Proud Army Wife

I post these mostly for myself, but you are welcome to read them.

This is for the young women that are waking up at 6 a.m. every
morning, laying out clothes and packing three lunches for those
small precious children that they have been left alone to care for.

This is for the pregnant Military wife wondering if her husband will make it home in time to watch their miracle happen.

This is for the childless Military wife, living in a town or on a
base alone where she is a complete stranger to her surroundings.

This is for the women that feel like a third leg when they go out
with their friends and their husbands.

This is for the Military wife that cancelled all her plans to wait by
the phone, and even though the phone broke up and cut off every time you spoke to him you waited anyway.

This is a pledge to the women that cry themselves to sleep in an
empty bed.

This is to recognize the woman that felt like she was dying inside
when he said he had to go, but smiled for him anyway.

This is for those of you that are faithfully in that long line at
the post office once a month, handling 2 large boxes and 2 small
children like a pro.

This is for that woman that decided to remodel the house to pass
time, and then realized that she had no idea what she was doing and sighed and wished she had a little help.

This is for all the lonely nights, all the one-person dinners, and
all of the wondering thoughts because you haven't heard from him in days.

A toast to you for falling apart, and putting yourselves back
together. Because a pay check isn't enough, a body pillow in your
bed is no consolation, and a web cam can never compare.

This is for all of you no matter how easy or hard this was for you.
Our soldiers/sailors are brave, they are heroes, but so are we.

Hold your heads up high, hang that flag in your front yard, stick
100 magnets on your car, and then give yourself a pat on the back.

Be proud to be the woman that you are, be proud to be a Military wife. (FAMILY MEMBER.)

Let's hear a HOOAH! (JS)

Week Six

The past couple of weeks have been both enjoyable and very challenging for Sean. He has been able to train with hand grenades, advanced rifle marksmanship, learn about the machine gun and rocket launcher (they don't get to shoot the rocket launcher due to how much it costs), and receive his dress uniform. One night was spent sleeping "out in the field." They also participated in a 12K ruck march, carrying their ruck sack and all other weapons and gear. All of this training, with the exception of one or two classroom days, occurs in triple digit heat. Sean says he did pretty well for the 12K, especially considering he was in the hospital 2 days earlier due to the kidney stone. During the 12K march, Sean said they were not allowed to talk, so it gave him a lot of time to think. I can't say it as good as him, so I'll just let him say it:

"I had time to reflect on this whole experience and see some of the really great blessings our Heavenly Father has given our family. We are healthy, we have a loving family relationship, we have a good out look for our future, and we have the true Gospel in our lives to help guide us."

Sean has always had a strong testimony of the Gospel, but through this experience he has grown so much!

The biggest challenge for Sean has not been the actual training, but those members of the platoon who do not care to apply themselves and truly learn the Army values. Many of them have not even given a thought to what it really means to be a soldier in the US Army. Many of them have not thought that a few short months from now they could be deployed and may not ever come back. This past week, Sean has been doing all his training, out in the heat every day, while battling the flu. His hardest point was Thursday, when they were told they would get to call home that evening, but got delayed because many of the SIT's did not complete their jobs, resulting in the platoon getting smoked. Getting smoked while sick with the flu is not easy. Getting smoked while sick with the flu because someone else was lazy and didn't care how his laziness effected those around him is worse.

Sean was able to visit the Dr. Friday and get some things to help him get better. He was put in quarters for the night (essentially quarantine for those who are sick, or who have washed out) , but insisted on getting back to his platoon and his training Saturday. I was able to talk to him Saturday evening and he was doing much better, which is good because Monday they take their last PT test.

This week marks the beginning of the Blue phase, the third and final phase of BCT. They will be doing more US Arms training, they will do a 16K ruck march (this time at the end of the day I believe, instead of early morning like the previous 12K march), and the last week will be spent finishing up and turning in gear. This means there are only 2 1/2 weeks until the kids and I will see Sean at this graduation! And we are very excited!

We are all doing well here, with the exception of all the kids being sick with a bad cough last week. Lewis is still sick, it hits him harder and worse because of having RSV a few months ago. We're grateful for all of you and all you do for us. Good friends and family make all the difference in the world.

Sean is almost done with this half, then he gets to do AIT (job training). He has had challenges, but he has stuck with it and has learned a lot. Today in church, a wonderful young man who is preparing to serve the Lord for 2 years gave a talk and in it he said something really neat, "The Celestial Kingdom doesn't accept quitters." It may not always be easy to endure to the end, and we don't always understand why the Lord requires us to go through certain trials, but if we do stick with it, the reward will be greater than we could ever imagine. This is what I rely on late at night when I miss Sean the most. I know that the pain and longing are only temporary and I will be with Sean again, and by keeping our temple covenants, will be with him always.

Dog Tags Over Diamonds

This is for those of us who would rather wear dog tags than diamonds.
For those of us who still sleep with stuffed animals, just because he
got them for us.
This goes out to those of us who never lets go of her cell phone.
This goes out to those of us whose heart swells with pride every time
the national anthem is played.
This goes out to the proud women who stand tall behind a United States
soldier.
We sit and we wait, for a letter, or for a phone call.
Many people don't understand this life; they say it's unfair, they say
they couldn't do it.

