From Mom, Thu 9/30/10 1:32 AM

Fav,

Well your seeds are on the way! I hope your excited. When you get the seed's box your gonna be like why did she send that. Well I had a bit of room left that needed filling. So you'll see what I'm talking about when you get it.

Hey guess what? Cubby can whistle. Isn't that funny? This morning when I was getting him ready to go to G&G's I heard whistling and I look down at him and his lips are all puckered up. So cute, man I wish I could have caught him doing it with my camera. He is repeating lots of words now and is jabbering all the time. The bad thing he is doing is biting. He bites Bear when they fight over a toy. He bites me. Tonight I was talking to Bear on my bed and Cubby was standing on the floor when suddenly he bites my foot and I gave him a kick and knocked him down. I didn't kick him on purpose it was just an automatic reaction. Now I have a mark on my foot that matches his teeth pattern. He is also coping Bear and throwing tantrums. At least Bear isn't doing that as much anymore. I think that most tantrums are the result of being furstrated about being able to communicate what they want. When I told G&G about the whistling they were like, ya he's been doing that for about 3 weeks. Then I told Wes and he knew also. Oh Man. I wanted to be the first. lol.

How's your scar? Are you getting to where you aren't as sore yet? What have you been doing to keep yourself busy? PL Pruden wrote in his blog about the fire fight you guys were in when that guy got hit in the foot and you were fighting with your voice. =) Funny he didn't say anything about that. HEHE. Sorry I still think it is funny. Lentz mom, Bea, sent me some newsletter that is written by CPT Peterson and each platoon's leaders. There's a photo of you for winning warrior of the week. Is that from before? The news letter won't let me copy/paste your photo from it. I notice that your hair's fade is pretty long in the photo.

Oh man its late I better get to sleep. I love you so much and miss you bunches. Mom, XOXOXOX

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:00:20

ohh nice well thats cool

and wow thats kinda funny about jimmy i wonder what was going on and such
and judd hmm yeah thats not anyone i know but yeah jimmy i guess has been partying alot and i dont blame you for not wanting to clean up their mess

it was really nice to be able to talk to you again i liked it i just dont call that often because i run out of things to talk about and all thats why i like the email thing so much more cuz then a phone convo can last about a week and all and it was really nice to be able to talk to andy again
i miss hanging out with that dude

yeah i remember you telling me about the foam in the last eamil or so
but thats cool just kinda shutting yourself into an artificial darkness i guess
but it should keep it cooler although you did it kinda late since summer has already gone and passed

love and miss ya too

From Mom, Tue 9/28/10 10:50 PM

Hi,

So I mailed your boxes today, then I realized I forgot to put in some of your seeds. So when I got home I made up another box with seeds. I will mail it tomorrow. I figure that it will catch up with the other boxes and you should get them all at the same time.

I guess Jimmy and his room mate who's name is Judd seemed to say something that was heard by someone outside their apartment and that person kicked in their door and started swinging punches. So I guess they are going to be moving out. I don't know but I feel that in the long run they should move. By the looks of their apartment, all they do is drink beer and smoke. I was at the compactor last week and they drove up and unloaded bag after bag of trash full of beer cans and bottles. I don't want to have to clean up their mess down the road, ya know.

That was so awesome talking to you yesterday. So nice to hear your voice again. I checked your account last night and you are almost to 4k. Your pay still varies from paycheck to paycheck but after those two extra pay ones, they vary about $30 up or down.

I got that foam in my windows so now it's always dark in my room, it takes some getting used to. In the morning when I walk down the hallway is the first light of the day that I see. I cut it so I could keep my air conditioners in the windows to pull fresh air into the room. I still run the dogs a/c and have the ceiling fans going, though now I run the the dog just on fan and not cool.

Well it's bedtime for me. I love you and miss you all the time. Mom. XOXOXOX

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:59:48

yeah well i mean the deadline doesnt really count for me since i am deployed i can do it whenever i get the chance to do it

hmm okee dokee
that sounds good i mean i have alot of boxes that i need to consolodate
the pl keeps giving all the candy and stuff he gets.. i process through about a pound of candy a day almost
thats weird that he doesnt like sandwhiches yet they prolly just look weird to him in fact i think i got a sandwhich somewhere once and he ate some of it with me but i dont know

ohh hush you guys do alot already hahahaha its not to much for you too miss out on

yeah if i can get them electronically then i will send them too you but i dont know where i wuld look on the internet
and i dont know if they will be giving them to us here

From Mom, Mon 9/27/10 11:35 PM

Hey, I'm waiting for everone to go to bed.

Everything is late tonight it seems. I went to Costco and got you some stuff. I came home and filled two boxes. If it was cooler I think that I would have more choices of stuff to send you. I'm sending you more Jerky, Hot Tamales, Corn Chips and Cocoa Mix. I got you a mix box of chips, like you get for packing in lunches and when I got home I realized that they put alot more air into the potato chip bags than they do in the corn chip bags. I figured that all the "handleling" the boxes get, that buy the time you get them the potato chip bag would actually explode inside the boxes all over everything. Even though the corn chips may be crumps when you get them you can still add them to a sandwich. I looked at the instant coffee and the only one in single serve packages was too expensive in my mind to purchase. You also bought the boys some milk and soup. They are pretty good about eating soup. Sometimes a food they won't eat alone they will eat in soup. We tried sandwiches again and still a no go. It just seems odd to me that Bear wont eat the sandwiches. He eats toast, likes everything that's put inside, most of the time. But the good thing is that he will eat veggies and fruit. I guess that I can't ask for more than that.

Shirley went and got a new stove pipe for her wood stove and installed it without me! Not fair, I was stuck in the eviction apartment from last week all day while it was just plain beautiful outside all day. humph.

When it comes time to do your taxes you can just email me the links again like we did last time. All your information is still stored with the one I used then. I'm sleepy, I better get to sleep. I love you. Mom. XOXOXOX

From Mom, Mon 9/27/10 8:29 PM

Hey, I just assumed that I would be doing it for you again this year because you will still be in afghanistan past the deadline to file.

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:17:42

yeah im hoping i get a nice fat return but i dont know
i wont know until i go home unless i can somehow get you the info or get you the whole w-2...
there should be a period of a month where im back at the company in campbell before i come home so i might just get it to you there and then we can do the thing and i should have the money by the time i make my way home...

From Mom, Mon 9/27/10 12:26 PM

Maybe if i get a tax return this year i can help pay for a jeep in full, i dont know if i can make payments. i just know that i need a bigger vehicle. your will have a nice return also, since you arent on mine anymore and you dont have to pay taxes while your in a combat zone, so that should help.

