Roly-Poly Tip-Toes

So Sarah has been up on her hands and knees rocking and rolling for a couple weeks now. Just the last couple days she's picked up a new trick- hands and tip-toes. It is really quite amusing. But the funniest thing about it, is she'll spit out her pacifier, get on her tip-toes, then do a push-up with her bum in the air to get that pacifier back into her mouth. It really is funny to watch. If Steve were here I'd blame him for making her do her calisthenics. ;-) She is getting very close to crawling, though. She amazes me at how well she can get around the room with just rolling and belly-flopping. I love this age!

Happy Turkey Day

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving today. This is a great time to express our gratitude for those great blessings in our lives. And for me- that is my wonderful husband, Steve and our three sweet girls. (for more crazy pictures of our pilgrim, Indian and turkey...)

FYI

For those of you that don't read Steve's blog, I thought I'd share his latest post... helps make the Army a little more clear.

Well, these last two weeks have certainly been weeks to remember. There have been many changes in my life, but I would have to say that the highlight was this past Sunday. SGT Shawn Smith was able to be baptized out here in the little font in the local FOB Falcon chapel. It is amazing to see the change that has come into his life due to learning and accepting the gospel. He has kept his commitments and continued to learn and grow and read in the scriptures. He accepted each challenge as they were handed out with Faith knowing that he was doing the Lord's will. It was great to go over the whole plan of Salvation with him and teach him all of the basic doctrines of the gospel and to also introduce him to the gospel and church resources and those things that we have available for help. We had pretty much daily discussions clear up through his baptism and we are going to sit down probably tomorrow and continue our after baptism lessons. I think Brother Hardy, our group leader, summed it up perfectly: "Of all of the significant events that have happened while our unit has been deployed out here, this baptism and the commitment that Brother Smith is making today is the most significant by far". It is true, the eternal welfare of souls is so important. To make it all the more sweet, his wife Dawn and daughters Brandy and Bonnie also accepted the challenge to have the missionaries over a couple of weeks ago and they too accepted baptism and they had their baptisms this past Sunday as well back in the Junction City ward there in Kansas. This past week we contacted the Stake President in charge of Iraq and asked him for permission to baptize him and be able to interview him as well. So I did the teaching and Brother Hardy did the interview this past Friday. He was found worthy and then we set up a program, coordinated with the head chaplain over at the chapel to get water into the font and were all set for the service on Sunday. We had a great turn out for church, around 22. In our little supply trunk that we keep for our services, we have 2 large baptismal jump suits. They were a bit snug on Shawn and me, but they worked just fine. It was awesome to be able to put those on and feel the wonderful Spirit there in the chapel that always accompanies baptisms. Everyone was smiling and there was definitely excitement in the air. Shawn brought a camera so we were able to take a few shots of the chapel and of us before and after the baptism. We had a great talk on faith and baptism from Wes Theurer before the baptism and then we went into the waters and performed the ordinance. Shawn came out with gritting teeth because the water was quite cold, but the feeling was amazing. We then had a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Shawn was then confirmed a new member of the Church. By far the best thing that has happened in both of my deployments thus far. It was wonderful that he could do this at the same time as his family even though they are literally thousands of miles apart. They have a goal to reach the temple in a year and there in Salt Lake be sealed as a family and I plan to be there with them if at all possible. Shawn will receive the Aaronic priesthood this next Sunday as well.

