Happy Father's Day!

Here is the note which Paige dictated and I wrote on a card to Ben for Father's day:

Dear Daddy,
Happy Father's Day! We love you! Thank you for being a nice daddy to your little girls. My favorite thing to play with you is Prince and Princess when you are the prince and I am the princess and Mommy is the mean queen. Your little girls are sweet. I like to play in the snow with you. We love to eat ice cream. You kiss me. I love eating apples with you. I like to work in the yard with you. You are the best daddy and your breath gets so silly.
love,
Paige (& Claire)

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home,

glad as I can be!



Ben finally set foot on Utah soil Tuesday afternoon when his year long deployment to Afghanistan came to an end. Paige and I were there at the Air Base in Salt Lake to welcome him home. We are both happy to have her Daddy back at last.

So,

Ben and I had a GREAT 3 1/2 days together in Seattle. Though we didn't really plan it this way (you can't really plan anything when you're dealing with the military), everything worked out as if we had. Ben's plane from Afghanistan arrived in Seattle (after unexpected long lay-overs in Kuwait, Germany, and Chicago (it took over an entire WEEK of travel)) just a couple of hours before my flight arrived from Las Vegas. Ben was able to meet me at my gate wearing his uniform. Well, more like sneak up on me, grab my butt, and scare me half to death at my gate :) I was expecting to meet him at baggage claim. But the way he choose to do things was much better, and much more surprising.

I didn't bring the Z with me. She stayed in St. George with Honey and Papa and did way better than I expected. She never whined or cried for me. My mom and Ruben said she was really good. In fact you wouldn't have thought she missed me at all though occasionally she would run off announcing, "I go find mama!". And twice on our daily phone talks she said, "Mama, you in Wash-ing-ton?! . . . I miss you." It about broke my heart.

Ben and I stayed just south of Seattle to be a little closer to Ft. Lewis in case he received short notice that he was needed on base. He was only really needed once while I was there, so we had the rest of our time free to ourselves. We ate a lot (Ben REALLY missed America and American food), shopped, saw a movie, shopped some more, slept . . . . On my last morning there we went to Pike's Place Market and had another out of the blue chance encounter with an old friend. This time the friend was Ben's; Bob Caswell - one of Ben's companions from his mission. If we ever make it back there again, who knows who else we might run in to!

Anyway, Ben just has to spend a couple of weeks at Ft. Lewis training the new group of soldiers headed to Afghanistan before he comes home for good! We are so excited.

Right now . . .

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Seattle looking on the internet for places to go eat dinner, while my fresh from Afghanistan hubby is taking a shower. There is only one wall between us. Life is good!

I may regret this later, but . . .

it's going fairly well so far. After a couple months of sporadic toilet use, I got serious about potty training Little P today. She went pants-less most of the day, sat on the "princess" potty 5 times, actually 'went' on the "princess" potty 3 times (once was #2; YAY!), picked out big girl underwear at the store, and had 1 accident on the kitchen floor, during which she yelled out, "I'M POOPING!". It wasn't poop though, just pee.

I don't know what got into me today, but soon after I woke up I decided today was the day. Maybe it's the New Year. Maybe it's because I won't be living with my parents much longer or living in their carpet-free home (travertine floors make for quick accident clean-up). Maybe it just seems like a good time because for about the next month our lives will be pretty predictable, but after that . . . not predictable, at all.

Which brings me to my next announcement . . . Ben is NO LONGER IN AFGHANISTAN! YAY! He is on his merry way home. Well, not really home, but back to Ft. Lewis, WA where he'll spend the next month training the soldiers who will be taking over his battalion's job in Afghanistan. Then he'll come home. Well, not really home but to St. George (where I am). And then the unpredictable will happen, because we have to find a place to live while Ben tries to find a job and we start our lives together all over again. We have a plan. We're trying to be flexible. We have faith that things will work out for the best. Wish us luck.

Here's to 2009 and new beginnings.

Proof

Not that I needed it, because you all trust me implicitly and know I would never lie. . . but I took this video of Paige this evening and thought that I'd post it because, well, it illustrates my previous post so well. Enjoy.

"I show you where Daddy is!"

That is what Paige said to me this morning when we walked past the globe in my parents' room.

Me: What?

Paige: I show you where Daddy is!

Me: Um, okay. . .

