Happy Birthday Jamie!

Happy Birthday Jamie! Today was a training holiday, so Jamie even had the day off to relax. We went to dinner, and then to the Valentine Dance at Kaitlin's school. Although, we think that it should have been called the Valentine's Track Meet, with the way the kids were running around. Afterwards, we came home and enjoyed some cake and ice cream. I made him a Valentine's Funfetti cake. I used my Pampered Chef rice cooker that I make the molten chocolate cake in. It turned out cute...but just a little bit of advice. We ate it hot, and the candles MELTED in it. (Yes, Jamie you were partially right) It was pretty funny, Jamie came out and wanted to know what was up with the candles, because they were falling over. I pulled them out, and there was wax in the cake, and the wicks were about all that were left, lol. We put the long side of the wicks up, and I wondered if the cake was going to catch fire. I had only put four on, because I was afraid if I put as many as his age it would take the whole house up:)

Happy Birthday Baby-I LOVE YOU!

Just The Two of Us

There isn't much to say about this photo. We had a Military Police Dining Out to go to. It was a formal event-an excuse to get all dressed up:) It was more of a celebration than anything, that our MP's returned from Iraq without any casualties. And that is a HUGE thing to celebrate. I just wanted to share a picture of us--and Jamie in his mess dress uniform. We also received the monogrammed wine glasses that are given at every MP event. The monogramming is the same picture as the one on the program. Underneath the picture it says OIF 07-09, Iron MP.

Happy New Year!

This year for New Year's we decided to do the same old same old. HA! We headed to Paris for a few days. We took a bus trip, and left Monday night around 11:30 p.m. We drove all night and arrived in Paris Tuesday morning. We had breakfast, and then about an hour to clean up and we headed out for the day. First we went to Notre Dame. It was absolutely beautiful. Then we drove up to an area where you could take pictures of the Eiffel Tower. That evening we had an authentic French dinner. New Year's Eve day we headed out and went to Versailles, and then the Louvre. That evening we had another traditional French dinner and then went to the Champs Elysee for New Year's Eve. The bus picked us back up around 12:45 a.m. Then, on New Year's Day we went up into the Eiffel Tower and took a boat tour of the Seine River.

On New Year's Eve when the year changed over to 2009 the Eiffel Tower lit up like it was sparkling, and there were some fireworks. It was really cool.

The pictures are Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Versailles, and the Louvre. I don't have pictures of New Year's Eve, or up in the Eiffel Tower because my camera battery died on New Year's Eve Day. I had taken a transformer for my hair dryer, curling iron, and camera battery, but the transformer blew on the first day...(you read that right, I really had no way of fixing my hair the whole time! Lucky Jamie, he has such a low maintenance wife, lol) We found a place that had a disposable camera, but I still have to get the film developed...going back to the good old days:) Hopefully, they turned out nice, and I will post them later.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a wonderful, blessed Christmas.

What happened to the last 9 years?

On December 15 Kaitlin turned 9. WHAT?!?!?!?! I can't believe how grown up she is getting. We celebrated with a dinner out, and cake and ice cream. Her gift from us was a Gotz doll, a German doll.

It was 9 years ago that Kaitlin was brought into our lives. I went to the doctor on the 14th (she was due the 6th) to see when they would induce me-they were talking about waiting until December 20th, and I was really upset because I wanted to be in Iowa for Christmas. Well, that day when they did the ultrasound they realized that I didn't have enough amniotic fluid to sustain her and she would be in distress if they didn't act fast. So, they started inducing. Twenty-four hours later she was finally born! 6lbs, 9 oz-a tiny beautiful little girl. We were released from the hospital the afternoon of the 17th, Jamie and I went home and packed our car and headed out to Iowa on the morning of the 19th. (We were stationed at Ft. Stewart, GA) Craziness!

She's a star!

I know, I know, I'm behind on this...
So, Kaitlin performed in her play, "It's a Wonderful Life" She did a FANTASTIC job. The entire cast did, but I think Kaitlin did the best-I'm a little partial. She actually played several parts-young Violet, Janey Bailey, a newspaper boy, and one of the Martini girls. (the Martini family was one of the ones that George Bailey helped to buy their own home.) We were so excited that Jamie was able to be there on opening night (that was the day he arrived super early, lol) She just got into acting this summer while he was in Iraq, so this was the first time he was able to see her perform. It was a beautiful play, and we are so proud of our little girl!

It is finally OVER!

439 days, 62.71, 14.63 months, 1.2 years. That is how long Jamie spent in Iraq. Wow! That's a long time! And in case you're wondering, I had an excel program that kept track for me, because you know I would miss something somewhere in there if I had to keep track of it manually.

Last Wednesday (Dec. 3) we woke up to snow. It was so pretty! And falling so quickly. A.J. and I took Kaitlin to school (after I checked my email for the hundredth time-I was waiting for our FRG to contact me and tell me that Jamie was on the way) Then, A.J. and I headed for the airfield so that he could go to school. The traffic was so bad it took us a half an hour to go maybe 2 miles. We were right at the exit that I could get off and come back on post the back way so we headed home. By then I had an email from the FRG letting me know that Jamie was in Kuwait! I was on pins and needles all day waiting for the next email. That evening I had an email telling me that Jamie was on his way to Germany and would be here the next morning at 5 A.M. I also had a phone call. We were warned that there were weather warnings, that it was supposed to snow all night and there was a danger of black ice in the morning. I decided that we would leave for the airfield around 3:30 AM. That would give me plenty of time to get there if it was too icy. I finally went to bed around midnight, and was back up around 2:45 (I overslept! I wanted to be up at 2) Then around 3 AM I received another phone call telling me that the reunion ceremony had been moved up to 4:15 AM! We rushed around getting ready and were out the door by 3:45. The roads were clear and DRY. We arrived at the gym, and sat down. It turned out to be a great spot, because as the guys marched in they turned RIGHT IN FRONT of us, so we saw Jamie right away. There were a few speeches, and then FALL OUT! And it was over. This deployment seemed like it would never end, and just like that we were through!

Thanks to everyone that has emailed, called and sent packages to all of us. We appreciate and love you all.