Mon 9/27/10 12:34 AM

yeah i did get a chance to talk to mike for a bit but yeah

yes you a jeep i can help you out with it you know and then you would have one but i think i would need a cosigner for two cars you know i would be will to prolly put down 2500 on each but im not sure
it all depends on how much i make and how much they each cost and the monthly payment i can get for two years

i hope fritz is getting old cuz that would mean that you would be giving him to me =]

that is awesome i miss puppy watching hahaha fritz just naturally gets worn out or bored with the youngins hahaha

yeah shirley calls me traveling jerm =]

From Mom, Sun, 26 Sep 2010 22:21:14

Ohhh, me a jeep? That would be awesome of course. I need a bigger area for the dogs to ride with us now that the boys are taking up the back seat. I've wanted a Jeep since I was in 7th grade.

I don't know if kids ever come at the perfect time. I just think it's easier to have them when your a little older and can provide for them. Babies can give you sticker shock. I think that someday you are going to make a great Dad.

I'm watching Pony and Fritz wrestle in the light of my TV. It's one of their favorite actives. I don't mind it but they sometimes jump on me and get in the way of the tv. If Priscilla had her house I think that I would give Pony to Fletcher. I can't wait for that to happen because of the neighbors. I guess that someday I will raise and train a dog to be a therapy dog for him. A dog with this type of coat is actually soothing and can calm kids like him down. I told mom about Pony today and she said that she would invite Silly and Fletcher over some night and I could bring over Pony to see how he is around her. I won't let him have a puppy because I know that he wouldn't leave a puppy alone and could actually create a bad dog. Remember Pepe? You and Mike were always teasing him to get a reaction out of him and getting bit because of it. That's how you got that scar on the side of your nose.

Just when I think Pony is all tuckered out and gonna settle down, she gets up for another round with Fritz. Sadie is in the designated safe zone. There's alot of thumping going on. If she bugs Fritz to much, he will let her have it.

Shirley got her new pug boy today. He is so cute. She came down here to get him and brought along the two pug girls, Maggie and Daisy. Not Dillon, cause he didn't wake up. Too bad for him because we went to FP's for breakfast.

Okay, it's alot quieter so I peered thru the dark and Fritz is laying on the floor and Pony is standing over him panting. Do you think Fritz is getting old? He just turned 3 a month ago.

Shirley was telling me the other day about calling you "Traveling Jeremiah" or something like that. It's from Fraggle Rock. Have you ever watched it? Any ways there's a character on it called Traveling Max and Traveling Max is always on a trip somewhere and writes letters home describing his adventures. Every weekend she puts in a dvd of Fraggle Rock for the boys to watch and they will sit a watch it. Pony just jumped up here to pant in my face. I don't think she knows what to do with herself now that everyone else is worn out and sleeping.

I put ridged foam in my windows tonight. I hope it wont affect my sleep and I can get up on time in the morning cause it's gonna be dark. I painted the outside the same green as the exterior house color. I left the air conditioners in the windows, I like to be able to bring in fresh air into the room. I think everyone sleeps better when the room isn't over warm.

Well I better get some sleep, I'm trying to go to bed earlier than I have been because it's been pretty hard lately to get up on time. OMG Beauty and the Beast is going to be release in HD! I'm not sure what that means but cool. It will be a while before your scar becomes a white line, but the dark pink that it is now is okay. Keep it dry.I love you and miss you bunches and bunches. Take Care of yourself. Mom, XOXOXOX

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 19:59:22

ohh jeez well thats is awesome sometimes you guys amaze me at how fast you are working

ohh ok well i was just saying
and yeah i want to do the whole build credit thing but if you think i can get it on my own then thats cool and im talking about the possibilty of getting you a jeep mom
ya know something you always wanted

yeah pretty much and i think so even tho the front is mostly windows i would like to hope so hahaha
and it is a very dark pink but its not red anymore and it seems like it is going to be a while until it fades to white

yeah i bet i miss the lils too the things that they do are just amazing... i know its fearful for me to say it but i cant wait to have some of my own...
i just know that it is going to hopefully be at a good time...

From Mom, Sun 9/26/10 12:01 AM

Hey,

I just got home from Shirley's and we were able to get all the metal on the dog porch done. The old stuff got tore off and the new stuff matches what we put on the roof already. Yeppers it's awesome. From far away you cant even tell that we enlarged it because you basically see the same thing. Which is good because Paul is always spying on what Shirley's doing, by driving down that road that goes in front of the booker's house.

My TV isn't broken yet. I can watch tv just fine, I just can't watch movies. Right now I'm watching "How it's Made" I get caught up in what ever they are showing when I pass thru looking for something to watch. James says that he likes to watch it also. He said that when Grandpa was still working, he would call Grandma and watch it with her. They're making light bulbs, all automated. It's car light bulbs. So cool.

I do want to go car shopping with you, I think that will be awesome, especially since you have been waiting so long to get another car again. Are you wanting a Jeep again? I don't know about the co-signing for you. I guess maybe if you are going to pay some huge down payment and want to finance the rest to build credit. You should try to finance on your own first. My bankruptcy isn't that old and even though I still so more lines of good credit vs the bad lines, I haven't really been trying to reestablish good credit since. We still have good credit history for the mortgages and for Les Schwab, but that's about it.

That's awesome flying naked. HEHE. I was wondering if they flew you there flat on your back on a board. How are you feeling? Are you going to be back on full duty? What color is your scar line? It should be a pale pink and then fade away to a white line. Keep it nice and dry and if it gets red and feels warm you need to get it checked out asap. Dont touch it without washing your hands first, because of the primitive conditions that you are living in it is way to easy to develop infections. I'd wash hands before and after if you are changing bandages yourself. Is the front of the helicopter more reinforced? That's pretty cool starting one up.

I miss the Littles. It was way too quiet driving to Shirley's without them yelling Truck every time they spot one. She found them these real awesome fireman rain coats. Do you remember the school bus back packs that you and Sam had? Wish I still had them. Shirley still has buckets and shovels that you guys all used when you stay that summer with her at the beach. The Littles play in the garden dirt with them.

Get some rest. I love you and miss you bunches and bunches. Love Mom. XOXOXOXOX

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:22:48

ohh nice well go to walmart or something and find one for like $100 and get it on the card.. tv's are essential in my book...
yeah i dont think you told me about that but that is crazy i cant imagine that what is up with you and her working so much... at work and on the home its crazy
and dont be doing too much to my house now

yeah we are not allowed to hand anything out anymore to the people. not even candy

so im back at blessing and last night i started the chinook helicopter i was riding in cuz i had to sit in the cockpit cuz i didnt have a helmet... i flew to jaf naked

yeah

and you never answered my question about the car shopping

From Mom, Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:33:48

Hey Fav,

Man, I just stayed up to watch Date Night on my computer. I can't watch movies on the tv anymore, the connection terminal is loose or something so the movie will play but it's unwatchable. I'm tired. But not as tired as Shirley is. I don't think I told you and if I did I don't remember. She started working at the nursing home in Olympia instead of the one in Chehalis. It's different there but because of the type of patients that she cares for she ends up staying late just to complete the charting of meds that she pasted out. So she starts work and 2:30 and works to at least 11:30 but with charting sometimes it's alot later. Last night she worked till 2 and it takes an hour to get home. She told me that we need to get a bunch of stuff done before the rains really start flowing again. I'm going up tomorrow and staying home Sunday to work for myself(possibly =) ). Nothing much happened today. Just went to work and came home and had soup for dinner. Played with the doggies and littles. I found some replacement blades for my clippers on ebay and won a bid on a coffee mug that I'm gonna give to Shirley. I was looking at pictures of embroidered cloth that women sew in the Kandahar area. It's really beautiful. Made me feel like sending you thread to give to the villagers. But I thought that it was highly unlikely that you could hand something like that out.

