Austin

My heart if very heavy for my brother Austin tonight. My grandparents received a letter from him today and so did my mom. I am copying my mom's letter to this blog. Please pray for our military! My brother is only 18 years old and about to go to war... I miss him and love him so much!!

Dear mom, 

If you can read this letter to the family at Thanksgiving please do. As you know north korea opened fired on south korea. The marines have been training for war with north korea for a long time. Most likely I will be in combat with north korea in less than 6 months, yemen or Afghanistan. I love everyone and I now know how much everyone has done for me. I would not be the man I am today without my loving caring family. I have been asked who or what I fight for. I said my family but I didn't think about it. Then I heard about korea today and my mind started to race. I am fighting, I am here because I love my family. I would do anything to make sure we can continue our traditions and if God's will is for me to die in a battle far away from here, do not worry for me. I am with Him. I know I will see you before I go to war but things have hit my heart hard. The world is we live in is safe to live in because of the guys I am being trained by. I love my life here. I am suppose to be here. Pray for me. Oh, for Thanksgiving I will be eating a great dinner then I get time off I think. I am going to miss Thanksgiving back home though. I hope you guys enjoy thanksgiving. When you pray, don't just pray for me. Pray for the marines who are going to be sitting in a bunker with an MRE wishing for turkey. Those are heroes, not politicians, or Obama. The men out there taking on fire so we can eat and sleep. I love you guys,

love Austin

ps, this song is getting me through basic. "I trade these ashes for beauty, and wear forgiveness like a crown, coming ot kiss the feet of mercy. I lay every burden down at the foot of the cross".

~Ashton

Well...

Well, we finally made it to Memphis, TN, which is my hometown and where almost every single person of my family lives. We will be here for about a week and already have plans to have 2 Thanksgiving dinners and spend lots of time with family and friends. Time sure does fly when I am out of town, but I am pretty tired of traveling! Right now, Breyten is watching Mickey Mouse Club. He gets so excited and swings his little arms and legs while watching this show! It's really cute. I am really thankful that cartoons capture his attention, it makes long drives traveling everywhere so much better. 


Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I have some things that I want to share that I am thankful for.


First of all, I am extremely thankful for being a child of God. I don't know how people make it through life without trusting in Christ. He sustains me, protects me, and encourages me. I know that all things work together for the good for them that believe in Him. Without Christ, who would I pray to protect my husband while he is away? I can have total trust that in Christ, whatever happens to Trenten, is in His hands. Not to mention, He gives me such peace that passes ALL understanding! Having a peaceful, joyful life is pretty awesome. Thanks be to God!


Second, I am really thankful for Trenten William Long. His sacrifices for our family will never be forgotten. His ministry is so important for all the sailors and marines who he is deployed with. He has a unique opportunity to be paid by the government while serving his country and share the Gospel with sailors and marines. He thinks it is the best of both jobs placed into one job. 


Third, I am really thankful for Breyten William Long. He is such a good baby. He really fills my days (and nights). I can say honestly that it is a joy taking care of him. It really helps that he is so cute :) Makes those middle of the night feedings (which he had stopped doing at home but now that we are traveling and in strange places he thinks he needs) easier! 


Fourth, I am thankful for family and friends. Being surrounded by people that love you and care about you is really nice. You don't have to do everything by yourself, you can lean on others. When I'm out of town, I have family and friends to lean on. When I'm at home in Virginia Beach, I have wonderful church friends to lean on and an AWESOME sister-in-law (Kendal, in case you didn't know ;) who helps me through the not-so-good days. But, those days don't last and God mercies are new each morning. 


~Ashton

Long Thanksgiving

Long Family

Grandpa Long, Grandma Long, Jamie and Kierra Barrows

Lew and Kaelah Ellinger, Ashton and Breyten

We are having a good time with some of the Long side of the family (out of the 7 Long children, only 2 could make it for Thanksgiving, well 3 if you count me and Breyten standing in for Trenten who would love to be here). We enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal today (11-20-10). We even had time for a pumpkin photo shoot with Breyten:

He wasn't so sure about this. He only lasted about 3 minutes in the pumpkin before the screaming began... But we were able to get some cute photos. Aunt Kiki says this "made her day". This is Breyten's first Thanksgiving festivity and we all wish his daddy could be here to join him!

But, we must live life while he is away! So, that is what we are going to do! We will be in Pensacola, FL for a few more days and then head to Memphis, TN for 2 more family Thanksgivings. It will be busy but well worth it!

Mommy and Breyten

~Ashton

Pensacola, FL

Well, the drive from Atlanta to Pensacola did not go as smoothly as the drive from Virginia Beach to Atlanta. It rained the whole way and Breyten screamed a lot of the way because he does not like his car seat anymore! We made more stops on the 5 hour drive than we did on the 9 hour drive. But, we eventually made it and Aunt Kiki and Uncle Jamie were finally able to meet Breyten.

Kierra is due on 2-1-2011 with Adrienne Louise. She has a cute baby bump:) I was able to feel little Adrienne (although Kiki claims she is not little!) kicking last night. It's one of the neatest things ever, I love it. I loved feeling Breyten kick when I was preggo, granted when it didn't hurt!

