Back in US, back in the US, back in the US of A!!

Hooray!!! Nic just called and said he's in Minnesota temporarily while he waits for his flight to Hawaii. He sounded tired and pissed that he only gets 3 days off upon his arrival in Hawaii. I reminded him that 72 hours in paradise is way better than where he's been and he agreed. :-) So the man is safe and sound on US soil...so we can all breathe a sigh of relief that our soldier is one of the lucky ones.

Stay tuned for "Coming Home Party 2009" details! Much love and thanks for the prayers and support you sent up and over for him.

The latest.

He called yesterday. He said it's looking like they will depart Taji for Kuwait on February 21st and sometime around February 23rd they'll depart Kuwait for O'ahu. It will take him about 24 hours to get back to O'ahu at least. But he'll call us as soon as he can.

He was told that they might have to sleep in tents when they return to O'ahu because the barracks are full of new soldiers. Great welcome home, huh? Of course I guess if you're going to have to sleep in a tent, O'ahu is the place to do it!

So that's the most recent info we have. We'll keep you posted as he makes his way back to the States. Continue the prayers and well-wishes...he's not out of the war zone yet!

Here is a picture he recently posted on his myspace page. I know the guy on the right is SPC Cool, one of Nic's good buddies who I have taken under my wing and sent lots of goodies to. :-)

Let the countdown begin!

Ladies and gentlemen we have an estimated date for Nic's departure from the desert. He should be leaving on or around February 17th. Can I get a "hell yeah!"? I thought so. I'm so happy I could burst. So he will go back to Hawaii and then at some point after debriefing and getting acclimated back to non-combat life he'll get to come home. We'll definitley keep you posted on that front.

I will update with any new information soon. Keep the prayers, good vibes or whatever else you can spare coming...he's not out of the woods yet.

No more boxes please...

Our soldier is coming home! Well, not immediately, but he has asked that we not send anymore boxes. He said it's not that he didn't appreciate them...but if we send them now they either won't get there before he leaves for Kuwait OR they'll get there and not get TO him and he'll have to go hunt them down. He said even if he chose not to go find them out of inconvenience the Army would FORCE him to go find the boxes before he leaves which could result in a huge headache for him.

So no more boxes because he's leaving soon!!! Hooray!!! The word on the street is that they should be back in O'ahu in mid-February...which means they'll probably leave Iraq by late January or early February. We'll keep you posted as we know more. Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts and reminding him how loved he is while he is gone. Keep the prayers coming and we'll all see him soon! Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving and Christmas

As tempting as it is to send him TONS of candy...don't. He emailed me and said no more candy...he has enough. I think I might've gone a little overboard at Halloween. :-) I thought he'd share, but I guess he missed that lesson in kindergarden. What he did request is books and magazines...just any sort of reading material. (No hard backs...too hard to transport.) He said they are on the move pretty much all the time now...so he can't carry much with him...so reading material is best. So there ya go! Email me if you have any questions. Happy shipping! He'll be home in 4 months!

Getting closer!

Well, Mom and Dad spoke to Nic and he said that the higher-ups from the unit that will replace them in Iraq are now over there getting briefed and caught up to speed on what's going on. So that's an EXCELLENT sign! He thinks that they should be back on US soil by mid-February and hopefully home to Kentucky by mid-March or thereabouts. So we're counting down! It's bad to wish our life away, but we just want him to be home safe and sound as soon as possible.

He told Mom the other day that he thought he was going crazy because he could smell a cheeseburger. So I'm going to include in my Halloween box some hamburger-shaped gummy candies. :-) Remember he's going to need extra support at Christmas as it's hard to be away from family and friends when he knows we're all celebrating. So if you could send him a Christmas card or something I'm sure it would mean the world to him.

Remember on his new address to switch out the PFC to SPC since he's a specialist now. :-) Thanks all folks!

Just pluggin' along!

Sorry for the delay in writing. It's safe to assume that no news is good news though, for the record. :-)

Nic was promoted to specialist a couple of weeks ago. He's very proud of himself and super happy for the pay increase as it just sits earning interest in his bank account waiting on him to come home to it. haha. They did a little ceremony over there where the commanding officer (I think) comes up to each promotee and rips off their PFC tags and replaces it with the new SPC (specialist) tags.

He's well over the hump now. Just 7 months to go now!! He told me in an email that he wanted to make sure I know how much he appreciates all of our boxes and cards we send him. He said it's hard to show via email how much he loves them, but he said it makes his week when he gets them. So keep up the good work people! I'm still updating the movie list with anything anyone emails me to add to the list.

I am also adding to his boxes each month a DVD with pictures and videos of Miles so that Nic won't miss a beat. He can see him growing just like the rest of us. Starting with month 2, the one I just sent out, I added a place at the end of the DVD for video messages from family members. So if you'd like to do one let me know and I can explain to you how to do it with your digital camera OR we can meet someplace and I can video you. I'm happy to do this for you so just let me know. :-)

That's all for now. I promise when I get back to work I'll be better about updating for you. Thanks for reading.

Doing fine...bored.