Well, here is our response....

Do not tell us you're sorry, or that you know how we feel.
Don't try to make us laugh when we're sad, we don't want to laugh, we'd
rather sit and think about our man.
We may not be "happy" with all of this, but we don't mind waiting.
To us, it's an honor.
We are the girls who wake up every morning with a sick feeling in her
stomach; we're the ones who just lay there for a minute to prepare
ourselves for the day ahead.
We're the ones who look forward to going to sleep; because they are with
us in our dreams.
We are the ones you see wearing a sweatshirt or t-shirt that is 2 sizes
too big just because it's his.
This is for those of us who's best friends they have never met; we meet
them on facebook or support groups.
They are those only ones who understand.
This goes out to the women who spend holidays alone.
We know the real meaning of love, its not cute presents or formal
dinners; its hearing his voice, it's seeing him for the first time in
many months.
For those of us that know what a chow hall is, those of us that know
terms like head, rack and porthole.

This is for those of us who belong to a United States Soldier.

You may see us struggle but you will never see us fall.
We are among the silent ranks; we are the few, the proud, the ones left
behind.
We are bonded together by the United States Army.
Our men are brothers, a family of one.
Each one of us have one of the few.
We stand tall and we stand strong.
We stand behind our soldiers through thick and thin.
Unknown

Week Four

This past week was the first week of the 2nd phase of BCT, White Phase, or Student Leadership. Sean says that the leaders that have been chosen are all pretty good except for one. He is glad to not be part of the leadership at this point because he is seeing that, as he puts it "it is like the scriptures say about power that as soon as men get a little power they abuse it." He says some of the guys will whine because who they want isn't in the leadership, then they whine when their friends are in leadership and won't do what they want. He says they have no respect for anyone, not even themselves. Sean is learning a lot by watching the Drill Sargents and those student leaders.

This week has been spent mostly on the rifle range, where they trained most of the week, then had a chance to shoot qualifying scores. Thursday, the qualifying was cut short due to a fire started by another group that was firing (it is very hot and I don't think they've had any rain at least since Sean arrived). They had another chance to qualify on Saturday. Sean shot a 33 out of 40 (23 is qualifying) and there was only one other SITin the battery (about 220 SITs) that shot a score higher than his. He was happy to do well, but was disappointed because a score of 35 is Expert. This exercise was shooting man sized silhouettes at 50, 175, and 300 meters that pop up. Sean had the chance to coach several of the other SITs and help them qualify. Some of them came up to him later and told him that he is a better coach than the Drill Sargents.

This morning Sean called me from the hospital. Nothing serious, he was passing a kidney stone and got pretty sick so they sent him to the hospital yesterday. Luckily, he has passed it and when I talked to Sean this morning, they were getting ready to discharge him. Sean was anxious to get back to his platoon, he does not want to miss any training. The Dr. told him that he will be fine to continue training, that the only thing that would keep him out of the army is if he lost his kidney. Still, many prayers would be appreciated to help Sean be able to complete BCT without any further health issues. We appreciate all of the love and support from you all!

This coming week they will be training with hand grenades. Sean is pretty excited about that! Again, thank you all for your support, we love you all!!

Week Two

Well, Sean survived the gas chamber this week. He said he could feel it on his skin, like a bad sunburn, and it really burned his eyes, but overall he did really well. There was someone taking pictures of them as they all came out of the gas chamber. They have not posted facebook photos yet so I don't know if there are any of Sean.

They had their first PT test on Monday. Sean missed passing by one push-up. bummer. He was really hoping to pass. He passed sit-ups and the run.

This week they also did some medical/first aid training. Sean said he got 100% on his test for that. They also had a competition for maping/gps (I forget all the technical terms! sorry) and Sean was selected for the competing team. His team finished first and was the only team, Sean says, that didn't get told that they did horrible. He was proud of that. That is the first of the competitions his platoon has been able to win.

We were very happy to get a call from Sean this evening. I was not expecting one, because Sean said in his letter this week that last Sunday a few of the guys in his platoon were late for formation, so they got smoked and didn't expect to have phone privileges this week. Fortunately, the Drill Sargent who is in charge for the holiday weekend is not the same Drill Sargent in charge last week so they got their phones.

Apparently, most of the guys that are having trouble being disciplined and working together as a team are doing what they call Split Ops. This means that they are in between their Jr. and Sr. years of High School. They will do Basic Training, then go home for their Sr. year of High School, then come back and do their AIT next summer. They are really just kids!

There is a new group that has come this week and with it brought 3 or 4 elders to the elders quorum that Sean teaches. I think they are all from Utah.

Tomorrow is Independence Day, and this year it means more to me. It is more personal now I guess. I'm very proud of Sean and what he is doing. Sean does get the day off for the Holiday, but since he is not in the group that is graduating, it just means that he gets to sit around the barracks all day.

Sean says Thank You to all of you for your continued support, love, and prayers. We appreciate all of the help we get here at home, too.