Merry Christmas everyone!
All of the kids arrived safely before the Kansas snowstorm hit! The snowfall was the most snow we have seen in Kansas so far! It covered the ground and streets with a beautiful white blanket on Saturday morning. We all stayed home and enjoyed a relaxing day together.
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Amanda is a senior at Hillcrest Academy. This past summer she worked two jobs! She was a certified lifeguard at a local water park and worked as a retail associate. She ended up saving two children at the pool! One was during her very first shift and one was the last day of work for the summer. At school, she played midfield and forward for the Hillcrest soccer team where her speed and quickness paid off.
She continues to work
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Shawn is working as the Director for Strategic Communications (Stratcom) at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. He has a busy schedule which includes a lot of travel where he continues to brush shoulders with some amazing people including President Bush! Over Veteran's Day weekend, he had a wonderful time sharing his experiences in Iraq with a standing room only group of men at Bethel Church in Fergus Falls.
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Since his return from Iraq, he has started early morning running with Amy.
He enjoyed being back home and the ability to travel to MN to see the kids events instead of trying to listen to them over the Internet or by getting a play by play from Amy at 2:00 am Iraq time!
As we look back on this past year, we are filled with amazement and wonder. Amazed at God's strengthening of our family in spite of the many miles of separation and periods of stress any Army family endures. For that, we look with wonder to what God has in store for us this next year.
Love,
The Strouds