We talked to Nic last week. He's doing just fine. Thankfully he said he's bored. :-) That's what we like to hear. I know he'd rather be doing something, but we're thrilled to hear he's bored. He is not in Taji at the moment, but he couldn't tell me over the phone where he was. He said not to worry it's no where exciting, but it's not Taji.

That's really it for now. He's bored so not much to tell. Keep the cards and good tidings coming. I really think they keep him in good spirits maybe more than we all realize. So thanks!

Halfway there!!

Well, first sorry for the delay in posting anything. We've had a bit of an interruption in our daily schedule and his name is Miles. :-) I've spoken to Nic once and emailed back and forth. He's doing fine and things are going like they usually do. He hasn't had any special requests for care package contents so I guess we're doing a good job on that front. He was very excited to remind me that he's halfway done with deployment...and I was also VERY excited to be reminded of that!

He said the rumor (so don't hold your breath) is that they'll start breaking down their unit in December for a return home in February or March. We had expected a March return so a February would be delightful! Like I said though, this is the rumor mill...so take it with a grain of salt. Either way we're over the hump and on the downhill slide now.

He did say his group (I suck at knowing if it's his "unit" or "team" or "squad" or whatever else) was hit with an explosive. He said everyone was alright, but one guy got pretty shook up. He wasn't injured seriously, just rattled pretty good. He said it went off right in front of him, but he was fine. (Can we all thank God for that please?!)

Dad said he talked to him and he had just gotten finished with latrine duty. Sounds horrendous right? Well, I'm sure it was, but not as bad for Nic as it could've been. His job his time around was to carry the blue stuff to dump down in the commode part. He was doing just that when he heard yelling outside. He ran out to see what was going on and the hose had come loose and the one of the other guys was covered in latrine contents. Dad said Nic walked over and handed the guy a towel he had on him and said "You can keep that." :-)

All seems to be going okay though. He's very excited to get home for many reasons...but one is laying next to me asleep at the moment. He's a very proud uncle...and we couldn't be more proud of him back. So keep the cards, letters and packages coming...he appreciates them very much and it keeps his morale high when it's hot as hell and just miserable in general.

Spoke to Nic today.

Nic called this morning at 6:30am. He said it was supposed to get up to 111 degrees today over there. He was not looking forward to that at all, but he said it's pretty typical these days...and it's not even August yet!

He also gave me some tips for care packages. I sent him one and he said what was good and what was not so good. He doesn't have easy access to a microwave...so microwavable foods are not ideal. He said no Skittles or M&M's...they come in the MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and they're sick of them. I apparently have also burnt him out on Laffy Taffy...so skip that at least for a few months! :-) He said Fruit by the Foot and snack bags of Cheetos/Doritos are always welcome. Also, sending him new release DVDs aren't always a good idea. They get bootleg copies of them all the time so they've usually seen them before we can get them sent to him. So stick with classics or movies that have been out for a while. Oh, cookies are always welcome...cookies of any kind.

So there ya go...that's all I've got for now.

The latest...

We haven't heard from him since Father's Day, but he seems to be doing fine. Mom said when he called on Father's Day he said he was going to call the Guiness Book of World Records because he was sure it was the hottest day in the history of the world in Taji. :-) He and Armanderez were unloading a truck and he said when they got finished they were dripping with sweat, and not just from their skin, their clothes were completely saturated with sweat and dripping. He said it was nasty.

From what I gather (I haven't heard from him personally for a while.) he is doing fine and they're in Taji doing patrols and manual labor. So at least he's not in Sadr City! We'll keep you updated as we hear more...but keep the cards, letters, packages coming. I don't think we can even understand how much it means to these guys when they get mail. So thanks for taking care of our boy.

Need a pick-me-up!

Nic has called us a few times since Mother's Day. He called Dad yesterday and talked to him for a little bit. Dad couldn't tell if he was tired b/c it was late in Iraq or if he was down so we hoped it was just that he was tired. Well, he called me this morning and he is definitely down. It was only 3pm there and he sounded very down. So if you are thinking about sending him something in the near future now is the time. Anything you can send will be appreciated...even if it's just a card with a nice note would be great. He just needs to be reminded that we all think about him all the time and that we're very proud of him.

If you need his address please email one of us (listed to your right) and we will get you his address ASAP. Remember, if you want to send him a box use the "Flat Rate Box" at the post office. It's $8.95 to mail a box stuffed as full as you can get it regardless of the weight. So that helps on postage. :-) Feel free to email any of us if you have any questions as to what he likes, needs, wants, etc. We're happy to help! Just send him some love however you know how.

Nic called yesterday.

He called to tell Mom and I "Happy Mother's Day!" He sounded tired, but relieved. He said they were done with Sadr City, at least for now, which was probably the best news I heard all day yesterday. He didn't know how long they would have to rest, but he did say they would get at least the rest of the evening off to relax and rest up.

He wanted me to make it clear that the photos that the NY Times photographer took were NOT as peaceful as they appear. He said the one of them taking cover behind the stryker was very scary. The rest of his squad were either crying or out of control with rage...but the three in the picture just let their training kick in and tried to stay calm, cool and collected. He said people were screaming, crying, and things were blowing up all around them. He said it was very much like Saving Private Ryan (which I can't allow myself to watch right now) only it's real and he's in the middle of it.

