A Reminder

Memorial Day Facts from Haggis:

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic,and was first observed on 30 May 1868. First established to honor soldiers who died in the Civil War. First this was not recognized by the South, but following the Civil War both sides came together honoring Americans who died fighting in any war.

"Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all" - Gen Logan

In 1915 Moina Michael wrote this poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy redThat grows on fields where valor led,It seems to signal to the skiesThat blood of heroes never dies.

That is why we wear Red poppies, and the money from those poppies went to benifit sevicemen in need.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

"Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day." - VFW

A year ago I was leading a 4-Ship of A-10's on two fly-by passes to honor our fallen Heroes, with my girls on the ground yelling "hello Daddy". This year I am unable to honor our fallen Heroes at home with my girls, but I ask that you kindly remind those around you that this day is more than an excuse to grab some hot dogs and throw them on the grill.

Please this weekend, Honor all of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guard, and DoD civilians who volunteered to protect our Freedoms and who paid the Ultimate Sacrifice.

Summer's Family Fitness Night

Jazzercise!























Time for some abs work.

Scooterboards!

Shooting hoops in the gym.

Piranhas Come In 2nd!

Paige's soccer team, the Green Piranhas, came in 2nd in their division! Congratulations to McKenzie, Samantha, Logan, Paige, Jordan, Bretton, Madalyn, Roland, Nathan, Matthew, Parker, and Coaches Jamie and Kenny.

More Zoo Pics

Thanks Jen!

Prayers For Lauren

A Visit From Brotha Love

We were blessed this week with a visit from an old friend. Corey was in Den's UPT class and we haven't seen him in about 9 years! He was in with a plane at Langley this week and he had a chance to come by and see us. It was such a great visit!

We're Going To The Zoo Zoo Zoo...

Mrs. Bryant's lions

We started off with a picnic in Lafayette Park

The 3 amigos - Ashlyn, Summer, and Julia

It took us forever to get them away from the giant globe.

Hanging out in the barnyard

Mmmm, giant icees!

Lauren, Julia, Summer, and Ashlyn

I am a bit behind on postings, so they are going to be short and sweet!

Blast From The Past

16. Wow. I can't believe this picture is almost 15 years old. I am a little staggered to think back on all that has happened in that decade and a half. Thanks Nadia!

Halfway

Howdy from El Baghdad!
Well folks I actually got to have a Surf n Turf last night. I now should only have fourteen left. Last night I went with chicken breast and lobster tail. The chicken tasted fishy and the lobster was overcooked and hard to chew. It was all OK though because I spent the past two nights in Bahrain. Bahrain is the vacation spot for the middle east. Fine living and good food. I was able to enjoy what I could afford, but it was nice brushing my teeth with running water and not bottled water, and walking around the hotel room with my shoes off. It was a good stay, but not so relaxing because I always have to worry about the next meeting or event for the big guy. Things are definitely warming up here also as it was 111 degrees yesterday, and that is just the start. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend. Please fly those Flags proudly and enjoy a good backyard BBQ this weekend.

The Amazing Traveling Pet Shops Visit Qatar and The Prime Minister's Palace

To Sleep, Perchance To Dream.

Well Hello everyone! There are only 15 more Surf-n-Turf's left over here. Once again I did not have the chance to partake in the food. I instead had to fly out to a certain location and wait all night in a blowing dust storm, waiting on another event to happen. It never happend and I finally got back this morning at 1000. With only a little nap that lasted about one hour I was up 29 hrs when I got back and it is just now about 1000 pm. So I guess that makes 41 hrs total. I am kind of tired right now. Sometimes this job has its perks and sometimes it definitley does not. I visited the Victory Over USA and Iran Palace today. We bombed it in 2003, just because. Hah. I took many pictures that I will send to Sarah.. I am going to go to bed now, so all please take care and please buy something Made in the USA this next week. (Note: These are not the pictures that Den is talking about above. I will post those when I get them)

Work, from the air

The Tigris

The evil mutant Saddam bass

Happy Peanut Butter - sometimes it's the little things in life that mean the most.

Happy Mother's Day!

Other than Dennis being gone, I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I feel very blessed to have been gifted with such a wonderful and loving family. Dennis got me a new phone, which I have really been wanting.

