{From Today}

So this afternoon - 10 min before picking up Aaron from school, William, Ruth, Sam & I went down the road so that I could photograph the only "mountains" I see on a daily basis. These of course are not mountains to me but hills, big ones, but still hills none the less. They are pretty when the light hits them just right.














Of course, we went to go get Aaron from school and then took the kids and Patten too (did I forget to mention he was in the car too?) to the park. It was so funny, the kids were all over the place and of course the boys started a snowball fight with William. The boys would run up and throw the snowball and dart away. William would then scoop up a big pile of snow and throw it at them. The boys had fun. While they were doing this, Ruth had Patten's leash and was dragging him around and around. At first he was following like a good little dog, but soon he had enough and as you can see by a few of the images he tried to pull her along.

We didn't stay long as the kids were getting soaked by the melting snow but they had tons of fun and I enjoyed watching them as did William. I was on such a happy plane by the time we got home.


{{I did not dress Ruth, that cute outfit was her choice - she is very fashion forward...lol}}


































































Of course, my happiness was short lived as we got a call from the DFAS people telling us because William only has 2.5 years of Active Duty service (he was in the National Guard since 2001) he won't be getting his full Retirement pay - they want to short him $800 per month. What a load of crap - everything we have found and EVERYTHING we have received says that once he qualifies he is supposed to get his FULL retirement along with his VA disability. Nothing about dropping his benifit because he was injured and can no longer be in the military! Of course the CRSC people who made the decision that he qualifies doesn't handle the money part just the paperwork part and DFAS handles how the money gets spent and how they will dole it out. I am soo tired of fighting to get William what he deserves! He served and gave a big part of who he was for this country and I shouldn't have to fight so hard to make sure he gets decent care, or that he gets the medication he needs, or the money he is owed for serving his country!

I shouldn't have to jump thru hoops, harp, complain, be the squeaky wheel. Put the VA in their place or have to contact a lawyer, media, governor or congressmen to get the services that my husband deserves. According the CRSC he is qualified,more then passes the requirements & should be getting Full retirement w/his VA. Of course DFAS doesn't think so. So of course I am going to have to fight, harp, contact a lawyer, media, governor, congressmen & senator - all because basically no one wants to follow their own rules. Seriously, how much harder does this have to be?

I am sorry for my rant but between the Military, VA & now another part of the military called the CRSC & DFAS have been giving me such a headache and since William got back it's been a constant struggle. I thought maybe, it wouldn't be a struggle to get William his retirement, but I was wrong and now...it's just sooo hard. I am feeling very defeated. No wonder so many veterans don't get what they need! The paperwork and inner workings of these organizations just don't work and make it nearly impossible to get what the vet needs. None of these so called "unified" organizations communicate with one another and no one seems to care that your getting the short end of the stick!

The one thing I can say is that our bills are paid - we have a roof over our heads and food in the refrigerator, and money to put gas in my car. Not many can say that these days. With the economic downturn of the USA. Not everyone is hurting but alot here in Idaho are - with HP shutting down as well as other companies and hundreds - possibly thousands out of work. I guess I can say we are blessed.