Happy Anniversary, Earl!

No one else in the world will probably want to sit through this slideshow which is way too long, but I couldn't bring myself to edit it shorter. This is the story of us:

Happy 8th Anniversary! There is no one else in the world that I would want to have spent the past 14 years falling in love with (Not even Adam Sandler or Bruce Willis!!). You're perfect for me! I love you so much! I definitely feel like the most blessed girl in the world. Thanks for loving me for who I am, for laughing at me when I take myself too seriously, and for making life so fun! God made me just for you. :-)

More Summer Fun!

We love having visitors. We have Jenny and her girls here for another couple weeks, and Charity and her son Eric came last week to keep us company. We are really trying to make this deployment fly by!

Beach fun, at North Topsail Beach:

On this day, the shallow end of the beach was enormous! Joey could go out so far, with barely any waves and still be in shallow water. He had so much fun!

Still thinking of Earl, even when we're having fun on the beach.

Zoo trip:

Joey chased the huge tortoise.

Feeding the goats.

2 Joeys ^


Just hanging out:

Kiara and Joey on their matching bikes.

What a cutie, that Kiara.


Deja took this picture of Joey and me, for us.

HAPPY FATHER's DAY, Earl!

In addition to the awesome brand-new Harley Davidson you just got, I also got you this new flat screen TV for Father's Day. Me and Joey are just testing it out for you (note the small handprints all over the bottom portion of the screen). It's 37 inches for your viewing pleasure. I look forward to lounging around and watching TV and movies with you when you get home. :-)
You're the best Daddy Joey could ask for, and we love you so much. Thanks for everything you do and everything you sacrifice for us. Happy Father's Day Earl!

We're almost at the halfway point of this deployment! Thank goodness. We're praying for your safety and comfort and even for a bit of happiness while you are so far away from us. Love you honey!

Love, Gail and Josiah (and Thor, Lars and your adoptive niece-cat Kiwi--and that spider that lives in the corner of our bathroom ceiling)

CONGRATS EARL! and other photos

I received some fantastic news today from Earl. He found out he gets promoted to Gunny this year (or Jan)! I'm so proud of him! He thinks it will be Dec or Jan when he gets officially pinned with the new rank. I know everyone else is proud of him too. If you knew how hard he works (and how hard he works to tick people off at work) then you'd know how much he deserves this. :-) Congrats Honey! Wish you were here so me and Josiah could celebrate with you! Imagine the big, fat juicy steak I'm going to get you once you're home!

And now on to other fun things: beaches and motorcycles and sand, etc:

For the first time, Joey actually stayed in the water for most of the day, playing with Deja in the waves.
Juice break for Kiara and Joey.

The tots watching TV.

Pretty Kiara!
Playing on Daddy's new awesome ride!


This is what happened after I locked that awesome ride away: lots of banging on the garage door. LOL

Sound asleep on the long walk from the beach ferry to the car.

Right before falling asleep. Riding the ferry.
Jenny and her girls on the ferry, leaving the beach.
Joey and Deja, doing their thing in the sand.

Oh yeah^
You can come up with your own play-by-play for these shots.


Little Kiara was the only one awake.

We're still having a blast with Jenny and the girls here. Next week, Charity and her son Eric come back for a week. Yay! Joey loves having his little friends here.

The Incredibly Important Life of Army Intelligence

Luckily, I have an insider's view into the highly specialized and extremely important life of an Army Intellligence Officer, since my sis (recently promoted to 1LT! congrats!) lives this exciting life everyday while in Iraq (and when she gets back, too!).


I'm going to take a guess here, but I'm pretty sure that shaving cream is being tested for use on the enemy. It must have some high-tech characteristices that defeat the terriorists in 1 fatal swoop. (Of course, they are using a stand-in, non-fatal version here, or else my Intelligent sis would be a goner). By the way, Joey refers to this picture as "An-geeee Mess"--I'm thinking that is some kind of secret mission code that Angela trusted him with.

Okay, she's smiling. We must be a go for an Intelligent form of attack on our insurgent enemies! Yay Angie! (Ooops, I mean Angela--she prefers Angela now. You can get a little hoity toity when you are smart and important in the world of Army Intelligence).
Wow--this is big guys. She needs a Capt. there to supervise this testing. He's even helping her with it. That's what we like to see--superiors that don't mind getting their hands dirty, er, creamy.
This is my selfless, noble sis doing an oral test of this potential hazardous shaving cream. Maybe she's about to puke from all the unknown toxins that she injested, all in the name of freedom for our country! Thank you 1LT Angela Koch!

The aftermath: They must be photo-documenting this research for those Intelligence officers that may come later--in case this testing goes horribly wrong.

She obviously survived, but had to jump in the Helo quicky and get the heck out of dodge. That was some seriously dangerous shaving cream. How would America survive without this brave breed of soldier?

Luckily, she's well enough to gather enemy Intelligence at this softball game as a spectator. Can't you tell how deep in thought she is? I bet she's already gotten in her head the exact number of steps behind her the oncoming hot dog vendor is.

Angela is far right, with her platoon. Mind you, they're not as Intelligent as she is yet. That will take many many many hours to accomplish. :-)

Thanks for sharing the pictures Angela! Can't wait for more! We're so glad you're almost done with this crazy and long deployment and can't wait for when you're back at Ft Bragg, close to us where you belong! Love you!

Love, your peeps