Memorial Day

Gwen and I left for Fort Bragg, N.C. last Friday and ran into some traffic along the way (busy traveling weekend). Despite the traffic, we made good time and were able to visit with Beau by Friday afternoon. I met Beau's roomates, Chip and Manny and it was nice to finally put faces to the names that I've heard so much about. I will say that I'm positive that Beau was lucky to get such great roomates and I enjoyed meeting both of them.

The three amigos- Manny, Beau and Chip

Saturday we were able to run some errands in town and, as Beau said in his post, eat some good food for our anniversary. :) Sunday I picked Beau up from his barracks and we headed to church at his brother, Jason's, ward. We were also able to see Niki Deca (our friend from D.C.) and AnnaMolgard which was great- I only wish we'd had more time to visit. After church we spent some much appreciated downtime at Jason and Jeanette's house. Here are some pictures from that afternoon.

Beau and Jason- and yes, Jason IS smiling.

Gwen and Victoria- Gwen just loved being with her cousins.

Kisses for Julian

Fun with Daddy.

We were sad to leave Beau and our family in N.C., but we'll be seeing them again in less than a month. Beau has about 3 more weeks of AIT and then Gwen and I will travel again to see him graduate. Hopefully we'll have more time to visit our friends and family then.

Hey Y'all, It's Beau. I'm almost done with my Initial Entry Training, and boy am I ready. Shellie is here with me in Fayettenam for the 4 day weekend (and I even get all 4 days off) and it has been nice. We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary with fillet minion and Cold Stone Ice Cream. I'm amazed at how big Gwen has grown, and I love her curly hair too! She warmed up to me with a little cajoling, but she sings my name (Daddeee) and then calls me by my first name! Words cannot describe my appreciation to all who have been so supportive of Shellie while I've been gone.

Happy...

Happy birthday, Mom- we love you!

Happy birthday, Fran Martin!

Happy birthday, Sarah Palmer!

Happy anniversary to me- 8 years!

From baby to toddler

These are two videos of Gwen. The first was taken in January of this year and shows Gwen dancing. The second one was taken just a few weeks ago in April. She starts out dancing and then just decides to be silly and yell at the cat. :) I just can't believe how fast she's changing!

Beau has finally "graduated" to gold phase in his AIT training. It's the last phase before his actual graduation, so he should finally be able to keep his phone with him and go off post on the weekends. This IS the Army we're talking about, though, so I'm not holding my breath just in case. :) Hopefully all will go just as he's been told. Beau's doing well in his classes and has met several other soldiers that he hangs out with during his downtime. He's in good spirits and wants to thank everyone who has asked about him and helped us out while he's been away. Maybe he'll be able to post his own message soon.