Santa doesn't need to come

We have one smart little girl. Christmas Eve, you would think most kids would be ready for bed at a decent hour. NOT Kynsley!!! We told her she had to go to bed or Santa would skip right over Papa and Granny's house. She told us, "its okay, Santa already brought daddy home, and I got my truck so he doesn't need to come". My parents and I just stood there in shock, not knowing what to say to her. She then looks at my dad and says, "Papa, you took daddy to the airplane"?? So I don't want nothing from Santa. We just let her stay up and watch tv, I know "ARMY BRAT" but it was a rough day on all of us. Scottie had just left the day before and at the time I was still VERY emotional. But after a few hours she finally went to sleep. The next morning, the only one missing was Scottie, but he was able to call and talk to us. Kynsley got her 3 gifts as tradition, in honor that it IS JESUS' birthday and he received 3 gifts. She LOVES her dollhouse and has spent allot of time playing.

First Gingerbread House

One of the worst days of my entire life~unable to drive, Daddy drove Scottie and I to the airport for Scottie to head back to work. Once I got back home, Kynsley was still sleeping and I knew it was going to be a rough day on her. I have really AMAZING friends, Kara(Aidens mom) brought Gingerbread House kits for Kynsley and Aiden to make. It was the PERFECT craft to keep her busy and happy!! She is so proud of her house, which by the way is still on my dresser. Thank you Kara, and thank you mama and daddy for getting me through the tough day!

Our Early Christmas

Before Scottie left to head back to work we had our Christmas as a family. We all had gifts from Scottie's family to open and we wanted Scottie to apart of getting to see Kynsley open her gifts. We are so appreciative of all the special gifts we received. We are so LOVED in SO many ways!

Childress Christmas

Ground Zero

A few months ago, Scottie and I made a "Dream" list to share with each other! One of the dreams on his list was to stand with his family at Ground Zero. We never dreamed that it was going to happen in 2008. We took the 15 minute subway ride and once we came up from under ground the streets were already covered in snow. We had heard rumors that we might see a few flurries but not this. We could hardly see the progress of Ground Zero but the emotion of standing there for us was over welming.

We later took Kynsley up a few stories so we could show her the construction and we then explained to her what she was witnessing.

How do you explain to a 3 year old the pain that went on that day? We told her that there was some people who didn't like America very much and they crashed planes into the buildings and many people got to go be with Jesus that day. And that there were many HEROS who gave their lives to help others. We then explained that because of what happened that day is one of the reasons daddy has to work so far away from home. Who knows if she'll even remember the snowy day in NY but Scottie and I will never forget it! Just like those many men and women who gave their lives~WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!

Our trip to NEW YORK

Our first time as a family in NY City! Oh did I mention it was a FREE trip? Fox News Headquarters saw Kynsley's reunion with her daddy and invited us for a Christmas Special that would be shown on Christmas Eve night! When we got the call we were not sure what to do or if it was even real! But after talking to their rep a few times we made the choice to go for it!!!
Our driver picked us up at 4am the morning we were to leave for NY. This was Scottie's first time getting to fly with Kynsley~and wouldn't you know she couldn't choose who to sit with!! But once in air, we all 3 fell asleep!
We arrived in NY and there stood our driver with a sign "The Penney family". Okay so this is the moment you start feeling "special". We asked him to take the long way to our hotel and show us around! (a tip from Nancy) I think of all the sites we saw, Scottie and I were excited to see the Queensboro Bridge! We both started singing, "I don't care cause all I want to do, is cash my check and drive right home to you. Baby all my life I will be driving home to you".
Once we checked in to the MUSE hotel right in Times Square I might add...we bundled up and went exploring the streets of NY. Our fist NY experience "Famous NY street Hot Dogs". We took Kynsley to M & M World and Toys R Us. After a morning filled with excitement we went back to the hotel to get ready for our "Filming" with Fox News.
The next day we were able to walk around NY(in the snow). We have many wonderful memories that Scottie and I both will always cherish, but one of my favorite moments was getting to see Santa. Now I know you can go just about to any mall at Christmas and find Old St. Nick but we made our way to 34th Street to find him. I had to call my daddy knowing that Miracle on 34th Street is one of his favorite Christmas movies. That's where we found the "real" Santa!

The Ellis family

Throughout this deployment I'm not sure what we'd do without the LOVE & SUPPORT of Chad and Kristy! We've been instant friends with the Ellis family since we arrived in Germany. Chad and Scottie's R & R overlapped so we took the chance to drive and meet them in VA. We know its random but we've missed them!! This was Scottie's first time meeting his God Daughter Kamryn.
We didn't tell Kynsley where we were going we just had her to go knock on their hotel room door. When Kristy opened the door a HUGE smile came across Kynsley's face. She actually was very shy when she saw Chad. About an hour or so later we were eating breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and Kynsley leaned over and said, "Mommie, its Chad, its Chad"!!! She then got down from her seat and ran over to sit in his lap! I think she just needed a little bit of time to piece it all together. She often gets to wave to him on the web cam when we're talking to Scottie but I think in her little mind she couldn't believe it was really him.
We enjoyed getting to spend time with them and let the kids exchange Christmas gifts! We're so thankful that we have such wonderful friends in our lives!