Flag-Draped Coffin & A 21-Gun Goodbye

Last month was a hard time for Ben, and for the whole 2nd Radio Batallion family. Ben lost a much-loved friend and a Marine brother in Afghanistan. Lucas Pyeatt was only 24 years old. Vibrant, fun, caring, genuine. While Ben and many many other Marines who were close with Luke weren't able to attend the services, I was able to go.....I went to try and be of some help & comfort to the Pyeatt family. To show love and support. But it turned out that THEY were the ones who helped me. They're pillars. Pillars of Faith, Love, Kindness, Generosity, Strength. I am honored to know them. We were all blessed to have known Luke. Its now for us to try and live up to the gift that he gave.

"We sleep safely in our beds at night because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on the ones that would do us harm"

Secretariat Movie Night

Yikes! Its been a while. But, some weeks ago, I went all gung-ho crafty and hosted a movie night for my nieces and some friends. It was a lot of fun, and a cute way to have a "welcome to your new house" kind of party. They just moved into an AWESOME house, with tons of room. Which is a good thing, with two of them coming into the teen years (GASP!) and three littles who like to do a lot of running! Bless your heart, Bethany. I dunno how you do it.

Anyways, on to the movie night. I did Secretariat, mostly because that's what came out....and the girls hadn't seen yet. I did a few little decorations to "set the mood" - a fun foamie pennant banner from dollar tree materials, and then some horse silhouettes arranged in a "race" along the wall.

The treats were:

Burlap "FEED" bags - filled with popcorn

"Haystacks" - yummy no-bake goodies featuring PB, butterscotch chips, peanuts, and ChowMein noodles

IBC rootbeer - in a galvanized bucket

horseshoe chocolates

The girls were really excited, and when I asked Natalee what her favortie part of the new house was, she told me "When you did the movie for us." So sweet, and makes it worth every minute!!