Our New Truck

Due to our unfortunate transmission problems with the 2000 Chevy Blazer last week (amid our criss-crossing the state travel plans), we needed a new mode of transportation. We searched high and low for used vehicles to meet our needs during our Christmas travels. However, we finally decided that we would buy a NEW car. We figured the coverage of warranties would lead to less worries while Cam's away.

We found a 2008 Chevy Silverado marked down to a GREAT price at a local dealership and forked over the cash to bring it home! It's a crew cab (4-doors) that will seat 5 adults, has automatic everything, and leather interior. The only issue we have with it is that it is "Dark Cherry" (and looks like dark purple in the sun!) However, we bought it for the price and features, not for the color. Maybe someday we'll get around to painting it a good color ... like crimson!

Proud new owners

One last stop before home ...

Before our looooooong drive to the Tri-Cities and then the loooooong drive home, we stopped off at Cam's favorite breakfast place (Elmers) for a little chow and a little reminiscing/catching up with some really old friends from high school.

Thank you, Kevin, Zach, Rachael, Wes, and Melissa! It was great to see you all and hope we can see you again very soon!

Some former PHS Falcons
L to R: Cam, Kristy, Melissa, Wes, Rachael, Zach and Kevin

Christmas with the Smiths

After a crazy couple of days, it was nice to have a plan and stick to it! We arrived in Vancouver in time for breakfast with Cam's dad, his girlfriend and her three kids. After a delish meal of french toast, we had just enough time to sneak in a little football before everyone else arrived!

A huge crowd turned out to see Cam and share a few more Christmas treats. Cam's grandparents, Aunt Mary, Cousin Larry and family and Brother Jason and family all came over and hung out for most of the afternoon. Again, after getting our fill of cake and cookies, we opened some more gifts and enjoyed our time together!

Cam with his grandparents

Uncle Cam Jungle Gym Time!

Somehow a game of pick-up-sticks had us all enthralled

An intense rematch between Cam and Jason

Angie and some weird dude

Christmas with the Andersons

We arrived safely to Hillsboro (home of Cam's mom & step-dad) after a pretty "exciting" drive down the Columbia Gorge. We spent most of the day catching up with Cam's parents and prepping for a HUGE Christmas dinner. We were joined for dinner by Cam's Aunt Carol and Cam's older brother and his family.

We had a yummy prime rib dinner with all the fixings and a HUGE assortment of dessert to follow. After we were sufficiently stuffed, we all sat around opening presents and playing with the kids. Bedtime came shortly there after!

Thank you, Mom & Bruce! Sorry we couldn't have a longer visit, but we had a wonderful day!

PT after dinner with Uncle Cam and Andrew

Uncle Cam with his nephew and niece (dressed in their Coug finest!)

Cam and Aunt Carol

Christmas with the Lebers

We spent a wonderful few days with my parents, brothers home from the Army, and Grandma at the Leber home in West Richland. Cam and I were amazed to find that they had less snow on the ground than what we left at home when we left Tuesday night!

While home, we had family pictures taken, ate waaaaaay too many Christmas goodies, watched my mom and grandma attempt an almost impossible puzzle, unwraped many gifts, argued over tv programs and spend quality time as a family. It was great to spend time with my brothers and I realized how much I really did miss them. Hope they have safe travels home to NY and KY this weekend!

On Friday morning, after the traditional trek to the Spudnut shop, Cam and I attempted to back into my parents' driveway in order to load up the car for the second leg of our trip. Unfortunately, as we attempted to put the car in reverse, we felt/heard a "CLUNK" and the transmission would not engage. Thankfully, my father was able to rush home from work to rescue us and determined that the transmission was toast on our 2000 Chevy Blazer. So, instead of traveling to the Portland/Vancouver area, we spent Friday traipsing around the greater Tri-Cities area looking at new cars, trucks and SUVs.

We finally gave up the search in favor of renting a car and will continue our travels to Portland tomorrow morning ... weather-permitting.

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with plenty of friends, family, and memories!

Cam and Kristy

The Leber/Smith Soldiers

Dad and the elusive Tim

A self-portrait of Erik and Kristy

He's ba-a-a-a-a-ck!

Cam made it home at 11:00AM this morning! He spent last night in the Atlanta airport and was able to get on a stand-by list for a direct flight to Seattle that left ATL at 8:30AM. He was originally scheduled for a flight that left at 7PM and didn't arrive in Seattle until 10PM. Thank goodness for the earlier flight as the airport was cancelling flights left and right as more snow fell on the Puget Sound area. I can only imagine how terrible my drive to the airport would have been at 10PM tonight.

