Army Man Update

The boys and I are so excited. Bo comes home for Christmas this Friday! The separation has really added a delightful anticipation this Christmas. I've decorated a little bit, but we are leaving the stockings and tree until this weekend when we can hang everything as a family. Bo says he is counting the seconds until he can see us.

He has done well in his training. I know some of you follow my blog to keep up with him and I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Most of my days are full of cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping and most of all, kid-raising so forgive me when there is a lull. Most of Bo's days are full of drills. The platoon is kept busy at all times. They've done combat training and weapons training these past few weeks. Here's a pic of Bo's M-16. He named his gun "April"!

Bo passed all his rifle tests and qualified as a "sharpshooter". He has always been a good shot. In addition to learning how to shoot M-16s, he's learned how to throw grenades and use a bayonet (we still use those? how barbaric!).

He's also passed all his physical fitness tests, which a big praise because he's had trouble with his back and his knee. He has a hairline fracture in his kneecap and was prohibited from marching for a few days. He does lots of marching and lots of push-ups.

He and his bunkmate Cassidy are the two oldest soldiers and both of them have gained the respect of the platoon. Cassidy was nominated platoon leader and Bo was nominated squad leader. He is in charge of sixteen guys in the platoon, and has to do push-ups when they mess up! Here's a pic of some of the older guys, they've been dubbed the "pop squad".

I am hoping to fly out to Oklahoma in February for his graduation, and look forward to meeting all his army buddies. Bo recently read the encouragement part from one of my letters to his platoon. A lot of guys were having a hard time and he thought it might lift them up. I'd included scriptures about finding treasures in darkness and he said about 15 of them started crying (including him!), then after 20 seconds of silence, yelled the army war cry. Several have asked me to pray for them and I am so touched by this. It encourages my thinking that my church will now be found in community.

This will be a very special Christmas for us. Our last in Albany, our first as a military family. It will be a simple Christmas. The army does not pay much, and we are playing catch-up financially. In August, Bo was fired from his job after he began the enlistment process. We were without a paycheck for three months. I am blessed to say that family and friends generously reached out to us to bridge the gap. Bo's return home will be our gift. We will have him for two weeks.