We live here now

We're here. We've done laundry, we've gotten mail, we've received telemarketer calls (4 calls from security firms offering us a "free" system if we just let them put a little sign in our yard), and I need to mop. That's about as settled in as we can get. :)

I am going to attempt to gradually get you all up to speed on our summer, with some random thoughts and musings thrown in for good measure.  Rather than overwhelm you, though, I'll just start out with a few pictures from the two weeks we've lived here at Bragg. We hit the ground running but it's been fun. The "real" Army (as opposed to the Metro commute/cubicle dwelling/4-star general every 10 feet Army we've experienced the past few years) is hopping. There is no sleeping in here, as reveille plays over the loud speakers very, VERY early every morning. Neighbors are warm and friendly and bring lots of yummy goodies. Now that we've been here two weeks, we're the "oldies" and are doing the welcoming too! I'm not going to presume that going to the field when the house was still being unpacked was necessarily planned, but it's awful suspect. The boys are calling our little main post area "the Shire" because it is so peaceful and pretty and I refuse to leave it. Middle Earth and Mordor lurk just outside and I am not ready to face them yet.....

Without further ado....

The very first day we were here I went to sweet Rachael's bridal shower. It was a nice afternoon and I enjoyed getting to meet more of her family. So thrilled to be so close to them and get to have a role in the wedding! 

The NEXT BIG THING was the Change of Command. It was a great morning and deserves a blog post all its own, which I will get to when I get the offical photographs from the photographer. I'm so proud of this man. The 10th PCH is so fortunate to have him leading them.

cute kids (only one is technically a kid...) at the Change of Command

In the midst of boxes and clutter, we finally celebrated the boys' birthdays. This year was definitely a more muted celebration than years' past but fun nonetheless.

We combined all the candles onto one cake. The boys are 50! (Jarrett 23, Nick 18, Joshua 9)

The cats are faring well after their long incarceration. In fact, they seem to have reach some kind of truce between themselves. Dave says they're "jailhouse buddies" now that they have that shared experience.



This weekend we went up to Raleigh to Jarrett's church. We got to meet Jane Doe, Rachael's new kitty. She is as adorable in person as we had heard. Joshua couldn't get enough of her.




So that's where we are now. Still unpacking, still learning the ropes, but getting there.