Christmas

Our Christmas was nice and laid back.  Christmas Eve the kids and I opened presents from all our family.  We really got spoiled from you all!  I made a special dinner with all the fancy china.  If you can only use it for company, what's the point of having it?

 Christmas morning, Santa left some great gifts.  I was expecting the kids to get up super early, but I was actually awake before they were.  Kayla and Austin were very grateful for all the presents they got, and were even surprised with a phone call from Chris.  He called at 6:45 am and I asked him if the line was long to use the phone since it was 2:45 pm in Iraq.  He told me that everyone was waiting because their kids would still be sleeping, but he called because he knew that we would be up.  How true!

That evening, we went to my friend's family's house and enjoyed Christmas dinner with them.  We even brought a pinata and shared our Christmas tradition with them.  Thank you to everyone for remembering our family!

Still Alive

If you all are surprised to see me post something that is nothing compared to the cardiac arrest my wife is in for me taking pictures.  Sorry the photos are not of to many things but for security reasons I cant take photos of the camps or FOB's I'm at.  These are pics of Kuwait and if you don't know now you know that Kuwait SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! The wind is always blowing and you live in a tent. Its like being at the beach on a really windy day minus the water, fun, and swimsuit.  The last pic is of me on a C-17 into Baghdad.  KK and Austin love you and miss you P.S. thank you for helping mommy.  Jeanette you have always been the love of my life and the strength that always brings me home safely love ya.

Family Pictures

Here are some family pictures we took on Thanksgiving.  I always have a hard time getting Chris to "want" to take pictures.  Unfortunately, Austin is becoming even harder than Chris to get pictures of him.

Well, the day came.  Chris left for Iraq today.  We spent our last day yesterday, like it was any other day as a family.  We didn't want to spend our last moments together sad, and depressed.  We went out to breakfast this morning and then hung out in Chris' office while he had to take care of getting his weapon and other stuff.  When it was time, we gave our hugs, and kisses and said our good-byes and watched him get on the bus.  It was especially hard on Kayla.    Chris is going to be taking pictures and try to post them on the blog.  We want to thank everyone for your love, support, and prayers.

Chris' Promotion

Last week, Chris was promoted from 2nd LT. to 1st LT.  The kids and I were able to go and pin on his new rank.  Besides when Chris was commissioned, I have never been to one of Chris' promotions.  The last time he was promoted, he was in Kuwait.  We are very proud of him.  

The day before Chris' promotion, he had to serve his Soldiers a Thanksgiving dinner.  As a part of that, he had to wear his dress blues.  I have been bugging Chris for a year to get a picture of him in his uniform, and I FINALLY got it!  For those of you who don't know and are wondering why the pants are lighter than the jacket, I'll tell you.  In the Civil War, the Union Soldiers would take their jackets off during the battles.  Their pants would ware more and fade, while their jackets remained nice and clean.  They wear the dress blues that way to carry on that legacy.

Peanut Brittle and Thanksgiving

It's a tradition in my family to make peanut brittle every year.  I learned from my dad and he learned from his mom.  Usually we wait until it's closer to Christmas, but we wanted to get a start on some of our family traditions to include Chris.  It is seriously the best peanut brittle ever.  Every other year, I make it and Chris helps with pulling it, but this year I tried (key word on "tried") showing the kids how it's made.  Kayla was a big help, but Austin was being a goof-ball and was acting silly.  It was one of our best batches!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Charlotte and spent the holiday with my grandparents.  We had a great time.  Thanksgiving morning we all went to the movies.  The kids and the boys saw "Bolt" and the girls saw "Twilight."  It was a win, win and everyone was happy.  We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with fried turkey.  Really, it's the only way to have turkey.  We had fun hanging out and seeing Christmas lights.  The kids especially had fun helping Grandpa clean out the gutters.  Austin was a true boy and didn't even hesitate climbing up the latter. Kayla, on the other hand, really did try to overcome her fears.