Love you and miss you all the time. Mom XOXOXO

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:26:17

yeah that was alot of fun for me to roll around with them and all..
i cant wait to do it now that they are more grown up and all

well ok but i dont know i think i would do the vet more then myself i mean but i would still clean her ears myself and keep them trimmed and all

yeah that might be nice
the barbers here are nationals and they use scissors alot too

im sorry i wasnt on soon enough to talk to you

From Mom, Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:48:28

Hey Fav,

I knew that when you were here last that you needed the littles company and knew that you would protect them and take care of them while they were under your care. You also came at a good time when we needed the extra help caring for them because of Grandma's eye surgery. I think that in their own way they where good company for you. Their needs are simple, keep their butts clean and dry and input food at regular intervals.

Sadie doesn't need to have the vet clean her ears that often, maybe two or three times a year at the most. I cut her hair again tonight and Hiedi's too. Lots of scissor use. I need to get a blade sharpener for my clipper blades. It's so much nicer to use them when it cuts well. I really should get some sleep now. I love you and was really happy to hear from you. Mom XOXOXOX

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:55:05

yeah they took them out today which the first one was the worst but then the other 7 werent too bad

umm yeah i stayed in those clamshells that you are talking about in bagram but here its quite smaller maybe like 40 max...
its for people coming through to go on or come back from r&r

alright thats cool and i dont think that the deep cleanings will be a problem for me if they are well worth it i will prolly do it once a month then or more if needed.

thats good to hear that he is doing really good.. i will have to give him a call sometime.. i miss that dude.. and amanda

ethan is good he is going home pretty soon i think within the next couple days... im jealous
other than that he gets some cool scars and free liscense plates for life hahahaha

jeez.. wtf

i miss the lil ones alot.. it seems like when i am there i can just take them and do whatver hahaha you dont seem to care to much
im sure wes likes the breaks too

i cant wait to spoil them again when i get back

i hope you plan on going car shopping after fp when i come home next hahahaha..
i was wondering... if we could find a jeep or something... i might be able to help on a down payment or something you know

but i am sure im gonna need a co signer and i know how you are about that and i wanted to talk to you about it

From Mom, Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:51:35

Hey Fav,

I guess by now you should have the staples out. When I had mine removed it tugged a bit. It helps to have someone do it that has a steady hand. After I had Mike it was hard to stand up straight and I couldn't even pick him up for the first week. Before he was born I used to walk a lot everyday, sometimes I would just walk around the block or do figure 8's around two blocks. I used to get bored a lot by what your guy's dad would watch on tv, so I would walk. When I had you I didn't have that problem with standing. I worked with you up to a month before you were born and then the dr. said that I needed more rest. So I had to take a nap every day. So the only difference I could tell was that I was doing all that walking before mike was born and I had stronger stomach muscles.

Is the tent your in super big? I saw photos of those clam shells tents at Badram that sleep 100 troops at a time. Those things are huge.

I will show you how to take care of Sadie's ears. I've had the vet do a deep cleaning last spring, it cost about $200, but worth it.

Joseph had today off and tomorrow, so I was busy keeping Andy busy. He is doing real well and seemed to be retaining what I've showed him so far. I was working in a hellish apartment today and had him do some light fixtures. So now I've showed him the basics and anything I show him in the future will be specialized stuff mostly for appliances. I still need to run him thru breaking into things. An important skill to know when someone's locks are broken and they're on the wrong side of the door.

Have you heard from Ethan lately? What's going on with him?

Mike hasn't gotten a vehicle yet. I don't know why he would need one anyways right now. Just one more expense. He set me up for direct deposit for funds for the boys, which is good because it costs him around $12 just to send it to me thru Wal-Mart or Western Union. By the way, I told Mike that I'm not giving him back the littles that I am seeking custody. Once they've been in our house again for 6 months straight, I'm filing for non-parental custody of them. I would do it now but I want it to be cut and dry. They were both agreeing to it when Ann first went on the truck with him this summer. I won't let them be wishey-washey with me. They boys stay and they can see them whenever they want but here is their home. Besides to the littles, visiting with them isn't any different than going to G&G's or Shirley's, play for a little bit and then go back home.

Hehe, I tell Bear, "I love you Teddy Bear." He says "I know". Ugh he just went by with a load. I gotta go before there's poo everywhere. Love you. Mom XOXOXOX

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:28:46

yeah i mean i am not staying in the hospital like lentz they put me in the r&r tents so yeah i walk around and do my own thing all the time
sometimes i have to take it real slow but i can almost stand all the way up now

yeah i mean i would like sadie and if you show me what to do i will do it no problem hahaha
my staples should come out tomorrow

yeah i saw the picture on his facebook... did he ever get a car yet

well at least he is going to be getting more money
him and ann are planning on getting married again
he said he is fed up with people always telling him how to think and how he wants to be able to not have other people raise his own kids and all this bullshit

its whatever
poor lil guy and im not surprised that the she isnt covered... what a dumb ho

umm just the usual should be good...

From Mom, Wed 9/22/10 10:26 PM

Hey Fav,

Glad to hear from you. I hope you are getting lots of rest and are healing. I know how it is to be in a hospital and have them always bugging you for one reason or another. I hate it when they wake you up in the middle of the night just to take your temp. Thats great that you got to see Lentz. Man his mom is totally in love with facebook and just about everytime she writes me its like you gotta sign up for facebook and get skye. I am just not interested in the facebook thing. She say today tho that Lentz is finally starting to respond to the medicine and may not need surgery. Did you get the staples removed yet? Do you get to get up and walk around?

Sadie need to have her ears cleaned out almost everyday with ear cleaner and the hair needs to be removed. If she didn't have ear problems I would let her hair on her ear grow. I keep it short to lighten the weight of her ears to allow the air to flow under. A cat would be cool too I guess.

Mike is getting his own truck. This attachment is a picture of it. He decided to go owner operator himself and be his own boss. He just needs to take a class or something like one and he is good to go. When he was working for that guy Mark he was only getting a part of what the truck makes, now he gets all the truck makes. He has to pay a truck payment and insurance on it and set up a maintenance fund and tax fund. The great thing is that Swift helps him with all that. Cause we all know how great Mike is with money.

Cubby is teething again. Poor little guy. This morning he woke up with a slimy face, fever and diarrhea and has stayed that way all day. He is still working in his first set of molars, it's funny because his still only has the three teeth on the bottom. Ann took him today to get vaccinated but she was told that they weren't covered so he didn't get his vaccination. Which is okay because they wouldn't have given them to him anyways because of his fever. Don't want it to get worse than it already is.