Additionally this past week was my change of command. I'm now the Commander of C Co, 4-1 BSTB, 4 IBCT, 1ID. Translation: Charlie Company, 4th of the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. I was quite nervous going into the ceremony, as I usually am with most new things that I do. We did a practice this past Sunday and then had the Change of Command Monday morning. There was quite a large crowd that came to it as well which was nice. My company was lined up off to the side with 1SG (the 1st Sergeant is the head Non Commissioned Officer in the Company) and the company colors (guidon) out in front. I, the Battalion Commander, and the outgoing commander (CPT Kollin Taylor) were lined up about 75 feet in front of them facing them. We started the ceremony and had a prayer--one thing that is nice about Army tradition and having a Chaplain's Corps. Then we did the actual change while a narrator read the significance of the changing of the guidon. We walked forward and stood in front of the Company 1SG and then he retrieved the colors from the guidon bearer and passed them to CPT Taylor who then passed them to the BN Commander who passed them to me and then I passed them back to 1SG who then gave them back to the guidon bearer. We three then turned around and marched back to where we were and as we did so, I swapped places with CPT Taylor so as to be on the right hand side of the Battalion Commander indicating that I'm now the acting Commander. We then turned back around and faced the Company once again and then we went into the speeches. The Battalion Commander, LTC Birchmeier spoke first and then Kollin spoke and I spoke last. It is tradition that the incoming commander speak very little, so I followed in tradition and just thanked everyone mostly and then at the end went to say the Company Motto and went blank! So I sat there for about 5 awkward seconds before it came back to me. Luckily, I spent those 5 seconds looking at the Company so in the minds of the onlookers it was as though I was expecting the Company to say the motto for me...so anyway...it all worked out in the end. Then we sang the Big Red One song (the 1st ID song) at which point two helicopters flew over head of the Company, we honestly couldn't have timed it better had we tried! And then we all sang the Army song. After that I walked forward half way to the Company and told 1SG to take charge of the unit and saluted and then walked off to the left. And that ended the ceremony. It went well overall. Afterward there was a meet and greet up in the Battalion Conference room where mostly people from 610 Came and congratulated me which was nice.

Key:

Branches of the Army: The operational specialty to which an officer is commissioned or a Soldier is trained. Examples are:
Infantry: Ground troops, the ones that go out and fight and are currently doing the raids in Baghdad and killing and arresting the bad guys
Armor: Ground troops that ride in armored track vehicles
Artillery: Ground troops that specialize in large weapons that lob explosives onto the enemy
Air Defense Artillery: They shoot down stuff in the sky like incoming missiles or planes
Aviation: Helicopter pilots and the Soldiers that take care of them
Military Police: self explanatory
Medical: Self explanatory, but there are all kinds of specialties in this branch
Signal: Communications and networking (this is what I am)
Quarter Master: Logistics (I was just in a logistics unit called the BSB or Brigade Support Battalion)
Transportation: The ones that move all of the logistics, troops, equipment around the battlefield
Finance: self explanatory
Judge Advocate General (JAG): Military law
Adjutant General: Personnel management
Chemical: chemical experts on chem warfare and prevention

There are others and quite a few smaller specialties out there that you can become and get affiliated with, but these are the most common.

Army Organization:
Platoon (20-40 Soldiers) < Company (30-200 Soldiers) < Battalion (300-800 Soldiers) < Brigade (1500-4000 Soldiers) < Division (4-6 Brigades) < Corps (2-4 Divisions)< Army

Rank Structure:

Officer: 2nd Lieutenant (2LT) < 1st Lieutenant (1LT) < Captain (CPT) < Major (MAJ) < Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) < Colonel (COL) < Brigadier General (BG=1 star) < Major General (MG=2 stars) < Lieutenant General (LTG= 3 stars) < General ( GEN = 4 stars)

Enlisted (When an enlisted makes the rank of SGT he/she becomes a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO)): Private (PVT) < Private 2nd Class (PV2) < Private 1st Class (PFC) < Specialist (SPC) = Corporal (CPL) < Sergeant (SGT) < Staff Sergeant (SSG) < Sergeant First Class (SFC) < Master Sergeant (MSG) = First Sergeant (1SG) < Sergeant Major (SGM) = Command Sergeant Major (CSM)

Note: those ones that are "=" mean that they are the same pay grade, but they are in leadership positions and thus outrank the non-leadership ranks.

Note 2: A 2nd Lieutenant outranks the highest enlisted in the Army, however, respect is shown accordingly both ways.


