Could anyone guess that I didn't know how to spell lasagne (still does not look right but it's on the box of lasagne noodles) , forgot to check before I published it. Joyce, I do remember now; seems to happen more and more often, oh well, I guess I can't expect it to get better. I'll just let my inner child out more often and not worry about it, age, that is.

Happy New Year!

These were part of my gag gifts from Christie, remember? They were bringing out the inner child in us as Christie suggested. Actually we were trying to freak out the dogs but they didn't seem to notice that we looked any different. The shoes were my gag gift to Gene and I'm glad someone got some use from them. Is anyone else using their gag gifts? Ed keeps pressing the Viagra Gel dispenser but so far no results, but it is building up his arm muscles.
Hope that everyone has a safe and happy new year, particularly you, Chris. We look forward to seeing you when you get home.

Joyce, I didn't know that your family did gag gifts also, or so it seems.
We had a very nice Christmas, lots of miles on the roads, we met Michelle and family at Howie and Lol's on Wednesday, the 21st, my and Gene's 42nd anniversary. We exchanged gifts on Thursday night and Michelle, the children, Gene and I left for Macon about 1 pm. We went to Christmas eve services with them, her mother, sister and her friend, her grandfather and his wife. We took up an entire bench. We went to the 5 pm service and the church was filled. I told Michelle I didn't think there would be anyone left for the 11 o'clock service. After services, we went to Michelle's mothers for dinner of lazo and speghetti and had a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to Jesus. Michelle's mother, Beverly, came over for the children to open all of their gifts and then she left so she could get some sleep. She had to work that night. Dianna and Gerlaine came over for a while that afternoon. All in the house had a lazy day and did not even get dressed, except for Gene. We didn't even get dressed for dinner, which was nice. We left Macon on Monday morning and went to Charlotte and spent the night with Clark, Gene's brother and came home on Tuesday. We've seen everyone except Gene's father, he backed out of our plans to bring him to Norfolk on the Friday before we went to Joyce and Eds. We plan to go see him this weekend. Hope everyone Christmas was as enjoyable and busy as ours. By the way, don't know who brought the slippers that Gene got, but I sure am enjoying wearing them. The grandchilds loved them too. Thanks to all for our gifts. Also, thanks, Joyce for remembering our anniversary. I wish I could do as well at remembering. Well I didn't do well when I was younger, so I don't know how I can expect to remember now. Of course, I do remember mine. Love to all, Margaret

Cathy & Mom capture the Christmas spirit.

Visit

It was very nice seeing everyone. Once again I think the gag gift giving (say that three times fast!!!) was a hit. Hope that everyone had a safe drive home and if anyone is going away for the holidays, I hope you travel safe then too. Aunt M., thanks soooooooo much for the dump truck you gave to Emma. I hear it in my sleep!!!!! I'm not quite sure who else gave her what since she ripped into before I could see the names, but I know she has enjoyed playing with everything. Hannah, I had to demonstrate the Blo Pens to her. Thanks for the migraine!!! Anyway, hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

I'll be sure to bring some snow!
Jeremy

Howie is bringing chocolate chip cake.
Barry, I don't think I want any of what you're bringing. Thanks anyway.
Margaret

I'm bringing laryngitis or whatever it is I've got.

Ill bring rolls, congelled salad and a dessert. Anything thing else you need?

Update from us

Our part of the menu has changed. Carol is bringing sweet potato casserole, which she would like to make at your house, Joyce. I'll be bringing the butterbeans and corn, not mashed potatoes. I think the mashed potatoes would be either cold or dry or both by the time I got there. Terri will be bringing lasagna. No one mentioned rolls. Should I bring?????

I'll share news from Chris with all. See all on Saturday.

Hey Pop,Not too much going on, despite our busy op tempo. Just got in from Baghdad around 6 this morning. With the roads closed today and tomorrow for the elections, they've been in a hurry to get as many supply convoys up and down the roads the past couple of weeks. Last weekend and then again Monday and last night, we escorted trucks from the logistics camp 30 from here, about 3 - 3 1/2 hours north to another camp, top off, and continue on to BIAP, another 2 -2 1/2 hours. Both times we escorted 20 rigs. Luckily, last night most of the drivers were US KBR (Kellogg-Brown and Root contractor) drivers, so they were squared away and we had one of their walkie-talkies and could talk to them. We usually roll out between 7 and 8 pm from Cedar II, the camp near us, and arrive Baghdad between 2 and 3 am. Then we sleep and roll out 10 -11 pm from BIAP and get here between 5:30 and 6 am. Thank God for Red Bull (energy drink) and chocolate. Plus, the SSG I had with me both times is a smoker and let us smoke on the way because it was so long a trip. From Here to Scania (the first stop) is pretty safe. It's Scania to BIAP that keeps us on our toes. We've been lucky with no incidents. Last weekend, the convoy about an hour ahead of us caught small arms fire turning off the main supply route (MSR) onto the road leading to the back gate to Camp Striker (my old stomping grounds the 1st 6 months we were here); the convoy about an hour behind us got hit with an IED on the MSR down around the "fiyah's" (the southern area of Baghdad's own 'triangle of death'), Mamudiyah, Yusifiyah, Lusifiyah and Lutifiyah. Last weekend I gunned and talk about freezing your twigs and berries off!!! It's like rolling down I-64 around 2 am, this time of the year, doing 65mph and hanging outside of the sunroof. Yeah, freakin' cold. This time I drove.We've made a couple of school drops, going to some of these little mud hut schools that look like they came straight out of National Geographic and dropping off desk and bench sets made by one of the engineer units and school supplies. The rural areas around here are the places that time forgot, with some of them still don't have electricity. The bricks are still made the old way with straw and mud and then the brick homes are sealed on the outside with a layer of mud outside. I'll send y'all some pics or a disk or something. We also ran down to the British airbase in al Basra, about 2 1/2 hours south to take the officers to a meeting. I ate in their chow hall; food was worse than ours. We're just doing alot of the same stuff we did before, but with the added convoy escort every now and then. Oh, to answer your question, this election we have absolutely nothing to do with it, THANK GOD! We're just gonna' stay put here and do maintenance on our vehicles and equipment.Well, that's about it for now. I've got a squad leaders' meeting shortly. My squad leader went on leave yesterday and I'm the man for the next 3 weeks. Oh, yeah, I put my stripes on the other day. I talked to Michelle and she said "What's up, Sgt?" I asked what she meant, and my LES has me as a Sgt now and I'm getting paid E-5 pay. Then, on the 2nd, I got another deposit for $640, 2-3 months back pay for when I should've been promoted. I don't have my orders yet and the unit didn't put my stripes on; I did. But, in order for DA to be paying me E-5 pay, State must have promoted me and sent my orders up higher. Not my fault these jack asses can't get a copy of my orders. Guess I'll have to check my records online and print them off a copy if they've hit my online file yet.Well, I need to get going. Love you guys.
LoveBoo boo

"For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know.

Christmas

Hi. Thought that I would post what I know about the food for Saturday. Roast Beef, Fried Chicken, Rice, Collards, Potato Salad, String Bean Casserole (Hannah), Sweet Potatoes/Deviled Eggs (Bertha), Corn/Butterbeans (Carol), Lasagna?(Terri). Christie mentioned the option of mashed potatoes. Not sure if that meant she may bring them or that she would like to have them. I may make some but it seems that when I'm fixing for a crowd, they always seem to get cold between the time everyone is called to eat and the time we actually eat.I'll have tea and coffee. If anyone wants something different, please let me know. I'm sure we'll have a dessert or two or three. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season.

Joyce, It turns out that Howie and the children will be coming this weekend, but Lol will not be coming. Daisey, one of their dogs, had to have surgery. She swallowed some type of stones that Lol had used (I think for her feet) and got really sick. They felt that the stone had lodged and had to be removed. She's back home now, but they're afraid to leave her with a teenager this weekend. I think they responded, but we would like to spend the night if that's okay. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
Joyce, do you need to know what I'm bringing? Love ya, Margaret

Menu???

I know the main course is going to be roast beef & fried chicken. I think Dad & Carol will be bringing butterbeans and corn. Terri said she might bring lasagna......don't hold your breath! Will there be mashed potatoes with the roast beef or is this an open option? I'll bring the bread, rolls, whatever and a desert. What about drinks?

Christmas

I hope that everyone got my postcard about the 17th. I know that Ben probably did not unless he is having his mail forwarded as I had the wrong address.

In case others may not have gotten theirs, I'll post what I think I said in the postcard. We will try to eat around 1:00 and are having roast beef and fried chicken. I'm asking everyone who can to bring a side dish to share with the group. I'm definitely cooking rice and Hannah said she is bringing string bean casserole. Ed has cooked some collards.

Jeremy has taken his dad to Florida this week to visit his grandfather.

I seem to be kinda brain dead tonight and not very chatty so I'll sign off.

Last night, every time I tried to read the blog, I was denied access. So I tried to post a message on the blog - you know the rest, -- no message!

Joan and I had a nice visit with her son, Jamie over the weekend.

Are we going to post what we are going to bring to Joyce's? I'm trying to decide.

See everyone on the 17th. Bertha

???

Bertha:

Does this mean you're speechless??? There's nothing showing up!

blog

Gobble, G-o-b-b-l-e

Christie, I guess everyone is so stuffed or busy that we can't even mutter a gobble back to you. Thanks for the greeting though. We had a very nice Thanksgiving with Dad, Joan, Barry and Cathy. Jeremy went to his parents for Thanksgiving and we missed having him but I know he wanted to be with his dad. Cathy had to work on Friday (bank work is like that) so she went down to Carthage on Saturday to visit Jeremy's family.

I hear Chris is back in Iraq so we need to keep sending up those daily prayers for his safety.

We plan to put up our tree this weekend. Ed picked out a small tree so that hopefully it won't take up so much of the room when the family comes on the 17th. Looking forward to seeing all.