Summer made me a beautiful plate with her picture on it that I am going to use to store my ribbon scraps on my scrapbooking table. She also made me a tote bag that I proudly carried to church today. Paige made me some beautiful I.O.U flowers and picked the biggest most beautiful rose off our rose bush for me. She also wrote me a poem called Special Breeze. It was so wonderful that I had to take video of her reciting it so that I could share it with everyone.

After a nice relaxing morning, we enjoyed a great sermon on the great mothers of the bible. There is just something about the way that Rev. Walsh delivers a sermon that really holds my attention. As a special treat, the Children's Choir performed in honor of their moms. It was wonderful.

After church the girls took me to The Briar Patch, which is a yummy little tea room here in Poquoson. We spent the afternoon at the park and now we are watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition together as a family. What a blessed life I have!

I'm Melting!

I think I have 16 Surf n Turf's left. I do not have my number behind me right now because I am not at my desk.. I am on the road with the big guy. Food is the same.....not bad, but not great either. I hope this email finds everybody well today, and I hope the weather is great for you. Where I am currently it is getting up to 110 degrees with 100% humidity. Now that is what I would like to call HOT and it is only May. There is about a five degree difference when you hang out in the shade, but it still does not matter. Great news for all....my replacement has been named. One step closer to getting back to my three girls and good ole USA. I have to get going now but please enjoy a nice, COLD, beverage for me today that was made in AMERICA by an AMERICAN.

The Hampton Carousel

Today we went to the Hampton Farmer's Market with our good friends the Campbells. Come to find out, the farmer's market is in Carousel Square, thus named for the beautiful old carousel in its center. Here's the info.

Built in 1920, the Hampton Carousel is one of only 170 working antique wooden carousels in the United States. Hand crafted by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company for the Buckroe Beach Amusement Park, the merry-go-round's 48 horses and two chariots were hand carved by Russian, German and Italian immigrant artisans. When the Amusement Park closed, the horses were completely restored, given their own pavilion and are now a focal point of Hampton's downtown waterfront. Visitors can take a spin and enjoy an American tradition.

My Girl Stevy!

My cousin Stevy is interning at a magazine in Houston. This is her first time in print. YAY STEVY!

The Q-U Wedding

Every year at Poquoson Primary, the kindergarteners participate in the Q-U Wedding. Since the letter Q is rarely ever seen without the letter U, it only makes sense that they should make it official with a wedding! So very cute! (Q and U, by the way, are dogs!)

Saddam's Mutant Fish

Den just sent me this. This video was taken at the lake surrounding the Al Faw palace at Camp Victory. All I can say is holy crap, what ARE those things?




UPDATE: The fish in the video are "Saddam Bass", which are genetically engineered bass that Saddam commissioned for his palace lakes. They are enormous and apparently quite freaky to see in person.

17 To Go

Well guess what...only 17 more Surf n Turfs left. I could not bring myself to eating that steak and fried shrimp last night. Instead I had a Ham (hold the swine flu) and Turkey Panini with a Crab meat salad for my surf n turf night. It was not as good as it sounds trust me but still not bad either. I elected not to have my weekly dessert of Ice Cream because I have been a bit of a slack this week at the gym. Big guy and I were very busy this past week and this next week is even busier. I just have to schedule more "Stress Managment" time (Gym Time) into the schedule. I hope all is going great with everyone and hope that the H1N1 flu leaves everyone alone.

Time for a war story:
Somebody found an iron, don't ask why, and plugged it into the same power strip as the coffee pots. This overloaded the circuit causing the coffee making process at 0600 in the morning to be at a standstill. Not good. So I had to re-work a few things to include flipping circuit breakers and finding new outlets finally got the coffee brewing again. It was a close call. This place is wired in a scary way. There are actually screws in place of circuit breakers as jumpers and ALL of the wires are RED!

OK, I know this was not as exciting as my real war stories from Afghanistan but it will have to suffice. Please take care and say hello to a stranger and ask them how they are doing.

There is a chow hall here that has college flags and banners hanging all over it. TX State sent this one to add to the collection.

On a plane to Al Asad

Al Asad AB, Iraq

Promotion ceremony that I MC'd

Helping with the promotee's new rank