New unit takes over officially today! Gosh just about another week or less and they will be headed out of country and getting a flight back to the states. Really great to be able to type that. Everybody here is getting so excited we can hardly contain ourselves. I washed and packed some clean clothes to take to Michelle, she said she didn't want to bring any of the clothes she has had on this tour of duty home with her, they have seen there better days. We are busy making arrangements as to hotel stays and when we are leaving for sure, seems to be sometime early next week, it is a 14 hour drive for us to the unit where they are landing and being debriefed at, so we will definitely take more than 1 day to get there. I will try to keep you all posted as the days are being counted down.

I can't wait until we can all say that our soldiers are headed home for good. I know alot of the people who have visited my site are counting the days, I am so glad for them and their families, believe me I know how they are feeling right now and what they will be feeling as the days go by. Sometimes the days seem to drag but then all the sudden the day is here and wow, you thought you had more time. Glad they seem to mostly go fast. I will post more later.

Have a good and safe day!!!!!!!!
Barb

Eight days left until Michelle leaves for home. My gosh I can't beleibe the time has flown by so fast. Michelle called today and was so excited you could realy hear it in her voice.She was excited about no more missions, and the only thing she really had to worry about was what day they are leaving for home.
I hope all who read this will someday be able to post the same thing about your soldier. I know I seem excited and we are but we still are concerned about all the soldiers who are still over there. I have really come to think of all the people who visit my site as family. I know we have been through alot together and I will still be here even after Michelle gets home. We will let you know what is going on here and we will still visit your sites so we know what is going on with you and how we should pray, for I still believe that prayer is one of the most important tools we have to support each other and ahow how much we appreciate and care for each other. I will keep you all posted as the days get closer about what we are going through and what we are looking forward to. Now if the Army keeps the dates the same we will have a lot more to post in the near future.

Have a good day.
Barb

Well our family support chairman is finally giving us some information about the homecoming for our soldiers. We will probably be gone for 3 days but I guess they have to stay at the unit for a least 6 days for debriefing, hard decision time. Should we wait and bring her home with us, because we have a 12 hour drive or get her an airline ticket and have her come home seperate. I don't know if I will be able to leave her at the base. My husband really thinks if it is going to be more than 2 days we should come back home and have her fly back. See tough decision time. After a whole year I don't know how I will be able to leave her alone for even a few hours, let alone a whole week, especially knowing that she is back in the US and I can see her whenever I want too. Give me some feedback, would you. I guess this is a good problem to have. Thank God. God please watch over our soldiers and keep them safe. May they all come home safely.

Have a good day
Barb

Well it must be official, we got word form our liason today of a tentative date for our soldier to be home. Of course at the end of the email they said that this could change and to keep that in mind when we are making traveling plans. Isn't that the Army for you. We are making hotel arrangements and trying to get some things together so if the date changes we will be ready.
Michelle called on Saturday, still has a cold, but said she was going to the px to get something for it so it will be gone before she has to fly. Also gave me a list of things she wants us to bring for her and some groceries I should pick up so when she gets home she will have some of her favorites. She also said that things are pretty boring for them and we know what happens when they get bored, but hopefully morale will stay up since this is the final month of this deployment.
I just hope we can adjust to all the changes that will take place when she gets back, you know we are empty nesters now or have been for the last year. I hope we can all get settled in and have routine that works out for all of us. We just can't wait to have her home so we don't have to worry everyday about where she is and what is going on over there. We will still pray for all our military and their families as we know how hard this is on all of us.
Have a good day!!!!!!
Barb

I will take some time to post today because alot is happening here. Michelle called earlier and said she still has a head cold and that because of the weather turning she will probably have that for a while. Hopefully she takes some kind of medicine before it turns in to pneumonia. She is still real excited about coming home and is even counting the days, 13 as of today.
I f you have been reading april's site, she is going through some really rough stuff in her marriage right now and has decided to move back home for a little while until they can work some things out. Hopefully we can all get things straightened out and live together relatively peacefully. Some big adjustments will have to be made on both sides. Pray that things will go the way God intended.
Man to be empty nesters and then all of the sudden have a full house. WOW!!!!!! But I am glad God let us have a big enough house so we can help the girls.
I'm sure I will have a lot to post in the next few weeks.