I haven't heard much out of the football crowd lately but I do know that State won last Saturday.

Hope everyone has a very happy and FILLING Thanksgiving!!! Gobble, gobble, gobble!!!

So sorry to hear about Jeremy's dad's news. Will keep him in my prayers.

Bertha, Do you have Rosanna's address? I mailed something to her weeks ago and it was returned. Never got around to finding new address.

Christmas Plans

I'm all for doing the gag gift again. Everyone seems to enjoy it but if someone wants to suggest something else, feel free.

I went to the groundbreaking ceremony for Carolina Crossroads here in RR last Friday. Dolly Partin and her family were there along with some other Grand Old Opry legends. Had a real good time and did a little line dancing. Did anyone see me on TV? Neither did I.

Jeremy's dad got upsetting news yesterday. He has finished with his chemo/radiation treatments which was supposed to be followed by surgery to remove the tumor but the surgeon advised against doing the surgery because the tumor is wrapped around an artery and he feels that the cancer will spread faster if they operate. Everyone is pretty bombed by the news. Keep them in your prayers.

Hey, I forgot the reason that I was on the blog tonight. I wanted to wish Ricky HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sorry I didn't get a card in the mail, but I hope it's happy.
Margaret

Bertha, Don't know anything concerning the $10. amount, but I thought we were doing the gag gift. I thought so, since I already have my gifts. Are you not planning to go to Ima Jean's on the 4th?
I enjoyed my visit with Chris' family and also with Howie's family. Michelle's mother, Beverly, came on Saturday and we celebrated Thanksgiving. Of course I ate too much. Joyce, I have to share my pecan pie story with you. The recipe said to cook 25 to 30 minutes. At 30 minutes, it still felt soft on the inside, so I cooked it another 10 min, still soft, another 10 min, still felt soft, so another 10 minutes. It was time to go to bed, so I took it out and the next morning it felt really hard. Thought I might need a saw to cut, well when we cut it, it was hard outside, but the inside was syrup. Maybe I cooked too long and made syrup, but it tasted good. Howie's family left on Sunday morning and we got home today about 4. We had lunch on Friday with Mandi and Cortlyn at their school. Christopher goes to a different school, so we could not make the third lunch. We'll go with him the next time.

We went to church on Sunday. Maybe we'll be in our church next weekend. First was Center Hill, then last weekend we were in Elizabeth City at Mr. Belvin's church, and then in GA this weekend.
Good night. Margaret

The 17th sound great to me! Are we giving the $10. gag gifts again? Just let me know ASAP if the date changes because I'm suppose to take Joan to Gastonia (seven hours away) one weekend in December and I was waiting for the Byrum date before planning it. We'll probably go the weekend of the 4th.

Christie, I think Howie being a first year teacher, along with coaching middle school soccer and his own family activities keeps him pretty busy.
He was always the one that did the blog thing. He would print off things for Lol to read. You can send me a book. Don't need a lot since I just ordered, but I'll order something.

Christmas sounds good to me. I'll also bring whatever you need me to bring or I'll come up with something between now and then. I have a recipe for a chocolate pecan pie that I want to try. May try it this weekend in Macon.

Bits and pieces

Glad you're home Chris. I know you will enjoy what little time you have here!

Christmas plans sound good to me. Let me know what to bring. Since Terri doesn't read the blog, I'll relay this date to her. BUT, ya'll know how she is soooooo someone may want to give her a ring at 297-9933 or 312-9224.

One last thing... Emma's school is having a fundraiser. It's basically the same things that Amber was selling.... wrapping paper, gift bags, snacks and goodies. My question is to Joyce and Margaret.... Are you interested in looking at a book? There is no web address for this company. If so, I can mail to you. I have to turn in by November 18.

She is having her pictures made at the same school today. I hope she does better for them than she did for Shawn and I when we took her to the Picture People.

Haven't heard much from Howie & Lol lately. How's it going???

Christmas Plans

Welcome home, Chris. Hope that you have a wonderful visit with your family. I know that it will seem way too short.

Tentative Christmas get-together plans are for lunch, Saturday, December 17. Hope that all can make it.

Hale! Hale! The gang's all here! Is that really true? Chris, are you in the USA now? Welcome home!

I, too, enjoyed being at Center Hill Church last weekend. I did not realize how old that church was. Enjoyed seeing so many people that I had known.
Chris is suppose to arrive home in the morning. Gene and I are leaving Thursday afternoon and come back on Monday morning. I think Howie's family is going Friday afternoon and leave Sunday. Michelle's plan is to celebrate Thanksgiving on the 12th. Some of us will stay at Beverly's home. Of course, we're looking forward to seeing Chris, as well as his family also. I'll have my cell phone if anyone needs to get in touch with us.

Enjoyed seeing some of the family at Center Hill Baptist's Homecoming last Sunday. The service was nice and it was great seeing some of the "home" folk.
Thanks Christie for having the family at your house afterwards for Dad's 85th birthday celebration.

I'm loving all this nice fall weather. I'm happy that Chris gets to come home and enjoy some time with his family this month. Welcome back!

Aunt B.

Ain't that great, I so happy that Chris will be home for a couple of weeks.

Christie, Is it all right for me to give Emma a dump truck for Christmas?
I assume that she likes to play in sand or dirt. Joan tells me that we are going to your house on Sunday. Is there anything I can do to help. Bring some drinks, cups or maybe a cake for Dad?

Hannah, Did you get the message that I had ordered for Amber? I forgot to call you, but hope you got the message some way. Sorry.

Thank y'all

Greetings from Camp Striker. Yes, Joyce, thank you for the card. Mom and Dad, gonna' get up early and call y'all around 4am my time so maybe it'll be late enough to catch mom at home. Granddaddy can mail the card with the check to Macon since I'll be home by Nov 6 for leave and I can't really deposit a check here, nor do they cash third party checks here.
The other day, we finally got our Combat Action Badges for getting hit with the 2 IED's a few monhts ago. Now I have a play pretty to wear on my uniform. I still think the Army should've gone with the Combat Action Ribbon for the dress uniform like the marines, instead of coming out with a Combat Infantry Badge wanna'be to pacify all the whiney non-infantry guys who wanted one too. But I'll get off that soapbox.
I'm here for a few more days then heading south to my new home for the second half of our deployment. I'm not going as far south as I thought. Our new post is near a major Shiite city, not Karbala, but another one that was a thorn in the sides of the marines in 2003 during their march to Baghdad. According to one of the translators, Pope John Paul II wanted to visit a nearby area, the land thought to be the home of Abraham, before he passed away. But Saddam Hussein refused, saying that the christian leader refuses to stand up for the rights of the suffering people of Iraq (that Saddam caused to suffer)against the UN embargos. Abraham's town was Ur. Evidently there may be tours available to check it out. If so, I plan on going. We'll be doing the same thing that we're doing now, security escorts, but our "package" won't be civil affairs officers; we'll be escorting supply convoys. Well, we're prepared.
Y'all take care. Love y'all.
Love,
chris

Happy Birthday, Chris

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, Dear Chris!
Happy Birthday to you!
(Sorry I can't carry a tune but it's the thought that counts)

Hope that you got our card. We're praying for your safe return, as I know the rest of the family is.

Chris, Since I can't call you, I want to wish you a very happy birthday. Hope you have a great day. We love you and are very proud of you and all you do. When are you moving and when will you have a new address. Dad and Joan wanted to mail you a card with a check, but I told them to wait until we had your new address. Love Mom

As you all know, Dad has been a bit "under the weather", so the gathering for his birthday was canceled. He was feeling better as of Monday, but still not up to par. Will find out specifics of the Center Hill Homecoming soon and post times, etc. and will plan after homecoming events later in the week when we know what Dad feels like.

Potpouri

Maryland gaveum all they could handle, but in the end, the Hokies prevailed 28-9 in tonights game. Tune in next thursday and watch the 2 top Big East teams of the ACC, Tech and BC go at it. Of course, as long as Southern Cal and Texas keep winning, Tech's chance for advancement , from #3 in the BCS, is nil. Still a long way to go in the season though.
I hit the Virginia version of Ralph's on my way home from Arlington yesterday. It's known as the Smokey Pig and it's on Rt 1 in Ashland. Now I have to be perfectly honest, Ralph's hush puppies can't touch the Smokey Pig's "To Die For" hush puppies.
Well, thats my story and I'm stickin to it.

Latest

Well, there doesn't seem much more for me to tell now, that mom has posted my e-mails. I'm just glad we're done with the elections, or referendum. That was a rough schedule. As y'all know, I'm supposed to be on pass. Our platoon was supposed to go to the IZ today and they were gonna' drop me off at Freedom Rest while they were there. Well, our mission today got scrubbed and they say tomorrow's mission is getting scrubbed too. It's like I'm on pass here. However, my platoon sgt said he's gonna' send me on pass ASAP so basically, it'll be like having two passes.

We've got our tough boxes and "B" bags packed in the connexes ready to head south. I'm heading down there on Halloween. They say where we're going is nice. We'll actually be staying in trailers, not like a regular home trailer, but it's better than tents like now. Just in time: rain season's supposed to start soon. It's been getting colder lately, mid - high 80's in the day time. It's chilly at night, 60's I'm guessing.
Hanna is it Sally Foster time again? Grammy, you know where your loyalties lay in the wrapping paper scheme of things.
Well, that's it for now. Y'all take care.
Chris

Hey, I forgot my email address is jhjones@net-change.com


And, we will see yall at Granddaddy's party on Sunday. We will not be at the Homecoming but I am sure that it will wonderful!! I am sure that Grandma will enjoy it very much. I bet she'll be there!

What is going on in the Jones household....

Hello everyone! The Jones family is doing quite well. Amber was very happy to start back to school and is taking art lessons and back in girl scouts. Clay is enjoying The Goose Nest and loving Miss "B"! He now sleeps in his bed all by himself!!! HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!! Jason and I doing great and enjoying our own bed! We have a weekend planned in the Shenanoah Valley next weekend and are looking forward to it! Everyone is looking foward to Halloween! Amber is going to be Velma (from Scooby Doo) and Clay is going to be Rolie Polie Olie, a character from Disney.

