers, the majority of them soldiers belonging to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team under the command of Col. Patrick Stackpole, have been in "the box" for the past two weeks as part of their final training mission before deploying to Iraq this summer.
Besides the temperature, which can climb to the high 80s in the day, the Tropic Lightning soldiers have had to endure gritty dust that can be whipped into a sandstorm without warning. Combat training operations have occurred around the clock, with soldiers getting two hours of sleep at most on any given day.
Yesterday was the final day of the exercise, and the Schofield Barracks soldiers will spend next week cleaning their equipment before going on leave or returning to Hawaii. All of the soldiers are expected back home by Memorial Day.
Playing "Take Two" was a favorite pastime for many.
Justin and Darrell on the rock that provided hours of entertainment for us in camp! ;-) 
Jack, doing his version of the hoods we see people driving with around here.
Climbing Jump For Joy, a 5.9, and using my shoes for the first time. I'm about 30' off the ground there.
A beautiful view of Glacier Point that we enjoy while in our campsite!
I love cooking outdoors... and indoors too for that matter.
Me, Sarah, Merrie, Annie and Abby at the entrance to the valley through the tunnel.
Some of our group on a rock by Vernal falls.
Eden, Hannah, Annie, Alyssa Abby and Me at the base of lower Yosemite falls.
Note the hand over Kaylee's mouth! (Not mine!) Most of the candles were already blown out for me and Heidi! Actually Heidi didn't quite catch on with the blowing, she kept saying, "pwff" under her breath! lol!
Look at Heidi's face! What was she thinking? Kaylee has eyes only for the cake! My family is so precious!!!
