Don't Let Our Troops Down!

We have been doing this since September.  It has been a wonderful experience for our family!  I encourage you to do this and tell others about it too.  Sending a card once a week to a soldier cost so little but means so much!

The following came from the Adoptaplatoon Organization:
Now that the holidays are over, support has dropped considerably, but our Troops continue to be deployed and they continue to serve on our behalf.  PLEASE consider supporting a Soldier or two.  Mail is so important to these men and women who serve so proudly and it truly has a positive effect on their morale when they know they have not been forgotten!  If you can pen-pal with a soldier and send letters, cards and news from home contact the Apoptaplatoon orgainzation.  If you chose the option to adopt a soldier and send a MONTHLY CARE PACKAGE, please know that what you send does not have to be expensive....Gum, candy, toiletries, a pair of socks, plus a letter or card means more to a soldier than words could ever describe.  Again, just knowing they stand for "Mail Call" and have their named called for mail is valuable to them

Also, please spread the news about AdoptaPlatoon and ask friends, family, co-workers to visit our website and join in our efforts to "stand behind our nation's Heroes".  Call your family, friends, co-workers, community leaders, your neighbors and let them know that our Troops need them!  Guide everyone to the AAP website at the Adopt A Platoon web site and ask them to sign up using our application process.  Contact everyone you know and tell them that Our Troops sacrifice everything in their service to our Nation... Let's make sure that we never let our Troops down!

Parable of Three Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, 'Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.'

Then the second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.'

Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest Tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.'

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, 'This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, 'and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.' The second tree was happy Because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, 'I don't need anything special from my tree, I 'll take this one,' and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.
The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined.

We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His Ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

National Anthem by 5 young girls

Texas Tech University Basketball game, Feb 9th, National Anthem sung by 5 very talented young ladies. An entire arena remains completely silent Throughout the entire song. You could hear a pin drop

PAUSE THE MUSIC PLAYER BEFORE STARTING!

You make a difference!

The Church of Oprah Exposed

This woman is a blasphemy to the name of Jesus Christ!
Pause the music on the right side of my blog before starting the video.

Saving Any File As A PDF

This is a really neat program. It is called Primo PDF.
It will make any file (images, word files etc...) into a PDF. If you can print the file you can make a PDF out of it. To get this program it is in the LINKS section of the E-Group or go here.

Here is how it works...

With the file open Select PRINT

OR

With the file just an ICON
(an Icon is what it looks like before you open it and you right click on it to select to Print without actually opening the file to print it)
Choose the Print Option

When you go to print you have the option to choose which printer.

Choose Primo PDF

You will then have an option to choose your preferences.

Click ADVANCED



Choose your Print Quality settings here (DPI)

Then click OK



Then it will take you to what you normally see during your printing process....



This window will pop up.
This is where you can tell where to save it to.


Then Click SAVE


Then this screen will pop up.
Select SCREEN for plain documents
And *PREPRESS * for photos
Then Click OK


Now it will open up like any other PDF
Now your file is just been converted to a PDF.

Kathy Griffin Tells Jesus to Suck It

At the Emmy awards, Kathy Griffin's acceptance speech said, "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus." She went on to say,"Suck it, Jesus. This is my God now!" referring to the Emmy.

As a Christian, I am offended by her hate speech. What do you think might have happened if she had made the hate speech against Muhammed??? Kathy Griffin has the right as an American to say what she thinks. As a Christian-American, so do I.

Today I will refuse to watch any show that she may be on or purchase tickets to any event at which she would perform. What will you do? If you delete this, nothing bad will happen to you, but if you pass this on, you will truly have stood up for Jesus Christ.

As Executive Producer and star of the series, Kathy Griffin accepted the Emmy won by the show. Her remarks upon receiving the award were: "Now, look, a lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn't help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Millan would be up here with that *beep* dog. So all I can say is suck it Jesus, this award is my God now."

The E! Network airing of the awards ceremony removed Griffin's remarks from the broadcast. Griffin herself appears proud of her comments, labeling them on her web site as "what will go down as one of the best quotes in Emmy history."

Others were less taken with them. The members of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee's, Miracle Theater spent $100,000 on an ad in USA Today chastising the comic.


Griffin said she was simply parodying rappers, starlets, and athletes who thank Jesus for the recognitions they receive "as if Jesus doesn't have anything better to do than make sure that someone got their People's Choice Award or whatever."

Regarding her reaction to the criticism her remarks have fetched, Griffin told CNN's Larry King that: "I just am loving it. It's in the newspapers around the world and every article starts with, 'Emmy winner Kathy Griffin' and then the letters all just blur after that."


