What Really Matters in Life

Ha! I bet y'all thought this was going to be some sort of preachy, condescending read. Well I'm just full of surprises. With Brenda and the boys on their way to California, I thought I would share a few experiences that were passed on to me through nightly phone conversations after the duty day was done.

Mom Jones' arrival home from work usually meant that dinner would shortly follow for Dylan. One afternoon, mom was a bit late getting home from work (errands, whatever), and Dylan took notice. Heaven knows how he learned this, but he was wandering around the house saying, "Where's my dinner? Where's my dinner?"

Ever since the graduation ceremonies in Texas, Dylan had been pulling the pictures of his Dad off the shelf and asking when he would see daddy. And, of course, the countdown was already on for when our family would be together again. Who could have thought that 2 months would go by so slowly? Just a few days ago at this writing, after dinner was over and he was going through the standard cleanup procedures before de-highchairing, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "DADDY! WHERE ARE YOU?"
Brenda said, "I don't know, where is daddy?"
Dylan thought for a few seconds, and said, "At work. See in 6 days."

Kids are so fantastic! Not a day goes by but that I think about how much my family means to me, and how glad I am that we can all be together forever.

Short Update -

Okay, just last Wednesday I was told I would be starting language classes on Thursday instead of waiting until October. All well and good, as long as I can still get the family situated here in the "new" place.

Pictures from BMT are forthcoming - just waiting on the emails so I can post them here for all to enjoy.

Back in the saddle

It's been a while! An interesting past two months, leading up to a sunny afternoon here in beautiful Monterey, CA. Language classes don't start until October, but between now and then Nate will be putting in personal time to learn the Arabic alphabet, and basics to get a head start and hopefully stay afloat as he goes through this next phase of training.

We have housing set up, Bren and the kids will be moving out here within the next two weeks. We don't know when our things will come down from Washington, but we're eagerly anticipating having a home again. And in a few weeks Nate will be able to move into the house and off post! (Goodbye free food in the chow hall, hello morning commute...)

More good news in the form of Christmas exodus - the post here will be shutting down for two weeks, giving an opportunity to go back to Utah for Christmas! Lynn and Rachel will be back in town as well, it will be fantastic to see everyone yet again.

Mom, Andrea and Bonnie were able to make it to Lackland AFB for the Airman's Coin ceremony and the Honor Graduate ceremony, and have pictures to prove it. Here's hoping they'll share, and we can post some of the better pictures here. (nudge nudge) Brenda, her mom, and Cameron were able to make it late that afternoon, after those ceremonies but before Parade. Nate's flight performed drill movements very well in both ceremonies, with a perfect score for Retreat and only a handful of demerits for Parade. Again, hopefully some pictures will show up soon.

On the homefront, Dylan is putting his mom through the wringer. Every time he gets his hands on some form of writing utinsel another piece of furniture bites the dust. Too much energy trapped in that little body! He points to Nate's picture often and says, "See tomorrow?" to which Bren replies, "Nope. In two weeks." Dylan has now taken to pointing to the picture and saying, "Miss daddy. See in two weeks." Needless to say his dad misses him very much! Almost three months is a long time to not see the big guy.

That's all for now! Please be sure to keep in touch - phone numbers haven't changed for Nate or Brenda, neither have email addresses. We love all of you!