We spent most of the day fighting traffic in the Tukwila/Tacoma/Ft. Lewis area trying to get from the airport to Ft. Lewis. Once on post, we hit up the PX and Clothing sales for a few last minute items Cam was unable to find at the same stores at Ft. Benning.

As we were finishing up at Ft. Lewis, huge snow flakes began falling and we high-tailed it home. We are definitely looking forward to spending these two weeks visiting family and spending time together!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

Goodbye, Grandpa

My maternal grandfather passed away earlier this morning after suffering a heart attack two weeks ago and undergoing 11+ hour surgeries yesterday. He lived a long, happy life; 84 years full of a wife of 57+ years, 5 children and 13 grandchildren.

Some of my favorite memories of Grandpa (and Grandma too!) were summers visiting them as a kid. On one such occasion, a few of us kids (I think my brother, Tim, and a cousin were there that week) and Grandpa were out on the back deck. We noticed how full and bright the moon was and Grandpa proceeded to teach us a "rhyme" that I'm sure our mothers appreciated...

"Look at the moon, Sally!" (pointing index finger while wiping nose in direction of moon)
"There are soldiers in that field..." (pointing index finger of other hand while wiping nose)
"and soldiers in that field..." (pointing index finger of first hand while wiping nose)
"with stripes on their pants!" (wiping said index fingers along sides of pant legs)

It was deliciously naughty enough to entertain us then and STILL causes giggles for my brothers and I to this day! Grandpa was also always ready with some kind of cheesy joke, be it an almost daily email forward or cornering you in the living room with a steady stream of them.

Goodbye, Grandpa! We will miss you but take comfort in the knowledge that you are home safe in Heaven!

Grandpa and Grandma Jungck in happier times

Winter Wonderland?

After receiving approximately 5 inches of snow at my house in Port Orchard over the last week (and the fact that it's still on the ground!), leads me to believe that we may, indeed, have a white Christmas in western Washington - a rarity to say the least. Unfortunately, Cam and I will be off traveling to see family in other parts of the state, so we'll miss it...

Speaking of Cam, he's currently sitting around the Atlanta airport waiting for his flight home ... leaving tomorrow afternoon! He had hoped that by arriving to the airport tonight he could get an earlier flight home, but unfortunately the place was swamped and no stand-by flights were available. Oh well! Guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see his smiling face!

Anyway, hope you are enjoying the winter weather and getting all your Christmas shopping done!

2008 Cougar Hardwood Classic

The WSU Cougar basketball team managed to snap a 2-game losing streak by beating the Montana State Bobcats 70-51 during the annual Cougar Hardwood Classic at Key Arena in Seattle. After a rocky start (The woman performing the National Anthem was unable to figure out the words to the song and the crowd had to join in to help/cover up her mistakes!), the Cougs were able to drop a few key 3-pointers and play SOME defense. This year's squad is not quite at the same skill level the Sweet-16 team of last year, so I'm a little nervous for Pac-10 play coming up in January.

I was joined tonight in cheering on the men in Crimson & Gray by my good Coug friends, Sabrina and Rose Marie, and Rose Marie's fiance, Mark! I also was kind enough to include some of my Bobcat co-workers in our block of tickets too. It was a good game and everyone had a lot of fun. We were even treated to a drive home similar to our good ol' Pullman days ... through the SNOW!

Sabrina and me being cheeseballs!

The Bobcat Fans: (r to l) Jessica (MSU Alum), Justin (Jessica's boyfriend), Greg (MSU Alum) and Katie (Greg's girlfriend)

Rose Marie and Mark

Crazy Chinese gymnast woman during half-time. (Those are spinning plates in her hand!)

An actual shot of the game...

Just for Sabrina!

Finally, a little groovin' by our own, Butch T. Coug!

OCS Update #1

Cam was bussed to Ft. Benning on Saturday morning from Ft. Jackson and Officer Candidate School (OCS) started on Monday (12/8). I have had the opportunity to talk with him a couple nights this week. He currently is in a ‘dorm-like’ room with one other officer candidate. Their classes have been pretty basic thus far: general briefings, sexual harassment training, etc. He is hoping that there will also be some pretty rigorous exercises/marches involved in OCS so that he can keep up the physique he gained in Basic Training (BCT).

He also did his initial height/weight measurements and initial PT test yesterday. He is down to 203.5 lbs and lost 1.5 inches from his neck and 5.5 inches from his waist (and 25 lbs!) since his initial measurements at BCT 10 weeks ago. His PT score was a little lower than he would have liked, but he plans on working on his 2-mile run time in order to boost it.

Parting is such sweet sorrow ...

