Kelsey's First High School Swim Meet

Kelsey swam in her first official high school swim meet this weekend and did very well. The meet was held in Southlake and there is a "chicken" tradition at this swim meet every year that Kelsey was very excited about. For every first finisher of every individual race or heat, the swimmer earns a plastic chicken.
Kelsey swam 2 individual events along with a couple of relays and earned her first chicken while swimming the 100 free. She took over 4 seconds off her best time finishing with a 102.03. She was in lane 7 and kept the lead the entire race. She placed 13th overall in that event.
100 Free- 1st lap

2nd lap

3rd lap

Final lap- Go Kelsey!!!!

She also swam the 100 back for the first time in her swimming career and finished 3rd in her heat and 14th overall with a time of 107.94. She was disappointed that she didn't earn another chicken but was very pleased with her time. Kelsey is in Lane 7 and is in the lead at the end of the first lap.

It's a close race with just one lap to go.

Kelsey finished strong! Way to go!!!

Neat, Tidy and Clean?

I've been waiting for an invitation from Caleb to come see his apartment and I decided that I didn't want to wait any longer so I called and told him that I cleared off a bookshelf he wanted and made way too much chicken salad for Richard and Kelsey. I asked him if we could bring those items over and he said sure! I finally got my invitation!

I couldn't believe how neat, tidy and clean his apartment was and he told me that his roommate was a "neat freak". Well, my kids have told me that I am a "neat freak" so I looked at him and asked why he couldn't keep his room clean when he lived at home. Before he had a chance to respond, Kelsey said, "Because your his mom!" He quickly agreed for lack of anything better to say.
While he lived at home, he was happy to live in a state of disarray as is my daughter. They definitely did not inherit the "neat freak" gene from me!!!!

The State Swim Meet

The Gcast below tells about our trip to the State Swim Meet in San Antonio this past weekend. I wasn't happy with the quality of the sound in Vocaroo but I liked how quick and easy it was to create and post a podcast. Both the Gcast and the Vocaroo file tell the same story so please listen to the Gcast instead. Enjoy!


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User Error

When my daughter got home from camp, I told her that her camera was not working correctly and that her camera didn't save any of the "moving out" pictures that I took last Wednesday. She quickly pointed out that I didn't know how to use her camera and after she looked at the photos I took, she was quick to comment on my lack of photography skills. I need to take some lessons from Shelley!! I was able to find one picture that wasn't too bad.

Gone

Although Caleb was away for over 8 months when he went to boot camp/AIT training, it was sad to see my baby walk out of the house with all of his stuff last night. As he and his friends took the last load out to the entourage of cars/trucks, I asked them all to get together so I could take a picture. Their response was, "You are such a mom!"

As I went to upload a picture, I realized that Kelsey's camera did not store the images.....bummer! I thought her camera was acting a bit funny last night but it appeared to be saving each picture I took. Oh well.

Moving Out

Well, tomorrow is the day that Caleb moves into an apartment with a friend. While I am glad that he wants to be independent and on his own, I will miss him. I am sure that we will be able to entice him over for dinner at least once a week and we may, in fact, actually have more face time with him because right now we pretty much see him coming and going. If he comes for dinner, we'll actually get to have a conversation that consists of more than "Hey" and "Later".

Richard Teaches Kelsey to Water Ski!!

This past week, we attended a family reunion in Mountain Home, AR. We spent the week at Mockingbird Bay Resort which is situated right on the lake. Kelsey tried to water ski last year but was not able to get up and stay up. This year, however, was a different story. Her daddy got in the water with her and she was skiing after just a few attempts. He is a great teacher!!!!

Check out the video below. It is only 2 minutes long.

Proud Owner

Caleb has been the proud owner of a 2004 Ford Escape for 9 days and so far so good!

Watch out Frisco!!!

Caleb Hunt just got his driver's license! After 3 years, he finally decided it was time for him to get one! He has relied on his friends to cart him around because he didn't want to spend his money on insurance and gas.

I was worried that he would get deployed right after he graduated boot camp/AIT training but I think he may be safer in Afghanistan than on the roads in Frisco! Pray for his safety.....and those driving on the roads with him!!

Vacation Countdown!!

