Tuesday, March 22, 2011

FYI

Hi all, just letting you know that I got an email from Dave, he got back to Afghanistan last night and is back into the swing of things.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Our surprise visitor

Hi all-- most of you probably don't know that on Thursday night, March 3rd Dave showed up at our front door!  YUP! Totally unknown to all of us!  It was funny, cause Jack was standing in our kitchen and yelled "Dad"?....Katie and I were in the living room and just looked at Jack, then each other like he was crazy.  One more time Jack yells..."Daddy!"  Katie and I do the same thing...finally, on the last scream, Jack goes running to the front door!  Katie and I got up in time to see Jack jump into Dave's arms!  What a great surprise that was for all of us, especially Jack!  Now all of you who know Dave well, are most likely surprised that Dave actually took leave and came home!  Sure enough, he had two weeks of leave.  Mind you, it was just because of some mix up about some signature that was needed from someone or the other, so Dave "had" to take leave!  Taking leave is usually a great thing to do, but when you have 800 guys under your command who are counting on you, it is hard to just up and fly out of the country!  ALSO, he would hate to miss any "good" action!! 
So, he spent two weeks fixing the toilet, garage door, and his car battery, doing taxes, straightening out a few messes I had gotten our bills into, (nothing major, I just don't do them the way he does!) telling Katie she has too much make up on, or that her clothes are too tight, watching Katie at karate and jumping horses, watching Jack's basketball practices and even a game, telling Katie she has too much make up on, and that her clothes are too tight, playing tons of Madden Football with Jack, debating with Katie as to why kids can't swear on the school bus since they do have the "right to free speech", a quick trip into the city to see a few friends, a great visit from his mom, lunch with the guys from Motorola, and many trips to the Y to kick my butt doing ab work, lifting weights, and teasing me while running on the treadmill next to me!!!  Oh, and one more thing....telling Katie that .....ok, you get my drift!  So, he needed to go back to the war in order to get some rest!!  Please don't be offended if he didn't call or visit you while here, as you can see, he was pretty busy!  He brought back many pictures, I will post them now and then, and try to remember what and where they were!  He is doing fine over there, and thanks everyone for the wonderful care packages and letters that have been sent to him.  He wants me to tell you that he really does have everything that he needs over there, and there isn't anything that he could ask be sent to him!  He has many stories, some I get to hear, some the kids get to hear, and some that are saved for his closest buddies.  My stories are all I need to hear, as I have heard a bit of the buddy ones, and would like to wait til he is home safely to hear all of those!  The tentative date for leaving Afghanistan is July 3rd.  Then he will have the mandatory two week debriefing someplace, I am not sure, then back home.  I will wait until July 1st to write this date on my calendar, because I know the military well, things change over and over again!  I will keep you up on the date as it gets nearer.  We haven't heard from him yet, so we don't know for sure if he is back in Afghanistan or not.  It took him an entire week to get here, with a two day luxurious stay in Kuwait, so who knows what the trip back has in store for him!
So for us, Jack walks around sad, missing Dave even more, Katie walks around in tight clothes and lots of make up, and I just go back to my usual routine, and get to take it easy at the gym! :O)  Today Jack and I started out the day with an early morning baseball meeting.  This is a new league for us this year because Jack is too old for the place he had been playing before.  The season starts April 5th, but not soon enough for Jack!  After the meeting we went on to register for football!  Jack decided to try it again this year, after taking last year off.  Then, it was back home to pick Katie up so we could go to Jack's last basketball game.  Katie has really enjoyed watching the basketball games this year since the referees are young and cute.  "Go team!"  Jack's team had a great season this year and ended 5-2.  He had a great time.  Next week Katie starts track at the middle school and is going to have an eye opening season this year since they actually have coaches who know what they are doing this year as apposed to the pregnant teacher, science teacher, and I am not sure who else last year!  I hope that she learns what it is all about....last year, the sprinters wouldn't warm up with a two mile run because they "were sprinters, duh!" I can't wait!!  :O)  Katie is also getting ready to graduate from 8th grade, and head on over to the high school next year.  I do not know where the 8th grade graduation hoopla started, I think that it is silly to have these big celebrations, dances, and even grad. pictures...come on people, is it that uncommon to graduate from 8th grade???  I will be glad to have Dave here with me for the high school fun, although I am not sure if he will survive it! 















































































Well, got to go for now, enjoy the photos I am posting. If they don't have a title to them, I don't know what the heck they are!
Much love to all!