Also, our home number has changed to 252-221-2106.

Amber is also having a fundraiser for her school. She is selling wrapping paper, gifts, & other goodies. We would greatly appreciate any orders, great or small. I will include the website below. Well, I hope everyone is doing good and looking foward to the holiday seasons, as we are! Take Care!!!

Fundraiser Site: www.sallyfoster.com
**Please remember to credit her school WHITE OAK ELEMENTARY and also please email me with order item totals so that she can get credits for those as well.

Thanks Again!
Jason, Hannah, Amber, & Clay

We appreciate all the prayers for Chris last week. I thought I'd post his latest email. I assume that he does not mind me sharing.

Hey gang,Yeah, it's been a hectic schedule with only so much time to use the internet, these computers and inet servers being so damn slow.Friday we were supposed to escort the ballots and poll workers from a warehouse up here down to Mahmudiya. We rolled at 6am, meaning the platoon met at 4am to begin prepping vehicles. We found out that morning that the "MITT" team, the ones training the Iraqi army, and Iraqi Army folks were escorting the ballots and workers, so we rolled about 1km ahead of them and had Apaches flying circles next to the convoy the whole way down there. On the way back, we had to escort a vehicle from our armor unit, 1-108 AR, carrying 8 detainees. One of them was a Syrian with strong reason to believe he was al Qaeda. From what I understand, during questioning he sang like a bird. We got back between 9 and 9:30 that evening.Saturday, they sent another group down the same time to sit at FOB Mike down the road from one of the polling stations to pull quick reactionary force if the other folks needed help. Luckily, I didn't have to go on that mission.Sunday, we went back down to the warehouse to wait on the MITT team to escort the ballots and workers back up here and make sure the ballots got secured. The side road we had taken in to the warehouse complex was blocked off and the IA guys told us we had to go around. We took that route and decided it was much too congested for them to drive down with that sensitive of an item. We told the IA guys to open up the road when the MITT convoy wasn't far out. They refused and told us not to move the barriers. We hooked up a wench from one of the humvees to the barrier and pulled it over and out of the way anyways and they didn't do jack. We sat around the warehouse complex for about 4 hours or so while they downloaded all the voting materials.I was supposed to go on pass today to Freedom Rest, a "hotel" in the IZ but the helicopter flights down there were canceled for other priority missions having to do with the elections. Oh well. Guess I'll go some other time. Well, that's about it for now. Love y'all.LoveBoo boo

Gene and I think IA means Iraqie (sp) Army.

Howie's family is coming to Norfolk this weekend, purpose is not to see us but Norfolk Academy is having a homecoming. There are several events to do with the soccer team. His former coach will be recognized.
They will get here around 10 - 11 Friday night, will be at school all afternoon and then Howie and kids will go to hockey game with Gene and me. Their plans are to be gone by noon on Sunday.

I guess everyone has heard, Joan is planning a birthday party for Dad this Sunday afternoon. I guess that changes our plans for the following weekend. I still plan to attend the homecoming.

See everyone on Sunday. Margaret

Homecoming

Good Morning!!

Homecoming sounds good to me. That does mean food right?!?!?!?!? If Grandaddy didn't have someone renting his house, we could all gather there, But! My house is open, but I'm not sure if everyone would be able to fit. Depends on how many. Give me LOTS of notice.

In response to Christie's question about Dad's birthday, Center Hill Baptist is having homecoming on the 30th of October. Maybe we can all go and have lunch there (Mom would want us there) and then gather for a while at Dad's or somewhere else to celebrate his birthday. Any other suggestions?

This photo goes with the last post.

Upon Joyce's request, here is one photo taken in Gulfport. This photo WAS a hotel and all that is left is a slab of cement and a little bit of rubble. I was only able to see the worst of the destruction in the restricted area because I volunteered with the Red Cross at the beginning of the week. Another child care group returned to NC on Tuesday, so I was busy at the church the rest of the week. We kept children of local residents who were involved in a program called "Second Wind" The first wind, Katrina tore things apart and left people feeling devistated, without hope. The "Second Wind" group, paid by donations from other churches went around Gulfport repairing homes, removing debree and bring encouragment and hope. The "Second Wind" was rebuilding what the first wind destroyed. We kept, loved & fed 21 children from ages 6 months to eleven years old. I worked with the 9-12 year old group. The photo shows the older group with costumes on waiting to preform the play they wrote (prompted by Mrs. B.) about a mouse whose tail was caught in a trap which caused an entire family to believe in God and His angels. The children came back at 8pm one evening and did the play for the NC Baptist Men's Disaster Team Devotional. We all came home feeling good, but really tired. I went with Region 1 which is Chowan and West Chowan Associations. Maybe Joyce will get certified with the Bapt. Men Disaster, so we can go together next time!

Catch up

Just to let everybody know, in case you didn't already..... Shawn and Jason are both back at home and not doing clean-up anymore. There were some "discrepancies" in how they were to be paid; that's the reason Shawn came home. He said he had already worked a week w/o getting paid and he wasn't going to give him another week. Luckily, the guy came through last Friday. Whew!!! Shawn is back in the fence business. Soooooo, if anyone needs a fence or fence repair, please call us.

I talked to Grandaddy either on Sunday or last night. He says the MRI showed no signs of stroke or tumor. It really showed nothing. That's good news! He also said that he has another appt. with his eye doctor this week and if she can't find anything causing the pain, he is going somewhere else. I told him to try a dentist to see if he has another bad tooth, since that was where the pain was coming from the last time. He says he might.

Is anything going on for Grandaddy's birthday?

Took Emma to see "The Incredibles" on ice a couple of weekends ago. Things like that don't seem to thrill her very much yet. She fell asleep on the second half; which was actually the most exciting.

Ashley made an "A" on her first English paper and was on 2 points from an "A" on her geology test. She says geology is her most boring class. It lasts 3 hours! She's still working at Maurice's (a clothing store in the big EC mall) and still at H.A.N.D. ( a wireless store)

Corey makes A's and B's in school. He only has 2 core classes this semester, English and Algebra. Pray for him that he learns to keep his mouth shut in class. It seems to be a problem this year. He also will be taking driver's ed for the second time. The first time, he was asked not to come back after wearing his hat in the classroom three times. Mind you, this was a summertime class and was not held during regular school hours. But, evidently the teacher is a stickler for rules.

Not much else going on here. How about anywhere else???

Lots of love to all!!

Christie

Happy Birthday, Margaret

Hope that your birthday is a memorable one, Margaret.

Good news from our home. Ed weighed tonight and has gained 6 pounds since the last time he weighed which he said is probably about a month. Ed doesn't
really like weighing so I don't know when he does it because he never mentions it but tonight he came down stairs pretty much shouting with joy. What a nice birthday present for him!

Dad is having a MRI tomorrow morning at 7:00 to try to determine what is causing his pain. Everyone, say a prayer for him tonight and in the morning when you get up.

Welcome home, Jason.

Thought I'd post Chris's latest email to me.

Hey,Not sure what I really want for my birthday. Michelle asked me the same question the other night and I told her I really haven't thought about material things here. Not much use for them, nowhere to keep them and I don't want them to get messed up. I'll have to think about it more. We've been so busy lately, I haven't even had time to really write or read anything I really want to lately. I've either been on missions, on the computer or asleep lately.Think I'm getting an upper respiratory infection. Feel kind of sluggish lately, yellow snot, burning nasal passages. We've been rolling all over our area lately with early (between 8 and 9am/6 or 7am meeting times to prep to go) departures. The good thing is my platoon sgt's driver is back so I'm back in the gunner's hatch where I belong, where I'm happiest. We've had some long trips lately, but I've enjoyed them. We're (well, the officers we escort) are accomplishing alot. I'm gonna' have to try and get with them and maybe get electronic copies of pics they have of the projects we've seen done so I can show people just what we're accomplishing here. Plus, Dad told me last night that Joel wants me on his show again. I told Dad it'll have to be in the Spring. Can't wait to go to the outter banks next summer. I miss the ocean.Well, not much more to tell here. I've enjoyed talking to dad online in yahoo messenger. You ought to get a yahoo account and get a ym id too. I never know when a good time to call and get both of y'all. But, I get online a bunch and dad and I have been linking up that way. I love you.LoveBoo bo

Joyce, where did you get that picture.
Gene and I am really tired tonight. Our pond has been leaking bad for about two weeks. Recently we have had to add water every day. Our water will should be high. We bought a new liner and redid the pond today. More work than I had anticipated. Of course it did not start out too well. I steped on the side of one the slate pieces around the pond and it slipped and I was in the pond. I don't think it injured my knee, but it did hurt for a while. I was not able to get up for a while. It is hurting some now, but I think I just strained it. I don't know which one it frighted the most, Gene or me. Before we finished, I was wondering why we didn't just pay someone to do the work. It sure seemed like much more work than the first time I did it. Gene and I can't remember how long it's been in, it was just before the big hail storm that we had.
All I know is I'm now older and not as in good shape as I was the first time.
Our church is beginning to have small group dinners each month. I was crazy enough to volunteer to host the first one. We have two young couples with children and the minister and his family. The minister and his wife just had their first child. It is the first time in over 60 years that a minister in our church has had a child while being here. The problem with hosting the first dinner is I have been trying to come up with a night that we can do it. I suggested next Friday night to Gene and found out that hockey season starts next Friday night. I've just checked the schedule and there is a home game every Friday and Saturday nights in October except Saturday the 15th and I'll be attending a workshop all day that day until about 6 PM.
I may try for a Sunday after church.

Anyone who wishes to send Chris a card for his birthday, may want to get it in the mail soon. He has told us not to send any thing to his current address after about the 10th, because he will be changing locations.

