1st Lieutenant Brydon Manning

Feeling very behind on all the changes in our life but wanted to at least get a couple posts recorded before the big move. So right after I got my new teaching job at Agora Cyber Charter School, we received a phone call from the Air Force asking us to accept an offer to begin work on Oct. 18th. Of course we couldn't turn the offer down (part-time UPS package handler or Public Health Officer). So we said yes and have been busy shifting gears ever since. First Brydon had to get Scroll Approval from Congress and then had to be commissioned as an officer so he could then get orders to attend Officer Training. None of these were easy to do in a short amount of time but did happen. So on October 6th, Brydon was commissioned on PCOM's campus in Philadelphia by a new medical student who had recently joined the Air Force.





A week after that, he received orders to attend Commissioned Officer Training School in Montgomery, Alabama beginning October 18th. On the morning of the 18th, Brydon flew out and is currently learning how to be an Officer in the Air Force. So far the experience has been fine. The lack of sleep the first week was tough but they are beginning to loosen up a bit. They no longer have to eat at attention in 10 minutes and can walk around the base and not just march in a group everywhere. He has had two interesting experiences. First a girl in his flight group went CRAZY. She couldn't remember her name and just lost it. It was Brydon's job to oversee her safety and so that made things interesting. He also got in trouble for pulling a prank for their "Spirit Mission". Apparently the prank wasn't taken well and caused a bit of a scandal. I guess that is what happens when a bunch of military folks are told to create covert operations to steal artifacts from other classes. The flight commanders like to give him a hard time about it. He will graduate on November 19th and then head right down to Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, TX. Caleb and I will join him soon after and then we can begin the search for a home!




I sure think he makes quite a good looking soldier.

Just a Couple Jobs

I wanted to write this post a week ago but life has just been so busy lately. Well Brydon and I were recently able to secure employment that will allow us to stay in Philadelphia while we wait for Brydon to begin work with the Air Force. Brydon works nights (about 11pm-2am) for UPS loading trucks. The pay is ok and there are no benefits but it is very close to our home and the hours work well with my job and his church calling. Last night he actually got asked to be on the UPS safety committee. His supervisor learned about his thesis and so once a week he will attend a committee meeting and do safety inspections. So far the job has been pretty easy. I was recently hired as a Third Grade Math Specialist for the Agora Cyber Charter School. It is a really unique experience to work for a cyber school. I will work from home on a computer, teaching lessons and attending meetings. It is a certified teaching position and the pay and benefits are good. I love the fact that I get to stay home and have lunch with Brydon and Caleb. There is no nasty commute or long hours setting up and cleaning a classroom. The only drawback so far is that I am not used to sitting in front of a computer all day. But it is really a great opportunity for our family right now. I feel so blessed to be able to find employment during this time. Most school districts have few openings and some have been on hiring freezes. It is truly a miracle I was able to secure a position in just a couple months.

Abilene, Texas.......Here We Come!

Right before we left on our trip to South Dakota, Brydon got some good news! He got a job! We received a call from the Air Force and they offered Brydon a position as an Officer of Public Health. We have been stationed in Abilene, TX for our first post. We are really excited for this opportunity and Brydon is looking forward to the training and benefits the military offers. The only hang up is that he won't start officer training until March 8th, and right now that feels like an eternity. So we are in the midst of figuring out what to do until March, but happy to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Abilene should be a great new place to live but it is about as opposite as you can get from Philadelphia.

So Abilene is located pretty close to the center and heart of Texas. It is 3 hours west of Dallas. It is a city of about 120,000 people.


When we first googled housing in Abilene we found a gem of a home very close to this one. Yep a great trailer home in literally the middle of nowhere. I don't think we will be feeling overly castrophobic in Abilene.


We will definitely miss the beautiful folage here in Philadelphia. It looks a bit dry and brown in Abilene and I will sure miss the vivid green summer and colorful falls.


I don't think we will have quite the same skyline. I will miss the metropolitan area but since the biggest town I ever grew up in was only 10,000 people, I think Abilene will be plenty big.


We will definitely not miss a beauty like this. This great rental property not far from out apartment is renting for $850 a month with no utilities included and a high crime rate included.


However we are really looking forward to this. This beautiful 3br 2b home is $25 less a month than we are paying for out 2br 1b, 820 sq.ft. apartment. Doesn't it look dreamy!!!


And check out the beautiful fenced in backyard! Yeah I think we will survive just fine in Abilene. Now to just figure out how to survive 8 months of limbo!

The Alaskan Escape: Just a Dad and His Son!

