Two Weeks (and two days) of Heaven

Time has a funny way of going really, really fast when all you want it to do is stop.

Matt is officially back in Iraq now, working hard to be the best, most handsomest medical officer I know. Bennett and I are back in our groove, walking with friends and going to the park to play. It was hard to say goodbye on Thursday, but we know it will only be for a little while and then we will all be together again for good. And we can't wait, because we sure do have a lot of fun being together. Here's a rundown of the last two weeks.

Me and Bennett, sooo happy to have our bestest buddy home with us for awhile!

I have told Matt that in at least one way, I am glad that he is gone right now. I think his absence is the only thing keeping Bennett from abandoning me all together (well, except to eat and when he gets hurt. Those two things I still have a monopoly in...) But this little boy loves his daddy. Matt seriously couldn't even leave the room without Bennett immediately wanting to know, "Wah ma daddy doh?" (Where did my daddy go?) and then running to find him. For two weeks and two days I hardly ever saw this kid because he was Matt's little shadow. He did what his daddy did, ate what his daddy ate, and he wore what his daddy wore. It would be easy to get jealous if it wasn't just so dang cute.

Most of the time Matt was home we just hung out. I kept asking Matt if there was anything special he wanted to do, and he said all he wanted was to be with us in our house. So that's what we did. It was the easiest, best vacation we have ever taken together.

For most of the first week Matt was here it was really cold and rained a lot. One day, while Bennett was down for his nap, Matt and I were watching the DIY Network and we started talking about things we wanted to do around the house. I mentioned a few projects I had been thinking of accomplishing in the future, and seven hours later Matt had made all my dreams come true. There really is never a dull moment when this guy is around.

Just as a side note, Bennett got this awesome Black and Decker tool set from Jace (the little boy I babysit) and he is very serious about building. Whenever he uses this thing he is in deep concentration. Bennett is not playing with this, he is working. Anyway, I only mention this because our little builder came in quite handy as we put together our projects on this day.

Here is Bennett helping with his little screwdriver. (Matt has been gone, and I don't really build that often, but Bennett must have it in his blood to build because he knew exactly what to do with this, and only used it in the appropriate places. It was rather remarkable. We were very proud parents.) One of the things I wanted to do was get Bennett's toddler bed set up so I didn't have to do it by myself later (because I don't think I could have). Bennett is NOT sleeping in this bed at the moment, however. Currently, his crib is the only confining place I can put him and know he will still be there when I come back, so I will use that as long as possible. For now this bed is in the office. But wait! There's more!

This is a picture of our office (or at least as good of a one as I could find.) Over the course of seven hours though, we turned it into...

...this! Welcome to Bennett's "Big Boy" room! I love, love, love this room! Of course, it's only halfway finished because we are still in the process of making an adorable bedspread, valance, and ordering new furniture, but these are the basic bones of it. The plan is to have this as the toy room until Bennett grows out of his nursery, and then he can just move right across the hall. The nursery will stay exactly as it is because we don't know where to store any of that stuff, and we don't have any other use for that room anyway. Maybe we will be filling it with a new occupant sometime in the near future...?

To make space for Bennett, the office moved from an entire room into one corner of our guest bedroom and half of its tiny closet. It is amazing it all fit so nicely. Almost like it was meant to be.

Now when we have guests (that's you!) they can lay in bed and watch movies and stuff on here like a TV. Pretty cool. And the best part is, none of this cost us a cent! We sold the old office desk to our neighbor and used that money to get this new desk, and everything in Bennett's room is either reused furniture from other places in our home, or from the garbage (see August 1st, 2010 blog, "Nothing Better" for full details). I love it when stuff works out the way I want it to.

Not only did Bennett get a big boy bed, but ever since we came home from Rexburg, where he sat in a booster seat at mealtimes, Bennett has found it very insulting to have to sit in his baby highchair. So that, too, got packed up and put away. By the looks of things, Bennett is quite proud of this latest milestone.

And speaking of milestones, here's another first for Bennett. "First ER visit."

One day, Bennett was playing with the bobby pin in my hair, taking it in and out and putting it in his own hair and stuff, when suddenly I hear an unholy shriek and see Bennett fall to the ground like he had been shot. At first we couldn't figure out what he had done, but then we noticed blood coming out of his ear. And what's worse, the bobby pin was nowhere to be found. We got a flashlight and shinned it in his ear and saw what we thought was the tip of the bobby pin. Great.

