Allen's address

SPC Allen Blake, Co B, 2-10 Infantry, Unit 22, Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473-8958 on the other side of the envelope put 4th PLT. Please send encouraging messages to him. He's really down because his knee and shoulder are giving him a lot of trouble. Graduation will be May 5th. www.wood.army.mil/2-10IN

First Mail

We got mail yesterday! Yea! Two letters, actually. One Allen wrote on Saturday, the other on Sunday. He said he was done processing, and would be shipped to his training unit on Monday. He already had blisters on his heels from his boots, but he has a pretty high pain tolerance. He said that he looks like a soldier, but doesn't really feel like one yet. I'm sure that's changed now that he's actually training. He's getting yelled at now, like a real soldier. :) He got to go to church on Sunday, which lifted his mood somewhat. Hopefully he'll be kept busy enough to not feel so down like he did in reception. He heard that the first 4 days are the worst, and he agreed. I should be getting his address within a week, and I will make sure to pass it on.

Airport Antics

This is what we did at the airport for 7 hours. Plus people watching. That's always fun.

Party in Lincoln

We had a get together with all of Allen's siblings in Lincoln. It was fun to have everyone together! 1 parent, 4 siblings, 4 spouses, and 10 kids!

Party at our house

We had a party for Allen at our house. It was full! It was also the first time that our pooltable has been used. We had our HLHS family, college family, wrestling family, church family, and grew-up-together family all in one house! It was pretty cool!

Let the Adventure Begin

The last few days have been up and down for us. Tuesday, we left to go to Omaha. Leaving the house was harder than we thought it would be. It is Allen's last piece of normalcy, and when we left it, everything was unknown. Plus, we will never be a family in our house again. We will hopefully get it sold soon, so the next home we will be in together as a family is out there - somewhere - far from here. That in itself is scarey. Not necessarily bad, just unknown. Tuesday we went to Bellevue to get Allen's transcripts. This has been a loooong process, but Allen is now a college grad. Yea! He entered the Army as an E4. We then went to the hotel and hung out. Allen fell asleep before Cael did. He was pretty exhausted, and he had to be on the shuttle to MEPS at 5:20am. We went to MEPS the next morning and got to see Allen's oath ceremony. Pretty cool. Then he was put on another shuttle to the airport. His flight was at 5:15pm, and it was only 10ish am. We had a long day at the airport, but we were all together, so it was good. We did a lot of people watching, and Cael even got a nap. We left Allen at the security gate at 4:30. He texted me a few times on the bus after he got to St. Louis, but he wanted to sleep as much as he could before he got to Ft. LW. I didn't blame him. I got a 5 second call at 11:11pm telling me he got there safely and he loves us. He's where he needs to be. That's all I know for now. Thanks for all of your prayers!

Getting Ready

I haven't been updating lately, but we've been getting ready for Allen's departure. Several parties have happened - one at Texas T-bone, one at our house, one this weekend in Lincoln. I'll put up pics as soon as I can. Monday night, Allen was really tense when I got home. He couldn't find Cael's SS card, and he needs to take it to BCT with him. Where is it? What did we do with it? Lots of praying was going on. Plus, he's worried about getting his official transcript so he can be an E4 when he gets to Ft. LW, instead of an E3. He got everything done, now he just needs the piece of paper to prove it. Bellevue University hasn't been so gracious in that department. We also want to get some hospital bills paid off, and pay off the car. Worry, worry, worry. If you know Allen, he thinks that's his job. Really. Well, Tuesday, God laughed at Allen for all of his worrying. He found out that his recruiter had Cael's SS card. the registrar at CCC got his transcripts sent to Omaha to Bellevue. Allen's recruiter's boss's boss is here all week from Denver. He told Allen not to worry about his transcript. HE'LL take care of it. I would really like to be in on that phone call. AND Allen got his tuition reimbursement check for last semester. TAKE THAT all you worries!! We needed some wins, and, of course, God made them happen. He always does. Why are we surprised when it happens? I don't know. Because we're sinful, and trusting is hard. Cael is sick today with a fever and cough. It sounds like a lot of kids at preschool are sharing the "fever/cough" love. I just don't want Allen to be sick when he leaves. Cael knows that Daddy's leaving, and he's not terribly pleased. We are doing our best to keep good attitudes and be very optimistic. Daddy has to leave because he's not the Daddy he really wants to be. He'll be back. We'll all be together again, and we'll get to do lots of fun stuff and go to lots of cool places. If Cael sees a map, he says he either wants to live in New York or Texas. Both are possibilities. We'll find out toward the end of AIT, so it will be a while. Our house will be put on the market next week sometime. We are praying for a fast sell. The handyman should be done today fixing all the stuff we haven't gotten to in the last year. Sorry this is so long. I guess that's what I get for not updating more, huh?