WE SALUTE YOU

summer is in full swing... the 4th has come and gone but our celebration of independence continues. we enjoyed an airshow at the oxnard airport... world war II vets relayed their war stories and old war planes growled through the air. one teary eye later i was silently commemorating our current brave troops over seas.

Iraq War Facts, Results & Statistics at Sept 1, 2009 (according to: Axis of Logic)

*Troops in Iraq - Total 130,000 U.S. troops, and 500 troops from the UK. Troops from all other nations have been withdrawn.

*U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,325 US troops

*US Troops Wounded - 31,430, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)

*Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007

*Journalists killed - 139, 93 by murder and 46 by acts of war

Citizens of iraq should not be forgotten but commemorated as well:

*Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 9,126

*Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated -50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000.

*Non-U.S. Troop Casualties - Total 316

more facts and stats can be found at: http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_56722.shtml

(this information does not include casualties of war in surrounding countries.)

we have to pray daily for our troops, their families and those caught in the crossfire. may God bring peace to the middle east, directing the path of all world leaders, and may His will be done. let's not waste a second of our privileged freedom...

let's live meaningful lives... & let's make a difference!

the water boy

and so one sun shining day upon arriving home from big bear the chef set out to blow up the gabel's very first pool. ...and he blew and blew and blew... until he was blue... and the babe had ridiculous amounts of fun in his first pool. he attempted to empty it with tiny cups and then naturally sought to fill it with the hose... and so on and so forth... and so went the day... with a rita in hand and the sun overhead. clearly all is right... in the summertime.

the big bear... the 4th.

...as the moose chalk board in the kitchen read, " relax, laugh..." (and something that was changed to "hunt")... and relax and laugh we did. with billiards, foosball, wii games, hot tubing, movie watching, boggle battles, poker until the wee hours, and scrabble tourneys we went right to work doing which ever we pleased and polishing that off with a bunch of nothing but wine drinking & white russian sipping. you wanna talk grub... what a spread!!! you'd think we were on a forest cruise... though big bear's food blows any cruise ships food right out'a the water! melt in your mouth barbecued chicken with rick's hit from last year artichokes, chef's heavenly slow cooked brisket and baked beans, and of course hamburgers and dogs on the 4th. we had homemade sandie-cookies coming out our ears... and vanilla floats with chocolate syrup made by the soda fountain expert himself! our stomachs were on a vacation of their own. there were hills to be conquered and hikes to be had. kayaking was in order for some... books to be read by others. ...naps to be snoozed, and dogs to be pottied. ...and who could forget our skit in honor of the 4th of july? not i. no not i. and to those who wish they could... just smile, thank God for back lighting, and chalk it up to the vino! cheers!

... and to bill and sandra, thanks for an amazing time!