Yesterday, Kiki, Breyten, and I were able to go to the outlet malls in Destin, FL. I was able to get Breyten some 6, 9, and 12 month clothes. Also, Trenten has a requested a completely new wardrobe by the time he gets home next May. Well, that isn't going to happen, but he will be happy with a few new nice clothes. So, I was able to get him some stuff too. Nike outlet stores give a 10% military discount, which is very nice. I had to buy Trenten some new shoes and am going to send them to him today. He exercises 2 to 3 times a day on the ship (what else is there to do?!?) and his shoes are wearing quickly! Anyway, today Grandma and Grandpa Long are flying in from Ohio. Should be good times with the Longs.
~Ashton

Atlanta, GA

Breyten is a big hit here in Atlanta. Aunt Kaelah and Uncle Lew enjoyed showing him off to their friends during Sunday School this morning.

For the actual church service, I put him in their very nice nursery. The nursery worker told me when I came to pick him up that he was such a cute and good baby, she would just take him home with her! Breyten gets that a lot... Anyway, this evening their church had a college team picnic. I'll bet you will never guess what Breyten was sporting. That's right, Ohio State Buckeyes, he is his dad's son after all. I wore a University of Memphis shirt, after all that's where I graduated from.

Tomorrow, we head 5 hours south to Pensacola, FL to meet Aunt Kiki and Uncle Jamie. Should be a good and quick trip down there. We will see how it goes!
~Ashton

We Made It...

Well, we ended up leaving at 0430 this morning. I woke up at 0300 unintentionally and tried to go back to sleep, which didn't work. Breyten woke up at 0330 on his own, and when I went to check on him, he just smiled and got excited like it was time to get up and go. So, we did. He did very well until the last 2 hours... DVD players in the car are the best! PS, we only had to make 3 stops for the 10 hour car drive! Well, I'm exhausted,
~Ashton

What's on the agenda for today...

Today is going to be filled with laundry, packing, and eating lunch with friends from church. Tomorrow, Breyten and I are going on another road trip. This time we are headed to Atlanta, GA for the weekend so that Aunt Kaelah and Uncle Lew can meet Breyten, finally as they say... Then, we are headed to Pensacola, FL on Monday so that we can spend the week with Aunt Kierra and Uncle Jamie (who are also ready to meet Breyten). The Long Thanksgiving will be the following Saturday. Then, off to Memphis the next Tuesday or Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We are driving, so total time in the car will be 10 hours to Atlanta, 5 to Pensacola, and then 7 to Memphis. I installed a DVD player in my SUV so Breyten won't get so bored... I think I'm going to be done with "Jonah" the Veggie Tale movie after this trip, but if it keeps him entertained, it will be worth it! I don't rush, I just take it one mile at a time and stop whenever myself or Breyten needs to (usually Breyten needs to a whole lot more than I do.)

well off to do those things,
~Ashton

Just a few thoughts

So, I have just a few thoughts this morning. First, our son is 13 weeks old today!! I cannot believe it, it has gone by extremely quickly! Waiting for him to come, especially the last month, then he was 6 days late and then I was in labor for 28 hours... Well, that time went by very slowly! Now, time just flies by.
Next, I was talking to a lady this morning about changing a shipping address for a treadmill I ordered (to help me lose the 56 pounds I had gained during that pregnancy, which is so ridiculous!) Anyway, somehow I ended up talking about how my husband was deployed (I think she heard Breyten crying and started asking me questions). Well, she made the comment that she prays for the military and their families. She said she is really thankful for all the sacrifices that is made on parts of both the service member and their families. I definitely teared up! I never knew how much that could mean, but it means a lot to me. So, if you ever get an opportunity to say something like that to a service member or their family, please do!
~Ashton

Story of Trenten and Ashton

 Last family picture for awhile- August 27, 2010

So, Trenten and I have been married for a little over 4 years. We got married on August 5, 2006, after dating for 4 years. I met Trenten when I was 15 years old through his brother, Tavis, who I called Mr. Long at the time because he was my history teacher. It was really interesting dating the teacher's brother throughout highschool. Trenten and I had a long distance relationship for most of our dating history (which I think has helped our time away from one another during our married life). At this time, Trenten is currently deployed on the USS KEARSARGE as a United States Navy Chaplain for nine months. He left August 27, 2010 and should return home in May of 2011. I am patiently waiting for his return home, as I'm sure he is too. I was reminded the other day by a sweet friend from church that it is important not to just wait on Trenten coming home, but to live life while he is gone too. You can miss out on so much if you are not living in the present time. So, that's what I intend to do during this deployment.

 Trenten and I had our first son on August 11, 2010, Breyten William. He is such a good baby, which I think is God's blessing to me since I am currently raising him by myself until Trenten returns. He does has some interesting opinions, already. For instance, he refuses to nap during the day, except for 10 to 30 minute power naps. Also, he is currently on no type of schedule when it comes to eating, he just eats on demand during the day. Sometimes I feel as if that's all I do. But, until he gains some more weight (he's only in the 15th percentile for his age/weight) it will continue to be that way. He has been sleeping through the night just this past week. However, my body is not used to that, so I still wake up every few hours during the night. How do you train your body not to wake up when you have been doing so since months before the baby's arrival? It shouldn't take me long to get used to it!

Currently, we are living in Virginia Beach, VA, which is about 30 minutes away from the Norfolk Navy Station where Trenten is stationed. Of course, right now, Trenten is somewhere on the other side of the world... We moved here after living in Memphis, TN (which is my hometown) for 3 years as a married couple. I finished nursing school at the University of Memphis in December of 2008 and Trenten finished his Master's of Divinity degree in May of 2009. We moved to VA in August of 2009. I have really enjoyed living here. We were able to find a church (Tabernacle Baptist Church) close to our house soon after moving here. It has really helped me meet a lot of great new friends who have helped me through so much all ready. Well, I guess that's enough for my first post!
~Ashton