Life Update & Halloween

elizabethmbuford
Oct 31, 2025
3 min read

Happy Halloween! And dehat day?

This will be a short and sweet post full of a life update for our little family. And believe me, this isn’t meant to be a pity party. I think it’s important to show all aspects of life and to bring light to the places that some people may not like to show or share. I’m sharing this just in case there’s another military spouse or spouse in general who might be going through a hard time.

With every season comes good times and bad. But it’s important to remember that in bad times, you can still find the good – if you look for it. On the outside, it sometimes looks like our life is filled with nothing but adventure. Of course, we have made many good memories seeing the world and taking advantage of our current duty station. But behind closed doors, it’s not always glamorous. The last two years have been one of the hardest seasons for us as a family while my husband fulfilled his duty as a drill sergeant. This was something out of our control and not our choice. It meant little family time and felt more like me doing life alone. Sometimes things are thrown our way whether we like it or not and it’s our choice to choose to sink or swim.

Once the news and the emotions set in that we were moving to Missouri, I went into full research mode on the base Facebook pages for any information I could find on what life would look like for us once my husband became a drill. Let’s just say almost everything I read was completely horrible. Now that I’m on the other end of it I can honestly say that parts of it were indeed horrible.

But… these last few years has been one of the most beautiful for us. Take a look at a few sweet moments.

wildflower bouquet — When my husband goes to the field, he loves bringing bouquets of flowers home for me

He loves sending me pictures of wild life, flowers and little critters because he knows it makes my day.

My daughter loves to set up her toys. I like capturing these times to remember how sweet they are.

My son loves creating and building! I love it.

Watching a thunderstorm roll through in hopes the kids can overcome their fears and to show them how fun it can be.

My son loves owls. He propped them up so they could watch the storm too.

In our experience, this season has brought me and my husband closer. It’s made us take advantage of the time we do have and to really be intentional with one another. This goes for family time as well. We’ve learned that sometimes our family outings look like going to the grocery store. It means that sometimes getting take out and bringing it home is better than a home cooked meal because I’m too tired to make it. And that’s okay.

Look, I’m not your counselor but life is hard for everyone at some point. Choose to do something that makes you happy. Pick up a new hobby. Be intentional with a loved one. And choose to swim.

So, what’s dehat day? This morning my husband came home from work, put his campaign hat on me and said, “here ya go, I don’t need this anymore”. Because he’s no longer a drill sergeant! Next stop, Kansas.

Now, time to go enjoy my moms’ homemade decorated sugar cookies and much needed family time. Here are a few Halloween moments so far.