Have a good day!!!!!!
Barb

I finally have something to post. Michelle called today and talked for quite a while. She only has about 2 weeks left to go, all missions are done and they are waiting til the end of the month when the other unit officially takes over. They have moved from their chus to a building they used to use to train the Iraqi army, building in bad shape, no windows and they had to put cardboard over the holes in the walls. Everything is packed and ready to go. They are just waiting for the final word on the date they come home and when they will arrive in Wisconsin. She said the only bad thing about the next 2 weeks is the fact they don't have any more missions to run and will be bored stiff. She also said because of the weather change everyone is getting a little ill. She will have a lot of free time on her hands and said she would be calling home more. That is good news, since the last we heard from her was about two weeks ago. I still asks for your prayers that their unit will get home on the date they have set and that everything will go as smoothly as is possible for the Army. Just wanted to let everyone know the latest and will keep you all posted as we get updates.

Have a great day!!!!
Barb

Tried to do this tag thing yesterday and the computer went wiggy and wiped out everything I had typed, after that I just gave up. Here we go:

The fifth sentence in my third blog was:
Michelle says they have been running missions and have seen alot of activity, Rmamdan, is a very bad month for our troops.

Things haven't changed much still Rmamdan and still bad month for our troops.

On to better stuff, we took the granddaughter to get pumpkins yesterday, then after that pa and her caught ghosts in the afternoon. They were cracking us up! They got a box and propped it up with a stick attached to a string. Pa would put a penny in the trap, because you know ghosts go after pennies. Then they would stretch the string into another room. Pa would go back and check the box to make sure everything was ready, and then pull the string and if the penny was gone they had caught the ghost, of course you had to say the magic word abracadabra and the ghost would disappear never to return. Great entertainment for an hour or so, until pa got tired. I swear there has to be a male version of the menopause drug, because 45 year old men do not think like this everyday, do they? See what grandkids will do to you.

Have great day!!!!
Barb

I'm back and no I didn't win big at the casino. I even had to reign in the hubby,we need that money to get home on, just kidding. It was very beautiful in Louisville, with all the leaves changing and the large displays of mums and pumpkins. I told the hubby next year we need to go down a few days early and walk around and do some sight seeing. The place we were in was where all the colleges are and the historic district is, it was just so ivy league and just like all the scenes you see in the movies of the college towns in the fall.
Michelle imed me while we were gone and said that the replacement unit arrived and they are showing them the ropes and packing things up. This is really going to happen, she is coming home, now it seems real. Still no date, have to wait on official word for that, hopefully in the next week. Gosh just typing that makes me cry, I guess it is finally sinking in that she will be home and our prayers will be answered. We will continue to pray for the soldiers and their families that are still over there. I will definitely let you all know when she will be home for sure. I know this Thanksgiving will have a special meaning this year for our family, since it has been threee years she has been gone for the holidays.
I will post more later, just thought I would let you know I am back and we aren't totally broke.

Have a great day!!!!!!
Barb

I know I haven't blogged in awhile but nothing is happening here. Haven't heard much from Michelle, last call was Friday, said she would be pretty busy until the end of her deployment so we won't hear much from her. The good thing is she only has 3 weeks left, thank God.
I will probably blog more on Monday as me and the hubby are going to Louisville this week, him for business, me for a few days of r and r. And yes we will be going to the casino. Hope to win instead of lose. I'll let you know how that goes on Monday. Have a great week and weekend.

