It's like a Christmas miracle; I was actually able to figure out how to embed this video using HTML code because the URL for it wouldn't work...
Unfortunately though, I'm not smart enough to figure out how to make it any bigger.
Going to take the next couple of days off, but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
And if you're reading this Josh Downs...Merry Christmas to the biggest hunk in all of Northern Afghanistan.
ETA: If the video won't play for you, here's a link to the original.
Karen,
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you, Josh and the kids! Enjoy!
Posted by: Sylvia | December 21, 2011 at 08:17 AM
That is just awesome! I bet you still can't wipe the smile off your face after seeing that video :) Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
Posted by: Denise | December 21, 2011 at 08:57 AM
Merry Christmas Karen and family! Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Posted by: Addie | December 21, 2011 at 09:29 AM
God bless every single one of you! And please send our thanks to Josh Downs for serving our country. His message was beautiful and made this old Grinch shed a tear. Merriest of Christmases to all of you!
Posted by: Amy N | December 21, 2011 at 09:34 AM
Merry Christmas to your family near and far!
Posted by: Ellen Patton | December 21, 2011 at 09:53 AM
Tears in my eyes! Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Becky | December 21, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Merry Christmast to you and your family Karen!
Posted by: Lori S | December 21, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Merry Christmas Karen!! hope you and your family have a great day! You did a great job keeping your traditions while Josh is away!
Posted by: gina f. | December 21, 2011 at 11:09 AM
Awe, that makes my heart ache a bit for you guys. I know you will all be reunited again soon. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas sweet friend! xoxo from Conroe, TX
Posted by: Nancy Wyatt | December 21, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Merry Christmas to you and all of your little love bugs!!!!!
Posted by: stephanie | December 21, 2011 at 11:29 AM
As frustrating as technology can be...isn't it just amazing that Josh Downs was able to record something so meaningful from so far away and send it so quickly to you?! Thanks for sharing this with all of us Karen. Merry Christmas Karen, Josh, Ross, Cole, Courtney, & Annie! I hope the new year brings a truly joyful reunion to your family!
Posted by: Alaina | December 21, 2011 at 11:30 AM
Merry Christmas & God bless you & your family!
Posted by: Stephanie | December 21, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Merry Christmas Karen and Kids!
Merry Christmas Josh!
May the New Year bring you all back together! HOMECOMING KISSES ROCK!
Posted by: JaYne | December 21, 2011 at 11:42 AM
Thanks for sharing - Merry Christmas to all of you!!
Posted by: kristin | December 21, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Merry Christmas, Karen and family. May the New Year bring you all safely and happily together.
Posted by: Lynn | December 21, 2011 at 01:38 PM
Oh...this makes me tear up too. His voice is totally "crackly" with emotion, but you can tell that he is SO strong. Family hugs to all.
Merry Christmas.
Posted by: janel | December 21, 2011 at 01:40 PM
Merry Christmas to you and your family... Thank you so much.
Posted by: susan lew | December 21, 2011 at 01:53 PM
So much emotion packed in this post. Merry Christmas to you and your entire family.
Posted by: Sandra A | December 21, 2011 at 03:15 PM
Watching that video brought tears to my eyes! Thank you for sharing it! Merry Christmas to all of you!
Posted by: Stephanie | December 21, 2011 at 03:25 PM
Merry Christmas to you and your family! It is so strange to have seen so many pictures of your Josh Downs in classes and on your blog that it was fun to hear his real voice.
Posted by: Lisa | December 21, 2011 at 05:33 PM
Merry Christmas to you Karen, Josh and your beautiful family. What a special gift...thank you for sharing. God bless all of you!!!
Posted by: Tracy | December 21, 2011 at 05:49 PM
Whoa! Just saw Josh Downs on the news saying hello. I don't comment on your blog often (ever?) but I do read and enjoy it! Was the link here the same as what was on the news? I couldn't get it to work on my computer. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I'm so grateful for families like yours who sacrifice so much for the rest of us. Thank you.
Posted by: Mari | December 21, 2011 at 06:17 PM
Can anyone post a link to the video? Not working here and I'm dying to see it!!
Posted by: Jodie | December 21, 2011 at 06:42 PM
Merry Christmas and God bless!
Posted by: SusanC | December 21, 2011 at 06:45 PM
...and then there were tears!!!!
Merry Christmas to all our SERVICE MEN & WOMEN!!!! What a sacrifice to be away...especially this time of year!!! I'm missing my boy TREMENDOUSLY!!!! The first Christmas holiday we've EVER been apart....
Posted by: Tina | December 21, 2011 at 07:03 PM
Karen, I don't think you've said before.... Do you have any idea when Josh Downs comes home?? I know how much you miss his hot calves and every other ounce of him too!! I hope soon. : )
Posted by: Paige Rodriguez | December 21, 2011 at 07:09 PM
What a great message! So special.
Posted by: Elizabeth C, | December 21, 2011 at 08:10 PM
I bet you have watched that a million times:-)
Posted by: Monica | December 21, 2011 at 10:17 PM
Wishing your family a very Merry Christmas and sending my heartfelt thank you to Josh for serving! The sacrifice that all service men and women (and their families) make on behalf of our country is appreciated!
Posted by: Lisa Risser | December 21, 2011 at 11:49 PM
Merry Christmas to you Karen and your beautiful family! I hope you can find some Christmas miracles even without Josh Downs by your side. Thanks for sharing your video. Josh Downs, Merry Christmas and THANK YOU for your service!