So there ya go. He just wanted me to make sure you all knew the truth about the pictures. :-) He's truly a hero and he's back in Taji safe and sound right now. So we can rest easy for a little while.

Birthday time of year!

In case you didn't know, Nic's birthday is May 16th. So if you would like to send him a card or something for his birthday you should probably get that out ASAP. Things take about 2 weeks, sometimes less to get there. :-) Just thought you might like to know. I know Aunt Pat's already on top of it without even mentioning to her. hahaha. (Love you, Aunt Pattycakes!)

No word since he called to tell us about the NY Times. He was headed back to Sadr City that day so he'll probably call in another week or so. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for all your love and support.

NY TIMES!!!!

Nic called this morning to let us know that he's famous. :-) (his words) His picture is on the NY Times online. He's been in Sadr City, where all the chaos is. He said he's been shot at pretty much every day and that things are just crazy there. He's heard bullets whiz past his head and ping off things when they ricochet. He said no US soldiers have died in Sadr City, only Iraqi soldiers, which is a relief to me. Below is a link to the slideshow where he shows up on slide #8 and another link to an article. When you get to the article scroll down to the orangey picture and click on it to enlarge it. They've taken cover behind the Stryker while being shot at. So these photos were taken in the thick of it.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/18/world/20080418SADR_8.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/world/middleeast/18sadrcity.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Enjoy!!

We haven't forgotten about you!

We haven't been posting because there has been very little word form Nic. He did make it back. He called us all (me & Brad, Mom & Dad, Zac & Nikki) after breakfast the first morning he got there (2am). He said he had been awake for 3 days due to having a hard time catching a Blackhawk from Baghdad to Taji. He had to stay awake to make sure he heard his name when it was called because when it was he had to run out to get in line to get on the helicopter and he was always the last in line and was told "You'll have to catch the next one!" So finally after 3 days he made it back to Taji. He got some sleep, got up for breakfast and called us to tell us he was going out on a mission and would be gone for a long time.

He logged onto myspace, but none of us heard anything from him and he hasn't logged on since 4/14...so I'm thinking maybe he got online on base in Baghdad or something while they were out on their mission. Zac said that Nic said they were headed to Sadr City for a month. So that's all we know and we'll definitely post when we hear from him. Go ahead and keep sending your goodies. He'll be pleased when he gets back to be reminded how much we love him. He told me the trip back was the worst trip of his life because he knew what he was leaving and knew what he was going back to. So I'm sure he's going to need all the pick-me-ups he can get.

He's leavin' on a jetplane...

don't know when he'll be back again...

He left us this morning at the airport. We all met (Mom, Dad, Zac, Nikki, me, Brad, and Evaline) at the airport to bid him adieu. It was difficult to say the least. Mom cried, I cried and Brad said Nic even got choked up. So it was very rough, but it's what a soldier does. So he's headed to Dallas (hopefully he'll have better luck this time around) and from there onto Germany (I think) and then to Kuwait and then to Baghdad and then to Taji to get back into the mix.

Keep the letters/cards/boxes coming...I'm sure after being home for a while he'll really enjoy some care packages and well wishes. Also, as a side note, he doesn't have time to look at photos on myspace or on here...so if you take GI Nic pics, burn them to DVD and send them to him in a card or package. He can watch those on his XBOX whenever he has time. He said this would be much more convenient. He has 45 minutes online at most and he said he barely has time to reply to people...so keep that in mind. :-)

Thank you so much to those of you who had time and were able to visit him while he was in. It meant the world to him and to us as well. That's all I've got for now.

THE MAN HAS ARRIVED!

Well, he finally, after many calls, flight changes, flights, and hours of waiting and rain drops, is home! We greeted him at the airport, but his flight got in early and he surprised us...so his sign that Mom made for him wasn't as proudly displayed as we would've liked and we didn't have time to get our flags in hand, but by God he's home and we're thrilled to see him! He is happy to be here and we're ready to enjoy the next 18 days! Woohoo!!

After a nasty evening in Dallas...

we heard from Nic this morning. He is scheduled to fly home now on flight 1912 to Louisville and will arrive at 10:45pm. Again, any night owls that would like to greet him at the airport feel free to come and hang out with us. We'll all be there with flags on! :-)

Last night he was well taken care of. The USO (I think) put him up in a hotel and bought him dinner and fed him all day yesterday and will do the same today. So he's doing fine, just ready to get home. He's looking forward to a beer and some good breakfast. Probably not together...

Damn you mother nature!

All flights to Louisville have been cancelled and it appears that all flights to Lexington have also been cancelled. So, although we haven't heard it straight from the horse's mouth, it looks like Nicholas will be spending the night in Dallas with all the severe weather surrounding him and the airport. The good news is, if you want to look on the bright side, his leave gets extended one day because of all this nastiness. So he SHOULD be home sometime tomorrow. We will keep you posted as we learn more.