The Mrs Claus Affair

On Saturday and Sunday my little family delivered Christmas cheer to 9 women whose husbands are deployed right now. The Mrs Claus Affair raised $1200 and provided Christmas gifts to 17 women.  It was such a wonderful experience for my family as we delivered gifts to these women who had no idea we were coming. Many tears were shed and much gratitude was exchanged. We thanked THEM for their sacrifice and their husbands service to our beloved country. Here are just a few responses women left us. (Some women weren't home so we left their gifts on the doorstep.

"My name is Jen. I live in Germany and just received some gifts on my door step. I want to apologize for not being able to get to the door. I was talking through skype with my husband who is deployed right now. I googled "Mrs. Clause Affair" and found who you guys are and your mission. It made me cry. :) Thank you for the thoughtfulness you guys bring. I am still very unsure how you got my name and address, but I am going to guess it was from my husband. :) I don't think there is anyone else that knows my address here. I didn't get to tell you thank you when you were here and I am sorry. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. "

"I came home today to find mystery packages in my driveway from Mrs. Claus Affair… So I googled it..." This is really touching!! Thank you thank you for making my day today by having mystery packages waiting for me!! So very excited to open them on Christmas Day! Very sweet!"

"You delivered gifts to my daughter and I today. I want to say a million thank-yous! This has been one rough week in particular, and you really put a smile on my face. I’m not used to anyone showing they care like this. We have been in the military 17 years and this has been the most caring squadron and group of people here in Germany we have ever been around. You are so sweet and thoughtful."

My friend Annie and her family delivered gifts to the other 8 women and I'm so grateful I have her as my friend and that we were able to pull this off. I'm grateful to each person who helped us raise money and wish each one of them could have seen the women as we embraced them with love and gifts.

This is what the Christmas Spirit is about. Seeking those who need to feel Christ love for them. Happy Holidays to each of you!

This Colonel Rocks!

I wrote a post last year (that I later deleted) about J's then SJA (Colonel boss). It was no secret that he was not the most desirable SJA to say the least. Anyways, I wrote a post comparing our first SJA to our second one. It was night and day. The first one took the time to know not only J but our family. He made sure office functions happened with families, checked in with me personally etc. Then we came to Germany and had a completely different experience. The SJA had no idea who I was when I walked into the office nor took the time to hold office functions or helped facilitate office camaraderie, etc. I had a reader write me a lengthy comment saying how that is silly to compare the two because Germany's office is much, much larger and it's just plain impossible for an SJA to have the same kind of relationship with me or the Captain's as J's first SJA who was running a much smaller legal office.

Well J has had a new SJA since this summer and....HE IS AWESOME!! Just like our first SJA was. He knows my name, takes time to know our family (the whole office even threw me and two other wives a huge baby shower), holds regular family functions and cares about his Captain's. To top it off J gets a shopping day next week. Yes, his SJA is giving each Captain a free day off to go Christmas shopping!

My faith in amazing SJA's has been restored!