Is there anything special that you want in you box? Just let me know. I love you and miss you bunches. Mom XOXOXOX

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:06:59

yeah andy has had his out for a lil bit but i dont know exactly how long

i mean i dunno how well i could take care of her ears... is it like an everyday powder thing or what cuz yeah i would like saide... she likes to be just close to someone she knows..
and i know you wont give me fritz hahahahaha

yeah i was maybe thinking about getting a cat... like an outdoor indoor cat like zaks old one cuz i miss her and she was such a good cat..

you could send the box now and i would prolly still get if not they would just hold on to it
and sure i mean the coffee here sucks so i dont really drink it anymore

yeah i ran into kevin... aka lentz yesterday and hes like apparently my mom found your mom or something so yeah now we know hahahaha
he is still here should be going back soon we might even be going back together. idk

love ya

Mon 9/20/10 11:52 PM

Hey Fav.

Hope your feeling better and getting some sleep and rest. Your shouldn't have to have the staples in for much longer. I had staples when you and Mike were born and they took them off at three days before I went home. They use a pair of plyer like tools to remove them. You didn't tell me what day you got sick and had the surgery. I went to Costco tonight to get some dog food. I was wondering what you wanted me to do about sending you a box? I got them bbq seeds for ya and I was going to get you some pepperoni sticks and maybe some hot drink mix, like instant coffee or cocoa or both. How about an international coffee tin?

Sadie likes cats, she likes to stalk them and stare at them. I don't know what she thinks of them but she gets plenty of stalking time at Shirley's

Mon 9/20/10 11:55 AM

Hi, i was up for a little while but i just was tired. andrew north is the guy i asked about after kevin, andrew's from oregon, kevins from texas, he's a little older about 28 and went thru benning a year before you did. his mom thinks he may get sent on to badgam because he is having trouble walking. i forgot that andy's is out. Were you vomiting bright yellow stuff? grandma was, i just asked andy and he said he did also. i believe i heard somewhere that its a sign of it going bad. sadie is yours if you think you can take care of her ears, it is a constant thing that will never go away. i will give you a dog though even if its a puppy

9/20/2010 12:03:07 PM

yeah i saw that you sent something back but it was just that first one and i thought you were gonna send one right after that and you didnt so yeah i just left
but umm yeah i mean i did get it pretty early and now i just feel old i wont be able to do anything for a long time..
which is kinda good and kinda bad in my opinion i mean i wanna do my job but i like to relax also
these staples are bugging me tho.. instead of how they did andy's where they made the three small incisions the did mine like 4 cm wide and on my right lower quadratnt.. there is a guy name for it but i cant remember

well thats cool

umm kevin i thought you said andrew north... whats that last name

yeah it would be fun to plqay with her

=]

so when i buy your house does sadie come with it =]

how do you think she would do around a cat?
next should be back to blessing i mean this is the closest safe haven from blessing

From Mom, Mon 9/20/10 1:56 AM

Fav,

Darn I was hoping to catch you so we could exchange emails in real time. Oh well, I am glad to hear from you. I'm sorry you had to have the little bugger removed like this. Remember Chelsea that worked in the office? Blonde, talked way to fast? Anyways she had to have her's suddenly removed while she was working there. Your lucky it was caught early and not like what happened with Grandma when her's went south on her. Her's burst and they couldn't close the wound from it's removal and she had to go around with her stomach open until it healed from the inside out. I had to help her with it a few times when she got out of the hospital, she had to have gauze packed into the wound. Now she has a big scar from it. I was going to get you stuff tomorrow to send you. I got you a whole box of your favorite sun flower seeds, I asked at the Chevron in BG about it and they actually had an unopened box in the store room. So there is 12 bags in a box and Sandy only charged me for 11. Gave me a little discount when she found out I was sending them to you in Afghanistan. Now I guess I will have to wait on sending it. Where are you going next?

Kevin who's at Blessing with you, his mom and I exchange emails, got a staff infection on one of his knees and is in Jalalabad right now for treatment also. His mom also said that there was an earthquake there yesterday.

I think the phone bill changes every month because I send pictures from my phone to my email. It charges for data sent. I can limit that, easily. Went to Shirley's today. We worked on the roof. We finally got the vents installed for the bath and kitchen fans and the plumbing vent stacks. The rains have started and because we didn't get those on, the boy's bathroom ceiling started to get moldy from water leaking in. We still need to replaced the wood stove pipe.

I wish you were here to play with Pony, she is a sweet girl. I took with us of course. She was real fascinated with Amber's cats when we got there so we put her and a couple of cats in the bathroom together so they could resolve their issues with each other. Pony got in to the tub and stayed there. lol. We later shut the big gate and let all the big dogs out to get a chance to really run and play. Grettle discovered a chicken outside of the chicken pen and killed it. Pony didn't seem to be focused on them like she was with the cats.

I love and miss you so much. Please update me when you can. Loves, Mom. XOXOXOXOX

Mon 9/20/10 12:29 AM

hey mom
sorry i havent written back in a while

i had appendicitus and yeah well of course the story ends with me no longer having an appendix
things have been getting pretty bad back at the base tho i guess
so i guess i left just in time

i wish i could be there to play with the puppy hahaha

yeah im still in quite a bit of pain and i think why they didnt tell you was because it wasnt combat related but i thought i had that stomache thing again so i went to the aid station to get it looked at early and then later on it got soooo much worse and painful
went back down and yeah
so now im in jalalabad
gonna be here for about another week or so

From Mom, Sun 9/19/10 12:50 AM

Hey Fav,

I stayed home today and took the littles and Wes to FP's for breakfast. Then I was in the back yard cleaning dog poo and I realized that I need more pavers. So ummm, ya, you bought me some more pavers. Thank you. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a big pile of them. I just need to clear up the last unpavered area to be able to place them down Sadie will be so excited that's her favorite area to poo ya know. You know how she like to be clean. Then we sent the rest of the day playing in my room. Then picking the toys back up and putting them away.

So I've have Pony for a couple of days, she is really a good girl. She does thinks she needs to jump on and off of my bed all night. She is really good with the boys and respects their space. They have gotten knocked down a few times be Hiedi. Hiedi's focus is Wes and she will run over anyone in her way to get to what she wants.

I'm watch SNL with Betty White hosting, she is funny. I love you and miss you. Mom, XOXOXOX

From Mom, Sat 9/18/10 12:22 AM

Fav,
TGIF, actually this week went by pretty fast. I think that it helps because Andy is working and I dont have to think so much about the compactor and stopping what ever I was doing to go cycyle the stupid thing. I talked to Scott for a little while today while he was cleaning an apartment. He is doing well I guess and he asked about you and how you were and stuff. We sent Andy in to a training class today.