So we rushed to the hospital and then spent a long time in the waiting room watching Sleeping Beauty until the doctor could see us. Luckily, the bobby pin was not in his ear (we found it later, covered in blood on the floor of our living room) and he had only scraped the inside of his ear canal, versus puncturing the ear drum like we had thought. So long story short, Bennett was fine but we spent a long afternoon waiting in the hospital. I have always known I would take this kid to the ER one day (or many days, the way things are going) but I'm just so happy Matt was there to do that with me the first time.

The same afternoon Bennett decided to clean out his ear with hair accessories, Mary and Wayne came up to see us. They arrived a little after we got back from the ER and the rest of the day went off without a hitch. Thank goodness.

Because it was so cold for so long, we brought Bennett's bike inside so he could burn off some of his ever-present energy. Here's Bennett's maimie, showing him a thing or two on how to ride.

Bennett and Pop, playing with the firetruck Santa brought him. Bennett loves this thing.

Of course, we had to BBQ with Matt being home, despite the frigged temperatures. And of course, Bennett had to be with his daddy. So we bundled him up and he went outside to play with bubbles until lunch was ready. Matthew's Shadow.

The happy group.

Besides Mary and Wayne we had lots of other visitors. Joe, Matt's brother, and his wife Kim came up on Sunday and spent the day with us, too. We had so much fun with them, going to church and talking and playing Monopoly Deal. We also saw our good friends the Askerlunds from down the street who we hadn't seen in months due to Christmas travels. Bennett was especially happy to see his buddy Brielle...

They both just learned how to give kisses, and it's pretty funny/terrifying to see them practice on each other.

The next week we packed the car up (I am a self-proclaimed expert at this now) and drove to San Antonio. While there, we crossed off one of Matt's other "R&R Requests" by going to the temple together while Mary watched Bennett. To be honest, the temple is probably the place I have missed Matt the most, so it was such a good experience to be able to go together again. That night we stayed with Mary and Wayne and celebrated Bekah's (Matt's sister) birthday and Matt's visit by eating really yummy food...like, really yummy food. I love comfort foods.

Getting ready for the party.

Nathan and Bekah with her presents

Making a wish. (Notice the cake. What is it with the bunt cake? And why does Mary's bunt cake look so much better than when I make it? I need to take lessons.)

The next day we packed the car again and drove to Houston, a place I have never been before. On the way there we met Matt's older sister, Rachelle, and her husband, Jess, and their little boy, Walker, for lunch at a really good Mexican restaurant. I really enjoyed my enchiladas, and after the dinner we had had the night before I was feeling very fat and happy on our way to Houston.

When we got there we stayed with Matt's Aunt Vicki and Uncle Steve, whom I had met before but never really gotten to know until this trip. They are hilarious! We spent a lot of time just sitting on their couches talking long into the night, and Bennett loved their little poodle Katy and all the attention he got.

Aunt Vicki and Bennett wearing a pair of Aunt Vicki's glasses. He liked these things a lot and wouldn't take them off until I made him because I was afraid his eyesight would suffer.

Bennett and Uncle Steve playing on the floor.

Bennett giving Katy kisses. He also gave Katy all his food and his toothbrush when I wasn't looking. Bennett has a very strong immune system...

The one food Bennett did not share with Katy was his hot salsa. Bennett eats salsa like it's tomato soup. He definitely did not get that from my side of the family!

The next day we got back in the car and drove to see one of the greatest ladies I know. Her name is Grandma Pat, and although she has no blood relation to Matt's family she is definitely their "grandma" in every sense of the word. Grandma Pat is the reason Matt came home on his R&R earlier than we had planned. Because a few months ago we found out that Grandam Pat had developed several brain tumors.

We drove to her home in Rosenburg (right outside of Houston) and spent about an hour talking to her and her husband, Bobby Jack, before she needed to go to her next doctor's appointment. Despite the way I am sure she is feeling, she was still the same old Grandma Pat, full of fire and grit and ready to take on anything that came her way. It was really good to see her, and we think of and pray for her often.

After our visit, we drove back to Aunt Vicki and Uncle Steve's house to get our stuff and say one last goodbye before heading back to our home.

Mattie, Bennett, and Me, ready to hit the road again.

Bennett with Aunt Vicki and Uncle Steve. We will be visiting these guys again soon, I'm sure.