Paige squirms out of my arms, runs to the globe, and gives it a good spin. She even winds up as if she's spinning the wheel on the Price is Right. I watch as she stops the globe with both hands, backs it up a little, and then points her little finger right to Afghanistan.

Paige: See, Mama! Daddy right dere (there)!

My mouth hung open for a second before exclaiming, "You're exactly right! Daddy is in Afghanistan. Can you say Afghanistan?"

Paige: AssghanikSTAN!

Okay, I know every parent thinks their kid is exceptional, so I try to refrain from this type of post, but COME ON! That's crazy, right? I have shown her where Afghanistan is on the globe a couple of times, so I guess it's not THAT crazy. But I never expected her to find it all on her own. (And she's found it at least 7 or 8 times since, so I know it wasn't a fluke).

The kid never ceases to amaze me.

I love being her mother.

The One Where Ben Meets the President

When I called Bridget this morning I told her that I had met someone that I had never met before. She asked who, my reply--George W. Bush. Obviously she was surprised. In the military they don't actually tell you who is showing up; it's a VIP, that's all you know. So they told us when to show up where and what to be wearing. Unfortunately for us it was 3 AM on the other side of camp. Afghanistan is not like Iraq; winter is cold here. No snow yet, but it's very cold that early in the morning. So dutifully, we went and waited. It was quite a long wait, but you're used to that in the Army.

They had some military vehicles set up for a backdrop and some sandbags next to the podium; I guess to make it look more "in harm's way". It all looked nice. We cheered thunderously when he finally showed up. For as many times as I've heard "Hail to the Chief" it's quite surreal when it's for the actual President. There were probably only about 300 or so of us in the room when he arrived. He thanked us, wished us well, passed on regards from Laura, and thanked us again. I was less than 10 feet away from him as he spoke. It's also surreal to physically see the face of someone that you recognize so very well. I think it's a bit different for those of us in the military because to us he's not just the President, but our Commander in Chief. It's a whole different level of respect and admiration.

One interesting thing he asked us to do was to call our spouses and families and to thank them from him for their sacrifice in supporting us as we leave them to defend this nation. There was not the slightest hint of patronizing or disingenuousness. We all felt he was truly and deeply concerned for us and our families. He concluded his remarks and began shaking hands with everyone that was within reach. He didn't seem in any hurry to leave and it was obvious that he tried very hard to shake as many hands as he could. He was even giving some of our guys hugs. Which to me seemed a bit unusual, but I think that's just the kind of person he is. I think he understands because he served as well.

As we watched him leave everyone cheered, even the foreign soldiers that were standing next to us. As he left, I felt gratitude for having served under someone as honorable as him, and I wondered when or if America will see another President as dedicated and humble as he was. It was something I won't forget and a fitting way to conclude my time here in Afghanistan.

-Ben

Happy Birthday to Ben!

Today is Ben's 32nd birthday! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I hope you are enjoying all that stuff I sent in your package. There's just one more thing; Paige wanted to give you this:

(she is usually a little bit more cooperative than this)

All Girls

Paige was introduced to the Disney princesses on our September trip to Disneyland and has since familiarized herself with all 7 of them. She plays with the little beauty queens quite frequently and if you ask her what her princesses are doing, she will wave them about through the air and shout, "DANCING!". Some other less frequent answers to this question include, "singing", and, although rare, my personal favorite, "looking pretty".

I didn't plan on being one of those moms whose 21 - month - old owns 7 princess figurines, a princess crown, a princess wand, is potty training on a princess potty seat, and knows all 7 of the princesses names. But, it happened, and you know what? I think it's pretty dang cute.*

So sometimes when Paige is playing with Aurora, I'll sing the words to my favorite song from the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty: "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..." And now, of course, being the little sponge that she is, Paige has picked up these words.

This morning, on Skype, she sang the words for her daddy while vigorously waving Aurora through the air, making her "dance". However, Paige's version of the song is a little different: "I know you . . . I walk you . . . I know you . . . I walk you . . . ", you get the picture. Ben, to my surprise, didn't roll his eyes, sigh, berate me for doing this to Paige, or anything like it. He smiled, laughed, and, like me, thought it was the cutest thing ever.

Tonight, Ben called me while he was taking a break during his work shift (there's an 11 1/2 hour time difference) and we had the following conversation:

Ben: That was really cute when Paige was singing with the princesses this morning.

Me: Yeah, she's so funny.

