Good News

So amidst the what seems like utter chaos with my children, I almost forgot to mention that I was offically discharged from the Idaho Army National Guard. I will spend 2 1/2 yrs in the IRR, but that is fine with me. That just means that, I guess they could call me back up if they need me but I am not an active member of the guard. The odds of that happening are slim as of now. That happened duing my 2 weeks of annual training in July. It was very exciting!!

Danae

Brookelynn's Surgery.....Today

Today Brookelynn went into to St Luke's Children's Hospital to have a triple biopsy of her esophagus, stomach and small intestine. She did quiet well, but she was ticked off when she woke up and had an IV still in her arm. She was grumpy too that no one would let her eat :-0 But surgery was quick and hopefully we will know something as far as a diagnosis by the beginning of next week. Pray it is not Celiac Disease and if it is that God would give us the grace we need to endure.

Will is doing well considering he is having to engage in field exercises while his baby girl is undergoing many tests. He is being able to call on occasion though which is nice to keep him in the loop. It is not long now before I will bring the family down to get him.

Danae

Stitches for Kierra....again

So, Kierra was playing on our play center at our apartment complex and totally missed the first step and this was the final outcome. Poor thing. She did great though. Daddy has no idea and this will be the first knowledge of it, so just know Will that she's a trooper and I didn't even see it happen. This seems to be a yearly occurance so I am getting used to it. She even told me when she came to get me that she might need stitches. I just started laughing as I put my hand on the bloody mess as to apply pressure and told her it would be fine but we would need to see a doctor for sure. She's my little trooper.

Danae

Week 6 Complete / Air Defense Artillery

I am very happy to have completed week 6 of OCS. We had 4 different test that we took including one that covered American Military History from the colonial period to the end of the Civil War (yes we covered all that info in 4 days!)

We got to choose our branches yesterday and I chose Air Defense Artillery as my career field. This means that I will be in charge of soldiers who shoot missiles and aircrafts out of the sky. I should know where our first duty station will be in the next 3 weeks. Most likely I will be in El Paso, TX for about 7-8 months of training and then on to our first duty station. The good thing about this is that the Army will move me and the girls to El Paso to begin with and I will be with them while I am at training. This is a blessing because I was expecting to have to be gone from them for the first 6-8 months...God is always good!

We only have one more written test to take and that will be at the end of week 10. The next 3 weeks for us will be spent in the field. These three weeks are sort of the culminating point of OCS because week 10 will simply be learning more American Military History, a final physical fitness test and a few other minor requirements. After that we go into the administrative portion of the course where we transition from being enlisted to being officers and complete the mountains of paperwork required for that.

I am looking forward to the training in the field and for the leadership challenges/experiences I will gain. God has truly blessed me during my first 6 weeks and I look forward to serving Him throughout my career.

I love and miss all of you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

In Christ,
Will

This is me with Will :-) I got back Sunday night from Georgia after 5 wonderful days with my husband over the 4th of July. I will take the whole family back down there August 18th for his graduation. We are very excited to all be together again.

He is the top of his class and will pick his branch tomorrow afternoon. It is exciting to be coming down to the end of the cycle. He is doing well.

Danae

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! Week 5 of OCS has been an awesome one for several reasons. First we only had a 3 day week of training and we were released on Wednesday night...but mainly because Danae surprised me and flew down to see me. It has been awesome getting to spend some quality time with Danae.

As I was doing my devotions today I couldn't help but reflect upon the true meaning of our Independence. Yes it is great that we get days off of work, and that we enjoy time with family. But, I pray that we never forget what was sacrificed in order for us to be a free nation. Millions of Americans have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy the freedoms that many take for granted, and I pray that today would be a day that we all reflect on their sacrifice and honor them with continued perseverance in our own cause for freedom.

Independence Day also reminds me of the REAL day we were set free...the day Jesus paid the ULTIMATE sacrifice so that we ALL could be free. Just like our nation's independence, we as Christians often negate the magnitude of God's grace and action with Jesus' death and resurrection. I pray that today would be a spiritual revival in the hearts of all who know Him. That today we would get down on our knees and thank Jesus for laying His life down so that we all could be free from the bondage of sin. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Independence Day than to praise the King of Kings for savings us from sin and allowing us to have a relationship with Him. OK, enough preaching for one blog... :)

We have more written tests next week and then on Friday we will get to choose our career fields. I'm excited for that day to come. Continue to pray that I will be able to show these men and women what it means to be set free and how God loves them.

I love and miss all of you. Feel free to call me this weekend or shoot me an email.

God Bless

Will