When we got home we spent our time together, going to Story Time at the library, playing at the park, going for bike rides (which Bennett hates even more than sledding) and eating dinners and lunches with good friends. We had such a great time together it was hard to believe it would ever end.

But of course, Thursday came and we had to say goodbye again for a few more months. When Matt walked into the airport Bennett immediately started asking me where his daddy was. I told him Daddy was going to go on an airplane. Bennett thought that was pretty cool and kept saying, "Ma daddy (gibberish gibberish gibberish) ah-pane!" So I thought he pretty much got the concept...until we got home.

As soon as we pulled in the driveway, Bennett got so excited and started looking for his daddy in every room in the house, saying "Oh! Ma Daddy!" When he couldn't find him he got pretty upset and demanded to know where his daddy had gone. I told him he was on an airplane and that he had to go back to work. That seemed to satisfy him for awhile again, but about every three minutes or so he would ask me all over again and I had to keep reminding him most of the day.

But like I said, we have already done this before, so it made it a little easier to move on and get right back in our routine. In fact, the same day Matt left I babysat Jace, went on a walk with my neighborhood friends, hosted an impromptu play date at our house, and had a Primary Presidency meeting. No time for moping around here.

Bennett still asks me where his daddy is occasionally, and even though Matt is back at work (and I've tried telling that to him) the only explanation Bennett wants to hear is that his daddy is on an airplane. So for the next eight months Matt will forever be flying to Iraq. Have fun with that sweetheart :)

We sure love you

Perfection

My Mattie is home.

For two weeks I will be with my best friend and love of my life. Bennett will be with his daddy (who he recognized immediately) and we will spend time together doing nothing and everything, soaking up each others' company.

It is funny how I am feeling right now. For the last couple of days I have been trying so hard to convince myself that he really was coming home. That I really am married. When Matt left, it was like this part of my brain said, "Well, time to get a move on with this deployment thing" and just sort of shut down the whole idea of Matt. I know that must sound sort of harsh, but it was really a very good thing for all of us, done out of necessity more than actual choice. So when we learned that Matt was coming home for his two week break soon, I had to actually work to make myself realize that it was a reality. Don't get me wrong, I was super excited. It just never felt very real.

But today, on the way to the airport to pick Matt up, I finally believed it was happening. For the first time in four months, there was only a highway separating us instead of an ocean. Talk about happy! Bennett has been hearing for days now that his daddy was coming to see him too, and although I'm not really sure what is going on in his head, he seemed to be happy right along with me.

Then suddenly we were there, pulling into the Killeen Airport. And that's when I saw him, standing out on the sidewalk, waiting in his uniform with his big green duffel bag. And I'm not really sure how to explain this, but it was all just so...normal. There was no extraordinary moment of my knees going to jelly or breathless rapture. There were no butterflies in my stomach. No emotional surge. No adjustment period. It was just natural. Perfect.

It was still one of the happiest moments of my life when we finally hugged and kissed for the first time in months. And when Matt saw Bennett sitting in his car seat there were a few tears of joy from us both. But it surprised me that in the end, the overall feeling of our reunion was like he had only been gone a day or two, rather than weeks and weeks. We immediately picked up where we had left off. We held hands in the car and talked about normal, everyday things that I'm sure most husbands and wives talk about as they drive. Bennett too, felt completely at ease, acting as he would normally. We were just another family, driving home from the airport to order Chinese food and watch home videos until bedtime.

And that is our story.

I'm sure there are some people out there thinking this is a sad ending. What, after all, is a great homecoming without an emotional climax? I, on the other hand, could not have asked for anything better. To know that we are still so in sync after four months of being apart--of raising a child and running a household alone, of fighting in a war overseas--to still be connected in so powerful a way that nothing can come between that bond of togetherness. That nothing can change the way you feel about the other...the way you feel about your best friend. That, to me, is extraordinary. That, to me, is perfection. That, to me, is love.

And what greater climax is there than that? :)

The Super Incredible Adventures of Haley and Bennett--Chapter The Last (For Now)--Going Home

January 4th I looked out the backyard window and this is what I saw.

It was my last view of Idaho for a little while, since it was on this day Bennett and I packed our bags for our journey home to Texas. We left my mom and dad's house around 2:00 in the afternoon after a tearful goodbye from my family. It was sad to leave them, since we had grown very comfortable living there over the last several weeks, but it was time to get home and be an adult once again.