Shirley's dog Frieda is doing better and she gets to go back home tomorrow. I'm going up there just Sunday. I need a day at home. I plan on getting up tomorrow and going to FP's and then coming home for a nap, maybe watch a movie on tv. My tv wont' play movies at all any more, the connections are all screwed up. I will go up on Sunday we only have one appointment so we should be able to get a little more done on the porch. Okay, I keep noddin off. I will write more tomorrow. I love and miss you all the time. Mom. XOXOXOX

Janice

From Mom, Fri 9/17/10 12:24 AM

Fav,

Andy got to do another water heater today. Yeah, he's gonna have skills. I think Joseph likes him and thinks he has promise. I registered him for his online training today.

I brought home Pony, that dog I was telling you about. She is a good girl and doesn't seem to mind being here. Fritz needs to lay off a bit. He is used to "performing" everytime we introduce him to a new girl that he is all over her. I'm waiting for her to get fed up with him and let him have it. They took an hour to finally calm down and now they are just sacked out on the floor. I plan to keep her for a couple of weeks to evaluate her and then I will advertise her, I want to place her in a suburban setting with a family. She is kind of like a black Gretchen but with a better coat of hair.

Hope your night mission went well. Lots of love Mom, XOXOXOX

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 07:26:13

yeah it is prolly something like that but i was laughing then people heard me yelling "FUCK YOU TALIBAN" AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS

THATS SAD ABOUT THE DOGS IM SORRY
oops all caps

im glad andy is doing alright tho

well im pretty tired myself and i have a night mission to do

later

love ya

From Mom, Thu 9/16/10 12:36 AM

Hey Fav,

Jeez taliban, yeah right I don't think so with the way they treat women. I still think the laughing was funny and can totally see you standing there laughing while all the shit is flying around you. Confuse the enemy any way you can right? Maybe I could run Jake down with me golf cart and laugh the whole time. Did I tell you that the crazy insane lady from Monday evening ended up being taking around be ambulance the next morning? I hope she got some drugs that turn her into a walking zombie. I want her to stay away from me. Rachel the apartment manager was all fuming about what happened with her and Andy and me and called her up the next morning before the office even opened up and told her that she better not ever treat one of her employees like that again. Damm the family guy is funny. Brian is barking at someone. Even the tv cartoon dog get's to be a dog more than my dogs. People suck. Shirley had to take one of her toy beagles, Frieda, to the vet today because she was trying to have puppies and nothing was happening. Frieda lost the puppies and ended up having to have her uterus removed because of infection. What a horrible day for Shirley, she doesn't know if Frieda will even make it. Last week Sam's dog Pug died, he got into a fight with some of the other dogs and never recovered from the bites, I helped clean him up but I think he had some damage to internal organs. He shared a birthday with Fritz. Because puggle puppies are so popular Shirley has to find another pug male and he joins the pack in a couple weeks. Shirley thinks she will name him Gizmo to go along with the names of her 2 pug girls Gidget and Ginger. I got contacted yesterday from someone I placed a puppy with last fall and the need to rehome her so I am meeting them Friday to take her back. I don't mind taking her back I advertise and place dogs often enough that one more really doesn't matter and sometimes I have people ask me if I have any older puppies. Well I better get to sleep, I've been staying up way too late and stuff. I love and miss you so much, I think about you all the time. Love Mom, XOXOXOXOXO

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:40:49

jeez so many questions...makes me wonder if you are talking to the taliban
he is flown out already somewhere else and we dont know who shot
in a town called topa
we are next to nangalam

yeah i mean i was the only one that i know of and it scared the local army and the terp
some of my platoon thinks something is wrong with me

yeah i guess so

yeah i mean just let him know that but i mean you do have the eagle eye for that sort of thing you have been doing it for so long that you eye catches cig butts and sorts of stuff like that

i wont tell him its ok
i figured its an initiation thing anyways but that is just how i look at it

yeah i figured and the theifs name is jake
his last name is different sometimes but mostly he goes by jake parker

love you
miss the boys

From Mom, Wed 9/15/10 1:54 AM

Hey, i actually think it's kind of funny the laughing thing. it's like getting the giggles when your supposed to be all super serious. the whole uncontrolable giggling in church syndrome.

From Mom, Tue 9/14/10 11:20 PM

Hey Fav,

That would be sweet if you could come back that often. Yes, thankfully no one was seriously hurt. What happens to the guy shot in the foot? Who shot him? Where did the fire fight happen? Where you guys out on patrol? What is the name of the village your base is next to?

You know I could see you laughing? I mean what you guys are doing is kind of insane, right? That emotion needs to be released some how. There's videos on youtube of guys in the middle of fire fights and they are yelling and screaming and laughing and you can see tracers flying away and towards them.

I'm glad that you are okay and that you are sharing what's happening over there with me. It helps to talk about it. Do you know what surreal means? It means bizarre or dreamlike. You gotta feel like that sometimes.

Andy is doing good, he needs to pay more attention to detail. Like driving past trash on the ground instead of slowing down to grab it. But everyone likes him and he has been called a real go getter, what ever that means. I told you how Joseph and I set it up so that he has the pager all the time right? Please don't tell him that it is a recent developement for his position, please. We are still rotating it but only on his days off and if he needs to have some one else carry it for something. He needs the money now anyways, pages are over time. I going to pay him $20 bucks to take my turn.

Yeah, it's your friend Jimmy that you used to go fishing with and lived in MM203 when we first moved to the apartments. When I found out that is was Jimmy, Andy was with me. The redhead guy was standing there and Andy was saying that they should rent a garage so their band could be a real garage band. So I assumed he was the guy who took the bass. What was his name?

I'm watching King of the Hill again, its just about my favorite thing to watch. Cubby can say Teddy now. I was so glad to hear from you today. Keep yourself safe. I love and miss you. Mom, XOXOXOX

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 07:13:31

yeah i wish i was able to come home every few weeks but i dont think the army could afford to let everybody do that
well who knows

the last week has been hectic
we got into a bad fire fight yesterday. took about an hour
thankfully one person was injured and he was shot in the foot

im worried because during that fire fight all i could do was laugh
weird

thats good that andy is getting a grip on things i hope he is a good leaner
and i dont doubt the craziness of some of the people that live there

hmm is it the jimmy that i used to be friends with
i dont doubt that it is him since he like us has lived there before

and as for that fat fuck you should let andy know he is there and the situation. he still owes me my bass back or the $200

From Mom, Mon 9/13/10 11:50 PM

Hey Fav,

Work was okay today, I showed Andy a bunch of plumbing stuff, I need to find some more electrical stuff to do. He got yelled at today by the compactor by this crazy tweaker. Then 30 minutes later she caught me there and tried to make me talk to her by placing her body in front of my cart. I was working late and everyone was gone. She grabbed the roof support on my cart and I stopped and she let go and I kept on going. She is insane and I refuse to deal with her. Hope she don't complain that I tried to run her down. I went to the office and emailed the managers and Joseph what happened.

Other than that nothing much is happening. Today was a nice sunny day that was enjoyable to sit in the sun. I may have found some pants for Teddy from a lady selling a bag of clothes his size on craig's list. I used your card to get gas on Saturday. I noticed that your pay checks are about as big as mine right now. Thats gonna help build your account for your car. Did you ever talk to Ryan? He got a car that's pretty nice. Oh the friend of your's that moved in is Jimmy and the redheaded bass guitar thief is his room mate.

