Photos from Deployment Ceremony and Sad Goodbyes

September Morn (or should it be Mourn)

Domingos Deployment Day! Well, there are many teary eyes in the Domingos house tonight. Doug left for you-know-where today. We all got to say our goodbyes and get extra hugs to last us for a while. The last few weeks have been quite an emotional roller coaster between the big deployment ceremony (with Sarah Palin) last week and all of the emotional "lasts". Other military families will understand the "lasts". Last day at church together, last tuck in with the kids, last day to play Frisbee outside, last dinner together as a family, etc., etc. The list could go on and on. I know that in a lot of ways we were ready to say goodbye. Now we can start counting down to the biggest welcome home ever!

It's hard to feel too sorry for ourselves when we know that our quality time together in the last year is more than most families have in ten years. We feel at peace about where we are (including this deployment) and about where we are headed. We know that God never gives us more than we can handle and that His grace is sufficient. Yes! Even enough for this year apart from the daddy my children adore, my biggest fan, my best friend, my husband and my one true love.

Come home soon, Babe!!

Lori makes local newspaper

Lori Domingos, 9, looks over the back of the decorated bleachers during the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Arctic Wolves deployment ceremony Thursday afternoon, Sept. 11, 2008 at Fort Wainwright. Domingos' father, Lt. Doug Domingos, is being ...

Whoo! Whoo! All aboard!

Last fall I won two tickets for the train in a raffle. We were within about a week of losing them if we didn't use them, so Doug and I packed a backpack with some goodies and hopped on the train. Our tickets were good for a round trip ride to Denali National Park from Fairbanks. We chose to upgrade our tickets to first class on the trip there to really get the full experience. The first class cars have glass tops so that you can see everything while you're riding. What a blast! We were like two kids at Christmas. The trees were beginning to change colors and the views were breath taking. We got to Denali around noon and took a bus to "town". Denali is really small to say the least. We grabbed some lunch at the Salmon Bake Restaurant and strolled through the shops filled with all things Alaskan. The train departed at four in the afternoon and we got back into Fairbanks at eight in the evening. The Alaska train is such an important piece of Alaskan history and has really become a popular symbol of the rugged Last Frontier.

Fall 2008

These pictures are just a snap shot of the fall. We celebrated Doug's 36th birthday. Oh my goodness! He's getting old!! We got the children ready for another great year at Barnette and we took a day to go play on the train to Denali. And, don't forget we saw a moose. We actually saw five within a two day period! Truly part of the Alaskan experience.

Here I am

As most of you (and by you, I mean anyone who would read this blog) know, we have been discussing and praying about adopting a child for many years. We are finally at a place in our lives to be able to move forward with this dream. Our hope is to be able to adopt a little girl between the age of 3-5 from Ethiopia. We submitted our adoption application today and also had our fingerprinting done by the local agency, too. We are assuming that the process will take about a year to complete. This is just the first step of many that we will take this next year on our journey to find the little girl that God has placed in my heart over 4 years ago. Doug and I and the children are very excited about our new addition and we all prayed and laid hands on the application this morning before it was sent out. I am so thankful for the unity we share and for the desire to be obedient to God's call to adopt.

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.