Barb

Wow, two phone calls in one week. Michelle called last night and boy did she sound really good. She says she is happy all the time now because she is back on the road and feels like she is accomplishing something. She says sitting around after the accident just drove her nuts. I am really glad she sounds more like her old self. Says they have been running missions and have seen a lot of activity,Ramadan, very bad month for our troops. Hopefully we will get a notification in the next couple of weeks telling us officially when they will be returning home. They are in their last month of this deployment. Thanks so much for all your prayers for her God has really worked in her life.

Have a great day
Barb

I thought I wold blog something really quick. I got an im from Michelle yesterday and they are headed back north, so pray they make it back safely. Her unit only has 30 days left and boy are they pumped. Hopefully we will be getting the official dates in the next week or so. My husband says it is about a 10 hour drive to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin to pick her up. Can't wait. She has not been home for so many holidays, even though we will be celebrating her just being home and safe, we will have a lot to make up for this year and a lot more to be thankful for.

I continue to pray for all our troops, as I know those of you who read my blogs are doing. But we also need to remember to pray for our world leaders and even for the people of the countries our soldiers are in right now. Hard but God told us to pray for our enemies and we need to obey Him in all we do. We should all try this and see what happens. The awesome power of prayer. Enough of the soap box.

Have a great day!!!!!!
Barb

Hey finally some vacation pictures!! The above picture is of my future home, not really, just a house located on Mackinaw island. These houses line the coast of the island and they are just gorgeous. When you ride your bike around the island you get a close up look at these homes. They really remind you of old southern homes.

Here are more of those houses:
Here is a picture of the Mackinaw Bridge, it is 5 miles long and the longest bridge in the US. You have to drive over this to get to the UP. Alot of people I guess have been blown off during high winds. Try this in a motor home, which we did the first time we went to Michigan. It was during a high wind day and we had to be escorted over in case we got pushed over by the wind, boy does an RV sway in the wind.


The picture below is the view from our hotel room, nice view huh? I could probably get used to this everyday.
We would sit on the balcony and watch the tide go in and out and see the boats go by, I will have more pictures of them in the future.



I will try to give you more pictures of my vacation as time goes on, I will probably spread them out , because my computer can not handle the load of all those pictures. I thought I would let you have a glimpse into my vacation and I promise to post more pictures as the weather gets colder here. Then we will really be able to appreciate them.

Have a good day
Barb

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

Michelle got to call today for her Birthday and that was the best. She even got to talk to both her sisters, her boyfriend, and her dad. She sounded really great and was so excited to have such a special day. She just had to remind me she only has 33 days left and that is awesome!!!!!!!! She also said she spent her Birthday lounging by the pool getting a tan. God was really on her side to make her big day special because of the repairs to the vehicles they got to spend extra time in Kuwait. Amen. She will be heading back north in the next couple of days, to pack and get everything ready to come home, so pray for them and all soldiers over there this month,Ramaden, it will be their time to go crazy over there and we want to pray that they don't see this as an oppurtunity to have a holy war, even with the civilians.

Just thought I would let you know how quickly things can change in just a few hours. Hope you all hear from your soldiers soon. I wil add here that she only has 33 days left inthis deployment. I would appreciate all the praters for here units safe return.

Barb

Today is a bittersweet day for all of us. It is April and Michelle's Birthday today, no they are not twins they were born two years apart. I am Happy for April and I hope she has a good day. We went to the Olive Garden yesterday for her birthday, so that was good and as you know, all the girls spent Saturday together shopping.

Today is also Michelle's Birthday, the bittersweet part of this story, I have emailed her and left a birthday message on her blog for her, I hope she picks them up. I will have a hard day not crying about her being gone for another birthday, this will be three in a row. Some days you just don't know how many more of these you can take until your heart breaks for good. I will tell her in case she sees this I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH. I am also very proud of her, but she is your kid and there are just certain things that get to you when you can't just pick up the phone and call them or go and see them. Enough of this for today for I know all you family members are in the same boat, just had to vent .

So make sure you wish the girls a Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday to all our soldiers who share this day with them.

Barb