Read this article here

Thank You To ALL Our Soldiers

This is to thank all our soldiers serving. We appreciate you!
As always pause the music on the right before you start the video.

The Tank Comes Out Of The Truck

The tank gets pulled out of the truck today. We lifted it out with an engine lift. That thing is heavy!!!

Compressed Natural Gas Conversions

With gas prices soaring higher and higher Ken decided to convert our Avalanche. He just bought the tank for the truck today. Within a month our truck will have this capability.

Lord Give Me Strength!

I thought this was a cool picture!

Cute Story

A school teacher was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his snow boots. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots didn't want to go on. After getting the second boot on, the little boy said, "They're on the wrong feet."

She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on but she managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots on the right feet.

He then announced, "These aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather than scream, "Why didn't you say so?" Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet.

No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear 'em." Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots."

Take My Son

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!'

But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting.' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'

'$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?'

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.

They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

'What about the paintings?'

I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

The man who took the son gets everything!'

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is:

'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

Sad News...

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was cute.
Thanks Christy!
SAD NEWS...
Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly.

He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins,

Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions. Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes. If this made you smile for even a brief second, please rise to the occasion and take time to pass it on and share that smile with someone else who may be having a crumby day and kneads a lift.

Parenting Tip... Should I Change My Mind?

When parents say no, sometimes children choose to argue and plead their case. In the interaction parents can learn new information that persuades them to change their minds. Unfortunately during the dialogue children may treat parents with disrespect and be downright mean. Parents then must decide whether to change their mind or not.

Changing your mind isn't always bad but you need to make a distinction for your child between the new information and the process of how you got it, "I would like to change my mind here, but I'm feeling uncomfortable with the way you're talking to me. Your arguing is not helpful in our relationship and I don't want to encourage it by changing my mind. You have a good point but your exasperated tone of voice is demanding and disrespectful."

You may choose to stick to a no answer in spite of new and persuasive information. As a parent you're not just making a decision based on information, but you're also looking at how your child presents that information, and how this child treats you and your relationship in the process. After all, character is more important than the decision.

This tip was taken from chapter five in the book, "Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids." by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

Day of Silence Alert

If your child's school observes the homosexual sponsored "Day of Silence," keep your child at home April 25.

Thanks Ruben and Tina for the heads up!

Cpl Chris Mason

Leaving Fort Worth tomorrow

We will be heading back home tomorrow. :)
My Mom came home from the hospital today. :)

For all the people who protest...

I found this on a soldiers site. Thank you Chris! And to all our soldiers out there!

Tips To Manage Stress

In our hotel room here in Fort Worth I woke up sick. Not flu sick but stress sick. I couldn't sleep so I decided to get up and sit quietly in front of the laptop to get my mind off things and try not to wake up my family. The following is what I found here and the comments I added in my own words are noted in this color .

Don't sweat the small stuff! This is something my husband is always saying to me.
Don't try to ignore feelings of aggravation. Acknowledge them, then look beyond them to specific solutions. If that's not possible; then know that in the next hour, day, or week, the situation will change. Keep your perspective. Are the crises of two years ago important now, or have they been forgotten? Small stressors loom large in the present, but fade quickly if you let them. See them for what they are: small irritants, not earthshaking crises. Mark Twain used to say, "I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which have never happened."
Don't let guilt get to you. Guilt is destructive and can be a major source of unrelenting stress. If you have regrets, and it is possible to apologize to someone or repair some damage done, then do so and move on. Don't let others manipulate you using guilt. Do what you need to do, to make sure it doesn't happen again and be grateful for the lessons learned.
Develop coping strategies. Learn that you are not helpless in the situations that trigger stressful responses. Use these triggers to develop more resourceful and useful responses.
Learn to accept and adapt to change. Learn to have faith and practice being optimistic even in uncertain situations. Recognize that even the darkest clouds have a silver lining. Look for the opportunity to learn and grow and become more flexible through adversity. Take a leadership approach to problem solving. Don't let your problems immobilize you.
Change the way you look at stress. Stress is not an external force. It is the way you react to people, places and things. You have control over that. Look for choices and alternatives. Don't let fear take over. Break the problem down into small chunks that can be managed. See difficult situations as a chance to improve your problem solving skills. See them as enjoyable and challenging. Remember that things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.
Develop a support system. Everyone needs at least one person who acts as a sounding board. Choose some one you feel safe with, who you know you can share your hopes and fears with, without being judged. Just verbalizing feelings can be a great source of relief. Friends multiply joy and divide sorrow.
Learn to accept the things you can not change. The serenity prayer says it all: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Patience plays a large role in learning to accept what you can not change. Practice it often and it will become easier with time. Patience is sometimes putting up with people you would like to put down. Don't confuse acceptance with becoming helpless. Keeping busy and understanding that life is cyclical and ups and downs are all a part of the process will help.
Develop a personalized anti-stress regimen. This regimen should emphasize a healthy diet, exercise, and relaxation. It should be convenient, time effective, inexpensive and most important of all, enjoyable. Experimentation can provide you with one that is just right for you!