Posted by: Corrine A. | December 22, 2011 at 05:54 AM
Wish you a wonderful Christmas from Germany.
Love your blog and i thought a lot of you,your family and Josh the last days ... :) You're so strong and so full of love... may the new year bring you all together!
Merry Christmas
Elly
Posted by: Elly | December 22, 2011 at 05:58 AM
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! That's awesome!!! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Posted by: SarahN | December 22, 2011 at 06:37 AM
so sweet, merry christmas josh downs and all of you, karen.
hugs and prayers with you all this christmas!
tara
Posted by: tara pollard pakosta | December 22, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Merry Christmas to you and your family! I pray Josh will be back home safe and sound soon and you all will never have to spend another holiday apart.
Posted by: Ann S | December 22, 2011 at 12:25 PM
aaaawwwee
Posted by: kate | December 22, 2011 at 02:46 PM
Link's not working for me on my Mac, but I want to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas just the same.
Posted by: Carrie | December 22, 2011 at 03:34 PM
That made me cry! I hope he's home safe and sound to you guys soon!
Posted by: Kelli | December 22, 2011 at 06:50 PM
Merry Christmas Karen to you and your family. Thank you so much for the sacrifices that your family has made for our country and our freedom. Hoping this will be the only Christmas you and Josh will have to spend apart.
Posted by: Dawn | December 23, 2011 at 05:46 AM
Best Christmas present ever!! God bless him and keep him safe. Cheers to you for being such a strong woman!!
Posted by: Sue | December 23, 2011 at 09:18 AM
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I'm sorry to hear Josh isn't with you and your family to celebrate but he'll be in your hearts. The video is so sweet. May the New Year bring Josh and the other service men and women home safely to their famlies. Peace to you all :)
Posted by: Paola Norman | December 23, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Thanks so much for sharing with us Karen! Merry Christmas to all of you! xoxoxo
Posted by: Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita | December 23, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Merry Christmas to you and yours :)
Posted by: jennifer | December 23, 2011 at 01:05 PM
Merry Christmas to you and Josh too, Karen... and to all your adorable children.
Posted by: Mickee | December 23, 2011 at 01:43 PM
I hear scrapbookpictures is closing it's doors on 01/01/12.
Posted by: betsy Johnson | December 23, 2011 at 02:46 PM
Finally got the video to play and you can hear the love in his voice. We send you love and hugs from Bellingham, Washington. And I am so impressed with you and holding it together with him gone during Christmas. And if you ever feel like you are not, know that you are being held up in prayer by many of your readers who love you even if we have never met you. You have shared in such a way that many of us feel like close friends.
The very Merriest of Christmases to you. Even in the midst of things.
Tammy
Posted by: tammy t | December 24, 2011 at 09:31 AM
Tears!! Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
Posted by: teresa b | December 24, 2011 at 10:46 AM
It's CHRISTmas...!!!
Much love from our house to yours!!!
ana
Posted by: ana roat | December 25, 2011 at 07:45 AM
If I was techy enough to post a link to Jon Lennon's "Happy Christmas" on YouTube right now, I would, so this comment will have to do for now...
Thank you both for your inspiration.
Posted by: Lindsey | December 25, 2011 at 07:02 PM
so I went back and read through all of 2006... what an amazing year you had!! and I can't believe Courtney's hair was so long--AND had curls!! I love that looking back you can see the kid's same expressions they still use--Courtney's 'big girl' tolerance look; Coley's no-teeth smile; and baby Annies sweet 'o' mouth poses and sparkling eyes...
I'm glad you're still blogging. Are you still scrap booking as much? I had no idea you had your own line, and kits, and everything! You ARE a renaissance woman!
Thank you for sharing!!!
Posted by: Robin N | December 27, 2011 at 08:28 AM
Hey Karen...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I just saw that Scarpbookpictures.com is closing January 3rd. What are your plans for photos?
Posted by: Jan | December 31, 2011 at 06:11 PM
I say kudos for using your savy and learning how to embed the video using html. Well done
Posted by: Tree surgeons London | January 01, 2012 at 11:40 AM
I just found your blog after a not great day at about 9:30pm and I am smiling after reading 3 post. I love how you sign off on the posts, I read hundreds of blogs a day and have never seen anything like it. And if you are reading this Josh Downs, you are one lucky man.
Posted by: MaryBeth | January 01, 2012 at 06:53 PM
Thank you for finally writing this post. I had forgotten up it, until a couple of days ago, and I thought, Karen never posted about her triathlon like she promised-I hope she still does it. My husband and I were on a relay team for a triathlon this past August. I did the swim, he did the run, and my 67 year-old stepdad with black lung did the 26-mile bike. All I thought was, I don't want to come in last. However, we did. I blame it on my stepdad-darn his black lung! But in all seriousness, it was super awesome to have trained for it. All of the other athletes there were inspiring. I'm feeling you on the anxiety in the water. It was more than I thought it would be. Thanks so much for sharing your story!
Posted by: Allison Clem | January 02, 2012 at 06:11 AM
Ok, so I was reading your post and could totally relate to not knowing how old you are! I too was born in 1973, and about had a stroke when I realized that we were the same age...39! Until I did the math...38 baby....38....39 this year! We will turn 40 in 2013!
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