A lot of people out of the military are wondering what a Commander is or what this job means, whether it is a promotion or what. Technically, it isn't a promotion. Currently, I'm a Captain (CPT). In the military, promotions happen when you gain Rank, e.g. when you go from LT to CPT or from CPT to MAJ etc. When you are promoted you also get a raise etc. Becoming a Commander is just changing jobs. You don't get a pay raise or anything like that. At any point in your career, you can hold any number of jobs or areas of responsibility. There are certain jobs that are designated for LTs, Platoon leader being a key developmental job as well as maybe being an executive officer of a Company (XO=2nd in Command). There are also certain jobs for CPTs and MAJs and LTCs and COLs and Generals. Some jobs are of greater responsibility than others and as such are often sought out more or perhaps even esteemed more than others. Being a Staff officer is required by most due to the need to learn various areas of the Army Organization and their purpose is to support Commanders and help them make decisions and help the unit run smoothly. Staff officers are usually only in charge of a handful of Soldiers that work for them directly so their area of influence is limited and their scope of expertise is focused in a specific area. For instance I have served as an Assistant Brigade S1 in charge of personnel operations in a unit and as an assistant Brigade S4 in charge of unit logistics. Both of those times I had only a handful of Soldiers working for me. My most recent job was a Battalion S6 where I was the primary Staff Officer for Communications in charge of the all of the data and radio networks for the entire Battalion of over 870 Soldiers, 300 computers, 5 different networks, and tons of other digital and radio equipment so my technical scope of influence and responsibility was huge, but I still only had about 10 NCOs and Soldiers that worked for me directly. Staff officers support the Commander at the level they are staff. The lowest level that has a staff is a Battalion, Companies do not have staffs.

The smallest unit in the army that is considered a "Command" is a Company. Company Command is one of those jobs that is more "esteemed" or sought after than other jobs that you can get as a CPT. Traditionally Company Command is a crowning job for a CPT. It used to be required by all Branches of the Army in order to be promotable to MAJ and is still required by most branches. Commanders are solely in charge of their unit and all the good or bad that comes from it. They make all of the decisions for its welfare and it every day operation. They are in charge of how things run and how to delegate responsibility. They are in charge of policies and procedures. They are in charge of all equipment in the Company and sign for it all and then have their subordinates sign for it and take responsibility for it at their level. I'm currently signed for about $5 Million in assets and responsible for maintaining it all and keeping track of it. I am also the lowest judicial level in the Army meaning that I hold discipline boards and can assign punishments legally based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is the most responsibility that you can have as a Captain and that is why it is such an important leadership developmental position. In the Signal Corps, being a commander is no longer required to continue on and make the rank of MAJ and beyond, but it is still highly encouraged if you can take the position. In our current Brigade, there is only one Signal Company and 5 Battalion S6 slots and they usually pick the next Commander from one of those S6's so I was blessed to get the job.

So far the job has been great. I have very competent subordinate leaders and my 1SG, 1SG Meadows is outstanding at taking charge of tasks and requirements and being successful at making things happen. Normally I would have 3 Platoon leaders (3 LTs) that would be in charge of my 3 Platoons, but I currently don't have any. The only other officer I have in the company is my XO, 1LT Christensen. He is also a graduate from West Point and thankfully, he is very competent and a hard worker. This past week has been spent learning my new job, signing mounds of paperwork and getting to know my leaders and Soldiers. So far so good. We work hard, but we also have a good time. I'm also blessed because my direct boss, the Battalion (BN) Commander, LTC Birchmeier is very "hands off" in allowing me to have full autonomy of how to run the Company. I'm not used to this, in fact, most of the leaders that I have worked for are opposite-- very demanding and micro managed extensively. The atmosphere in my company is very positive and the Soldiers are all very hard workers. I really couldn't have asked for a better Command.

I'm going to give my "Command Philosophy" to the Soldiers tomorrow evening which is sort of my vision and expectations to the Soldiers and it will also be my first formal introduction to them other than just seeing them in passing. I hope to make a good and firm impression so they know where I stand and my expectations for them. I have a good feeling about this job and hope to be able to influence these young Soldiers for good while I'm in this position.

Our Trip's Summary

Okay, so here’s a quick recap of our trip. To start off, I will say that the girls traveled a million times better than we ever thought they would. Sure, they got tired of sitting in their car seats and they got tired and hungry and grumpy. But really- all of us were feeling the same way. It just so happens that their way of expressing these frustrations made those parts of the trip much more miserable. Having said that…

We really did have a great trip. It did start and end rough unfortunately, as I will explain now.

