Happy Thanksgiving

oh yeah, that is not a typo. we are celebrating thanksgiving today at the wahab house. i decided this about a month ago when i was shopping for the thanksgiving in november.
i felt bad my favorite soldier was going to miss thanksgiving for two years in a row :( pitiful isn't it?
so i bought a turkey which had to live at the neighbor's until our freezer was delivered and i decided that today would be thanksgiving. and yes, we are having all the trimmings.

other than that we are doing well. christmas cards went out yesterday, tow package is on the van, christmas presents are bought and mostly wrapped. we survived the christmas program at school.

and speaking of school, i guess i better let you all know that i resigned my teaching position effective mid-january. after prayerful consideration and many conversations with neilson i decided that i have too many demands on my time and i am putting our family as top priority.

wade, mandi, gabe, mom and dad are experiencing power outages --- darn ice. keep them in your prayers.

and while you're praying, please pray for a friend that she and her boys get the best present ever on christmas eve.

*grin*

i don't really need to say anything else do i? but i will tell you that homecoming ceremonies give you the greatest highs. i can say this with utmost authority as i've been to three in the last week.

yeah, you read that right. i went to three. the first to see the rest of neilson's company come home, of course neilson's and then to film for our friend and neilson's xo. each of them had me keyed up and weepy and each had me beaming with pride. but i know you really don't want the details of any of the ceremonies except for greywolf 7 so here they are.

i'll elaborate on my past post and tell you after the phone call from cpt clay i started bawling. the suckitude of the past 14 months had an end in sight-- near sight. of course i was busy cleaning, decorating, cooking, and having anxiety attacks -- lather, rinse, repeat.

and of course i couldn't sleep saturday night and i was up at the crack of dawn, showered, got ready, got grace ready and we headed to the field a full 2 hours early. nothing like a call from your hubby at 4:30am from american soil to get your day started.

our plan was to meet at the helicopter parked on the west side of the field. neilson would be able to find us because grace and i would be wearing purple k-state gear and holding a big sign with a purple powercat. i parked at the west side of the field which was near the tent for baggage pickup. neil told me he would have his ruck sack, duffle and backpack so i knew we wouldn't want to walk far.

the 2 hour wait is fun, exciting, nerve wracking, thrilling, weepy, and most of all surreal. really, in a few short hours our daily normalcy would change. deployment is weird that way. to survive, it has to become normal for your soldier to not be there. it sucks but it is the norm. and then bam, there you are, on the brink of change.

enough philosophical moments and i'll get back to the details.

so everyone is standing around grinning from ear to ear, talking, looking at watches, checking hair, outfits and cameras and then the dj announces, " hey greywolf 7, your loved ones have landed!"

organizers start prepping the crowd as to what's going to happen and then what seems like eons pass and really it's only an hour or so and you hear, "hey greywolf 7, just wanted to let you know your loved ones are on busses and have left the airfield."

the excitement really begings to build and people start lining the field.

then you see the honor guard march/ride into position, you see soldiers run to block off battalion avenue and you know it's only 2 minutes till you see them.

and then you see it-

the police car with flashing lights off to the right and the dj plays a sound bite from apollo 13 when mission control checks sytems and all reply, "go flight" and the white busses appear at the corner and turn onto battalion just a half block in front of you.

you see the shadows of soldiers unloading and hear the chanting, "move that bus!" the dj is playing "let's get ready to rumble and rock and roll part 2" and they pull away and there are the troopers, in formation the music cuts to ac/dc and led by the honor guard, the troopers march onto the field.

a quick benediction, a welcom home from division rear d and the sweet words, "go get your soldier!"



neilson said he saw our sign as he came around the corner in the busses. he beelined for us and i ran/jumped/hugged him. grace hung back a bit and then came over reaching for her daddy to pick her up. we hugged/laughed/cried and hung on for dear life.

change is good. yes it is.

hmmmm nothing for november

yeah i've been a bad blogger. life has been busy. i went to manhattan in november and mom and dad came down for thanksgiving. i had a horrible cold and spent two days in bed...
oh yeah, and did i mention?

I GOT THE CALL I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR FOR 14 MONTHS!!!

"hey heather, this is cpt clay, i just wanted to let you know that neil is on the manifest for flight greywolf 7. check the website for flight information."

translation:
neilson is coming home tomorrow at noon!
this is my last sleep before i get my hero back.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween all. Yes, I'm a bad blogger. And I'll make no promises that I'll get better anytime soon. With so many things happening right now I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. However, I do want to share a Halloween picture of my little Dorothy. Grandma made the dress and if I do say so myself she was a cutie patootie!

