A Little of This & That

I dropped my mom off to head back to Tennessee this morning. It was a very short visit with her for me but great for my boys! I hope that she can come out again sooner rather then later. Most times we only see them twice a year if we are lucky. My dad is still here & off fishing with Paul for the weekend. They took two of the boys so my house seems super quite. It's nice since I managed to get an ear infection on our return from vacation. Silly allergies then flying just messed my left ear up. Thankfully I got right into my doctor & hope to be able to hear again soon. I am also enjoying some much need stay at home & lounge time. I am super tired from all the activities even though I enjoyed everything.


 Now to address the following:
We had someone ask me how we where able to afford a trip to Hawaii when we fund-raise for Banyan constantly? Even though it's not really anyone's business I did realize others may wonder as well. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

1. This is the first vacation in 16 years Paul & I have taken together alone w/out children out of state. So I am pretty sure after four consecutive deployments we earned a vacation.


2. Tax Money- we used cash to pay for everything.


3. Hale Koa R&R/ Block Leave discount. When your soldier is on either from OIF or OEF you get 30% off your stay- HUGE MONEY SAVER!


4. My amazing parents paid for 1 of the plane tickets as Paul's Welcome Home / 40th Birthday/ Happy Father's Day gift. They had no idea what to get him while he was deployed so I had them save all the cash & chip in for our trip.


It may seem we where unwise to spend money on a vacation, but trust me we did not splurge- we where extremely frugal. We had fun & enjoyed every moment , I'll never regret going. Paul & I needed that time to reconnect as a husband & wife. It's hard to get quiet time with 4 boys in the house. I hope anyone else who thinks we are unfair in fundraising while going on one trip takes time to read all my posts about our Army Life- then readjusts their thinking to realize one vacation is not breaking the bank or taking advantage of others wonderful generosity helping with Banyan.

Now I am going to sit back relax & read some more of my books I have been waiting to read. I managed to get through 3 while on vacation & I have 9 more in this series to go. Have a great weekend everyone.