I think I'm going to soak in a hot tub for a while. Goodnight everybody. Love to all, Margaret

No looting in Texas!

Why there was no looting in Texas

More fishing or daydreaming on Lake Gaston

Camping

These are pictures which Cathy or Jeremy took this past weekend. If it looks like a bunch of gibberish, I think if you click on "view blog," you will be able to see them. Sorry about last night but I was too tired to try to figure it out and I still don't know why it's like it is except that I updated something and everytime I update something, I have to relearn everything all over again. Enjoyed the weekend very much and was glad to see everyone that was there and missed those that were not. Welcome Home, Bertie.

Fishing at Lake 

Pig Pickin at Lake 

Emma's first fish 

No pics.

Joyce:

There are no pics to view. Help!!!! We had a good time even though we weren't able to do the entire weekend. Maybe next year!!!

Camping

Just a reminder for anyone who will be staying in the cabins this weekend.
You will need to bring bed linens and bath linens. Also you might want to bring a blanket in case you get chilly. There are no spreads on the beds but there are pillows, but you still might want to bring your own favorite. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Everything seems to be on go for Jeremy's dad to begin receiving his chemo and radiation treatments soon. Our prayer is that everything will go smoothly and he will be able to regain his strength and vitality.

Katrina Cleanup

I was reading in a recent edition of Stars and Stripes that some OIF vets said living conditions here are better than at the cleanup. Okay, few suggestions, Jason, on surviving a MRE experience.
1) Some of them aren't that bad. In my opinion, the meatloaf with onion gravy is one of the better ones. Heat up the meatloaf and mashed potatoe at the same time. Don't worry, they ARE edible. However, save your meatloaf gravy and pour it into you mashed potatoes.
2) Every MRE comes with a small bottle of tobasco to drown out the flavor of the less desirable ones. It does help, especially with the chicken breast with the fake grill lines on it.
3)A good desert is "Ranger Puddin'": mix your cocoa mix, sugar and creamer together first, DRY. Then add just enough water, a little at a time, to mix it up so it looks like brownie mix. It's pretty good. I add my instant coffee packet to give it a little kick.
4)Doubtful, but if you can find some infantry guys with some C4, if you pinch off a piece and light it with your lighter, it's great fuel and a great way to boil water to make coffee. Just don't step on it to put it out 'cause it's the combination of heat and pressure that makes it go "BOOM!"

5) Mix the cheesespread up real well by kneading it, or else the oil in it will sit on top when you put it on your crackers.

6)Any camping gear you can take I guarantee will make your life more comfortable, especially a mosquito net and a burner with some propane tanks. Take as many refills as you can carry 'cause you know there ain't none down there. And keep them locked up.
7) Take antacids and laxatives 'cause you'll need them both, depending on what MRE's you eat. Oh, and don't worry about the smell. MRE's do that to everybody.

Well, take care everybody. Love y'all.

Chris

Correction: Jason is leaving for the Hattteras cleanup first; then on to Mississippi.

Love to you all, Aunt B.

Camping

Ricky, we will miss you. Hannah, you know that we will help with the children and putting up the tent. Amber Nicole and Kyle will be disappointed if none of the other children will be coming.

Our world is changing! Now, Jason is leaving this weekend to work in Mississippi for an unlimited time. He turned in his resignation this morning at Jimbo Jimbos. Camping? Rick says he doesn't want to go without me. Hannah doesn't know if she can handle it without Jason, or her mom and dad. Shawn was planning to go, but haven't heard from him yet.

Sorry to hear that you'll not be with us this year, Bertie. Make us Baptists proud. Ricky knows that Ed wants him to be there but Ed does not believe in encouraging (dinging) someone to do something unless they want to do it, nor does he want someone encouraging (dinging) him to do something he does not want to do. Does Ricky want to go? Tell him everyone wants him to. It won't be the same without him or you. He can even sleep in our tent if he doesn't want to mess with putting his up.
Looking forward to seeing everyone who'll be there.

I will miss you all at the campout. Plans have changed and the childcare unit will be moved to Gulfport when we get there. The unit had an average of 39 children in Meridian. I guess the need is greater in Gulfport.

Everybody, get ready for Ophelia! Hopefully we won't get too much here. Love, Aunt B.

It's the chili that I was going to bring last year, but I forgot it. I was just joking. I think it's time to trash it.

Camping

Bertha, Sorry you won't be back in time. You had indicated that you would be back. We'll miss you. Joyce, since you complained that I didn't give you enough to bring, do you want to bring the applesauce and chips that Bertha was to bring? Cathy, is it the same chilli that you brought last year? Is that the reason you wanted to know? I don't know how long it stays good.
Looking forward to camping. Margaret

CHILI

I'll be glad to bring the chili....does anyone know how long frozen chili lasts in the freezer?!?

Thanks for including me, but I'm afraid that I'll have to pass this year. Will be getting back from Mississipp too late Saturday night to enjoy the campout. I'm not sure about Ricky, if he'll go with Hannah or not. Hopefully he will go. Maybe Ed can call and encourage him. Love, Aunt B.

CAMPING

FRIDAY NIGHT: YOYO (You’re On Your Own)

SATURDAY MORNING:
BACON OR SAUSAGE
EGGS
GRITS
FRUIT
JUICE

SATURDAY LUNCH: HOTDOGS, BEANS, CHILI, CHIPS, APPLESAUCE

SATURDAY NIGHT: PIG PICKIN' - MENU-COLESLAW, BAKED BEANS, HUSH PUPPIES

SUNDAY MORNING:
BACON OR SAUSAGE
FRENCH TOAST
FRUIT
JUICE

EVERYONE NEEDS TO BRING:
LAWN CHAIRS
DRINKS
SNACKS
FLASHLIGHT
TOILETRIES
1LB BACON OR SAUSAGE

I WILL BRING:
SALT/PEPPER
MARGARINE
SYRUP
MAYO/MUSTARD
COFFEE/SUGAR/MILK
KETCHUP
PAPER TOWELS

HOW DOES THIS SOUND/DOES IT SOUND FAMILIAR TO ANYONE?
Hotdogs - Margaret
Buns - Cathy
Bread - Margaret
Eggs - Margaret
Chili - Cathy
Beans - Christie
Fruit - Lol
Juice - Hannah
Grits - Joyce
Chips - Joyce
Bacon or Sausage - Everyone
Drinks - Everyone
Ice - Everyone
Applesauce - Joyce
Paper products (plates, cups, napkins) - Christie & Margaret
Plastic Products - (eating utensils) - Hannah
S'mores Stuff - Christie
Milk/Cereal - Lol
Onions - Margaret

Firewood - Jeremy, Dad, anyone else?

Any suggestions or changes, let me know.
Joyce, I'll talk to you tomorrow or I've just realized, I'll talk to you later today. So sorry to hear about Ed being sick again. Also hope Jeremy's dad is doing well at home.
We had a good time at Clay's birthday party. I stopped by after leaving the beach.
Margaret

Chris, wish that you could have seen the game live. It was very exciting even though the wrong team came out on top. I'm sure your Dad enjoyed it though.
Enjoyed being with everyone at the beach and appreciate Margaret hosting us. My lips are still chapped from the pepper relish, Shawn. Next time I'll try to pay more attention to what's being said.
Ed had another bout of something this week. Spent all night Tuesday night throwing up. We'll probably make another trip to Chapel Hill soon to try to determine what's going on.
We're looking forward to the camping trip. Does anyone have any ideas? As I recall, Margaret said I would not have to plan it this year.

Go Hokies!!!

Sorry, Cathy but gotta' do it. Was reading the Middle East edition of Stars and Stripes the other day and I saw where the defending ACC Champion Hokies of Va Tech beat NC State. Couldn't let it go without rubbing it in. Don't worry, once the Redskins and Giants play, I'm sure Howie will rub it in if Washington wins. Nothing much else going on here. Just running a couple missions a week. Soon we'll be training up the guys from 101st Airborne replacing us and we'll be packing up for our move south.
Went to check on a few infrastructure projects last week. While we were in Mahmudiya, an IED went off about 3 feet behind one of our vehicles and 10 feet in front of our rear vehicle. I was gunning up in the hatch of the 2nd vehicle, just like the last one. Everybody's okay, not even a scratch on either humvee. yes, Psalm 91 still proves true. Love you guys. Wish I could be at the beach right now.
GO HOKIES!!!

Enjoyed having everyone at Nags Head. Sorry the others could not make it. We are home midweek due to the death of Virginia Graves. her funeral will be Thursday morning. Gene is handleing the funeral for her sons. We'll go back to the beach after the funeral. Margaret

Cookout

Will do Auntie M! I too have lots of plates, napkins. I can bring them or keep them for camping!

Excited!!!!!!!

Cookout on Sunday,
Bertha, would you and Rick bring 2 bags of charcoal and lighter fluid
Christie, would you bring a couple of large drinks
Hannah, would you bring a bag of potato chips

I have apple juice and some type of punch in boxes. Hannah and Christie, do your children drink apple juice?

Looking forward to seeing all this weekend.
Margaret

Well, as I think about our wonderful weekend ahead, I watch the devastation in New Orleans and Missippissi on t.v. Isabel was bad, but doesn't compare. But even then, we can somewhat relate or maybe not. I have already gotten the call to be on standby to go to Missippissi with the Baptist Men Temporary Emergency Child Care Team. Our director has already left to go to find a safe location for the children and us. Our request is to come for the next three weeks. With school beginning next Tuesday, and having 2 new teachers, and 6 more children than we've ever had, I said that I can not go until week 3, IF then. Keep the team in your prayers as they go to help, one to one, child to child, in confusion, turmoil and destruction. But God is there. "Thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God. Isaiah 43:1-3

Christie, Yes, I've rented it for the week. At this point, they would not rent it for the weekend. You can bring anything your want to bring or nothing. I'll have the meats, hot dogs, hamburgers and the fixings and maybe some chicken. Joyce says she'll bring baked beans. We'll just keep it simple. I have plenty of paper goods. We can eat whenever we want. I don't have a specific time planned. Any suggesitons? I guess we don't want to wait too late to eat as some will be driving back home.

