Pictures from Iraq

Platoon Picture


Here's me on the plane to Kuwait. We had to carry all of our weapons on the plane.

Waiting for the Distinguished Visitors to exit from their meeting, or meal, or whatever. The majority of my day.

Standing pretty for the Distinguished Visitors that come to our Base.

Christmas in Iraq

Lori, the amazing wife she is, sent me a Christmas tree in a box! It was perfect! I only had to put it together 4 times in the course of me moving through different housing units when we first got on base. For Christmas Eve in Iraq, our platoon had a party. We had pizza, chips, and drinks, played video game tournaments, and board games. Then we did a white elephant gift exchange. I got to call my family a couple of times and the kids were so excited to see Dad on the computer again. Most of the day was spent relaxing and having some quiet time. I'm glad to be around people with the same values, morals, and good attitudes. The people here really make this place not so bad. The day after Christmas I got some free time and played Guitar Hero games that my lovely wife got me for Christmas. Not too shabby. I am, however, sick from all the candy that Santa Claus brought...



Our Platoon Christmas Tree Rescued from a dumpster and given new life as our Center of Decorations. Notice the American Flag Angel combination tree topper.

Me opening Teriyaki Beef Jerky as my white Elephant gift.

Christmas in Idaho

I told LeeRoy that I had a horrible realization as the girls were opening their presents this year. He asked what it was and I told him I realized that the toys don't come out of their boxes already put together and that the stack of boxes and wrapping paper doesn't just magically disappear by mid-morning. He got quite the laugh out of that one!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was different, and definitely a challenge but still wonderful. The whole month of December was full of fun activities and every night before bed the girls got to eat a chocolate from their countdown calendars and they took turns picking a Christmas story for me to read to them. This was a lot of fun and really helped us feel the spirit of the season all month long.

The week of Christmas Emily's school had a sing-in with each grade singing a song. Emily's grade sang "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". They did such a great job. It was adorable. In this video she is in the front row towards the center with the polka dot pajama pants, (it was also pajama day at school):



That week the girls and I also put together a gingerbread house. It was fun to do but I think we ate more of the candy than made it on the house! Mmmmmmmm


We spent most of Christmas Eve at my parent's house playing games, eating, and hanging out together. When we got home that night we tracked Santa's flight through Norad and laid out some water, cookies, and reindeer food for Santa. The girl's were very excited to finally go to bed!


On Christmas morning I was the first one awake and got to ring the bells waking everyone else up. I had the girls line up behind a curtain I had put up the night before before they came out to see what Santa had brought. Emily got a pink Ipod Nano and a Password Journal. Wendy got a Baby Alive. They were so happy! We spent the rest of the morning unwrapping presents. The girls loved everything they received. We spent the rest of the day with family and loved every minute!






The best part of the day was getting to Skype with LeeRoy in the morning and at night. The girl's were so worried about Santa finding him and filling his stocking so they were so happy when he was able to show them that his stocking did get filled. He was even able to open some presents with us.


Being apart on such a special day was not easy but we found ways to still make special memories and appreciate each other. We spent a lot of time talking about the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. I am so thankful for such a wonderful family and we are already looking forward to next year when we can all be together again!

Anniversary Flowers

My husband sent me these flowers for our anniversary. He has such a way of making me feel loved, even from thousands of miles away! He was also able to call me several times throughout the night and day. I love you hubby and I can't wait for next year when we can celebrate together!

Call Family Christmas Party

My mom's side of the family all got together over the weekend for the annual Call Family Christmas party. It was so fun seeing everyone again. There was tons of food and the adults had fun visiting while the kids played. Emily ran around with her cousins while Wendy spent most of her time riding a little tricycle around the gym. She loved that thing!

The girls were so happy when Santa showed up. They both sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas. When we got home I was comparing pictures I had taken from last year's party to this year's and Emily noticed that Santa was the same in both pictures. This convinced her that he must be the "real" Mr. Clause. She is already looking forward to next year!

It's a Wonderful Life

On Wednesday evening Emily and I went with my parents and Jim and Nedra to see It's a Wonderful Life at the Center Stage Playhouse. I told Emily I was taking her as my date. Mom/daughter dates are so much fun! It was so nice to visit and eat a wonderful meal together at the theater before the show started. After the play the cast put on an extra show called Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree where there put on different costumes and sang Christmas carols. That was our favorite part! We had such a great time but were careful not to get too wild and out of control since there was a table full of nuns sitting behind us!

Ward Christmas Party Dance Performance

Emily's dance teacher and a lot of girls from the dance team are in our ward so they decided to do a little dance for the Christmas party last night. Emily was so excited to dance with the older girls. She had so much fun practicing and getting ready and was even more excited when the Palmers and the Calls came to watch her. We had such a nice evening. There was good food, great entertainment, and lots of people to visit with. Thanks again everyone for coming!

2010 Christmas Card

A friend of ours was nice enough to make our Christmas cards for us this year. They are two-sided and I love how they turned out! We will be sending them out soon.

Getting Ready for Christmas

This last week we have had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas. We started off by going to see the Forgotten Carols. It was a wonderful play and we had such a great time.

Later we put up our tree and all of our decorations. It took a while because some of the lights our our pre-lit tree wouldn't come on. After about an hour of searching I finally located the problem and fixed it. When all the lights came on the girls clapped and screamed that it was a Christmas Miracle! The tree is also plugged into a remote control to turn the lights on and off. I always hide it and let them clap to "magically" turn on the lights, and blow to turn them off.

Emily has been begging for eggnog since Halloween so I finally let them drink some while they wrote their letters to Santa. It was great watching how excited they got when it came time to mail them!


Last night we got invited to go with a friend to attend a Christmas party put on for the kids of the deployed soldiers. We had so much fun. Santa came and handed out presents. They served us dinner, had crafts for the kids to do, and had clowns that made balloon animals. It is so nice being involved in so many Christmas activities. We are definitely looking forward to the rest of the season!

Balad

So here I am! Safe in Joint Base Balad. You'll have to google it to see where I am in the country. Right now I have a room shared with another guy from a different unit. After our crew we're replacing leaves, we'll take over their old rooms. There is everything we could ever need here. From several gyms and dining facilities to rec centers, movie theatre, stadium with track, sports field, two restaurants, general Post Exchange, and much more. We have already started doing our missions under the guidance of the unit who's leaving. My platoon from Pocatello is the Personal Security Detail for on base and any trips out to other bases that the VIP's need to go visit. I do have internet in my room, but the speed is very unpredictable. Soon we'll have a regular schedule after the Christmas tours slow down. I'll send a few more updates, but my schedule will be pretty routine for the remainder of the tour. See everyone in July when I come home for R&R leave!


Since LeeRoy arrived in Balad we have been able to Skype. I cannot express how wonderful that has been. The kids went crazy! Wendy has been crying a lot over her dad lately, worrying about him not having a bed to sleep in with it so cold outside. I explained to her that the army gave him a bed and that helped a little but her being able to actually see him sitting on his bed and talking to her helped a lot. He also has such a great attitude. Just seeing him and talking to him for a short time puts us all in a great mood and eases our fears. I love technology!