Richard, Kelsey and I are leaving for Arkansas after Kelsey swims at her swim meet this Saturday. We meet each year in Mountain Home, AR with my mom's side of the family. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone but I am especially excited for them to view the hour long video I created of the reunion last year!
Caleb is going to stay home and continue his search for both a car and a job. He plans on signing a lease with a friend in the middle of July so he really doesn't have time to take a vacation. Although we are sad that he is not going with us, our two dogs will be quite happy about not being boarded.

Caleb's Graduation

I finally took the time to edit the footage Richard took of Caleb's graduation from AIT training. It is about 7 minutes long. Enjoy!

Distinguished Soldier

Caleb graduated his MOS training on Friday, May 15 at the top of his class. He was introduced as the distinguished soldier from his company and was chosen to read "The Conscience of the Aviation Mechanic". I am going to post that along with some other parts of the graduation ceremony but I'm having trouble editing the footage on Richard's PC. The video plays beautifully on the camera but when I import it into Pinnacle, the video/audio skip and jump.

We are very proud of Caleb and are glad that he is home!!!

Need a Favor

Caleb turns 19 on Sunday, May 3rd. It would be great if lots of you could call Caleb today and wish him a "Happy Birthday!" If he doesn't answer his phone, leave him a birthday message in his voicemail. Even if you don't know Caleb, it would be great if you could call him and just wish him a happy birthday.

He is homesick and ready for graduation so hearing lots of birthday well wishes would brighten his day!!!!!

He does graduate on May 15th so he will be returning home soon. Richard is going to Virginia for his graduation ceremony and Kelsey and I are going to stay home. I told Richard to videotape the trip so hopefully I'll have some footage to post on my blog.

Don't forget to give Caleb a call. His cell phone number is 214.686.7610.

Thanks!

iPhone Stolen

Caleb called last night to say that his iPhone was stolen. He thought that his locker was secure when he left to take a shower but someone was able to get inside. I just don't understand how people can take things that don't belong to them. You would think that the men who choose to serve our country would have a bit more honesty and integrity than the average person. I am so very disappointed but am grateful Caleb is healthy and safe and out of harms way for now.

Homesick

Richard, Kelsey and I went to Robert and Mary's house for dinner last Sunday. While there, Caleb called! He told his Granna that he was homesick and couldn't wait to come to her house for a good dinner. He gets to go off post on most weekends and eats out whenever he can. He's getting a bit tired of army food. I don't think he will ever eat rice again!
He has spent some of his money on toys to keep him occupied. Among his new toys are a DVD player, over 20 movies and a PSP with a few games. He is enjoying the freedom that he has during the weekends. AIT training is definitely better than boot camp!
He was supposed to get his pass taken away this past weekend because the sergeant said that he didn't shave. Caleb said that he did in fact shave but fortunately the sergeant forgot by the time the weekend came so Caleb went to an all night gaming place and played video games with some of the other guys. He had so much fun Friday night, that he pulled another all-nighter on Saturday.
He told us that his troop in Ft. Worth was deployed in February and since he doesn't graduate until May, he thinks he will miss this deployment. I sure hope he is right!!

Finally!

Caleb finally called Sunday night and it was sure good to hear from him. He said that his graduation day is May 15th and that his troop in Fort Worth is going to be deployed in March. Since his troop is deploying before he graduates, he said that he very well may miss this deployment and that would be a good thing. Caleb doesn't know where his troop is being deployed but it is probably going to be Afghanistan.

He said that he is battling bronchitis right now and sounded very congested. He actually went to sick call and got medicine but he doesn't think it is helping. He and I both think along the same lines when it comes to doctors and medicine! He said that the temperature varies a lot more from day to day in Virginia than it does here in Texas and he feels like his allergies are a lot worse because of it.

He finished his classwork last week and will start working on the Blackhawks this week. He is excited about this part of the training because it is much more hands-on. Caleb gets bored easily with classroom work.

We spent a little time talking to Caleb about getting his taxes done. It's hard to believe he is old enough and makes enough to file. Currently, all of his mail gets sent to us so I gathered everything and am mailing it to him tomorrow. Hopefully he'll get it all worked out. He doesn't have access to a computer to do his taxes online so I am not sure how he is going to get it all done but it will be a good lesson for him to figure it all out.

