Support

Today, Chelsea and I joined my mom out at the Marine's booth. On the weekends, my mom and her friend collect donations for the Marine's. Originally, we set out to indulge ourselves in their delicious, inexpensive breakfast menu! It ended up, we brought in about 1/3 of the day's donations!

As I sat there with my two sons and mom, an irritated lady approached the table. She instantly began to voice her feelings about the military and the ones who are no longer with us. She felt that a foundation for fallen soldier's (which we were displaying) was offensive. She continued on to tell my mom that we should remember those who are still fighting this war and so on. If you know what my mom is involved in, you will know that she is raising funds to send well-wishes to troops overseas and their family members.

I instantly found myself irritated that this woman had such a strong opinion of something which she knew nothing about. My mom actually calmed the lady down and explained what Operation Stocking Stuffer was really about. She left teary eyed, after she said she already lost one son and had family still fighting this war.

My question though, what exactly is wrong with "memorializing" the fallen soldiers? This lady was very upset at the thought that we might be doing this. I think (now it's only MY opinion) that we should do something to commemorate those who are no longer with us. They gave their lives for our country, you and me!

Chad just called to let us know that he made it to Korea safely... He didn't waste much time before complaining about the cold weather! Anyway, I think he was tired and cold, but he seemed to be enjoying the experience. Abby was excited that she got to talk to Chad for a while!

Farewell Chad and Hello Steve!

In honor of Chad departing, I thought you might be interested in a little Korean culture...



Hanbok, as everyday attire, is worn chiefly by elderly people and by the general population during special occasions such as traditional holidays, weddings and 60th birthday celebrations. Western civilization type clothing has taken over this once everyday attire.

Chad is off to Korea. He will be up and on his way as of 1 am. He will embark on a 15 hr flight, stopping in Tokyo first. He is very excited and I feel he thinks of this trip as more of a vacation than "work".

The weather this time of yr is pretty cold apparently. Chad doesn't do cold weather well...

I coerced him into bringing us back prizes from his month long stint there. He has promised he will bring some small gifts for his nephews. I find myself SO jealous that he is getting to travel like this. The military has definitely provided him some awesome opportunities.

I hope he has a very memorable time and he also promises to behave. He says his buddies are looking forward to meeting some Korean ladies (Chels claims they are mostly Russian women there, not Korean), but he's excited to go shopping; I think this is due to his current girlfriend, Abby. We're all grateful she puts up with him!

On to Steve news. He is returning home in April for two weeks. We are all getting excited to see him. I'm most excited to see how Logan's little face lights up when he sees his daddy! It's been too long!

I often check this blog. I'm always curious to see if Chelsea's posted something new, if someone actually commented, or see what the weather's like where the boys are at. Today, I noticed that Steve has been away for 4 months time. It's hard to believe that he's been in Iraq that long already. I know for Chelsea, Logan and his parents it's seemed longer, I'm sure. I wonder sometimes what Steve has been doing. How things are for him. If he's warm, happy. I sure hope so.

My mom finished up the stockings to be sent to the Marines. I am proud to report that over 10,000 pounds of stockings were sent to the troops. That made a total of 1,500 soldiers that received them. This included Steve and his troop. I'm so proud of my mom for making a difference. I'm sure it put a smile on all of their faces, at least for a moment. She worked so hard on this project and it's an ongoing job for her. Good job mom and all of those who donated time, money and effort!

Christmas Kisses

The WWE Tribute to the Troops was on tv last night... Logan got to see his daddy for the 1st time since August. Let's just say that Logan gave him tons of kisses to make up for the past few months! He would kiss the tv and tap on the glass- he was excited to see his daddy!

Finally an update

Steve's mom called me today to tell me that she spoke to Steve. Apparently he is doing great and he is as happy as can be expected...

Steve is a big fan of wrestling (don't ask me why!) so he was excited that all of the wrestlers were in Iraq filming their holiday special. I guess Steve was able to sit front row for the filming of that. I think that it's supposed to be on tv December 24th @ 9/8 CT so Logan and I will be watching that to see if we can spot daddy! And I thought that I was done watching wrestling! Ugh!

That's all I know! I'll post something if I find anything else out!

Fievel Goes West!

Oops, I mean Chad goes to Korea. He recently received word that he will be stationed in Korea for about 6 weeks. He is scheduled to leave early February of the New Year. He is very excited to train others on the amphibious assault vehicles. Congratulations to Chad!

We haven't heard much from Steve lately. I assume he has been busy protecting our freedom. It's a busy job and we're proud of him for doing it! Please keep our soldiers in your thoughts as they are overseas.