Boo to you!!

Something New

Grace and I did something new tonight. We went to a drive in theater. Yes, little old Killeen has a drive in.

Our neighbor Kelly invited us to join her to watch the Seeker. I can't tell you what the movie is about since I was too busy chatting and watchin little people.

We had a good time. We pulled the cars so the back end faced the screen and we pulled out the lawn chairs. The little ones and medium sized ones curled up in the back of the van and durango. Our Maxima just sat lonely :( since it wasn't conducive to sitting in the trunk.

It was a fun evening and I found out that it is open year round so we can do this again soon!

pics

Just a few pictures of our world this week.

The first and third are pictures of the pumpking topiary that I made to grace or front step. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Grace loves the word topiary and as you can see loves to pose.

The second picture is Grace posing with our haul from the case lot sale at the commisary today. Basically you wind through this maze of cases o stuff and vendors are there giving you coupons and you get amazing deals on

it. Sounds great! We picked up some fantastic bargains on drinks, lunch items and cleanig products as well as being entertained for nearly 2 hours this afternoon.

Cute/Pitiful Grace

Grace and I had to invade rear detachment this week. I'm still having problems with the vFRG website and Cpt. Clay said he would fix them so off we went.

As with most things military related it took a good piece of time and Grace being 3 was getting a little antsy. So this is how the conversation went:

Mommy: Grace honey sit still and please be quiet. These nice soldiers are fixig Mommy's problem.

(Grace continues to fidget)

Mommy: Grace honey, please be good. These people work with Daddy and we want to show them our best manners.

Grace: Daddy?? Where is he???

Mommy: Honey, you know where Daddy is.

Grace: Where's Daddy?

Mommy: Daddy's in Iraq. Cpt. Clay works here and they talk on the phone.

(Grace at this point grabs Cpt Clay's phone)

Grace: Here's his phone! Call him!!

I know it's pitiful to read but really it was funny to listen to.

Grace is hitting the deployment wall. And truth be told she lasted longer than any of the rest of us. Neilson hit the wall first last spring. I hit it this summer and Grace managed to hold out till the fall. I guess it's true what they say about kids being stonger than they look. :P

And right on time Neilson called this morning and Grace recounted her pitifulness to him. She is looking forward to Christmas for sure!

Of course Neilson is doing great. He's ready to come home of course but is enjoying his command. He got to ride on a helicopter and a tank this week which was the highlight of the week.

Back in Texas we've been busy with meetings, school, playdates and the like. But all are well and that is good.

Pics From Change of Command

Taking the Guidon

XO speaking

more pics!

Chaos Company in formation
Neil and his old boss MAJ Greg Gauntlett
Neil facing formation
Incoming Comander on the left (Neil) Outgoing Commander on right (CPT Pat Blakenship)

look below

hey all, i got the following post "a tired, new commander" from an email from neilson. he explained everything better than i could have so i just copied and pasted.

a new, tired, commander

hi to all,

It was a good day.  All went just fine.  I got up at around 0630, and
the 1st Sergeant, myself and the outgoing commander (pat blankenship)
all practiced the ceremony then ate breakfast.  Later we had the entire
company out there practicing for the ceremony.  Complete with Choir
practice (the "Army Song" - [you'll know it as the "cassions go rollin
along"]).  We had to cut one of the platoons out of practice early because
there was some "yard work" to do in our sector.  Nothing serious, just
the usual annoyance.  At mid morning, my new boss arrived on the FOB,
LTC Dunlop along with some of the staff.  The rest of the company
commanders in 3-8 showed up later - they had to wait on the "yard work" to
finish (ie conduct analysis and cleanup).  Then the Brigade commander,
COL Sutherland arrived via helicopter.  I invited my old Boss MAJ
Gauntlett to come, so he showed up with COL Sutherland.  COL Sutherland then
spoke to Pat and I in the conference room about any issues with the
change of command or the company.  At 1130, the company lined up and we had
the ceremony.  It's a quick ceremony, only about 15-20 minutes.  First
you salute and play the national anthem.  Then we march up.  The 1st
Sergeant passes the Guidon (company flag) to Pat (outgoing CDR) who
gives it to LTC Dunlop who passes to me, then i give it back to 1st
Sergeant, all in a circle.  Then the commanders march back and speak at the
podium.  Both LTC Dunlop and Pat gave good speeches.  As the new
commander, i speak last.  And by tradition, i'm not supposed to speak long
(what is there to say, i haven't started yet!).  I thanked COL Sutherland
and LTC Dunlop for the opportunity to serve, thanked the company.  Then
I say "this is Chaos 6 [my callsign] signing on"  I march up to the
company formation and take command.  Then we sing and thats about it.  We
were able to order some steak, burgers and hotdogs for lunch.  They
even made two cakes for me.  The indian workers who made them spelled my
name right, but missed spelled chaos (cahos!?).  I was able to sit down
and talk with MAJ Gauntlett for a while.  Then the Brigade commander
few out, Pat flew with him to his next assignment at FOB Warhorse (you
may remember that place).  Then everyone else left.  I spent the rest of
the day moving into my new room and getting my army/commander email
straight.  Its about 2141 now and i'm exhausted.  The good news is that
i've got regular internet actually in my room (finally!), so Heather,
we'll be able to IM much more often.