I gonna go to sleep. Talk towards you tomorrow. Love Mom XOXOXOXOX

From Mom, Mon 9/13/10 2:23 AM

Hey Fav,

Well we got a total of four boards put up today. We ended up with 5 different people coming out today the other two cancelled, four puppies went home. Yep spent the morning washing puppies. Everything went well, but we are finally home and I'm pretty tired. Before we even got home we ran Mike back to his truck. Mike took Teddy up into the truck and they drove around the truck lot with Teddy sitting on his lap "driving". It was awesome and our little Teddy Bear talked about it the whole way home. They take saying good bye to their parents pretty good, just people they see come and go. I think Mike has been home about 5 or 6 times this year. He said that he has driven over 150,000 miles since he started driving.

Okay so are you ready to hear Shirley's newest of the new projects she is lined up for us to do? She wants to ad a Laundry room on the back porch so she can get the washer and dryer out of the way and have two sets to do laundry. Her washer and dryer runs all the time. She is funny, we were just getting out of the house to do some work on the deck and she asks me if I like coming out every weekend to work on projects. I was like " I like doing it and don't really mind" so then she springs the laundry room thing on me. Trapped again. I don't know, to me it's a way that I can pay her back for taking care of my dogs for me. Sigh, I really miss having all my dogs around me.

Well its late and I gotta get some sleep. I love you and miss you so much. Can't wait to hear from you. Love Mom, XOXOXOX

From Mom, Sun 9/12/10 1:17 AM

Fav,

I was just glad to see him for the little bit that I got to. I had him give the littles a bath just so he could have some one on one time with them. I took Ann straight to her sister's she can see them later. I didn't mind that he left to see Nollie either. He needs to have that connection to his family when he gets the chance, did you get the photo of the bbq that he took? It is some place near Squim or Forks.

We should go there sometime, Mike says the area is one of the best that he's seen. When you were here last time, all I wanted was for you to be able to see everyone and spend as much time as you wanted with your family and friends. I didn't expect to do something with you everyday. Time goes by fast, enjoy what you can when the opportunity presents itself, otherwise what's the purpose? Wes would have enjoyed trying different soup's. There really isn't much that he gets to enjoy and I have to remind him every once in a while that he needs to live and enjoy being with his family instead of always trying to sleep his pain away and missing out on the best parts. Sometimes I think it is too easy to get so caught up in the stuff that makes life hard, Wes' pain and my tiredness, that we forget that this is life and we are letting slip away like someone trying to hold water in their hands. We are lucky because we are getting to experience the best part of raising kids. Children this age are learning new things everyday and everything to them is wonderful and mysterious and to them we are these persons who are all knowing and can share the secrets of "WHY?" They don't know that the world is an unforgiving place and bad things happen to great and wonderful people. Their biggest concern is finding matchbox cars to play with and having empty sippy cups filled with chocolate milk.

We got to Shirley's place about 11am and a couple people call and said that they wanted to come see the puppies and Shirley needed to get to work. So I washed all the labradoodle puppies so they would be ready. Then one person decided they couldn't come today and wanted to come tomorrow. Then the next guy who I guess was watching college football decided that tomorrow would be better too. The lady, Kate, was supposed to bring Bella up today also to meet up with Dutch and she decided that she couldn't come today and made arrangements to meet in Vancouver monday. I gotta remember to bring a bunch of the cloth puppy pads to cover the seats in my car, so she don't get blood on everything.

I would sell it for fair market value. Right now because of the bad housing market, I owe about 50,000 more than it is worth. You may be able to qualify for a USDA loan, which is no down payment and low interest rates. You squad should know about all that kind of stuff too. If they are saving money like you are then real-estate is a good way to invest it. I am doing two things to lower the amount that I owe. (1.) I pay more than my monthly payment. Interest is generated dailey on loans so if you are paying more than the set payment, you will not be charged as much interest. (2.) I divided my payments into two monthly payments. Again interest is generated dailey, so by paying twice a month the amount owed goes down even faster and I wont be charged as much in interest. There is a 3rd way to lower the principal loan amount that I don't do because I get paid twice a month instead of every other week. Say if your loan payment was suppose to be 800 a month and you get paid every other friday. If you pay $500 out of every pay check, not only are you doing the 2 steps that I am doing, but you are also making 13 months of payments in a 12 month period instead of 12. Yet another ways of paying less on interest and more on the principal to shorten the life of the mortgage and build equity in the value of your house. You guys should be able to qualify for two to three different types of loans. The USDA is designed to encourage people to make purchases of homes in rural areas, no money down and low interest rates if you qualify. FFA loans are for people who are purchasing a home for the first time or persons that hadn't owned a home in several years, no money down and locked in interest rates. VA loans are for veterans, I don't know much about them really except I believe they too are no down payment loans. Other than that there is a convention loan with which you put down a down payment. I think it's a minimum of 10%, though it could be 15%. With convention loans you don't have to carry mortgage insurance like you do with the no down payment loans. Mortgage insurance is insurance for if you default on the loan the bank or lender still gets paid. It isn't insurance on the land or structure and so it doesn't protect it if something happens to your home like fire, flood, theft.

I give the littles lots of hugs from you. Cubby and I are still working on Uncle, he will say something one day and not do it the next. Right now he is really going on and on about cars and trucks. It's funny he says trucks like he is saying trawcks. I show pictures to the littles of what's in my phone and on the computer so they see your face dailey along with Mike's. Never forget ya know. They are good sweet little boys and my goal is to keep them that way. We love you and miss you everyday. Take good care of yourself. Love Mom XOXOXOXOX

Sat 9/11/10 5:53 AM

yeah at least he was around ya for a lil bit then
sometimes when i was home i felt bad for not spending that much time with you but i mean
idk like sometimes i still do
plan on me and you doin some fun stuff when i get home
cuz there were times that i went to dinner by myself
when i could have just brought you and the boys along
then picked wes up some soup to go

thats good that andy is doing alright
im just green with jealous rage that he gets to work there and i dont
but then again
soon i will be out of the army and your house will be my house and i wont have a job just going to college

btw... my supposed squad and i were talking about va loans and buying houses and he asked some questions

like how much would you sell you house to me for?

give them all (including the lil's) much of my love for me =]

From Mom, Sat 9/11/10 12:57 AM

Fav,

So I got to see Mike for a little bit today, I picked him and Ann up and dropped Ann off at her sister' place then Mike and I came home and played with the boys for a little bit, then Nollie came over and took Mike away.

Today at work Andy learned how to install a water heater and a dishwasher. He also got the pager for the first time, funny thing is is that he got paged because I forgot and left the water going in the pool. HAHA. So someone called a little after 6 and said that it was spilling over. Andy was a pretty good sport about it and I told him I owed him one and would bring him something to drink on Monday.

