Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The start of a new school year 2010!
















Today my little Amy started 1st Grade. It was a little easier then her first day of Kindergarden but still very difficult to let her go. She was a little nervous, but for the most part tried to be brave. It broke my heart when she said she wished her daddy was there. I took lots of pictures so he could see when he gets home! I also had the task of getting all four of my brothers and sister ready for school too. My parents took my little brother Steven to the MTC on Monday so I have been in charge of back to school shopping. It has been so much fun helping them! :) Steven will be leaving for two years on his Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the Peru mission. There has been so much change for our family in the last month. I am so proud of Elder Hatch and Specialist Craig! They are both doing wonderful and amazing things with their lives right now. I love them both!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Gas Chamber!

Since James and I decided he was going to join the Army the one thing he knew he was going to have to do is spend time in the gas chamber. He was kind of dreading this because he heard that it really burns, is gross, and makes you throw up. Well he hasn't thrown up in 20 years so he wasn't looking forward to this. I got a link to a video today of soldiers in his platoon who just left the gas chamber. He unfortunately wasn't in this video, but it gave me an idea of what he had to go through just after leaving the chamber. I hope I get a video of what its like inside. So here is a glimpse into the torture that is the gas chamber! :)

Monday, August 9, 2010

More Pics!

So I was able to find more pictures of James today. I had to put them on! I love this man so much and am SO proud of how hard he is working.



The first one is him with his M-16 named "Heather" hehe and its kind of hard to see him in the next one but he's in the third row and like second or third in (he's to the side of another girl) Its so fun to be able to see him hard at work! :) I LOVE IT!

Seeing his face after 4 LONG weeks!


So today I got a letter from James Drill Sargeant. He gave us a link to see pictures posted of our soldiers while training. To my surprise I was able to find this picture of him. He is the baldy on the left! haha This has really made my day. I love that face of his and can't wait to see it in SEVEN weeks up close and personal! :)

Sunday, August 8, 2010

A huge sense of Pride!


In my last post I talked about the many emotions I have been feeling lately. Most of them are ones that I don't want to keep around because they make it hard to smile and be happy. One emotion that has come around every so often is huge sense of Pride for what my husband is doing. I just got a letter from him in the mail and in it he talks about the nobility of what he and the other men are doing, what they are training for, and what some are currently fighting for. When I look at it from his point of view I can start to bring myself out of my funk. I am so proud of him. I am so proud of all our military men and women. I only now know of the huge sacrifice the men, women, mothers, father, children, and spouses of these American Soldiers truly make because, I now am one. So today instead of dwelling on the fact that I am sad and that my son has a hard time going to his church class because hid Daddy usually takes him, or the fact that my daughter cries at night because she misses him, I am going to look at the fact that we live in a Country that is free because of the Noble men and women who are serving our Country.....soon my husband will be numbered among those Noble soldiers. I am very proud of that! :)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

He is gone.

Hello everyone! I am not sure who will read this but I feel the time has come for me to put down my emotions of my new life in the Army for people to read and possibly learn from. Let me give you a little background on my life before the Army.
I met the love of my life eight years ago at church. He had just come home from serving an honorable mission to Barcelona Spain for the church that we belong to. We went on our first date on 11/24/2002, he proposed 1/13/2003, and we were married for Time and Eternity in the Los Angeles Temple on 6/14/2003. I was head over hills in love with my husband. We had our first baby Amy on 2/9/2004 and our son was born 6/12/2006. We struggled while I put him through school. He graduated with his bachelors degree on 5/15/2009. I was so proud of him. He had done something that not a lot of people have done while taking care of me and our two kids. During this time like I said we struggled financially but somehow it made our marriage stronger. We worked through problems together, we depended on each other, we were our support system. The love I had from him went from a honeymoon gaga love, to such a deep emotional connection that I never thought was possible. Ok so fast forward to July 19, 2010. This was the day that the love of my life left to serve his Country. He got up at 4:oo am, showered, cuddled with our kids, cuddled with me, and sobbed. I will always remember this day for one reason. To never take this man for granted again. The day he left a part of me went with him. So many emotions have run through me, ones that I will describe in later posts. I am very proud of my soldier. He is stronger emotionally, physically, and mentally even after only three weeks of training. He is happy and is doing what is making him happy. I can do this. I can get through.