Before we left we finally got a good picture of Bennett with his grandma. It's about time we got one of these! Our entire five week vacation we never took one good picture of these two together. Better late than never, I guess. They really are a cute pair.

My dad drove us to Salt Lake that afternoon and we spent the night there with my grandma and grandpa. The next morning my alarm went off at 4:30am, and we were up and moving. By 7:10am we took off on our first flight of the day, heading to Chicago, Illinois. Bennett had his own seat (something I said a prayer of thanks for at least fifteen times over the course of our two-hour, fifty-minute flight) and Bennett thought he was pretty big sitting in a seat all by himself. This is a little clip of us right after we boarded the plane. Bennett's joy at being on an airplane was so complete it was almost comical.

It is still a mystery to me why we flew through such an indirect route as Chicago, but I am sure glad we did. I have never seen Chicago before or Lake Michigan, and it was fun to fly in a giant circle over the entire city. And not only was seeing Chicago great, but the O'Hare International Airport is amazing. If Bennett were to die right now, he would be back at this airport, pushing buttons, watching planes take off and land, and chasing down fuel trucks. He was in literal paradise.

It really is a pretty grand airport.

There was a three hour layover between our two flights, so right after we ate lunch I went in search of the USO. If you don't remember, Bennett and I visited the USO in Denver, Colorado in the past and loved it. It's basically a big, nice room with comfy couches, free food, flat screen TVs, beds, games, a toy room, etc. for members of the military and their families who are traveling. If the O'Hare International Airport is Bennett's paradise, then the USO is mine.

But we never found it. We were on our way in the right direction when I saw a sign that said "Children's Museum" and an arrow. Curiosity got the better of me, and then next thing I knew we had spent the majority of our layover playing in a gated wonderland of fun and education. I believe that if all airports had accommodations like this one, people would fly more often.

Captain Bennett, flying his helicopter.

Refueling the airplane in his tank truck.

Finally it was time to board our last flight home, (which they tried changing gates on me again, but I figured it out a bit sooner this time than last time. Seriously, hasn't American Airlines ever heard of a thing called "intercom announcements"? It would really cut back on the confusion...) Bennett hadn't slept for eleven hours at this point, so I thought surely he would pass out on the plane. No way. Flying is way too exciting for that. So after another two-hour fifty-minute flight, I was thoroughly exhausted, out of ideas of things to do with Bennett's toys in his diaper bag, and I felt like I had a rash on both my legs from the number of times Bennett climbed onto them and then slid off again. Luckily Bruce, the sweet young man sitting next to us, thought Bennett was hilarious, and he was OK with the amount of movement going on six inches from his face. Needless to say, landing in San Antonio was a relief for me.

Bekah picked us up from the airport in our gorgeous car (we asked Wayne if he could drop it off to have it detailed and tinted for us while we were away and he did a great job) and we drove straight to Mary and Wayne's.

I feel bad that the camera was so buried in all of our luggage I couldn't take any pictures while at their house, but just know it was so fun. We had a great dinner, got a good night's sleep, and a fun, relaxing morning catching up on all the Bell/Hargrave Christmas activities. Bennett loved playing in "Maimie's Park" and with all of her and Pop's toys under their stairs. I enjoyed one last shower where I didn't have to think of what to do with Bennett. Then we loaded the car one last time and drove HOME.

And we hit the ground running. The minute we pulled into our driveway we have been going, going, going with unpacking, church callings, grocery shopping, dinners at friends' houses, phone calls and calendar updates, and just catching up on everything we've missed in the last month. Matt is coming home for his R&R break soon (insert squeal of delight) so we are also preparing for that.

So that's it. In the end I have decided that we lead a very blessed life. Everywhere we go we feel loved and welcomed. Everyone we meet has so much good in them. And every adventure we finish is just the beginning of a new one. And that is how I have chosen to end this last chapter of "The Super Incredible Adventures of Haley and Bennett"...with only the promise of a new one to start soon.

Isn't life fun?

The Best job

Besides marrying Matt, having Bennett in my life is the single greatest thing that has happened to me. Of course some days are better than others. For example, whoever decided starting church at 1:00 in the afternoon was a good idea obviously had no children. It is a horrible idea, right up there with daylight savings time. But for the most part, Bennett is a very happy boy with a naturally good heart. I feel so blessed to be his mom--to be loved so purely, and to love back so deeply. I am forever indebted to my Heavenly Father for granting me so great a gift as motherhood.