So, now i'm in command of "Chaos" Company, 3-8 Cavalry, 3rd Brigade,
1st Cavalry Division.

Is it any wonder that I command Chaos company considering how much
"Chaos" ment to us three boys as we grew up.  I new the moment that they
told me I was going to "Chaos" in 3-8 Cav that this was FINALLY the right
company (instead of C/6-9 CAV or C/1-12 CAV)

I command "115" soldiers and are directly responsible for over $75
million dollars of equipment including "14"  M1A2SEP Abrams tanks, "4"
Bradley Fighting vehicles (did you think there wouldn't be a Bradley in
Chaos company?), and "20" armored hummvees.  My area of operations
includes the city of "Ad Dujayl"  [add-do-jail], with a population of over
35,000 people. So i guess my area is like the size of lenoir county. All
the leaders of the city think i'm arabic because of my last name.  That
helps; my name is very easy for them to remember - its a common name
here.  Lets see, I also rate five 1st Lieutenants (a couple are west
pointers).  I'm also the commander of Forward Operating Base O'Ryan
(because i'm the commander of the largest US unit here).  There are a couple
of majors and one lieutenant colonel here, but they don't command anyone
(they do advisory work the the Iraqi Army) and are not in my "food
chain".  Anything related to the base, they pretty much follow what i say,
I'm the commander, despite the difference in rank.  In total there are
over 200 people on O'Ryan that I sort of look out for (which includes
my company).

Not much else to say about today.  I did get some video, but you can't
hear very well due to the generator running.  But we did get some great
pictures.  One of the guys in the company is an amateur photographer
with an awesome camera.  I will send the pics when I'm able.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

All my love

Neilson


Neilson W. Wahab
Captain, Armor
Commanding

first day of school

these are the official first day of school pictures of little missy. she was very proud to have her backpack and lunch. miss tracy and miss monica reported that she had a great day. she didn't cry and she played with friends. i did see a photo that miss tracy took of her and she looked to be having loads of fun.

grace reported that she played in the rice table, miss tracy read brown bear brown bear and they went all over the school looking for the brown bear animals! she also drew a picture of herself. at nap time she did sleep with her new friend carlton and their head were together-- apparently it was very cute.

i'm glad she had a good day. she is very excited to go back and that's even better!

more meet the teacher.

miss tracy grace's teacher and flat daddy with grace in her room.
grace and flat daddy working on her t-shirt project
grace still working on her projectmiss monica and grace

pics from meet the teache

gracie and daddy outside the school. see the playground in the background?

pics!

i ordered this outfit from http://www.etsy.com/ the crafter is actually a member of an online message board i frequent (dear hubby she's a pea).

anyway it came in the mail yesterday and i'm thinking that weather permitting this a first day of school outfit :)

OK OK

oh my has it been almost a month since updating? yikes! bad blogger!

yes after being prompted by several people i am updating you all on our crazy life right now.

we'll start with the petite one. little miss gracie is a trike riding expert now. and in accordance with texas state law she wears her helmet every time she rides. she can go pretty far too -- around our looonnggg block. she even navigates the driveways and curbs like a pro. right now she loves riding to the mailbox to pick up the mail in her basket. she also enjoys a ride to the playground around the corner. and yes the picture is sideways but i'm too lazy right now to fix it. :P

neilson is now with 3-8 cav and is very happy. i have had several looongg telephone calls with him and he is looking forward to taking his command at the end of this month. and we are down to 4 monthsish so that is great!