Ben: I guess I'm going to get to know a lot about princesses since I have all girls.

Me: Um, you have one girl.

Ben: Yeah, but you know we're probably gonna have all girls . . . at least 4 more. And you know, I don't think I'd mind.

I was speechless.

Those of you in my family and those who know Ben well, will probably find this as amazing as I did. Hey, maybe this is amazing to those of you who don't know Ben well, since, you know, he doesn't usually try to conceal his opinions. And let's just say that before we had Paige, his opinions on having girls vs. boys were, um, strong.

Oh yeah, and please notice the poll at the top. I'd love to see what you think.

*Lest you think I am ruining my daughter with all this princess stuff, the only princess movie she's actually seen is Cinderella, and her favorite toy right now is in fact Thomas the Tank Engine. But that's another topic for another day to be addressed in it's own post. It definitely deserves it; she's obsessed.

Happy 7 Year Proposal Anniversary

Seven years ago today, Ben proposed. It was the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving, I knew he'd had the ring for awhile, and I was getting REALLY impatient to get it because I wanted to go shopping for a dress over the holiday weekend when my mom was coming to town (Mom said, "Can't make wedding plans until you have a ring on your finger!"). Nevertheless, he managed to catch me by surprise and propose in an unforgettable way. I had planned to type here what I wrote in my journal from that night, but after just going back and reading the entry from November 18th, 2001, I can't bring myself to do it. It is just WAY too embarrassing. How many exclamation points can you use before it gets ridiculous? Let me just say that before I married Ben I was well on my way to becoming TAMN . . . well, maybe kind of like tamn . . . a version of tamn? Anyway, Ben has a way of keeping life real and keeping me grounded. Thanks, Sweetheart, for giving me so many reasons to say, "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" when you popped the question all those years ago.

The picture at the top is from the night we went to see Les Mis at Tuacahn when Ben was home on leave in September. Oh yeah, and that blurry white spot?, that's the result of the camera lens having a stupid scratch right in the middle of it; same scratch that ruined our dland pics :( . I would have scanned in a picture from the night he proposed, but sadly all of those pictures are in storage; something to look forward to for next year.

A Soldier's Christmas

For any of you who want to send Ben something for his birthday (Dec. 9th) or for Christmas, here is his shipping information:

SSG Benjamin Reed
D.Co. 142nd MI BN / TF Wasatch
Bagram AF
APO AE 09354

If you are planning to send a package, the cheapest way is to get a priority mail box from the post office that looks like this:The box itself is free and then you pay a flat fee of $10.95 to ship it, no matter what the weight.

The shipping deadline for letters and packages to arrive by Dec. 25th is Dec. 4th!

FYI you'll have to fill out a customs form at the post office.

where to begin?

I guess I'll start where I left off . . . with Disneyland!

I wanted to take a picture of Paige walking through the turnstile by herself on her first trip to Disneyland. She looked up, was afraid she'd hit her head on the bar, and decided to crawl.

Not the clearest picture (there is a scratch on the camera lens; right in the middle, dang it!) But you have to include the traditional entrance picture, right?


Paige's first encounter with a real princess. As you can tell, she took this very seriously.


The end of our first day at Disneyland. Paige actually enjoyed wearing her "ears", and if she had them on, then we better all be wearing them!

Unfortunately, she recently developed an aversion to smiling when taking a picture. Even though you may not be able to tell, she really did have a good time.


On our second day, Paige got a special outfit to wear at the big Disney store in Downtown Disney.


She wasn't so sure about the princesses we met the second day at the Princess Fantasy Faire. But Ben didn't seem to mind :)


Riding the teacups.


Riding Dumbo. The Dumbo line was the longest line we had to wait in and that was only 15 minutes! Talk about a perfect 2 days to be at Disneyland.


Yay! Finally a smile! Trying to pull the sword out of the stone. I actually accomplished this feat as a little girl and became queen of Disneyland for the day. No joke.


We had a GREAT! time at Disneyland. And Paige smiled A LOT more than is evidenced by the pictures. We also went to California Adventure but somehow ended up with ZERO pictures of our time there. Probably because Paige fell asleep in her stroller for most of the time we were there and I got really ill riding the roller coaster and had to sit in one place for like a half hour while I recovered. I must be getting old because I never used to get sick on rides. And no, I am not pregnant.