Thanks!

Thank you Aunt Margaret & Aunt Joyce! Joyce, I got your card as well. Thanks again!

If I can talk everybody into it, we might come on Saturday. Are you saying too late b/c you rented for the entire week?

What do I need to bring for the cookout? And, what time is that going to be?

Howie, the proper ebonics would be Was up nigga! or S'up nigga!

Getting ready to go to bed and remembered that I'd forgotten to call, so Happy Birthday Christie. We'll celebrate this weekend.

Happy Birthday

Hope that you had a very happy birthday today, Christie. Good night.

Too late, Christie, I got the second condo this morning. Why don't you all come on down on Saturday night? That way you'll be there first thing on Sunday. Talk to all soon.

Beach Goers

Margaret:

I did let Terri know. This is what it looks like for us. Shawn, myself, Emma, Terri & Hannah would like to definetly come on Sunday. But we only have off on Monday, so we would only be able to spend Sunday night and Monday daytime. This does not warrant getting another unit unless you can get it only for weekend. If nothing else, we'll only come for cookout as well. I'm not sure about Corey & Ashley. I'm almost sure about Corey, but Ashley doesn't know her schedule yet. Also don't know about Jack or Jason. Terri is on vacation this week, so you may call her at home to confirm her plans 252-297-9933.

We also will keep your father-in-law in our prayers, Cathy.

Cathy, We'll keep Jeremy's father in our prayers, as well as the rest of the members of the family. Sorry you'll not be able to come to Nags Head.

It looks like Joyce and Ed will be there for the cookout, but not spend the night, Bertha & Rick will be there one night and Hannah and her family will be there some as will some of Christie's family. Christie, does Terri know that they are invited? I'll try to call her tomorrow, but if not would you please tell her.

Of course, I won't know until tomorrow morning, if we can still get another condo. Margaret

Clay has finally begun eating as of Saturday. But he's still walking around occasionally saying, "I sick" not "I'm sick", but "I sick". I think Hannah will be glad to get back to work on Monday. She's been home with him since Wednesday when he had his T & A plus tubes in ears. All is well here, but I'm tired, too busy of a weekend! CPR recertification, worked at school Saturday afternoon helping a parent paint a mural, went to worship service and taught a class today at our associational workshop on effectively using centers in preschool Sunday School classes. Talk at ya later! Love, Aunt B

Jeremy's Dad

Just wanted to update everyone on Jeremy's Dad, Danny. He was taken to the hospital early Thursday morning with a large amount of internal bleeding. After unsuccessful attempts to control the bleeding and to determine its source, they found that he had numerous diverticuli in his colon which were rupturing and causing him to bleed. He had emergency surgery today to remove the problem section of his colon. The doctors say that the surgery went well but he is still in intensive care. His biopsy also came back as cancer of the pancreas so the family is in quite a bit of turmoil right now and all need our prayers.

I will provide hot dogs and hamburgers, rolls, etc. Whatever anyone wishes to add, feel free. I'll have paper plates, napkins and such. Hope more can come, how about the Ervins, Jones, Harrells and all?

Sounds great! Rick and I are in for Saturday night and all day Sunday and into the evening, but will come home to sleep Sunday night. What's the menu? ...and thanks for including us in your vacation plans!

Well, Clay had his second set of tubes put in his ears today, tonsils and adenoids removed. All went well, but I imagine tonight will be rough when he wakes with a dry throat! Amber's first day of school is tomorrow and she again has Mrs. Ziemba for the second grade. She did very well and I expect the same this year. She begins art lessons after school on Mondays with a local artist and friend of mine who devotes 4 afternoons a week to teach elementary children. She a great role model and a great person! I love her.

See you all Labor Day Weekend! Aunt B.

Chris, Dad says that's fine with him. Wish you could come, but even if you were home, you probably wouldn't be able to due to children in school. It's a long ways for a weekend, even a long weekend. Waiting to hear who else wants to come. There beds to sleep 10 in addition to Gene and I.

Nags Head

I want to come! got a sleeping bag (summer and winter), mosquito net, 8 30 round magazines, 6 40mm grenades; I'm already to go. Damn, times up. Gotta' run. will post an update soon. Oh, and Mom, better run this past Dad first.

That idea sounds good to me also. I read the blogg last night and knew that it might be difficult to be at the cookout. We check in on Saturday and we'll probably have lunch with Mr. Belvin on Saturday before we go down. Tuesday that week is his 93rd birthday. It would need to be on Sunday or Monday. Anyone who is interested, we have room for four to sleep if anyone wishes. I also just checked and we can get another unit that will sleeps 6 so there room enough for 10, in addtion to Gene and I. I would need to know very soon as the other unit might be booked later. They are not on the water, but have two outside pools and one inside pool. There are grills and picnic tables there also. Any interest, let me know ASAP. I'd love having all of you down.

I'm not good at planning an event obviously. I was trying to get something together for fun. It doesn't matter to me what time of the day or even what day (Saturday, Sunday). The Nags Head idea sounds great to me too Joyce!!!!!

Cookout

Are we talking about lunchtime or supper or picnic or cooking? We don't have any plans but I haven't had chance to discuss this Ed but it sounds fine to me.

Or maybe we could all invite ourselves down to Nags Head and party down there with Margaret & Gene.

Jeremy and I already have plans for Labor Day weekend--We intend on going camping & canoeing on the New River in the mountains with his family.

Jeremy's Dad had a biopsy of his pancreas today. The doctor said he has a suspicious place in the pancreas tail. We should hear results in a couple of days. He has been having problems all year--lost over 40 pounds. They finally narrowed the problem down to his pancreas after removing his gall bladder and appendix. Please keep Jeremy and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Cookout

How about Labor Day Weekend?

Calender is pretty full, Christie. Go ahead and plan it, I may be able to come. Sounds like a great day. Have taken Amber and Clay a couple of times this summer and they love it! Aunt B.

Cookout

I'm like Joyce. There are dates that I can and dates that I can't. We'll be at Nags Head from Sept 3 - 10. I also can't do the 17th. Suggest a date and we'll see.

cookout

Anything's possible. Throw a date out there and see who bites.

Cookout

Would it be possible for everybody to get together at Arrowhead sometime soon?

Let me know!

Christie

I'm looking forward to camping in September. Our friends, Mary Lou and Bob Epstein's son is getting married that weekend, but just can't do everything. Hope most everyone can go. Also hope we have good weather. It should be cooler than now. This weekend has been really really hot.

Camping

Well, it's a date. I made cabin reservations for Dad/Joan & Margaret/Gene this morning. See you on the 23rd. Happy Camping!

Chris, if you're reading this, we're sorry you can't be with us this year but I hope that you know that you and your family and all the troops are in our thoughts and prayers. Thanks for all you do.

Camping

The Ervins will be attending the camp weekend if it comes together!

We are interested in going, but we have a conflict-a wedding on the 24th. It is in Conway though.

I am interested in going September 23-25. Bertha

Camping

Is this anything anyone is interested in?
09/23 - 09/25/2005 Annual Barbecue Weekend: Join us for our annual pig pickin’. We will have fun with fall activities including, apple bobbing, face painting, a fall scavenger hunt, Halloween themed ceramics and a hayride. We’ll do the cooking while you enjoy the weekend’s festivities. On the menu will be coleslaw, baked beans and our famous hush-puppies. Members, please bring your favorite desserts.

You can also go to campoutdoorworld.com and see what activities are planned for other weekends.

I'm tired, very, very tired. But not too tired to go dancing tonight!

Camping

I wanna' go camping too! Sleeping on a cot in a tent with 6 other guys isn't nearly as nice as sleeping on an air mattress with Michelle and camping with my family. Plus, the weather is probably much better there. Aren't too many lakes around here to fish in, either.
Yesterday we (my platoon) guarded 39 detainees one of our infantry units rounded up in a dragnet of an area where 2 500lb IED's went off within a week of each other, killing half the squad the first time, and the other half the following week. I didn't know any of them, but a friend of mine is in that company, B Co, 2-121 IN. I know we'll get to keep at least 5 of them for further interrogation 'cause they fessed up to involvement during their interviews. I saw and learned alot yesterday. Nothing bad, just educational. Oh,and man did theeeyyy stink!
Tonight I have door guard at brigade HQ from midnight to 6am, checking ID's and I get tomorrow off.
I miss everybody. Wish I could be home to be part of the fun. Love y'all.

Chris

Camping, Yes! Everyone log in your available dates. Late September is much better for me since we will just be getting in the groove of preschool earlier in the month. Preschool has grown, we have 17 three year olds and 15 four year olds which come on different days. Will be adjusting to working with 2 helpers instead of one. Seems to be adequate help, but I am concerned about floor space. The first few weeks will be an adjustment for all of us.

I'm cool with October weekends also. Maybe we need to check the almanac for warm weather.

The "Steamers" are the Edenton Steamers Baseball team. I'm not sure what league they play in. It's not high school, recreation department or local players. Probably not as big league as the Tides.

Christie, Who are the Edenton Steamers? Hope all are doing well. Anyone seeing Terri, say hello to her for me.
I think everyone knows, my test came back negative, which is good, but we really aren't sure what my problem was/is. They think it's (I don't know how to spell it) diaticulitis, but there were no absess or rupture. I go back to the doctor on Thursday, I think just so he can charge me again. It is probably nothing, but will end up costing me at least $3,000. There really is other ways I'd rather spend that money.

This is the first time I've been on for a few days, I wonder why. We enjoyed having Mandi, Cortlyn, and Amber Elizabeth one week. Then Howie's family for a few days and then Kyle and Christopher for a week. We had a good time but are very tired. God knew what he was doing when he gave kids to young people.