We were able to leave Illinois by 9:30 Monday morning. We had hoped to make it to Pittsburg by dinner time, but that was not to be. Instead we got to drive in concrete luges (sp?) in the rain for too long. We finally made it to Diane’s house somewhere around 9pm and we were all ecstatic. Ellie and Maya the dog sat under the table playing while the rest of us had a nice warm meal and got settled in. It was the next morning that the unbelievable happened. Keep in mind… nobody actually witnessed this event. Ellie was watching Maya (golden retriever- supposedly best family dog) eat her breakfast. Maya would grab a piece of dog food, take it into the living room, drop it, then pick it back up and eat it. Ellie was just going back and forth with her- quite enthralled with this methodology. The next thing I know I hear a quick, menacing growl (definitely angry), Ellie screaming and I look over to see her falling to the floor holding her face. I run over, pull her hands off her face and see blood. Okay… heart drops. Diane grabs a wet towel and I place it on Ellie’s face. When I take it off again I see the damage. Ellie’s poor little face had a couple good gashes in it. Breathe in… breathe out. My mind was racing a mile a minute, of course. Diane went to grab some antibiotic ointment, but I soon realized we were going to need to get it looked at. It was too close to the eye and too deep to just wait and see. Ken gave Ellie a quick blessing, which put my mind at ease from then on. Fortunate for us, there was a Children’s hospital about 40 minutes away and that’s where we went. Thank goodness for the portable DVD player that kept Ellie’s mind off her injury. We were blessed to be at this hospital. Everyone there was really nice and while it was scary, they were calm and great with Ellie. She had to get an IV for her sedative and she was quite the trooper. It took a really long time to see different doctors to make sure there was no serious damage to her eye. Then it took longer to coordinate everyone to do the actual stitching. Since it is a teaching hospital we had two ophthalmologists come do the sutures. And they were extremely careful to get it just right. I was able to watch and they did an excellent job. It was just strange to see my little girl sedated on that table. All-in-all she ended up with 15 dissolvable stitches. There were 4 different spots that needed sutures- 2 on her upper eyelid, one on the lower eyelid, and the noticeable one under her eye. Diane was there with me and I had to have Sarah along as well- since she needed to eat! Once Ellie finally came out of her sedative and ate and drank something to prove she could keep it down, we were finally released. Ellie was bit at 8:30 that morning and we didn’t leave the hospital until about 4pm. What an incredibly long day! Not the best way to start a vacation! Ellie seriously was a trooper and thankfully she is not afraid of dogs and was more concerned about why Maya had to move away (she was returned to the shelter where the Witzels had gotten her 4 years prior). It took her a couple days to fully recover emotionally from that incident. She was afraid to go to bed the first couple of nights without someone in the room with her. She pulled out of it in time to go to the conservatory and see the incredible glass sculptures among the plants and to have a fun day playing with Micah. We actually extended our time there an extra day just so we could really enjoy a day there. Katie and Ellie never were “themselves” while we were there, which is really a shame. They didn’t get to see the goofy, crazy Katie and the sweet, silly Ellie. Maybe next time? It was fun getting to know Maddie, Jonathon, Micah and Alex better. And really- isn't Alex just adorable?

Okay… so our next stop was New Haven, CT. Again, the trip took longer than expected and the girls screamed the last hour of the trip. Night hits and those girls can’t handle it! But once we were there it was great. Ellie attached herself to Geoff and didn’t let go until we left a few days later. Geoff was awesome with her. She made pancakes and macaroni and sliced apples and washed dishes with him. He helped her feed the ducks and pick apples. He was patient with her naughtiness when I had none left. He’s going to be an incredible dad! I actually took out a baby gift for Geoff and Emily’s baby (which we now know is a girl! Yay!) I love giving baby gifts. Anyway… Emily only had Saturday off, so we wore her out doing all sorts of fun things. That’s when we fed the ducks, picked apples, ate too many apple donuts and went home for Katie’s quick nap. The culmination of that day was going to Sally’s pizza. We got there at 5, waited in line outside in the cold until 6, then waited inside with our screaming girls for our food until 7. But boy, was that good pizza. Mom is still craving that pizza.

The next day was church. Even the church building was cool. Katie, Sarah and I only lasted through Sacrament meeting then I took Katie home for a much-needed nap. After lunch we went to the Yale campus. WOW!!! That’s all I can say about that place. Wow! It was absolutely gorgeous. The buildings are incredible. I’ve seen them in movies before, but it just doesn’t do them justice. The architecture is phenomenal. We got to see the school of medicine where Geoff studies, the beautiful grounds where Ellie, Katie and Geoff chased squirrels, and the magnificent church and library buildings. Awesome. We also took a quick trip out to the beach to see the ocean. Even though it was extremely cold, it was a beautiful sight and the girls enjoyed it. We were yet again exhausted by the end of the day.

