Goodbye, Butter Bar ...

...Hello, Silver Bar? Cam was officially promoted to 1st Lieutenant today with a little ceremony at the Battery Office. Cam's promotion comes after his time in service reached a year and a half following Commissioning at OCS. The ceremony was very brief and included the Executive Officer reading the Orders, a small speech by the Commander of the Battery, me "pinning" his new rank to his chest, and the Commander pining the new rank to his beret. Following another small speech by Cam, we all chowed down on some yummy Costco croissant sandwiches and cookies (my last-minute splurge purchase). No more Butter Bars in this house!

"Pinning" on the new Velcro rank

Making sure there's a good photo!

New beret ranks

Presidential Certificate Presentation

Swing, Batter, Batter, Swing!

A few months ago, Cam was invited to join his battery's softball team and compete in the Ft. Bliss Softball Tournament throughout the summer. He has been spending several nights a week swinging some wood/aluminum and playing in the dirt against other Army teams.

The A-4 THAAD Battery guys have been doing pretty well each week and have only been blown-out (i.e. mercy rule was in effect) once. Most recently, Cam has been behind the plate playing Catcher. He has the cleat bruises on his knee to prove his competitiveness - heaven forbid anyone tries to slide home, because there will be a former offensive lineman blocking the plate! He's also been improving his batting average and has driven in several runs in the last few games.

I recently drug my bum out to some of the games and enjoyed cheering on our team, while chatting with some wives of the other teams.

Here are a few shots of the guys in action:

A-4 warms up before the game
Cam (2nd from the right in the background) is behind the guy in white shirt and shorts

Playing Catcher

Line Drive!

Dash for 2nd

The next game will be a Saturday tournament against some local employees of Wells Fargo. Let's hope our guys can put on a good show against the civilians!

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

This afternoon I was invited to the 11th ADA Brigade Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Cam had nominated me for an award (much to my chagrin) a few months ago and then forced me to add up all the hours I had spent on Project Linus activities. After trying to remember how many quilts I'd made, estimating the number of hours each took to make and adding in all the extra activities I do for the group (blanket pick-ups, kit cutting, sorting/inspecting/organizing), I came up with a grand total of 215 hours. A piddly amount compared to many of the other ladies in our Brigade, but I sucked it up and went to the luncheon anyway.

I joined about 150 other ladies from the Brigade in a yummy catered lunch (with a chocolate fountain and ice sculpture!) and in saluting several outstanding soldiers and wives in their volunteerism. We all received an awesome gift bag filled with all kinds of spa stuff, a certificate and a brigade pin as a "Thank You" from the Brigade. I even got a giant bear hug from the Brigade Commander! Thank goodness I wasn't his wife who received a big dip and huge smackaroo from him when her name was called!

I really enjoy what I do to help the local chapter of Project Linus and in turn, to help children of El Paso. I also like having an outlet for new quilts/blankets that I make so that I don't have to overwhelm my family and friends with them. So, while I don't do this for the recognition or for any kind of payment, the Luncheon was a fun way to be proud of my work. Thank you, Cam, for "forcing" me into this.

"Loot" from the Luncheon
(L to R) Flowers, Tote Bag w/ TONS of spa stuff, Brigade Pin, Certificate, and Fancy Pen Holder.

Close-Up of Certificate

Close-Up of Brigade Pin

Close-Up of Fancy Pen Holder.

11th ADA Brigade - Spring Gala

Last night, Cam and I attended the 2010 11th ADA Brigade Welcome Home Gala, our first formal event with his new Brigade. It was held at a very swanky hotel downtown (which isn't so swanky to drive through ... yikes!) in its ballroom with HUGE crystal chandeliers. The ADA colors (red and yellow) were the decorating scheme which made for a very bright and festive atmosphere. We had a lot of fun and got to see several of Cam's new co-workers and former classmates all dressed up and looking snazzy!

Prior to the Gala, I spent the day with Charla Welch trying to get our nails done (too bad the place we had an appointment was closed), having a long leisurely lunch, accessory shopping and finally getting our "hairs did" together by our favorite stylist, John. In the end, we were two gorgeous gals that just needed our dresses!

We ended up carpooling together with our next-door neighbors, Sgt. Wengler and his wife, Heather. Heather had such a good night that she even came home with the Wii door price! Unfortunately, the price for a ride to and from home did not equal the Wii in her mind! :D

Here are some pictures from our super fun evening:

All spiffed up and ready to go!
(Prom-style photo! He-he!)

2LT Smith and 2LT Welch showing off their required red socks

With our good friends, Jason and Charla

Next-door neighbors and carpool buddies for the evening, Darrell and Heather

Aren't we gorgeous?!?

Winter Wonderland ... in El Paso!

The weathermen threatened and promised, but no one took them seriously. Yet they were right!

A cold front moved into the area Saturday and it had been a blustery, rainy, freezing (for El Paso) couple of days. The storm finally dumped its snow payload on us yesterday morning. It wasn't sticking at our house, but from the video below, you can see that it was really coming down.



By the time Cam came home from work, there were a few inches on the ground on post (the other side of the mountain from our apartment) and the freeways were a mess. Still nothing was sticking on our side of the mountain ... even by bedtime.

Surprise! Surprise! We awoke to a winter wonderland this morning with about 2 inches on the ground, but the parking lot and sidewalks were mostly clear. Cam got to delay his arrival on post to let the roads clear up and all of the snow should be gone by this afternoon do to the temperatures rising to the mid-40s. At least it was fun while it lasted!

For the record, that's TWO (2) snowfalls we've seen here! Guess the desert really does experience a WIDE range of temperatures...

Run, Cam! Run!

Cam participated in the 16th Annual German American Night Run 8K last night at Ft. Bliss. The event was hosted by the post's MWR and the German Air Force Defense Center in honor of Oktoberfest! (The German Air Force has been a fixture for many years at Ft. Bliss training with the US Army on missile systems.) Prior to the race, we met up with some of Cam's fellow 2nd Lieutenants and our friends, Jason and Charla.

The 5 mile race course was around the streets on post and therefore, was a pretty flat run. For his first race, Cam felt he did relatively well and managed to maintain his goal average-mile pace. We are looking forward to many more races in the months to come, including a 10K in October and a possible half-marathon in March!

After the race, we pigged out on German brats, beers and goodies with our friends before heading home to watch the DVR'd Coug versus Hawaii game. On second thought, we should have stayed at the park and rocked out with the German Air Force band ...

Some of the gang that ran (L-to-R: Charla, 2LT Jason, 2LT Cam, 2LT Dan)

We were serenaded by the German Air Force band with German and English covers of music ranging from Billy Ray Cyrus to AC/DC!

Cam finished with a time of 46:45

Obvious Dinner Choice: Brats w/ Sauerkraut

German goodies provided by the German Wives' Bake Sale (YUM!)