Leave

Ben got home for his ~2 week leave from Afghanistan on Wednesday, Sept. 17th. We had a wonderful 15 days together before he had to fly back this morning to finish his deployment. We expect to see each other again in about 5 months.

We spent the first 5 days of our "vacation" at a ski resort condo in Park City where we mostly just enjoyed being together as a family again. One of those evenings we went to the Alpine Slides/Coaster with some family and friends (we highly recommend the coaster!) and we went to the BYU vs UCLA football game on my birthday. GO COUGS! For those who may not know we beat them 59-0. It was awesome. Paige spent that day with Jill and Quinn and had a blast while Ben and I went to the game and then out to birthday dinner at Bombay House in Provo and birthday dessert at Red Mango. I had never left Paige with someone else for that long before (8 hours) and was so relieved that it went well. Thanks, Jill!

After that we headed down to St. George for a couple of days where we stayed at my parents' house. Paige got an ear infection so we spent some time at the doctor on Tuesday and that night we saw Les Miserables at Tuacahn. It was so great. If you get the chance, go see it before it's too late!

The next day we went to Vegas and stayed at the MGM Grand. We took Paige to dinner at Rainforest Cafe the first night (over priced, yucky food, but kind of fun - Paige liked the animals) . The next day we shopped at the outlets and that night Paige stayed overnight at my sister's while Ben and I ate at Emeril's, saw Ka (a cirque du soleil show) and walked down the strip to the Bellagio to see the water show and the blown glass ceiling in the lobby. Paige didn't even notice we weren't around; she had so much fun playing with her cousins and their dog. Thanks, Amber!
We had a really good time - Vegas is enjoyable in small doses like that.

After that it was off to my Grandparents' in Palos Verdes. They were out of town, but we stayed at their house anyway (thanks grandma and grandpa!). We went to the beach, the Crestridge Ward (my ward growing up), swimming, shopping, and ate (in no particular order) at Cheescake Factory, Ruby's, Lisa's Bon Appetit, Mayer's Bakery, Lox of Bagels, Red Onion, and Yummy Yogurt. We didn't make it to the Appetizer (AGAIN!), but that just means I'll have something else to look forward to next time.

Then we spent two full days at Disneyland and Californa Adventure! Yay!!! It was a blast. Even Paige enjoyed it more than I had expected. While there we met up with old Wymount friends that now live in the vicinity of Disneyland for either dinner at the House of Blues or fun at the park. Thanks for coming to see us! I'll post more about d-land later; it deserves it's own post.

After our second day at Disneyland ended (~9pm) we hopped in the car and drove the 6 1/2 hours to St. George where we stopped for less than 12 hours before we drove the rest of the way to Heber yesterday afternoon. It was kind of a downer way to finish up a great 2 weeks, but we had to hurry because Ben's plane left from SLC this morning at 6 am :( At least he got to eat lunch at Cafe Rio (for the third time in 2 weeks) on our way through St. George yesterday.

Well, that was just the brief low down on our time together. Though I'd be surprised if any of you are still reading this. I don't have the camera with me in Heber, so I won't be able to post pictures for a while, but I should be able to get some video from my flip up soon.

Paige (and honestly, I did too) basked in the all of the attention she got while daddy was home; she's asked for him today at least 3 times and it breaks my heart to see the disappointment on her face when I tell her he's not here. We'll look forward to seeing him on Skype again soon when he's made it back. Until then we probably won't hear from him for a couple of days.

Thanks for reading! And for my friends/family who are around (I'll be in the Utah County area for at least the next 10 days); I look forward to seeing you ladies soon - I could use the company!

Mail

I just sent a package to Ben yesterday, and it occured to me that maybe others would be interested in sending some mail his way. It's not expensive, and it gets there super fast. The last package I sent got there in 4 days! Here's his address:

SSG Benjamin Reed
D.Co. 142nd MI BN / TF Wasatch
Bagram AF
APO AE 09354

BTW, I'm not trying to solicit letters for Ben, I just wanted people to know how to send him something if they wanted to.

Say Farewell to the Magnum

With great sadness I am announcing that we put Ben's magnum up for sale today. Unfortunately Ben won't be able to take his car with him to Afghanistan, so no use keeping it around. It's been a good car for the year we've had it, and other than getting 3 flat tires in the space of a few months it hasn't given us any trouble. If you or anyone you know is interested, you can see our ad here. BTW all 4 tires are pretty much brand new :)