New Years and Rexburg Fun

Well I was going to post some pictures on here of New Years Eve, but I didn't take any pictures of New Years Eve so that's out of the plan. I can tell you what we did though, and it was super fun.

First we all, Bennett included, went to the movie "Tangled" and Bennett did surprisingly well. He loved the action-intense parts and would yell "Oohh!" and "Woah!" loud enough to get looks from the people sitting around us. He also liked dancing to the music, running up and down the isles, making friends with the little boy a few rows up, eating popcorn off the floor (gag), standing on the seats, and shoving handfuls of candy into his mouth. (Don't worry, the candy wasn't from off the floor.) It was a very active movie for me, but I still saw almost the entire thing and really enjoyed it.

When we got home we put Bennett to bed and drank homemade hot chocolate, played Scattergories (which I miraculously won) and talked until it was time to watch the ball in Times Square drop. I have no idea why, but I was SO excited for the year 2011 to start. I could literally barely contain myself. As we were all toasting each other with glasses of sparkling cider, I sat on the couch and just laughed and cried for no reason I could explain. Maybe because Matt comes home this year. Maybe because I need to get more sleep. Either way, it was a good night.

Since New Years we have kept busy doing all sorts of fun things. Bennett and I have been thoroughly spoiled. Here are a few pictures indicating the fun times we have had while here.

This has got to be my favorite picture from this trip. What you are seeing is a game I started with Bennett while we were waiting for my dad and Allison to pick out a flavor of ice cream. The game goes like this: Put Bennett in the main part of a shopping cart. Wait for him to yell "Doh!" (go) and then push like mad. Best game ever. My dad took over when I started getting tired and Bennett loved it. I believe this photo was taken mid-shriek. Bennett sure does love his "Bumpah" (grandpa).

It was also on this night I let Allison and my dad take Bennett while I stood in line to pay for a few items. I soon heard an unearthly yell that I knew belonged to my kid, who was undoubtedly hurt. Bennett is an active boy and gets hurt a lot, so I wasn't very worried...until Allison brought him to me. Apparently he had been running full speed ahead (pretty fast for Bennett) and had made direct contact with a low hanging sushi bar. Poor guy, his head looked so bad. As my dad put it, "Bennett could wear two hats." The giant goose egg was gone by the time Bennett woke up the next morning, but the scratch lingered and is evident in the rest of the following pictures over his right eyebrow. I swear, if this boy survives to see two years old I will be so happy.

One night Aunt Courtney (or Aunt "toe-tee" to Bennett) decided to make cookies together. Here is how the night went.

Mixing the cookies

Eating the cookies

Rolling the cookies

Eating the cookies

Baking the cookies

And then guess what we did? That's right. We ate the cookies. Bennett got way more than his fair share of sugar on this night, but it was worth it to see him so involved in cooking. I say wahoo to this. He can take over for me in a few years.

One day we went to see Courtney at the sandwich shop she works at. When my mom showed Bennett that Courtney was behind the counter, he got so happy to see her. It was pretty cute.

Bennett with his aunt Owdee (Alie) waiting for Courtney to bring us lunch. These two are good buddies (despite the fact that she let him run into a sushi bar...)

A picture of Bennett's "Aum-ma" (Grandma. I know my mom will get mad at me for posting this "horrible picture" on here, but I felt she wasn't represented in this post very well so I put it on anyway. Sorry mom.)

The new college semester starts in just a few days, so both Allison and Courtney moved into their apartments while I was here. I didn't get any pictures of Courtney's apartment (which has vaulted ceilings and is very nice) but I did go with Allison to help organize and decorate hers. This is the before picture.

And this is the after picture. Helping Allison move in reminded me how much I loved going to college...and how very, very happy I am to be done. Being a mom is way better than doing homework any day.

For Family Night on Monday we went to Arctic Circle for ice cream and to play on the only playground that is still accessible during the dead of winter. Here's Bennett and Allison eating their treats.

The "SIDE!" (slide. You have to yell this word to get it's full effect.)

And this is just a picture I thought was funny because I had no idea the camera was working when we took it.