and i am enjoying my last week before school starts. i took the classes to be an FRG leader. the frg is the family readiness group. and grace and i also went to the hood howdy and learned all about ft. hood and the cool things to do.

we had jennifer come stay with us for a week and we had a blast. she and i decided that we need to make it an annual event. (hint hint)

karen and thomas are coming next week to visit. gracie loves having the company at her house and i am anxious to show off our new home.

and it looks like we will be headed north for labor day. :)

oh and neilson and i celebrated one year since he proposed this week (aug 10) and yes that means our first anniversary is coming up soon!

and that i all i know right now. i better get working on knowing more stuff!

yum yum yum yum delicioso

grace and i played hostesses to our neighbors friday night and it was a smashing success. we were celebrating the sale of our house in kansas city so we had about 15-18 people over to eat tacos. everyone had a blast and the little girls stampeeded through the house playing ball, babies, homework and kitchen. they had a blast playing with the toys in grace's room if the trail of debris is any indication.

i successfully cooked for the whole troop and we indulged in tacos (hard and soft), rice (sopa), cucumbers in vinegar ala wade and mandi, watermelon and topped it all of with brownies and ice cream. thankfully i cooked enough and there were some leftovers but not too many. and even better were the complements on the dinner and the house.

it's funny, we've only been here 6 weeks or so and i allready feel like we have some great friends here. there are two little girls grace's age-ish to play with and several baby sitting aged girls who are awesome with the little ones.

i did learn a couple of things from this experience:
1. while odd at first i love the tile floors. spills are no biggie when your whole house is tiled.
2. i really need one of the big cosco type tables.
3. i had a blast and will do this again!

other tidbits you all might be interested in are popping into my head. first, i got a call from neilson tonight and he is safely at balad airforce base. it is north of baghdad and is an army/airforce base and is as big as ft. hood. for reference ft. hood is the largest military installation in the world. he is anxioulsy awaiting to take his command.

little missy got a stomach bug and treated the employees of target to a clean - up opportunity *oops*. after a rest at home we decided to go to walmart (too embarassing to go to target) to get some medicine and 7 up only to have the same reaction (but this time i had a bag for her). can't wait for daddy to be home so he can run to get these supplies or he can stay with the princess while mommy runs. little missy also gave me the opportunity to wash the bedspread on our bed tonight. thankfully she seems to be feeling better and is sleeping well. we'll keep to the brat diet tomorrow and hopefully she'll be on the mend.

for all you sweating it out in your home state you'll be happy to know that texas has yet to hit 100 this summer. in fact i don't think we hit 90 this past week. they are calling for mid 90s this week so we can get to the pool. i can't believe we are heading into august and have had such a mild summer. i think God is watching out for His hot blooded followers that are new to texas.

oh and how can i forget??? tuesday afternoon we are getting new appliances. ft hood family housing agrees with me that our stove and dishwasher are ghetto and they will be replaced with new ge appliances. goodbye sunray, goodbye white westinghouse you will be ummm... ummm... missed? hee hee

oh and one more thing. of course with his move our favorite soldier has a new address. email me if you want his new address and i'll be happy to send it to you but due to opsec i will not post it.

many blessings.

He Likes to Move it Move it

Some of you might not get the title of this post -- it referrs to the meer cat song (or are they lemurs?) in Madagascar. But the moving thing does refer to my darling hubby. He is moving and getting command very very soon and this is a big relief to everyone. I have a feeling this last part of this deployment is going to fly for him and he is going to be very very busy and that's a good thing.

Oh and Gracie and I caught an awesome show on Discovery this week. It is called Build it Bigger and I will admit that the host is a weinie -- really he is. But the topic we caught was all about tanks and how they train with them, and rebuild them and all sorts of cool stuff. I highly recommend it if you want to see what it is that Neilson gets to play with.

Grace's comment about the tank was a question. "Mommy, when I grow up and drive the tank can I wear my Barbie helmet?"

So watch out Army, the new uni is going to be the pink Barbie helmet with flowers -- quite fetching if you ask me.

It's Done

I finished Harry Potter 7 in an all day reading fest. I won't spoil it though!

You Know You're From Kansas City....