Our last day in Columbia, SC was a bitter sweet affair. We were allowed to attend morning chow in the D-Fac (dining facility) with the soldiers departing for their AIT (advanced individual training) or OCS (officer candidate school) that morning. It was amazing to see all the luggage that had been packed, sorted and was ready to be loaded onto the buses that morning!

After breakfast, we were spending our last hour with Cam by hanging out in the warmth of the bay. As a matter of payroll, Cam had been promoted to an E-5 (Sergeant) at midnight Saturday morning, following graduation of BCT, so Drill Sergeant Stevens decided that Cam had earned a promotion "ceremony" in front of the remaining members of his platoon. Cam's orders were read,

DS Stevens removed his Specialist patch,

and replaced them with a Sergeant's rank by slamming them into Cam's chest. Unfortunately at that point, my camera decided to die and I missed Cam being slammed back into the table by DS Stevens... Once Cam reaches OCS, his rank becomes "Officer Candidate" ("OC") so he can only wear his new Sergeant patch for Saturday.

After all that hoopla, it was time for Cam to board the bus headed to Ft. Benning near Columbus, GA and the Alabama border. Somehow I managed to keep it together and didn't shed a tear during our good-bye. It helps knowing that I'll see him at the Seattle airport in exactly 14 days...

BCT Graduation

Graduation Day is HERE!

This morning, Cam and his fellow "Privates" participated in the graduation ceremony for BCT at Ft. Jackson. The local Army band was on hand to perform for the crowd as well as provide the bugle calls for the parading companies.

Awards were presented to the Soldiers of the Cycle, Soldier Leaders of the Cycle, Drill Sergeants of the Cycle, and the Marksman and PT Score winners for each company. Cam was submitted by 2 of his 3 platoon drill sergeants for the Soldier of the Cycle award, however it was given to someone else. Anyway, once the awards were handed out, the companies paraded past the grand stands and the soldiers were again released to their families. Today they got a day-pass OFF post!

After the graduation ceremony, we spent the morning:

taking pictures around base (for our Christmas cards!),

visiting the Ft. Jackson museum, and making one last stop at the PX for items on Cam's packing list for OCS.

Since he had a day-pass off post, the four of us headed out into the wilds of Columbia. First stop of the day: Wal-Mart! Cam had a long list of office supplies and various other things (including a package of oreos and Reese's PB cups!) he needed to pack for OCS, so the Land-of-Wal offered the best deals. After our shopping excursion, we had a pizza lunch (a request from Cam) and headed back to the hotel for a little napping time. We even finished up the day with a yummy steak dinner!

Cam was back to the barracks by 8:30pm in time for one last "smoking" by the drill sergeants.

BCT Family Day

Greetings from Columbia, South Carolina!!! This lovely capital city is home to Fort Jackson and has been Cam's home for the last 10 weeks. My parents and I are in town for the next few days to watch him graduate from the Army's Basic Combat Training (BCT). We arrived late last night in Charlotte, NC and drove the approx. 90 miles to Columbia, SC so that we would be in town for the BCT Family Day festivities today.

The first part of the festivities included a briefings from several support groups on post, a briefing for the families from the BCT commanding officer and a demonstration of one of the scenarios that the soldiers were taught, performed by graduating soldiers.

(My parents listening to the briefings)

The objective of the demo was to call in an air raid on an small enemy position, send in ground reinforcements and then rescue any injured US soldiers during the firefight.

(The "enemy" setting up weaponry to attack U.S. forces.)

("U.S." soldiers checking for wounded "enemies" after the firefight.)

Following the demonstration, a large number of smoke bombs were thrown across the field.

As the smoke filled the field, we began to see the graduating soldiers sprinting through the smoke, finally assembling in their BCT company and platoon formations.

It was a very impressive display and the family members rushed from the stands to find their solider hidden among their platoon formation. Once the families were reunited, the soldiers were then released to visit with their family and friends on post for the remainder of the day.

Thankfully, Cam found us first, otherwise, I might not have recognized him. He's soooooooooo skinny!!! (He lost 25 additional pounds in BCT - that makes nearly 60 lbs total over the last year!)

After picking Cam up from his platoon, we spent the rest of the day exploring Ft. Jackson. We visited the barracks and bay where Cam stayed for his 10 weeks of BCT.

We had a lovely junk-food-filled lunch at Burger King where Cam was able to have his first ice cream in weeks! We spent the rest of the day shopping at the PX's around post, hearing stories about all of the guys in Cam's platoon and all the activities they participated in, and exploring all the back-roads around base.

I was really sad when we had to drop him back off at the barracks at 8:30pm tonight, but I'm looking forward to all the fun we get to have OFF post tomorrow!