There are probably a million more pictures I could put on here, but I think you got the jist of it. Tomorrow we will pack our bags and Bennett and I will head to Utah to catch our flight back to Texas on the 5th. It has been sooo much fun spending time with so many wonderful people. I think both Bennett and I will go through withdrawals from lack of attention, free food, and childcare. All good things must come to an end, however, and so we are on to the next great adventure.

So long, Idaho. We will visit you again soon.

Christmas Day (Finally)

Because so much happened all at once it has taken me a little while to get around to posting actual Christmas morning. Well, here it is. By the time the big day rolled around, Logan and Griffin and their families were gone to their in-laws' homes and it was just my mom and dad, my sisters, and me and Bennett left.

Despite our few numbers we kept tradition alive by setting out milk and cookies for Santa, feeding reindeer, sleeping all in the same room (minus Bennett), and caroling to my parents from the bottom of the stairs before they would let us come up to see what Santa had left. The only change in the routine was that we waited until Bennett woke up at 7:30am to come out of our room instead of bounding out of bed at 6:00am (the maximum earliest wake-up time allowed growing up.) It was a good change, if you ask me.

Another tradition we do is getting our Christmas Eve pajamas. This year we went with red for the boys and pink for the girls, but since you are only seeing one boy and one girl it looks like we don't match at all. If Matt were here, you would see that his pajamas (which we sent him and which he wore on Christmas Eve) match Bennett's little pair almost exactly.

Aunt Courtney teaching Bennett the proper technique to feed reindeer. Bennett caught on to this quickly--it is, after all, just throwing food. Bennett is a pro at throwing food due to his extensive practice in our kitchen. What an arm.

Here is a little movie of Bennett and his grandpa setting out the milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. This year Bennett learned who Santa was, although I'm pretty sure he doesn't really get the whole concept of his purpose. It was still fun to do things with him that my mom and dad did with me.

Matt called right before we went upstairs and stayed on Skype the entire morning to watch us open presents and show us what he got from home. It was so fun to have him "there" with us, although I am sure next year will be even better :) So this is pretty much what Christmas morning looked like. It was so fun to have one more year of being a kid...even though I have my own kid now. Lucky us, we are so spoiled!

Right after we opened presents and ate our delicious Christmas breakfast, we packed up the car and drove to Utah once more for a visit with pretty much the entire Hazard side of my family. We got to attend the baby blessing of my cousin's little boy, and spent three days just talking, hanging out, and catching up.

Whenever my Hazard family gets together it ends up looking pretty much like this...every time. I love it! I love everything about the loud, unorganized, chaos that reins supreme when too many people are in too small of a space, but everybody loves each other in the end.

One of the days we were there we also made a trip to Provo and saw my grandma Hill again, along with some of my other Hill family relatives and Logan and Rachel's family. Oh! And that night I went to the organizers paradise called IKEA and fell in love with several items. Nothing excites me like cubicals!

So now I think I am pretty much caught up with this one holiday that was four blog posts long. Yay! However, since it took me forever to finish this I am now behind on New Years and other events, so I guess I still have a ways to go before I can celebrate. That's OK. I have a fantastic life and I love reliving every moment of it (and forcing you to relive it with me. Lucky you!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!

Whats going on

So not much really going on, but a few highlights. We moved our Aid Station a while back and it is actually a lot better than our last one. If you remember correctly our 2 trauma bed, office, pharmacy, clinic compacted in a 15x30 ft room. We did a little maneuvering and actually got a clinic that was to standard and alot better for us.

The front of our new amazing Aid Station with attached pharmacy. Everything is just 2x4 and plywood around here. We don't build for cosmetics.

We keep a medic on duty here at the front and they do all the preliminaries before we notify the doc.

Our awesome clinic. Pretty much everything you need for a 2 bed trauma facility.

Here is my new office. Doc and I share it and of course the medics relax in here with us when not working. Keeps us away from everybody else.

So here is our little food station in our office. There is a microwave and coffeepot on the top shelf, that you cant see. We rotate through all this in about 2 weeks time. People send us alot of food. Sometimes it makes it very difficult to eat right with all the junk food!

This is my new saw. Actually I brought it with me from the states. Traded a guy that had it for some other stuff and wamo! New saw. It gets used alot around here, needless to say.

This is my new tool set, compliments of the US Army. I have become unofficially the Battalion carpenter. Its fun and I really enjoy it. Kinda like my own personal therapy time.

So nothing to much going on. Just looking forward to going home for a little R&R. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!