Anyone up for camping in September?
Margaret

FYI

For anyone interested:

The Edenton Steamers will be having a home game tomorrow night at Historic Edenton Field (at the highschool). We are also having an independent film being shot here. The gates will be open from 3:00 to 5:00 for anyone interested in being an extra in the film. It will be called "The Dog Days of Summer" and is supposed to be about a baseball player. I am able to get free tickets for whoever wants them. Just let me know by tonight or first thing in the morning.

Hope everyone is doing well!

C U all soon! Christie

Home 221-8403 and my cell is 333-8959

Our address

Christie,
Our address is 953 Underwood Drive
Macon, GA 31210

I replied 'cause I check blogger more often. Gotten run. It's really cold in this computer cafe and I gotta' wee wee.
Chris

How's everyone doing? Great, ok, fine I hope. Margaret, hope your test results were good.

Quick question......

I'm looking to make some extra cash from my home. I DO NOT want to get into sales. Thinking along the lines of bookkeeping, transcribing, something to do on my computer. Does anyone have any leads???

Everyone at my household is doing well. Ashley thinks she is ready to move out on her own. She has found a house on Maple St. in Elizabeth City. It seems that all she is thinking about is this month's rent. I keep asking her about next month and the next. Oh well, I guess she has to learn about the real world some time, right??

That's all for now!

Michelle, what is your address?

I'm having a few little test run, nothing much. We've ruled out one major concern, but going to another doctor next week and I'm sure he'll send me further. As you're praying for Chris, just say a little prayer for me too.
Hope Rick and Bertha had a good time. Howie and his family at on vacation with all of Lol's family. We go to Georgia for Cortlyn's birthday this weekend and will bring Cortlyn and Mandi back with us. Michelle is going to Las Vegas with her mom and friend. Christopher will be staying with Michelle's father. Howie's family are coming up on Wednesday night so the cousins will be able to be together. Christopher was disappointed when he found out that Kyle was going to be here, but I told him I'd try to get the two of them together soon. Love ya, Margaret

Newest here

Bertha,
Yeah, it's Monsoon season in Korea too. Luckily, when I was there, I was west and the monsoons went up the east and central part of the penninsula. Here, it's dry as usual. We're having a little bit of a "shamaal" (wind/dust storm) here today. It's funny, everyone here is like "Man, it's a real dust storm". Having been out west in the open desert I say, "Nah, it's just a little wind kickin' up a little dust. You can see more than 5 feet in front of you? It's not a real dust storm." They say the rainy season here is during the winter. Not to spread rumors, but I hope to be further south by that time. I'll let everyone know when the rumors have been officially confirmed.
Lately, we've just been doing the weekly escort trip down to the Green Zone. We've made a few trips elsewhere, Mahmudiayah to Fwd Operating Base (FOB) Mike, about 30-45 min south of here and somewhere out in 3rd Armored Cav Regmt.'s (3rd ACR) area to check out an irrigation project. After going to FOB Mike and hearing about FOB Roe, 20 min or so south of them in Yusafiyah, I don't complain about the tent life here. At FOB Mike, everyone walks around in full battle rattle unless they're in a fixed structure. They take fire all the time, small arms and mortar. Their dining hall and MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) facilities aren't nearly as nice as ours. Roe's got it even worse. They have one shower trailer with 6 showers in it for ~160 guys and the port-a-john service truck only comes once a week and that's only if it's ready at FOB Mike when they go to escort it to Roe. Yeah, it's not as nice here as Camp Liberty, Victory N, Victory S, or Tigerland (the other camps here at the Airport) but we've definitely have it alot better than others.
Well, that's about it for now. Talk to y'all later. Everybody take care.
Chris

Rick & I will be leaving for PA early Friday for a weekend away. One day will be spent at a Chrysler Car show. From the weather report, looks like we might get wet! The rest of the time, we'll just be resting and "goin' with the flow". I went to my pulmonary doctor yesterday and am back on Prednizone and Zithromax to get rid of congestion and sinus "gunk". Everybody watch out for Cindy and Dennis! Chris - I know this is monsoon season for my friends in India, how about Iraq?

I hope you all had a great 4th. Rick and I spent the day with his parents helping finish an 8ft fence to hide the excessive damage from Isabelle. We thought we were having a nice visit. Later in the day, Nanny said that one time when we weren't near, Rick's dad said, "Who are those people helping us?" But he never "let on" that he didn't know who we were. But he's healthy physically and happy. That's something to be thankful for. Love and peace to you all! Bertha

New Experiences

Well, I can now add traffic cop/harbor master to my resume. It appears that, like a child, the new Iraqi government doesn't know how to spend its money or meet obligations. A contractor, Global Security, used to provide civilian guards to guard the entry control points (ECP)'s to the camp. Well, the Iraqi government hasn't paid them in a couple of months (where the money the US gives Iraq goes, I don't know) so they walked out yesterday. Originally, 3rd ID tasked our brigade with providing an infantry company to pull some of the security (Quick reactionary force, tower guards, and one of the ECP's). What they got was people from my company, a signal company (communications), a couple of the support units and a light engineer company. I'm at one of the ECP's sitting up in the tower behind a .50 cal machine gun watching everything that goes on. There's a checkpoint about 100 yds or so down and in front. If something happens there, the tower next to me with the M240B, 7.62mm machine gun has priority to shoot the vehicle/driver. If he can't stop them, then I get to like them up with the .50 cal. I also control traffic. I watch for convoys coming in from the front and outgoing from the rear. I'm kind of like "eyes in the sky". I tell the two gates to let traffic in or out. It's kind of fun- sittin' there in my tower from midnight to 8am, puffin on a cigar, controlling traffic over the radio. The Nat'l guard infantry unit from Hawaii we're replacing is pretty cool to work with.
Well, that's what I'll be doing until we come off the detail. I may be doing this until we come home. Yeah, it's pretty cool, but I don't want to do it for 11 months. That's about all that's really going on now, with the exceptional mortar round that hits at camps near us every now and then. This is Baghdad and it is to be expected. Y'all take care. Ben, congrats on the weight loss. Cathy, e-mail me that pic of that fish. It's a beautiful fish.
Chris

Bertha came up yesterday to attend a presentation with me. She spent the night with Ben and helped him some today. She came to the wellness center around 3:30 for a massage, roll out, and then we had dinner. Ben's church, Church of the Good Sheperd had a musical benefit tonight to raise funds for a camp held for children with Aids. Gene and I attended with Bertha. It was really nice and fun. It is so rewarding to see that wherever Ben goes to work, they all love him and what he does for their church program. He is so much like Bertha, he give 110%. He is really talented. He also looks great. For those of you who have not seen him recently, you may not recognize him. He is now wearing a size 36 pants. Instead of a 3X shirt, he nows wears a large. I'm happy for him. He's worked hard.
Thanks for coming up Bertha.

Us, country folks, call it a Yard Sale! She also loved an auction, refinishing furniture, and sewing. Remember all those cute outfits she sewed for Terri and Christie. I treasure the red checked apron & the Christmas tree skirt that she made for me.

Sorry I did not go with the others today. Dad called this morning and left a message, but his message was cutting out. I figured that you were putting flowers on Gloria's grave, but could not understand when. I assumed that it was tomorrow, since that would have been her birthday. When I called Dad back, it was too late. I think that Bertha was right, she probably was the quietest of us and she did have strength and courage. Bertha did forget one other thing that she enjoyed, which was a sale, what we call a garage sale, but I forget what they're called there. Good night. Margaret

Don't have pictures to share, but had a great day fishing in Lake Phelps last Saturday. Caught 73 sunfish (bream,yellow bellies, etc) and one raccoon perch. We enjoyed them on Father's Day with Dad, Margaret, Gene, Hannah's family, Rick's dad & sister.

Today, Joyce came to Chowan Co. and brought flowers to place on Gloria's grave. Tomorrow, June 22, would have been her 57th birthday. Dad and I went with her. She was buried in a private grave yard not too far from where she lived in Sandy Cross. Finding the grave yard in a very well maintained condition pleased Dad. Christie said that her dad's family takes care of it and it is always well maintained. Today date, 19 years ago, is the day when she first told Mom and Dad that she had cancer. She died in February of 1987, 18 years ago, two weeks after Ashley was born. I believe she was the quietest of the Byrum girls. She loved the beach, working in her yard, her children and Ben Blanchard. She would always get around Ben and a piano and say, "Play something". Then after prodding him, he would play for her, but they always ended up playing Chop Sticks. Most of the time she would also ask him to play Because He Lives out of the hymnal. How appropriate! Because he lives, I can face tomorrow... And how she did face tomorrow with grace, dignity and courage!

Baghdad, Volume 2

Happy Father's Day to Granddaddy and all the uncles and cousins with kids. Yesterday was kind of chill. I was supposed to go out to take some of the S-5 (Civil Affairs) folks to look at a water treatment plant project. However, we had to take a Public Affairs guy (Army reporter/press liason type) and a civilan reporter out. So, I got bumped. Hey, one less risk to take, right? Got up, helped prep the vehicles with water, ice and getting the vehicles' weapons and ammo ready.
Will continue later. My time's up. Love y'all.

Latest from Iraq

Send me a pic of "the catch" as an attachment. It's not showing up on the puter here on the blog page.
Things here are okay, but alot better than the first time. We're at one of the camps at the airport, but not Liberty where all the vehicle born IED's (VBIED) are or where that 120 missile attack was back on 1 June. I'm at Camp Striker. Baghdad Airport or BIAP, is really big. We live in tents with wood floors, AC and sand bags stacked up around them outside. The dining facility is okay, but Kellogg-Brown and Root (KBR) puts a much better spread on than any other military DFAC I've been in. I don't think I'll lose as much weight as I did the first time. We have 2 free i-net cafe's, but you only get 1/2 hour sessions and one of them is like a sauna. We've got a couple Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) tents with TV's, PS2's, X-Boxes (for the kids who still play video games) a small gym, and a phone center that there's hardly a line for since most of the guys from 10th Mountain have left. I did get to see a friend of mine from chemical school who's with those guys a couple days before he left. He's now home safely at Ft Drum, NY. Got an e-mail from him the other day.