As of last week, Caleb is part of his company's football team so his PT is all about playing football. He is disappointed that it is flag football though. He said that he is one of the only ones that can catch a football so he feels like he will probably be a wide receiver. They will play games against the other companies on base.

He is bummed out that the church is several miles away from his barracks. Arranging timely transportation there and back has been quite frustrating for Caleb so he hasn't been able to attend services. I am not sure how hard he has tried, however. Persistence is not one of Caleb's strong suits.

Our conversation ended when Caleb was called to formation. Please continue to pray for Caleb's safety and well-being.

Got Classed!

was assigned to a class this week and he will graduate on May 12th. He will spend the next 5 weeks in the classroom and then the rest of the training will be hands-on. His classs starts at 9am and ends at 5pm everyday but I think that he still does PT in the mornings.
His sergeant told him that the Frisco recruiters should have pushed harder for an E3 ranking when Caleb signed up since he has alomost 30 college hours so his sergeant told him to get his college transcript to him so he could try and get Caleb a promotion. Caleb was excited about that.

Waiting Game Continues

Caleb did not get classed today so the waiting game continues. I am sure he would appreciate phone calls, emails, text messages and a letter or two. It will not only encourage him to hear from you but it will help pass the time. He is very bored.

Thanks!
Kim

Not Classed Yet

We talked to Caleb this week and he was not put into a class on Tuesday. He said there are still people that arrived before he did that are waiting to be classed. He also mentioned that if either females or people that have previous military background come to Fort Eustis, they get classed before those that are waiting.
If he gets classed tomorrow, then he will graduate on May 5th, two days after his 19th birthday! Now that would be a great birthday present. If he doesn't get put into a class, his graduation day will be pushed back another week.

Please pray that he gets classed tomorrow! He is bored silly!!! They do PT every morning and then they do some detail work but most of the time he just sits around.

Caleb's New Address

We've received a few text messages from Caleb as well as a letter from his commanding officer which included Caleb's contact information. Caleb said that we could send him candy and gum but not anything else. HIs new address is:

Private Caleb C. Hunt
C Company, 1222d Aviation Regiment
1003 Pearl Place
Fort Eustis, VA 23604

His email address is texanpureblood@yahoo.com and his phone number is 214.686.7610

He is allowed to keep his cell phone in his locker and can use it when he is not on duty so feel free to call, text, or email him. I am sure he would love to hear from you!

You can also visit http://www.usaals.army.mil/ and click on the 1-222d link in the top right hand corner to learn more about what Caleb is doing at Fort Eustis,

As of today, Caleb has not been "classed" but he is hoping this will be done tomorrow. Evidently, they only create classes on Tuesdays so Caleb hasn't started his training on Blackhawk helicopters yet. His day has been filled with PT, duty and detail. He sounded a bit bored when we spoke with him on the phone last Sunday. He is ready to start learning something new.

Once he has been assigned to a class, he will find out when he graduates. It should be either the end of April or beginning of May.

Caleb sent me this picture from his iPhone and titled his message: "Where I Live".

Going Back 1st Class

We dropped Caleb off at the airport about 5:30 A.M. and he was wearing his army uniform. It was impossible for me to say good-bye without tears flowing. About an hour after we dropped him off, he texted us to let us know that his ticket was upgraded to first class at no cost. He was excited about that but he said he slept the entire flight. Wearing a uniform does have its advantages.
His flight out of Dallas left late, however, so he missed his connecting flight from Charlotte to NewPort News, VA. He was put on the standby list for the 2:30 flight and fortunately he was able to get on that flight. He arrived in Virginia around 4:00 and said that he didn't have to check-in at the base until tomorrow morning so he is staying the night at Motel 6 with some other privates which is a good thing because it will give him time to get a much needed haircut before his superiors see him tomorrow.

We had a great time visiting with Caleb over the Christmas holiday and we were amazed how fast he fell into his old schedule. Almost every night he went out with his friends and then slept in the next day. I did convince him to go jogging with me one day but that is the only day he exercised. He may be hurting a little bit this next week as he gets re-adjusted to his army schedule.

I'll post his new address as soon as he sends it to me. Please continue to pray for him while he is away.

Thanks!