So to celebrate Brydon's recent graduation from Graduate School and a looming 50th Birthday for Dad, Brydon and his dad had a father/son outing to of course ALASKA. Homer, Alaska! They had such a great time together and Brydon is so lucky to not only enjoy being with his dad but having a dad who is truly his best friend. They were able to walk on a glacier and see all sorts of beautiful wildlife. They spent two days deep sea fishing and caught everything from cool Salmon and Yellow Eyed Rock Fish to truly ugly Ling Cod. Rumor has it they had some popular fish to photograph! The guide they used comes highly recommended. In the end they shipped home 350 lbs of fish. Good thing we like fish and for great internet recipes! Then they were able to enjoy a bear sight seeing adventure in Katmai National Park. These two loves bears! And of course they have taught Caleb well. I love the pictures from the park. The trip was then completed with a kayak trip. Brydon is now just as convinced as his father that living in Alaska would be "pure heaven on earth". I can't deny that it sure looks amazing but I just don't know if I need to live there; especially during the winter. But I have been informed that Brydon will be going back!

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My Sweet Grandma

While we were out in South Dakota, my grandma fell and passed away a few days later. It is still hard to imagine her being gone but I am so blessed to know that she is in a better place surrounded by her loved ones. I know her mind is now whole and that she will be looking out for us, like she always did. I feel blessed to have had a very close relationship with my grandma. She was there when I was born and I have so many memories with her as a little girl. Grandma and grandpa were my cheerleaders through college and I never could have made it through school without them. Then we got to live by them while Brydon was attending the University of Utah. Last summer they even came out to visit us in Philadelphia and we had so much fun. She will truly be missed. She was a wonderfully amazing woman. Love you grandma!

The Great Big 4!

Well Caleb could not be more excited to be 4 years old! He has been dying to turn 4 like his friends and was so excited for the big day to arrive. He informed me that he is big now and can get married. I sure wish I could slow time down a bit. He will be 18 before I know it.
This year Caleb got to take 2 friends to the zoo with him and then we had a Scooby Doo cake with mint chocolate icecream in the evening. He had so much fun and can't help but tell everyone he knows that he is 4 now.

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I am so grateful for our sweet boy. He is so smart and observant. Caleb constantly keeps us on our toes but I wouldn't have it any other way. I will always see that sweet little round baby face when I look at him. Caleb we love you so much and are so so grateful you are in our family.

Adventures with Brydon's Sisters

Over the past few months we have had the chance to spend time with Brydon's sisters and their families. We spent 3 days in Washington, DC with Brydon's older sister and then spent a few days in Philly and a day in DC with his younger sister. We have really come to love DC and could spend a lot more time there. It is a beautiful place. Here are some of our favorite pictures from our fun outings.

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What did Brydon do for 2 years?

Well you may be wondering what Brydon did to receive a Master's in Public Health. For the past year, he has been working with an amazing professor, Dr. Jennifer Taylor, on a project for the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He has been evaluating their Near-Miss Reporting System to see how they can improve the system and what the current data in the system is telling them. This system is for any Firefighter that has a close call at work. So maybe someone almost fell threw the floor or there was a gas leak that could have exploded but didn't. When these occur, any firefighter in the nation can enter a report in the NMRS. The hope is that if enough data is collected then this system can help predict future problems before they happen. Brydon was able to give the IAFC many recommendations about how to fix the system and also found a few predictors for future hazards. It was a really big and complicated project that is now a 102 page book. He "rocked" his thesis defense(as quoted by his mentoring professor). I had the great opportunity to go watch him and it was so neat to watch him share everything he has accomplished in the past year. Below is a picture of Brydon with his poster presentation of his results.

Brydon's Graduation

Well he did! On June 11th Brydon graduated from Drexel University with a Master's in Public Health. It was a great day! We were fortunate enough to have Brydon's parents and his little sister and her husband come to the cermony and spend time with us. We are so proud of Brydon!

Finding Joy in Life

So the past few months have just not worked out like we had hoped. We did graduate but other than that we have no job, no way to even think about having more kids, student loans are running out, and there has been emotional stuff like family drama and dear friends moving away. Plus Brydon was just recently called as the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric and it has us rethinking some of our future plans. Some days I do great and have lots of hope and faith, other days not so great and it is hard to remember that the Lord can see the big picture. But I have found some great things that have helped.

First is reading my scriptures every day. Even if it is a couple verses. Just the act of picking them up and reading a little everyday makes life a little easier to handle. I am more patient and less quick to anger.