Since there really is no chemical threat any more now that we've gotten rid of Saddam, my platoon's primary is providing security escorts for the brigade civil affairs section. We roll with our humvees with either M240B's (7.62mm machine gun) or .50 Caliber machine guns mounted on top to take the officers to meetings at the Green/International Zone where the embassy and all that is or sometimes to meetings with contractors in town. Kids try to sell ya' bootleg DVD's and watches. I've bought a couple and won't buy any more because they don't work on my laptop.

Well, that's about it for now. Will try to keep y'all posted as things go on and time allows. Most of my i-net time is spent checking e-mail and im'ing Michelle. Love y'all.

Chris

Chris made Gene's day today. Just before Kiwanis, Chris called Gene to wish him Happy Birthday. Gene called me and was so choked up, until I understood what he was saying, I was really concerned. He was so emotional. Chris seems to be able to get to the computer quite a bit, so I know he'd love hearing from any of you. His email address is the same cbelvin@hotmail.com. He had started a bad habit. He seems to like cigars, which seem to be expensive. He has asked us to send him some. I'm torn, don't want him smoking them, but want to send him something that he likes and wants. It seems to me that brownies would be much better, at least from my point of view. I'm going to bed. Goodnight. Margaret

It was great reading everyones blog. I don't think we can go to Outdoor World. We haven't seen Gene's dad since the day of Ashley's cookout. Gene told him that we'd come down and I had thought I'd see Dad also, but maybe not if he's not going to be home.

Christie, I haven't forgotten Emma's birthday. I've had the card for some time. I called once to see what I should do, gift certificate or check. As for Emma, make sure that she drinks lots of water. Don't have any other suggestions. Margaret

Father's Day

Jeremy and I are up for Outdoor World on Sunday. What time?

Events of our weekend

Well Cathy and Jeremy; it appears ya'll are the only ones having any luck with fishing. Shawn arrived at the beach and fished from the Rodanthe pier before the rest of us got to there and he only caught 3 bluefish. Saturday morning, he and Corey got up and fished at the "point" close to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. They caught 6 more bluefish, I think. He says they aren't good to eat, but I've heard that some people do eat them. I don't know. Emma enjoyed the surf, sand and the pool. And I think the sun enjoyed here baby skin a little too much. I tried a new sunblock and it didn't work as good as what I normally use. I guess I'll stick the the tried and true Coppertone. Not only will we have good protection, but I'll have memories of mom every time I open it. We had to take her to the emergency room Sunday night with temperature that was 103.7 which was too close to 104 for me. They checked ears, chest and throat and everything looked and sounded good. They said it was probably a virus or that it could possibly have come from the sun but if it was the latter she should be throwing up, diarrhea or have rash. Of which she had none. They told me to give both Tylenol and Ibuprofen together; which I didn't like the idea of. The doc said they do two different things and it was ok to give both together but if I didn't feel comfortable doing that to just give Tylenol, which I did. I know they are the ones with the degrees but I don't like to give children medicine unless absolutely necessary. The Tylenol seems to be working. It seems that ever since she has been in preschool, she has a cold in some way, shape or fashion. Any suggestions on how to keep her well??? I'm tired of coughs and snot!

Michelle: Isn't it funny that when your husband is there you wished they would just go away and when they go away you can't wait to see them again! And any time you need something to snuggleupagainst, just call me and I'll send Emma to you.

Ben: I don't know how often you read this, but we haven't forgotten you. It's just hard to coordinate mine and Ashley's schedule. We'll get there before summer ends though.

Corey starts Driver's Ed this week. Pray REALLY HARD!

Scott and his wife are expecting an unexpected. Not sure of the due date.

Ashley was awarded the Ryland Ruritan Scholarship. We attended a dinner last night for that. Amanda Bridgeman was the other graduate in our community that received a scholarship from them. She (Amanda) will be attending Meredith College concentrating in graphics and Ashley will be attending ECSU for social work. (She thinks!)

I think that's all for now!

Father's Day

Talked to Daddy about going down to Outdoor World Sunday for a picnic. He said it was fine with him, whatever the crowd wanted to do. Any takers? Thought everyone could pack their own picnic lunch so that it wouldn't be a lot of work for anyone.

Thought that you'd like to see this photo. I will be glad to burn it to a CD for anyone if you'd like to print a copy of it for yourself. Bertha 

I don't blog very often, but I do read the blog once or twice a week. Did have a great VBS, am not too tired, but couldn't check the blog last week because my computer was at church all week. All the VBS materials for the worship rally (theme info, flag/bible service, and words to all the songs) were on a powerpoint presentation. The two computers at church were in use everyday, I either had to use an overhead and transparencies or take my computer, so I opted to take my computer.

All is well in Edenton. Even though school was out for me on the 27th, I feel that this is my first week off! Had a great weekend in the yard and Rick and I took an excursion to Smithfield, VA for a gas and steam engine equipment show on Sunday.

Hannah & family are now back from their vacation in Tenn. plus having a day with Thomas & Sir Topham Hat @ Tweetsie Railroad last Sunday, which was the highlight of their trip.

Any Father's Day plans? Rick, (and he being the father at my house) doesn't want to plan anything at our house this year. His actual words were, "Let's fly the coupe!" At the price of gas, doesn't look like we'll be flying anywhere. Already missing my paycheck.

Have a great summer, everyone! Looks like Margaret's, Howard's & Cathy's families have a head start on us! Love you all, Bertha

Cathy's latest catch. A spade fish, I'm told. We also had a nice weekend. Went out on the boat Saturday. It was very nice on the lake. 

I don't think that Shawn is the only jealous one. I just showed the picture to Gene and told him that he needs to ask Cathy and Jeremy where he needs to fish. Hope that Cathy had a happy birthday.
Last night Howie and I were talking and he said that it seems that only he and I blog anymore. It nice to hear from others.
We have an address from Chris and I know that he'd love hearing from anyone.

SPC Chris Belvin
HHC 48th IN BDE/Chem Plt
APO AE 09372

Gene and I are getting ready for a busy weekend. This weekend is Harbor Fest and both our service clubs got these dates. My Soroptimist club have Friday from 11 am till 12 midnight. We both plan to be available all day. Hopefully there'll be enough people to work that we can take breaks. Gene's Kiwanis club has all day Sunday. I won't be able to help him because I'm going on a cruise "to nowhere" only out in the water, for the rest of the weekend. We'll get back on Monday.

Hope Bertha is enjoying VAcation Bible School this week. I'm sure she is. Hope she won't be too tired.
Love, Margaret

Great Catch!

Great catch Jeremy & Cathy. Shawn will be jealous when I show him this picture. We are camping this weekend at Camp Hatteras in Rodanthe. Hopefulle we will have pictures to post as well! Sorry to hear that you sold your lot. I thought we would have a new camp site for the Annual Byrum Campout! Oh well! You know what they.. Money talks.......you know the rest! Have a great weekend everybody!

This is a picture of the latest catch of the Isom family on the Outer Banks. They have recently agreed to sell their lot on the Chowan River for a very tidy profit which they could not refuse. Oh well. 

GOOD NEWS! As of today, Howie has a job for the next school year. I'm sure he'll tell everyone more about it later.

Hope everyone had a relaxing time over the long weekend.
Margaret

Happy Belated Birthday to all those May birthdays I overlooked - Emma, Barry, Hanna. May has been a busy month. Sorry for being late.

We enjoyed Chris' family's visit. We stayed busy, Children's Museum, Jeepers (the new bumper cars are great fun) movies, zoo, going to get ice cream. We also enjoyed seeing everyone at Christies, especially Ben who we had not seen for some time. He looks great with loss of about 90 pounds if I remember right. We did miss seeing Barry, although we understand that you were probably working.

It's late so I'll sign off. good night!
Margaret

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who came to Ashley's party. She really enjoyed it even though the cat was let out of the bag early. Oh well! She graduates this Friday, May 27, 2005. Looks like we will be having great weather for the occasion. It was a great surprise to see Michelle and kids. Hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Good to hear from you Chris. Hope all stays well with you and your comrades. Will keep you in my prayers.

Latest from Q8

Well, I'm finally showing up. If you've read Howie's post, you know what I'm up to. Went to the range the last couple of days. We're up at 3:30 am to shoot early. Sun's up around 4-4:30 here. Who needs a rooster? We'll be here for a few more days before we head north. Luckily, the majority of us are flying, to include me. Our camp is just outside the airport. Not to worry, the opposite side of IED Alley. We'll be staying in air conditioned 8-10 man tents. From what I understand, I'll get to put my carpentry skills to work. That's about it for now. Miss everybody.

Well, Chris offically left yesterday. We had not been sure of the exact day. Michelle called today and she saw Chris off yesterday. She has driven to Ft. Stewart 5 times due to not knowing exactly when he was leaving. Tomorow is the last day of school for their children. Chris will be in middle school next year. It's hard to believe. All of the children did well in awards. I can't remember them all. I know that Mandi was #2 for the first and second grades in reading. I'll let Michelle brag about all of it, but we are proud of them. When my Chris was saying goodby to the children, when he told little Chris that he was proud of him, Little Chris' response was "I'm proud of you too Daddy." At that my Chris said that he lost it. I couldn't talk when Michelle called me today so when I called her back, she was in the dentist office with Christopher. A boy at school hid him in the mouth and broke off one of his front teeth. The same boy had hit him earlier in the year and had broken his glasses. The school said that the mother was going to pay for the bill for the dentist. Michelle is thinking about pressing charges against him.

She and the children will be leaving to come here for a few days early Saturday morning. We had a week at Massenutten scheduled starting tomorrow through next Friday and her original plan was for us to go there. But the dentist visit delayed their leaving and they were only going to stay a few days, so Gene and I suggested that we stay here and do things rather than taking that much more time traveling.