Ok I totally stole this from someone on myspace (thanks amy!) and i'm totally ignoring the hatin' on the 'dotte! (that would be referring to the unkind remarks about wyandotte county aka my former home)

You know you're from Kansas City when......
you know that Kansas City is actually two cities in two states, Kansas and Missouri, and you make sure people know which one you're from....
if you live on the Kansas side, you think Missouri drivers are pokey and frustrating. If you live on the Missouri side, you think Kansas drivers are crazy and erratic....
you know just how fierce the KU vs MU rivalry is; and that you'd best pick a side and stay loyal....
your airport is known as KCI (Kansas City International Airport) yet, the airport code is MCI.... you tell visitors that your city is the "City of Fountains" and they look at you blankly because no one outside of the city has EVER heard it called that, even though we do have over 200 fountains sprinkled throughout the city.... (second only to Vatican city in # of fountains -- really!)
you've given the following answers: "Yes, we have tornados." "No, I don't know Dorothy." "No, I've never met the Wizard and I've never been to Oz."...
you whined through the 90's about Marty ball and now wish he was back so the chiefs could just make the playoffs....
you Christmas shop at the Plaza and ice skate at Crown Center in the winter....
you know better than to try and drive through "the triangle" at rush hour....
you've been told that you're going to hell or asked to help a guy put a "down payment on a cheesburger" when walking through the plaza....
you know to get off the interstate if you're headed into downtown and the traffic report says there's an accident at the Benton curve....
you know what color gunther cunninghams awful glasses are....
you've had a skyscraper at Windsteads....
you remember how awesome Ward Parkway used to be, and now complain that you have to go to Town Center...
you've said "but we were in Missouri, so the cops just let us go"...
you very rarely actually go downtown, unless you're going to a convention at Bartle Hall, a concert at Kemper, or a play at one of the downtown theatres....
you've barhopped in Westport....
you've ridiculed the giant shuttlecock sculptures on the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art to your local friends, but defended them to out-of-towners....
you have ever defended dick vermeil for being such a cry baby....
you've bragged to others how close you live to the Meth capital of the world, but thank God its still far away enough to not make you feel white trash....
you've had Brian Busby come to your school to talk about Weather....
you've had a Gates BBQ employee scream at you, "Hi! May I help you?"...
you've gotten in a fight in gradeschool over the MU/KU allegiance....
you call Cure and/or Nativity "Our Lady of the Lexus".... (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah this one cracks me up - these are two very rich Catholic churches in Johnson County)
you know who Tech N9ne is, and freak out during "We reppin KCMO, the fellas and the ladies know"...
you think St. Louis sucks, but have no evidence why....
the term "Wyandotte County" itself has made you laugh.... (hey now!)
you know where George Brett's house is....
your driving directions always involve Ward Parkway or State Line....
Wyandotte County confuses the hell out of you....
you're mad because Nebraska Furniture Mart used to delivery to Kansas City for free, all the way from Omaha, but now that they have a big new NFM store right here in KC, you have to pay for delivery....
you think that every year is the year the Chiefs will win it all....
you've spent many a day riding rides and eating park food at Worlds of Fun....
you've watched the American Royal parade and rodeo and sampled BBQ at the annual cookoff....
you'll only buy a drink at a baseball game if it is advertised by a man yelling "LEEMONADE LEEMONADE LEEMONADE"... (the only lemonade i will drink!)
you know the royals suck, but you refuse to let any Cardinals fan forget about the 1985 world series....
you know that KC has a Jazz district down at 18th and Vine, but you've never been there....
you can't find a steak worthy of your pallette outside of KC....
you know that if you don't get to Suicide Hill by 8 AM, you're gonna get nothing but dirt....
you know the name Buck O'Neil needs to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame....NOW....
you have had some of the best bbq in your life... at a gas station....
one of your guilty pleasures is Go Chicken Go, despite how disgusting it really is....
you've eaten a meal that was delivered to you by a model train...
regardless if you're from the suburban wannabe KC area, you still tell people from out of town you're from KC; and that's because it sounds so much worse to say you're from Shawnee Mission, Leawood, Overland Park, Liberty, Harrisonville, Belton, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, Mission Hills, Olathe, Odessa, Longview, Grandview, Raytown, Mirriam, Riverside, Kearney, De Soto, Fairway, Gladstone, Excelsior, Leavenworth , Ottawa, Prairie Village, Raymore, Bonner Springs, Parkville, Tonganoxie, Unity Village, Westwood, Peculiar, or Riverside. I mean come on, how lame is that?