A dear, amazing friend recommended this book to me and it really couldn't have been more perfect. Sis. Okazaki is an amazing woman who has weathered some very tough trials. Her attitude, stories, and quotes were very inspirational and a big help to me as I have come to accept the life I currently live.


Exercise is like taking my "happy pills" everyday. It helps me stay sane and I like myself better. I feel happier, more confident, and more productive when I have exercised. I miss running but the elliptical has become my new best friend. I can still get a great workout but my heel doesn't hurt as much after. It is amazing what just a little exercise can do for the brain.


Spending time with these wonderful people reminds me that there is very little in life you truly need to be happy. Their humble prays and powerful faith remind me of the power of the "refiner's fire". They have suffered so much and yet have an unwavering faith in Christ. They lead simple, poor lives and yet find so much joy. I am so grateful I get to have them in my home on a regular basis.


And of course, I saved the best for last. Everyday I get to spend time with my beautiful little family is a blessing. I am so grateful for the times we get to play and work together. It has not been easy to weather these storms together or to always understand each other, but I am grateful for family time and what it does for the soul.

The Death of Dreams

There are times to celebrate life and all its joys and blessings and a time to mourn the trials and heartaches that life throws at us. Today is a day to mourn the death of two of our most precious dreams. The death of being a doctor and of being parents to a baby girl.

Four weeks ago, Brydon was asked to interview at PCOM, a DO school here in Philly. We were so excited at the prospect of Brydon truly being able to become a doctor. He had excellent recommendations and even an inside pull, and it felt like it was truly an answer to our prayers. Every blessing and promise to be a physician was truly going to happen. The interview was tough but we felt like he had given it his all. He let them know that he could do this program and that he truly was qualified to be a physician someday. However, one week later as he returned home alone from visiting family, a rejection letter waited for him. The final NO. Now after two years of attempts to get into medical school, the dream has died. Shortly after we were married we began the process of working to get accepted to medical school. We have spent 6 1/2 years dreaming, planning, and working toward that goal. And now we have decided it is over. Brydon would have been an amazing doctor. His patients would have loved him and he would have touched so many lives for good. I always thought of how handsome he would look in the white coat and how I would love to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly stories of a physician's adventures. I couldn't wait to see him come home from doing something he truly loved. And so today we mourn the loss of that dream. There will be no handsome, man in a white coat saving lives.



Recently Brydon and I were approached by a family to adopt their baby. This not an option we had planned for right now in our lives. We knew the timing wasn't the best and the funds would be really hard to find, but we felt that it could be the answer to our prayers. Since we had tried all other options to have another baby, we thought this might be what we needed to do. We met with the birth parents and decided that they had a true sincere desire to give this baby girl a better life. The girl was due to arrive August 17th and we were working to move forward to be prepared for the expected arrival. Today as we were driving home from meeting with the adoption agency, we received a call that told us the baby had died. The mother had become ill and went into early labor. Doctors couldn't stop the contractions and a perfect, small 22 week old baby girl was born. She took a breath and then passed away. Her body was just not ready for this world yet. My heart aches for the poor birth mother that has been through so much in her short life. I can't imagine going through such an experience. And we mourn the passing of a baby girl that we had dreamed could have been ours. There will be no little girl in our home.



I read this quote today that sums up a lot of how these experiences have felt. I changed it a bit.

"Death. Death of a lot of things. The end of the Manning family as we had pictured 7 years ago. Death before life...before we even know our child, because she never existed. The hardest part of this kind of death is the fact that it is the death of a dream. There are no solid memories, no pictures, no things to remember. You can't remember your child's blonde hair or brown eyes, or her favorite toys or the way she laughed, or the way it felt to be pregnant with her. She never existed. There is no funeral, no burial, no grave to lay flowers on. The couple often grieves alone."

30 Here I Come

Well it is official. I am now 30 years old. Last night we officially celebrated my birthday since we were all sick on my actual birthday. It was a fun Valentine's/Birthday bash. We had our great friends the Christensen's over and Caleb got to spend the day with his Valentine Reese. He even got her a box of chocolates and a card. He informed her that he likes her and that he will be the dad and she will be the mom. They have got quite the life planned out for themselves. We had a really fun dinner with way too much yummy food and then Brydon made one of my favorite traditional birthday cakes. My family called it a strawberry short cake but Brydon says that there is nothing "short" about this cake. It is a layer cake filled with strawberry jello, frozen strawberries, Cool Whip, and marshmallows. It is quite the cake and I believe it is the cake I had on my 1st birthday. This is a Grandma H. speciality. We had a really fun night.