Christie, we still plan to come for a short time on Saturday, because Michelle and children will not arrive until at least six or later. I'm having a senior moment and I can't remember what I said I would bring. Was it potato salad?

Howie was very surprised last weekend for his surprise graduation party. He said he didn't have a clue. Everything was very nice and the rain delayed until later in the day. We had some good barbeque.

Looking forward to seeing all Saturday.
Margaret

Jeremy and I do plan on coming this weekend. Looking forward to it.

Head Count

Good morning everyone! I'm trying to get a head count for this weekend, so if everyone could let me know by reply of this or by phone I would greatly appreciate it. Hope everyone is doing well and congratulations to Howie on his graduation!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEREMY. MAKE IT ONE TO REMEMBER.

As you all know, Bertha, Ricky, Gene and I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Just wish Joyce and Ed could be with us, but maybe next time. So glad to hear that he is doing well. Has worked some this week. I've been going through some papers and came across the pages of memories that were shared when we went camping. I think I've shared some of them but not sure which ones, so I'll send them all.

Howie,
1. I remember when I was 6 or 7. Granddad and I were walking through the cornfield and came upon a cotton mouth snake. We broke its back with ears of corn, then Granddad made me stay and watch it while he went to find a stick. To this day, I have a phobia of snakes.

2. I remember shooting a bob white with my BB gun and brought it back to the old house. Granddaddy told me it was a game bird and I could get into trouble for killing it.

3. I was 5 or so and me, my mom, Bertha, Grandmom, and whoever else were walking through the mall. I reached up and goosed Bertha in the butt. I told her "I got her right in the crack."
Bertha was an older teenager and was embarassed to death.

Dad - Cecil Bud
1. I remember Christopher riding sows. I don't know why we never took pictures of it.

2. I remember when Howard killed my lizard, larger than most lizards. I dsidn't want him killed. When there were people around, he'd go on the roof and look down at us.

3. When we went with Margaret and Gene to pick up Christopher from camp and Mother fell and rolled down the hill. Her glasses went flying off.

4. I remember Chris telling us about when he was at camp and girls from another camp came over for a dance. He was younger than the girls. He said that he told them he was older than he was and he said that it worked, too.

Margaret
1. Joyce, Gene, Bertha and Howie went to Nags Head. Howie was about 6 years old. Gene, Joyce, Howie and I went in the moon walk. Bertha was pregnant with Ben, so she stayed out and held our purses. Someone came up and said, "Look at those adults, that child can't even jump. We laughed so much that I wet my pants. I was glad that I had worn navy pants.

2. I remember while Mom and Dad lived at the old house, and Gene and Ed were riding Dad's horses. One went under a limb of the pecan tree and Ed had to lean to one side to keep from being knocked off. Gene was riding a larger horse and at the end of the dirt road across from the house, the horse stopped and planted his feet and then rolled. I went running in the house to get Dad and then realized that I had not stayed long enough to make sure that the horse had not rolled on the top of Gene.

ED
At Cecil and Emma's, I said "Look at that horse laying down." It turned out that the horse was dead. We only had two shovels. Pop (Cecil Bud) was using one and Gene and I took turns with the other one, but we still could not keep up with Pop. We had the hardest time burying that horse.

I think there were a few more, because I remember that Christie and Kathy also talked about a few memories. If I come across them, I'll share those also.

Talked to Howie's family tonight. He is so ready to be finished with school, just a few more days.
Kyle scored his first goal in soccer this pass week. Howie was making a big deal about it and Kyle said "Dad, it's not that big of a deal."

Talked with Chris' family one night this week. Michelle is having physical therapy for her back. She's not decided if it helps or not. Young Christopher has gone to Washington this weekend with his class.

Better sign off and go finish packing. Don't want to go to bed too late.
Love to all of you, Margaret

Good Day, everyone. I saw the birthday boy, Corey, on the 14th, the day before his birthday. In 12 months, he'll be driving at a ripe old age of 16! Looked tired because he'd just been to baseball practice. He's playing second base for the JV team. Emma stayed with me for a couple of hours on the 14th. She began daycare/preschool in March and she's back in the "hugging Mama's leg" syndrome again. She didn't cry very long though.
Flash! As you schedule your events, keep in mind that Christie is trying to plan "something" for Emma's birthday and Ashley's graduation the weekend of the 14 & 15 of May. Keep Christie & Ash in your prayers as they makes her plans for her future after high school.
Love to you all. Bertha

Joyce and Ed, We are so glad to hear the news. We know that God does answer prayers. Ed, you looked great yesterday considering what you've been through. If we can help in any way, please let us know. Wish you could go to Las Vegas with us, but maybe next time. Christie/Ashley, I bought another dress that I haven't worn yet. It's light green and long with a slit up the side. The back goes almost to the waist. Also someone gave me a long black dress that has double speghitti straps and has lacing in the back and a slit up the side. Let me know if you want to see either of them. Happy Birthday to Cory this Friday, yes I knew that date, but when I bought the card, decided to send so that I wouldn't forget and it be late. Margaret

Ed's progress

Ed's surgery went fine. We came back home on Friday and even though he is in quite a bit of pain, he seems to be doing remarkably well. Talked to the surgeon's nurse this morning and she said the pathology report showed no cancer in the 16 lymph nodes which were removed and also in the extra tissue which was removed surrounding the area. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Thanks for your prayers.

Dad

Dad recovering quickly -- walked around the hall Tuesday, finally took a smoke break Wednesday and has undoubtedly taken several more since. Expects to go home Friday.

Dad's surgery

An update on Dad -- after five hours of surgery yesterday, the tumor was removed successfully and Dad's plumbing was reattached. He spent most of yesterday evening asleep but he's been up today -- Mom says he hurts from the operation. She says they now have twin scars, his matching her C-section scar. Doctors haven't said how long he'll have to stay at the hospital -- typically after this surgery, patients take about six days before going home. In the meantime, Mom should pick up at 919-966-1842 -- you can write at:

Ed Summerlin
Room 4701
UNC Hospitals
101 Manning Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Thanks for keeping Dad in your thoughts and prayers.

Joyce and Ed, you know that you are in prayers in Hickory, Elizabeth City, Norfolk and a lot of other places. These are the ones that I know for certain. We'll think positive. What more can I say. Chris is at home. Michelle has more back problems and with the medication, she needs his help. Keep her in your prayers also. Margaret

Just thought I would send a update of Ed's surgery.We are planning to stay in Chapel Hill tonight so that we won't have to make that drive tomorrow morning. Ed seems to be sleeping well and I think he is as mentally prepared for the surgery as he can be considering what is facing him. We'll try to let you know how things are going as soon as possible but don't know when that will be. We have to be there at 8:00 Monday morning and the surgery is scheduled for 10. They say he will be in surgery for 4-5 hours so don't know how long it will be before we will see him and we can't use cell phones inside the hospital.
Thanks for all the prayers.
Love, Joyce

Ed's update

God is good. Ed's appointment went fine yesterday and his surgery is scheduled for Monday, April 4th. We'll know later this week the scheduled time of the surgery. Please continue praying for us. They said that he would probably be in the hospital for about 6 days.

Happy Easter to everyone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE. I forgot to call, Sorry. I thought of it several times today while you were in school, but got busy late afternoon and had a financial seminar tonight and did not get home until after 9 and knew you'd be in bed by then or at least you should be. I hope you cold is better. We enjoyed being with everyone this weekend. We stopped on the way home to see Joyce and Ed. Ed looks great, I pray his test results are as good as he looks.

Happy Birthday to my two daughters-in-law. Today, March 15 is Michelles and tomorrow March 16 is Lols. I feel lucky to have both of them as part of our family. IS IT daughters-in-law or daughter-in-laws? Who's the expert?

I had a nice visit with Dad and Joan on Saturday. We went to Nixons for lunch and then visited the remainder of the afternoon. It seems I was in NC and most of the family there was in Virginia. I knew that Bertha and Ricky were coming to Bens, but didn't know that the others were going to the circus. Hope Amber, Clay and Emma enjoyed the circus. I assume the adults did also. Missed seeing you guys. Maybe the next time I come down, I'll be able to see you.

Ed's appointment

Everything went fine yesterday in Chapel Hill. The plan is to do a CT scan on March 25 and if everything looks okay, the surgery is scheduled for April 4. It's either going to be a very long month or either a very short month, I'm not sure which. Either way, there's plenty of time for more prayers which we very much appreciate.
Love you guys!

Ed's progress

Well, Ed finished up his radiation treatments today. Hallelujah! We go to Chapel Hill on Friday for a follow-up appointment with the oncology dept and also the surgeon. I sure that we won't know anything for awhile though.

Amber is becoming quite a photographer, with the help of Granny's editing! Here is one of her photos! 

2005 has been quiet in the Blanchard home. Rick's had a little dental work and I've got a cold that I can't shake! Busy with work and church, as usual is my schedule. And NO, I still haven't got my preschool (storage and work at home) room organized!

After taking Hannah to a pulmonary specialist last week, we found that she's got pneumonia. With almost every cold she gets, her weak lungs put her into a "tail spin". She has quit smoking and this time, she's using the patches. Handling day to day stresses is usually what makes her go back to smoking, so please keep her in your prayers. A couple of years ago, her GP told her that she already had the lungs of a 40 year old and that if she continued to smoke for another 10 years, she'd have the lungs of a 60 year old. She seems to be doing well.
Amber and I went to Ben's church yesterday. Amber was so excited that she didn't sleep very well the night before. At 11:45 pm, and several times after that, she woke me up to see if it was time to get up and that left us both pretty tired when we got back home on Sunday. She slept half the way there and all the way home. Ben looks great. He's lost 39 pounds. He wouldn't let me take pictures to show anyone. He's still working hard to loose more!

It's good to hear everyone good news. So keep 'um coming!