Well, we are on a serious countdown here at the Disney house! I can barely contain my excitement. It's a good thing I have to stay focused with all the necessary tasks associated with the wedding and our trip to San Diego, or else I'd be bouncing off the walls all day long! :-)

We have Livi's birthday tomorrow (my baby is 2?!?! Weird!). This week will whiz by because we have something going on every single night! Next week is a short work week because we leave Thursday at noon to go to Illinois for the wedding. Very exciting! Then, my goodness, it's just one week and we are flying out!! I'm just reeling from it all. So much to look forward to - all jam-packed into three weeks!!

I had the most fun putting together a package of 82 power bars for Adam's platoon today!! I have been wanting to do this since he left and am so excited to finally get the chance to do something tangible for him, finally. 82- no more, no less. :-) What fun. I put some pictures and also a little letter from Bryna in there. I hope the DIs are kind.

Love to all and thanks for checking in. I have no idea who looks at this site (other than my staple close friends and family) but it truly means the world to me that you are vested enough in us to be checking in.

Much love,

Gena

10.22.06

Gena-

Hi! It's been a while since I have been able to write. It is Sunday now, and I stil have crazy amouts of stuff to do. I got three letters from you two days ago, hopefully I will have time to read them today. All is well with you, I hope. I miss all of you more than ever. We just got done with field week. It was very hard. I am getting killed outside or on the quarterdeck 4-6 times a day for other poeple's mitakes. We have 4 or 5 recruits who still fail to follow simple instructions. So last week we were in the field all week, Monday -Friday. We at MRE's all week, and sometimes didn't get to eat them. We slept under the stars, froze our butts off with the cold oceanside morning breeze, and watched the sun set on the ocean a couple of nights. There are coyotes, and scorpions out here too. And rattlesnakes, but is i coolling down enough for them to not be out.

Thank you so much for the letters. Keep them coming. They always put a smile on my face and give me hope that this will one day end. Bryna and Livia I love you and miss you!!!

Adam

PS Send 82 power bar-like bars from Sams Club. We can eat those if we have enough for everyone.

This is a pretty big week for Adam. The Crucible is the culmination of his field training, which is a rigorous 54-hour practical field test - including sleep deprivation, food deprevation, and a total of 45 miles of marching, team problem solving. You name it. The stuff that makes Marines Marines. The end of the Crucible (recovery day is Friday with movement back to MCRD on Saturday) will mark the end of phase 2. The next phase (called the transistion phase) is where they go through the transition of recruit to Marine.

Please be praying for Adam this week. He will definitely need our support in the form of prayer - they say that this is when a lot of injury can occur, so we all want him to have that extra protection to keep his training moving along and have him home on time! :-)

I am so incredibly proud of my husband. He simply amazes me. There are no words.

About a month or so ago when I was ordering plane tickets - the end seemed so intangible and impossible. I can't believe that the day is quickly approaching! Only 28 left, today!

Much love, and thanks for checking in.
Gena

New letter!!! 10/17/06

Gena,
So much is going on and I don't have any time to write. Know that I am thinking of all of you every day and praying for you too. Your letters lift me up out of this place for a little bit and it is as if we are stiting down talking. I am glad that you and the girls are in a "normal" schedule now. I love the pictures you sent, and Bryna's school picture is unbelievable!!! She looks sooo grown up!! It was hard to see how much I've missed in such a short amount of time.

We went on our 5-mile hike yesterday with our 50 lb. packs. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't terribly hard either. I was at the front with our guide-on hiking with the Senior Drill Instructor, Series Commander, and Company Commander. Kinda cool. So yes, I am still guide. It sucks because recruits mess up every day, so now the squad leaders and myself get IT'd in the dirt almost every morning for their mistakes. We started firing our M16A2 service rifles last week, and this week all we do is go to the firing range at 0430 or 0500 and fire our rifles until 1700 or 1800. They will be some long days. Then we have qualification day on Friday.

Sounds like that documentary is pretty on. Yeah, "Ears" "Open, Sir!" "Eyes!" "Click, Sir!" ALL DAY LONG!! They do yell a lot. Being a guide, this recruit gets to see some of the more human sides of the drill instructors. Not a lot though. One of our DIs, DI Staff Seargent Brooks told me I was his best recruit. And then asked me, "You want some cake with your chow today, boy?" I said, "Yes sir." We are not allowed to get dessert with our chow. Almost all of the other platoons are.

