More from Bo

Talked with Bo again tonight. Apparently the guys are being granted the privilege of speaking to their families every night for 5 or 10 minutes, and those with cell phones have to share with other soldiers who don't have phones. Guess the army knows it will boost the morale of the soldiers to have contact and support from home. So, unless someone in the platoon doesn't "clear the deck in ten seconds" then I'll get to speak to my husband more often than I thought. That's great, and the boys need that connection with Dad, too.


Bo sounded much better tonight, more calm and peaceful and more like his normal self. He said he had a better day today. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I passed on everyone's messages.


I asked him what he did all day, and he said it was a lot of health screenings, drills to teach discipline, memorizing creeds, marching, learning formations, etc. He says they have to be busy at all times, sometimes with senseless things like standing in the sun for an hour, or picking up leaves and blades of grass with their hands. The food is good but there are no diet sodas, coffee, or Snickers bars (can he survive????). They have to drink canteens of water all day long (what if it's been two hours since you drank the canteen of water and you're stuck standing in one place for an hour??? yikes! toilet please, Sargent.) There are 1100 recruits processing at Ft. Sill, which is the second largest training facility in the world. It's also the field artillery hub so there's constant noise from canons, gunships, and rockets firing. Bo said Caleb would love that!


He is going to a non-denominational chapel service in the morning. I think the boy is ready for church! His bunk mate is atheist, but is going to the chapel service with Bo because he thinks he might be able to sleep there. I overhead Bo saying to him, "read John 1, that's a good place to start". They all have camo bibles.


The boys and I are doing fine here. I took Noah and Isaac trick-or-treating for the first time last night. We never did trick-or-treating with Joshua or Caleb. We would go to church festivals but we never put our kids in costumes and let them go house to house. Caleb reminded of this, feeling jealous that he never got to trick-or-treat but Noah is allowed. I told him I was sorry I never granted him the joy and excitement all his friends got to experience every fall, but I feel differently now. I asked if he wanted to wear a costume and carry a little plastic pumpkin but I guess fifteen years old is way past that. He did follow behind us on my bicycle and together he and I got to enjoy the experience through Noah's eyes. The smell of Noah's Halloween candy brought back childhood memories. I don't remember much about trick-or-treating, like what I dressed up as, or what houses I went to, but I do remember the smell of that delicious candy mixed with the plastic from the pumpkin basket. I've been sniffing Noah's candy all day.