Headed to Shirley's in the morning, I'm watching Family Guy right now. Stewie is funny. The best thing about the show is how they go on and on about something like the fighting chicken or dead frog in a box. I'd like to take this time to mention that Fritz is curled up at the foot of my bed and Sadie is under my bed, again. There was a point a year ago when she would get up on my bed. Most nights she is under, though there have been a few times where she gets up and on to my chair. She hides from me in my room because she thinks I'm going to mess with her ears. Ugh, Fritz just rolled over on to his back. And on that note, I'm gonna go to sleep. Love Mom XOXOXOX

From Mom,Fri 9/10/10 12:12 AM

Oh Happy Day! Today was my favorite day of the year. That's right the covers went back on to the pools, YIPPI!!! =) hehe.

I'm glad you have still been able to talk to Ethan.

Fritz is all sacked out on my bed on his back all spread out, good thing it's dark in my room and I only have to see his outline. Sadie is in her usual spot under my bed. I guess if that's what makes her happy then I won't push the issue. She just misses out on getting some petting and ear scratching.

Andy was back today from his days off. I worked with him for a little bit showing him a few easy fixes in an apartment. He gets the pager tomorrow. He and Amanda will be looking for a new place to live soon, I know they are in low income housing but he will be making more money and they wont qualify to live there much longer.

I can't stay home and relax, Saturday I gotta go up and cut Dutch's hair and I think I will do Grettle also. Dutch has a hot date. I lady from Oregon contacted me at the beginning of the year about breeding her apricot standard poodle to Dutch, so now finally she is ready. So she is going to bring her dog up Saturday.

It's getting late and I need to get to sleep. I love you and miss you bunches and bunches. Mom, XOXOXOX

Thu 9/09/10 5:59 AM

ehh its ok i dont really get to get on the computers that often as i want to so no hard feelings
yeah my head is feeling better but everyone else got me sick so now i have that to deal with and it sucks..
feels like an upper respiratory infection

yeah i have been talking to him and his family

i know i have seen do it before i think i just miss her coming up just to get loved on for hours hahahaha
i miss fritz too =] hes my nigguh

wow she works kinda fast hahahaha yeah i dont blame you for feeling uncomfortable
maybe you could just stay home and relax...
go to the old spaghetti factory or something hahaha i dont mind if you use my card

yeah it has been raining alot here too but i dont hink it is anything close to washington rain so i dont like it hahahha
im wondering how cold it is gonna get in the winter time

i love you too

From Mom, Wed 9/08/10 10:11 PM

Ok, so last night I wrote you a letter and fell asleep before I got to the end. I find it hard sometimes to get a letter written with so many distractions. Then I lost the letter that I wrote you. I feel really bad that I missed a night of sending you a letter.

I'm glad your head is feeling better. I read the story of your guys attack in Omar that your PL posted. Sounds like you guys were pretty busy there, is that were Ethan was hurt? Had you heard any more of him or talked to his family?

Sadie is a great girl. After this next litter with the Chocolate Poodle I'm going to have her fixed. I think that being in heat and going thru pregnancy and nursing puppies is too much stress and makes her ear's flare up so much that she is miserable. Did I ever tell you that she dances? When she is feeling good and I put the dogs out, she dances in circles and Fritz will join in a run in circles around her and jump over stuff. Its so cool.

Shirley said that today she has gotten the rest of the decking down on the porch floor and was working on the rails and the fencing that goes on the rails. She sent me a picture a little bit ago of a zucchini with a perfect hole cut thru the whole thing, doesn't know how the hole got there.

Mike is bringing Ann back home, I guess she is gonna try and find a job or something. We'll see. She is already making plans to have the boys for the weekend. I don't know because I'm going to be going to Shirley's again and I hate to go out of town and leave the littles in her care at her sister's. This Saturday marks the first anniversary of the littles moving in with us.

I miss you, fall seems to be here. The leaves on the trees in front of the house are starting to turn red. It poured down rain so much yesterday that there were four lakes in the phase II parking lot at work, AND I started to wear a long sleeve shirt. HEHE. I love you and think of you all the time. Take care of your self. Mom XOXOXOXOX

Tue 9/07/10 3:01 AM

yeah my head is doing much better and no i dont think i will need any but if a do doc can pretty much hook me up with anything
its still hot at sometimes but more stormy lightning weahter and yeah so i guess that means that it is starting to cool down and such im just waiting for the full winter

i miss ya too
and fritz and sadie hahahaha she just cracks me up sometimes
she always just looking for some lovin hahahahah

From Mom, Tue 9/07/10 1:56 AM

Fav,

Well we are home again. Tired but we got some stuff done this weekend. We are not done with the deck project but we got it to a point where Shirley can work on it herself until we get back up there to start the roof portion. Fritz and Sadie are glad to be home though I think their feelings are mixed about the whole tent thing. Sadie would just lay down on a corner of the sleeping bag and Fritz would move around and walk on us and lay on us. Last night I showed him that it is warmer if he gets inside the sleeping bag with us. His hair is still pretty short, the first night he was shivering. Sadie is so focused on staying where ever I am that she get to be loose while Fritz gets put in with the rest. She just lays downs in some clean area and naps until I move out of her radar area then she is up and following me around. Well, I'm, falling aleep. Take care. Love Mom, XOXOXOX

From Mom, Mon 9/06/10 1:33 PM

Hey fav, i tried to send you a message last night but it didnt go thru. how's your head? i'll hold on to your k3 for you, do you need anything? i was going to send you some aleve or ibuprofin last time, i still can if you want. has the weather gotten any cooler there at all? i miss having you around doing projects. love you.

Sun 9/05/10 9:24 PM

i dont know if i want the kindle yet so i think you should just hold off the problem is when i get things shipped over here i have to pack them up to bring them back i cant do outgoing mail
so yeah i have plenty of books now thanks to your friend

and im glad that you enjoy working with andy i did see the picture and was wondering what he was doing
i hope joseph likes working with him too
i wish that i could have worked with ya all
that would have been fun but yeah we know how it turned out

there are four of us in the truck and it was the concusion and yeah we always travel in a convoy and yes we have been on that road befoe we only have two roads to use the east side of the river and the west side

wow you guess just never run out of things now

From Mom, Sun 9/05/10 9:52 AM

My Fav,

I'm glad to be working with Andy, hey if I can't work with you then I guess it's the next best thing. Friday Joseph and I had to dig a trench and run some new wire because two buildings didn't have exterior wiring. Andy helped out too, we had him use the power washer to tunnel under a side walk, I sent you a photo of him pushing the wand thru. He is doing okay so far, today he is on his own. I still need to show him some stuff that he may need to know because he is getting the pager next friday.

Is your head still hurting? That must of been something. How many guys are in a truck like that? Where there any other trucks traveling with you? Have you traveled that road before? Did you hit your head or was it the noise or concusion of the IED going off that made your head start hurting?

