Welcome Hannah!

DA - Just wanted to let you know that Lisa (nurse at the office) had her baby last Thursday night. Hannah was born @ 2037 by C section. She weighed 8# 9oz and is 18 1/2" long. Lisa and Hannah are doing well and already @ home. I am taking dinner to them tonight. Jessica set up a sign up calendar so we can all take turns taking them dinner. Tonight is meatloaf, mac & cheese, salad and brownies. On Thursday I am taking hamburgs, corn on the cob, potato salad & cupcakes.

We are back in the swing of things since returning from vacation. The St Louis summer weather has finally hit. I guess they had some hot days while we were gone, and it has returned! I know it is not as hot as you have it over there, but it is WARM & HUMID today. Maybe I can get in the pool after delivering dinner and getting my hair cut.

Well - Lisa just called and they are ready for me to deliver their dinner.

Hope all is well with you. Dad and I work this weekend, but he is not on call. I think it is supposed to be hot this weekend so we will be in the pool....probably will have company in the pool, too!

Love you & KYHD!

mom

P.S. Ben had to rebuild my laptop. Lots of spyware, etc..It is working great!

We're Back!

Hey everyone! We're home. We got back to O'Fallon about 3 this afternoon (1500 hrs for those military types!). We had a great vacation and saw lots of northwestern Michigan - The Cherry Capital of the World! I guess we just missed the Cherry Festival by a few days. There were cherry trees everywhere - still FULL of cherries! The two concerts at Interlochen Center for the Arts were good - the philharmonic was better than the World Senior Choir concert. The best was Jon Reep - the comedian we saw Monday night. Apparently he was last years winner on Last Comic Standing. He reminded me of Larry the Cable Guy...in fact he said that he gets mistaken for him frequently. He was on stage for 90 minutes and we laughed the whole time!
In addition to seeing that part of Michigan, we read some, saw 2 movies, and just took it easy. Momma Mia! (the movie)is GREAT! It is the quintessential musical. We actually went to see it twice we enjoyed it so much. I would go again in a heart beat.
We also took advantage of many of the Michigan wineries. Who knew?? I guess the climate and soil there is great for growing grapes so there are several wineries. We brought home about 10 bottles of Michigan wine. I may even save some for when Jennie can drink again!!

It is back to work tomorrow - bright and early 0630!! Our next time off will be in September, though I am not sure of the dates. After that, who knows?? After each vacation we vow that we will get the next one planned within 6 months, but we have yet to keep those vows!! Maybe this time.

DA - It was so good to talk with you Monday afternoon. Thanks for calling. Sorry you missed the others, but maybe you can call sometime when we are all together. That would be great. How is the internet setup coming?? Hopefully you will have it soon and for a while before you PCS to the states!!

I guess that is about it for now. Hope all is well with everyone else!

Love to all and KYHD!!
mom

Message

Hey there! We got your message yesterday. Unfortunately, we were both at work when you called. You sounded good though.

The baby is still growing and developing at a healthy pace. My health is also good. My weight is within what it should be, only my belly and butt seem to be growing! My blood pressure is good and all my other tests are within normal ranges.

It was great to hear your voice! Please try and give us a call over the weekend if you can.

KYHD!

SpaceBalls: ****, Even in the future nothing works!

Check out the date...

Got a good laugh and hope you will too

Sunday

Hi DA,

Check out my blog http://kelonac.blogspot.com/ to see some pictures from Sunday. We had a great time.

Miss(ed) you! KYHD

Shennie

The Flag Ladies

I ran across this organization a couple weeks ago and have bookmarked them. I was so impressed with what they are doing that I even sent them a small donation and mentioned that you are currently stationed in Iraq.

http://www.freeportflagladies.com/

I received a thank you note from them today:

Dear S...

Thank you so much for your donation. It will help more than you can know. 100% of any donation that we receive is used to support our troops. Your kindness really helps to lift our spirits. We will continue to do all that we can for as long as we can to show the men and women serving this great nation that we support them and their families.
Please thank your nephew for us. He is one of our heroes.
...With much love, The Freeport Flag Ladies

It may be worth a trip to Freeport (and thus LLBean) to see their work.

Thanx, Scoots. Any requests. Sorry you weren't able to check in Sunday night. We had a great time and WAY TOO MUCH FOOD!

Shennie

Better Late Than Never... (revision)

So I was going through my emails that i just got as of 0935 this morning and noticed it still showed I had one unread message, so I started scrolling down until I hit the very bottom and thats where i found this email... Like the title says, Better late than never right?? (Check out the date it was sent/received. Hope Al Gore doesnt find out that he didnt invent the internet, not with a date like that!

Randomness

Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

Ditto Shennies post! It is a great day!

Bud - I wish you could be here with us but since you cannot, please know that you and all you buddies are in our thoughts and prayers this day.
We have nothing special planned for today - we are celebrating on Sunday when we can all be together. It looks like there will be about 20 here so pray for good weather!!!

It was so good to talk to you the other night! and for such a long time!! You sounded well even though it was the middle of the night for you! I hope the rest of your shift went smoothly. Hearing the sound of the engine from one of your birds reminded me of the sound of remote-controlled planes.

Have you got your internet up and running yet? It would be great to talk to you on Sunday when we will all be here. If you will be able to call, send me an email so I can be sure to have the Skype phone close by. Dad and I will be at work until 5 but all the others will be here earlier but will porbably be swimming. Just ler us know if you can.

Have a great Army day. I'm sure that there is something special going on on post.

Love you lots and KYHD!
mom

Happy 4th of July

Today more than ever is the day to celebrate our soldiers and sailors.

Today more than ever is the day to appreciate the brave stance that our founding fathers took to stand up to King George and risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Today more than ever is the day to not just relish in a day out of work, but to remember why we have the day off and why we can work without oppression.

Today more than ever is the day to thank God for our freedoms and blessings here in the United States of America and to thank God because we CAN thank God.

Today more than ever is the day to remember Bunker Hill, Normandy, CBI, Gettysburg, Verdun, the Alamo, the Tet Offensive and the Fall of Saigon, Operation Desert Storm, and 9/11 ~ at the very least.

Today more than ever is the day to celebrate the advancements in the arts and sciences that come from living and researching in our free country.

Today more than ever is the day to remember the soldiers, sailors, marines, pilots, and others that sacrificed time, lives, limbs, and souls for our freedom. From Navy nurses to Army Air Corps mechanics we remember and thank you.

And, to those who proudly wear our country's uniforms today, we walk a little taller, smile a little broader, sleep a little sounder, breathe a little easier because of you and we thank you and love you.

We keep you in our thoughts, prayers, and hearts daily. God bless you!

Shennie