One of the other DIs from another platoon came into our squad bay while we were cleaning rifles, made me go with him to his squad bay. He told me that I am changing platoons! He stood me in front of his platoon and told me I was now their guide. The platoon had to respond, "Aye, Aye, Guide!" as I ran around yelling at them to clean their rifles faster. Ha! It was fun. Anyway, I really have tons of things that I want to tell you. I wish I could call you. Your letters are beyond encouraging, and everyone else's too. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write to me and pray for me. I love you All!!

Bryna, I love you and I am very proud of you!! Livi, I love you little girl! Gena, You are always with me in in my heart and thoughts. I love you.


Adam.

If you have a minute or two, please pray for Adam today. This is the day on his training matrix that indicates he'll be going through the gas chamber training. Read about it here.

Feel like I'm walking on air - got a letter from the most amazing man alive - that guy who I'll love until the day I die.
---------------------------------
Gena,
It is 12:51am. I have to get up to write you because this recurit is too busy usually to write anything during the day.

I am sorry that I am getting blurry. I know that it has been a while since we have seen eachother. I have bad days sometimes, like the other day. I think it was Monday, where I had to tell myslef that I was going to be here forever, that this was my new life. It was too painful to think of all the time that had to pass before I saw you again. I keep that picture of you and the girls in my right breast pocket and look at it whenever I can. You and the girls give me constant motovation to give my 110% in this place so I can make it out.

On Sunday, I feel the same way as you, closer connected to you through worship. I raise my hands and feel for a moment as if we are together in the Lincoln Community Center. As I worship, I can hardly, and 9 out of 10 times cannot- hold back the tears. Sundays are my favorite and least favorite days on depot, because I feel so close to you, but then so dissapointed when at the end of the day we are hundreds of miles apart.

Keep your head up. Don't let me get too blurry in your minds eye either. Well I am going to tell you what is going on a little in training, and then I will hit the rack because I have fire watch every night now, at least for a while - because I am the new guide! I am an the one in charge of the squad leaders and responsible for the entire platoon's actions. That is very scary. Pray for strength, because with this platoon, I am going to be getting IT'ed a lot. I have not been IT'ed once yet up to this point. So now I carry the guide-on (flag on a stick) in front of the platoon. I also have to sleep in a single rack (everyone else has a double), in the middle of the squad bay. Easy acess for the Drill Instructors. :-)

If I am able to keep Guide, and that is a big if, (we have had three other guides before me), and I graduate as guide, I will get dress blues for free and have a shot at company honorman and Lance Corporal. We'll see. I still just take every day from chow to chow.

We have been doing tons of stuff so I will just tell you about the stuff that I do well at. Haha :-) We did pugil sticks 1&2 and have pugil sticks 3 tomorrow. In one and 2, I am still undefeated. One was some one on one combat in a big circle, kinda fun. In 2, it's 2 on 1 and you are on a bridge. I was never beat as the one on 2 or as part of the 2 on 1. That was fun!! Tomorrow is the thunder dome. It is like a collusieum of sorts. Two hallways run into a room. We run through the hallways, and meet in the room to fight. Should prove to be fun.

We also did the tall and short confidence course. The short one has the obstacle that is thr one Full Metal Jacket called the "tough One" The one that Private Pyle keeps jumping on and slipping off of. Well it isn't that hard after all. And then the tall ones can be unnervering. There were a couple of recruits who froze at the top. There is a big ladder-like thing to crawl over and some other tall ones. They were fun. And then we did the "slide for life" It is a platform that is 40-50 feet in the air, with a cable running from it to the ground. You get on top of the cable, head first on your chest and pull yourself halfway down. Then, when told, you flip over underneath the cable and keep going. Then, when told, you drop your feet, switch grip, pull your feet up and keep going. Under the cable is a pool with nasty water. If a recruit falls in the pool, he has to take the "walk of shame" all the way back to the squad bay on his own. Everyone else on depot who sees you, knows that you are on your "walk of shame". They point it out how ever they can. Well, I went on it 2 times and stayed dry. Recruits wear boots, pants, and sweatshirts too, so they are very wet. We had about 12 fall from our platoon.

We are getting ready to go up North to Camp Pendleton on Saturday. That should be interesting. We have been promised, by all our DI's, a very difficult time. Lots of prayer please. We had to go to medical yesterday and get four more shots for up north. You just roll up your seelve and step through a door-like assembly line and you just get stuck with needles. It is not very pleasant. Someone always passes out or bleeds a lot.

We are memorizing tons of info and trying to reatin tons of procecures for on the firing range. Well, I would love to sit down, grab some coffee and talk more ,but I have to go get some sleep. I love you all.

Hi Bryna!!! Hi Livia!!!

xxoooo I love you!! xxoooo

I love you Babe!

Talk to you soon.

Adam.