I almost sent you some Aleve in your last box. I'm sending you your kindle this week do you want me to load anything on it? I'm going to charge it and register it with your amazon account. The charge should last a month if you turn the WiFi off and don't have to use the light. I was thinking the other day about reading the book that the movie "We were soldiers" was based on. Mostly because I like the movie and the books the movies are based on are usually better than the movie.

Shirley and I got about 24 feet of the new deck addition's floor framed yesturday, then she decides that we need to go ahead and extend the deck all the way to the end of the trailer which is another 9x12 feet. So I'm like okay. Might as well.

Take care, I love you and miss you and yes we need to go camping. Mom XOXOXOX

Sat, 4 Sep 2010 07:29:40

yeah i may have hinted at it
i mean he and amanda are really grateful to you for helping them out and all
he just wanted a small way to show his appreiciation
so i told him that you like maple donuts

i wish i were there to go camping i think an actual camping trip might be in order when i get back since i dont think my plan with ethan is gonna work out anymore =/
maybe some other time i can bring him up to washington
but yeah

thats good and i was talking to ethans mom and they had already planned on going to walter reed as soon as they heard so aint nothing stopping that christian lady
not even the lord himself haha

im doing a bit better
yesterday my truck was hit by an I.E.D.
was interesting
we are all good
the truck drove itself back but we almost flipped and it would have been a long drop
i had a bad headache and that was the only injury in the truck

other than that nothing else is really new

Sat 9/04/10 1:26 AM

Fav, the littles are finally asleep in the tent. we got here just after dark and set up the tent, then played around for a little while. i zipped the 2 big sleeping bags together and we are all in it, sadies and fritz are laying on the bottom portion that none of us use. my people cancelled for tomorrow, some family emergency Came up and they had to fly out. maybe they will reschedule. i ran an ad in the seattle paper tonight hopefully i get a few calls. the puppy made it to louisann just fine and they are all very happy with her.. Love Mom.

Thu 9/02/10 11:26 PM

Fav,

Did you tell Andy to bring in doughnuts? Well he did and he made a point to tell everyone hands off on the maple bar because that one belonged to me. So you see I'm suspicious about the maple bar part, I'm pretty sure that he didn't know that the are my favorite doughnut.

I need to get to sleep so I can get up at 3 to take the puppy to the airport but I wanted to email you again tonight. Besides the puppy is singing in her crate. Her official name is Curly Top's Lady Godiva and will go by Diva (Deeva). Godiva is because she is chocolate. Diva I think because she is singing an opera right now. She is a good sweet girl and looks just like Emma did, though she should since she is Emma's full sister.

Did you get an update on Ethan today? Is he family able to go to Walter Reed to be with him there? According to the news fighting against the taliban has really stepped up and already US causalities this year are higher than all previous years since we landed there nine years ago. So what I'm saying I guess is be careful and take care of yourself and your buddies.

Tomorrow I gotta dig out the tent and sleeping bags, Yippi! I haven't used it in a couple years. Your Kindle and its case have arrived, I'm going to charge it up for you, it takes a couple hours, before I mail it to you. I'm going to send it next week, tues or wed, is there anything you think you need? More seeds? Jerky? Energy Bars? Let me know. I had dinner tonight at Fp with Jim, Wes had fed the Littles before I got off work and told me to pick up something for myself on the way home. I usually sit next to him if I go by myself and he is there and we talk about gardening and stuff. I love you so much and miss you always. Mom, XOXOXOX

Conversation Thu, 2 Sep 2010

Is this you? I found it on CNN posted in the beginning of June.

Jeremiah:
no thats a marines... im not a douche bag
hahahahaha

ethan is actually from louisiana ironically
but yeah
umm
thats really just what happens when you are gone for so long you start to have to re recognize people
i talked to andy he says he really likes it there
so i hope that goes good and he doesnt know how all those dudes couldnt do it

Mom:
HEHE, that's funny douche bag.

The big thing with Andy is that everyone will be comparing him to Scarecrow, ya know. I tell you that guy was learning impaired.

Thu 9/02/10 12:58 AM

Hey Fav,

Ryan's number is XXX_XXX_XXXX, he said that he will be here till the 19th if I remember it right. He is not the boy I worked side by side with when we were building the houses. I guess the best way to describe it is that he is all grown up and a man now. I like him a lot better than both his parents combined that's for sure. Ryan kept saying not to worry about you. I told him that I'm not too worried. I know you are physically capable of doing your job and you are good at solving problems and quick thinking. OMG you have definitely increased your muscle mass in Afghanistan. I told Ryan about how you said you never wanted to see a mountain again and he said that he never wanted to see sand. At least you aren't in a combat theater like Vietnam, Korea or the South Pacific. During WWII soldiers fighting in the south pacific had their uniforms rotting off their bodies because of the hot, wet climate. Most of them looked like walking skeletons after only a few months. Their also had a very hard time receiving any type of supplies like food and ammunition.

I drove up to Shirley's tonight after work to pick up Gretchen's chocolate girl, I put her on a plane super early friday morning to fly to Louisiana. I have someone scheduled to visit the puppies on Saturday. Shirley has 4 puppies flying Friday to Alaska to different people there.

I'm so glad to hear that Ethan is doing so good and that you've been able to talk to his family. I know that probably helps you to know what's going on with him and it helps his family also to be able to share it with you. Where is Ethan from? I was trying to remember if he was from around here or not.

I love you and miss you bunches and bunches Mom, XOXOXOX

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 21:10:17

ethan never went to bagram he went straight to kuwit and then to germany and yesterday he made it back to do dc already..
i have been talking with his family alot and then also just asking around but pretty much he is doing really good

im interested to see ahahaha i wonder if he will have any good ones

yeah idk i didnt even bother looking since i was there so i dont mind

Wed 9/01/10 12:53 AM

Hi,

It was sure great talking to you. I hope that you got thru to Andy ok. I'm so glad that he is starting work tomorrow. I uploaded photos from Teddy's camera tonight. It's kind of interesting to see what he takes with that thing. I know he just likes it because it makes noise and flashes. I tried to show him that I was looking at the pictures he took. He took it to bed and there was alot of pictures of the door next to it and the window, crates and the bars on the beds. Lots of car pictures and some FP photos. Sometimes he gives up the camera to someone else and they take a couple pictures also.

I spend a bunch of time looking up Korengal Valley and Pech River Valley but so far haven't seen anything on the news sites. Your LT wrote tonight on his blog about Omar, looks like he is dividing the story up, he only mentions getting ready and riding in a helicopter and ends his tale before landing. Will you be able to get updates on Ethan?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/31/afghanistan.casualties/index.html Okay wait, I found this just now. If you read down at the bottom you'll see that fighting in Omar is mentioned and that 2 soldiers were injured. This was from cnn's afghanistan crossroads page. So I'm assuming one of the two is Ethan. Man I hope he is getting all the care that he needs. I'm thinking that if he is stable enough that he would fly out of there to bagram, to germany and then to Walter Reed in D.C. I know that they get the injured back to the US pretty fast, depending on the seriousness of the injuries.

Take care of yourself. I love you and miss you. Mom XOXOXOX