I can tell you now one of the things that works for me is my alone time to read my Bible at the end of the day in the quietness of my room where there are no distractions. I can tell when too much time goes by and I have not taken the time out of my day to do this. That is when the headaches come on etc... Satan provide distractions and problems of things that seem so important at the time that by the end of my day I am exhausted and forget to take out the me time. It is a constant battle to prioritize every day.

Don't take it personally. Fate doesn't single you out. When you are the target of someone else's bad day, just remember that if you weren't there, someone else would be the target instead. By not taking other's negative behavior personally, you can break the stress cycle. You shouldn't accept unpleasantness passively, but assert your right to be treated with respect, or temporarily remove yourself from the situation.
Believe in yourself. You are your own best friend. Remember that courage is believing in yourself when no one else does. Know that you have all the resources within you to make the changes you need to make and to meet all the challenges that life presents you with. This doesn't mean you have to do it alone.

Sometimes when I am in a stressful situation I find myself subconsciously holding my breath which usually gives me a migraine headache. I am going to try these breathing exercises and see if they work for me.
Take A Breath

Fort Worth

Well we are in Fort Worth, Texas now. We got in about 11:00 am today. We made a last minute decision to drive our truck instead of flying. The company gives Ken a small rental car and it just would not have given us much room for all our luggage plus this way we were able to bring our cooler etc...
When we got here the girls went exploring and found they had an outside pool and hot tub. Gonna be too cold to swim and the hot tub is more like a cold tub. Bummer! They did however find the have a nice workout room.
Our room is really nice with a small kitchen fridge, microwave and even has a fold out sofa.
After we got here we went looking around to find a Walmart etc... Then we got something to bring back to the hotel to eat since we all were really tired. (Hadn't been to bed since the day before)
We all laid down and rested and woke up around 8:00 pm
Then both Kendra and Kari got sick. Kari had not been feeling too well before we left. Not sick but just laying around. Most likely a 24 hr bug of some kind.

Happy Valentine's Day

For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
his onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever Believeth
In Him Should
Not perish,
But have Everlasting life."

John 3:16

DUST OFF

This is true... taken from here.

First, I'm going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were #2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it.

He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs.

I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.

I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF . Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them.

On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.

On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work.

He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.

I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was n his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM.

I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant called R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas, heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out that's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU!

The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian Roulette. You don't die later.

Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as you're breathing it in, if not you die within 2 seconds of finishing 'the hit.'

That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open. The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why it's more accepted.

There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.

It's easy to say hey, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it.

I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.

After Kyle died another story came out. A probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there.

They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this 'new' way of getting high they found, they hid it.

The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.

We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some 'professionals' do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it.

April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder if I died and went to Hell.

This Officer is asking for EVERYONE who receives this email to forward it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers.

Even if you do not have children, you can still forward this to friends who do.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO FORWARD THIS......IT COULD BE YOUR CHILD, OR GRANDCHILD WHO IS EXPERIMENTING. THERE ARE NO TELL TALE SIGNS.

This is too cute

I thought this was cute...

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David's comment. Gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. 'Listen', she said...........'What do you suppose that is?' He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap - tap - tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, 'Is that Jesus knocking?'

We Defend Our Freedom

Our mission in Iraq is clear. We are hunting down the terrorists. We are helping Iraqis build a free nation that is an ally in the war on terror. We are advancing freedom in the broader Middle East. We are removing a source of violence and instability — and laying the foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren.

The terrorists know that the outcome will leave them emboldened, or defeated. So, they are waging a campaign of murder and destruction. And there is no limit to the innocent lives they are willing to take.

In the past year, we have made significant progress:

One year ago today, we restored sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

In January 2005, more than eight million Iraqi men and women voted in elections that were free and fair — and took place on time.

We continued our efforts to help them rebuild their country. Rebuilding a country after three decades of tyranny is hard — and rebuilding while at war is even harder. Our progress has been uneven — but progress is being made. We are improving roads, and schools, and health clinics ... and working to improve basic services like sanitation, electricity, and water. And together with our allies, we will help the new Iraqi government deliver a better life for its citizens.

After September 11, 2001, I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult — and that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult. And we are prevailing. Our enemies are brutal — but they are no match for the United States of America — and they are no match for the men and women of the United States military.

Thank you. And may God bless America.

+PRESIDENT BUSH+