Unfortunately we had to leave the next morning and head out to R
ochester, NY. Another long trip got us there right before dinnertime. We ended up in a motel instead of at Uncle Al’s house as originally planned (don’t ask…). So that meant we had to eat out since Aunt Paula was trying to nap before her night-shift at the hospital. We picked up Grandma and went out to eat at a pretty nice restaurant. Unfortunately the girls were over-tired and over-obnoxious. They squirmed and screamed the whole time. My food would have been awesome had I been able to sit and eat it. Instead I ended up with heartburn and indigestion and took the 3 girls to stand outside until Mom, Uncle Al and Grandma were done eating. I was not happy! Mom stresses out around her mom, so once we got back to the hotel I was sent on an errand to find something evil to eat to drown out our day. After needlessly searching for a grocery store I ended up at Kmart and some grasshopper cookies and milk. Mom and I did some serious damage on those cookies. But it made us feel so much better!!! Chocolate is a wonderful thing! Since we had all 5 of us in the same room, the girls didn’t get to bed until late.

The next day was rushed yet again. We went to grandma’s storage unit to pick up a few things (mostly Carrie’s apple dishes) to bring home with us (therefore jam-packing the van). Then it was off to pick up Grandma and out to eat again. The girls did a million times better this go-round. Paula did not join us for lunch either. We saw her a total of 2 minutes the whole time in Rochester. Yet again, no comment. After a short visit with Grandma we headed off to Palmyra for some spiritual regeneration.

I had never been to Palmyra before. What a beautiful place. We made a quick stop at the farm/sacred grove since we were short on time and daylight and went up to the Hill Cumorah. What an incredible place. The peacefulness and the view… gorgeous. I am so glad we made that quick 20-mile detour. The girls were impressed with the Christus, which was neat to see. I enjoyed telling Ellie the Joseph Smith story again and to have it mean a little bit more to her as we were there in the actual setting. It gave us the energy to hit the road once again. We had planned to stop near Cleveland, but murphy’s law- it took an extra 1 ½ hours to find a hotel. We were all going nuts by the time we finally stopped. Another late evening with the girls jumping from bed to bed to bed. Thankfully they slept in the next morning. We were home by 5pm the next day.

Now, while that was a long explanation, it really does not do our trip justice. We are so grateful for the chance to spend time with Diane and her family, Geoff and Emily, and Grandma and Uncle Al. It was a ridiculous number of miles on the van, but we are happy we made the effort and were able to see everyone.

On a completely different side note…

Even though we had just gotten home Wednesday night, we had to travel the hour to and from Monticello for Sarah’s well-baby appointment. Everyone had to go because I wanted us all to get flu shots. Sarah’s doing great. She was 16 pounds, 13 ounces and 27 inches. That puts her in the 50% for weight and 75% for height. She’s doing great! The girls weren’t too thrilled about the flu shots and even my shoulder is still sore. But, after reading about Troy’s near miss with the pneumonia going around his Ward, it was definitely worth it! Yesterday was nice so we were able to do some serious leaf-raking and get the yard cleaned up. The girls LOVE jumping in the leaves. That makes it fun for us as well. I am still exhausted from the trip. Sarah’s sleep schedule is still off and she’s not reacted well to these shots, so I’m not getting a whole lot of sleep. We’re working on it. Sarah is pulling up on her hand and knees and is pulling her knees forward. Just need to get the hands moving and she’ll be crawling any day now. These girls are just growing up too fast! Ellie had her eye examined Friday morning and the doctor said it looks great and should heal with no noticeable scarring... what an incredible blessing!

Trip Pictures

When I have a minute I'll write about our trip, but for the meantime you can check out pictures if you're interested. The trip started and ended rough, but we're glad we did it and we had a great time with everyone we visited. I'll write more soon :-)

On the Road

We have finally decided to do it! We are taking the girls East to visit family. We'll start out in Pittsburgh, PA to visit Diane and her family. I'm anxious for the girls to get to know those cousins better. After a couple days there we'll head up to Rochester, NY to visit my grandmother and aunt and uncle. We'll stay there only one night. Then our last stop will be New Haven, CT to visit Geoff and Emily. We are very excited to go up and see them as they're reliving the student life at Yale. It's going to be a grueling trip, but we're anxious to visit family.

And to add a picture... I thought Sarah was just too cute- oh how patient she was with me in this outfit! I also added the rest of our Halloween pictures to our picture website if you're interested.