So now that I am "old" and 30, I have done a bit of reflecting on my life. I don't feel old at all. At least not as old as I thought I would at 30, but it did make me think about my life so far. So I decided to list all of my top accomplishments so far in life and some of the things I hope to do in the near future.

Best Accomplishments
1. Getting married in the temple to my soul mate
2. Having a beautiful and amazing son
3. Being nominated Lincoln Elementary's Hall of Fame Teacher of the year
4. Graduating from BYU with scholarships and making every toilet shrubbed, garbage dumped, carpet cleaned, and tear shed absolutely worth it
5. Taking Vocal lessons at BYU and getting to sing in a choir under the direction of Sis. Hall (only for one short summer semester but...uhhh.....amazing!)
6. Visiting the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic park with my grandpa
7. Spending 2 months in the Middle East....Israel, Egypt, & Jordan
8. Graduating in the top 10 of my High School class
9. Qualifying for the State Cross Country Meet on a fractured leg
10. Starring in the High School play as a Freshman
11. Winning the State Civic Oration Contest and getting to compete in the National Civic Oration Contest

Things I Want to Accomplish
1. Have more kids (still not ready to let go even though it seems impossible)
2. Learn how to play the guitar and own a guitar
3. Take vocal lessons again
4. Play a large role in a major community Musical production
5. Work for the Department of Education
6. Go to New York and Washington DC
7. Travel the world
8. Serve a Mission
9. Buy a yacht and sail the world
10. Learn how to scuba dive
11. Finish a marathon
12. Get my Masters degree

Ahhh....so excited for life!!!

Finally a Sunbeam!

The long, long awaited day to enter Sunbeams finally arrived!!! Caleb has been so excited to go to the big Primary but the big Primary change was postponed from the beginning of January until today. Although he was pretty excited to be big, he did finally ask the all important question, "Are there toys in Sunbeams?". He was disappointed to hear that there would not be any toys but still thought it would be fun to go. He can't wait to give us first talk in Sharing Time. (I'm wondering how you video tape something like that for the grandparents? hmmmmm...) The day was a bit rough. After being couped up in the house due to snow and illness, he was not his best self but did well making the transition. Of course he wanted to go all by himself and was sad when mom insisted she walk him to the primary room. He is a Mr. Independent who just can't wait to do everything ALL BY HIMSELF! I am so proud of our "big boy" Sunbeam!

Snow and More Snow

Well we have survived a lot of snow the past few days and it has most definitely made life adventurous. I can't believe how much snow we have gotten and how difficult it has made life. This city is just not meant to have a heavy snow fall. There is literally no where to put the snow. We had a lot of fun unburying our car the other day with our mop bucket (we don't own a snow shovel). It was a lot of work and required lots of digging with our hands but our car is now free. I also had to include some pictures of the Philadelphia streets on our way to church. It was an awful drive. Everyone parallel parks here and even if there is snow in the way, they still park on the street. Our favorite Philly snow thing is the saving of your spot with some random piece of furniture. I guess after you spend so much digging yourself out you don't want to share your spot on the street. It looks really strange though.

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The Blessings of Service

So over the past month, Brydon and I have been struggling with being ultra-positive about our life. It seems like everytime we are about to overcome one obstacle, we get thrown a bigger and harder obstacle. Life just hasn't felt very easy or all that fun. And of course as our trials seemed to mount, we were asked to serve more in the church. Brydon was gone often to help with moves or give blessings or rearrange Hometeaching and I was asked to take on one more calling. My literacy class has been a very time consuming calling on its own and quite frankly we were overwhelmed...and didn't handle it all well. We became GRIPING PROS! But one Saturday morning, we had a nice reminder of the blessings of service.

That morning Caleb woke up and began getting dressed right way. He put on his white button shirt, black slacks, dress shoes, and a tie (all by himself). He informed us that he needed to go to church and had to give someone a blessing. He was adamant that we needed to go and that he wanted to give a blessing just like daddy. He told us he had to put on his church clothes because that is what you wear to give blessings. We felt very blessed that Caleb had seen his daddy serve so much that he wanted to serve too, and he even knew that when daddy served he worn the "uniform of the priesthood" or shirt and tie:) It made me realize that although it is not always easy to serve it is well worth it. Even if it is only to show our children where our priorities lie.

Later that week as I was teaching the Literacy class I watched Caleb teach my students all the letters of the alphabets and the sounds they make. Then he would help them find sight words in a poster I was using. I was amazed by his love of learning and how much he has learned between preschool and the Literacy class we host in our home.

I am so grateful for the opportunities the Lord gives us to serve that allow us to stretch and grow. Now we are working on serving more fully and griping a whole lot less.