Daddy's Change of Command

Wow! How do I start this off? This has been a LONG almost 2 years of long days and late nights for Jack and plenty of FRG business and drama to keep me beyond busy. We were so excited when this day finally came. We'd been counting down for quite some time (Jack probably longer than me). I was beyond ready to have my husband back and Katelyn to have her Daddy back! It also meant that we were that much closer to moving back to the midwest and SOOO much closer to family!!

Our long awaited day finally arrived!! It was a chilly day but to make matters worse - it decided to start raining so we moved the ceremony into the motor pool building. It worked out fine but it was noisy and confined. Oh well - the ceremony still went on and CPT Young assumed responsibility of HHC 2-3 BSTB! That was all that mattered!

Katelyn before the ceremony! Even she is excited!

HHC in formation before the change of command (not the entire 250 man company though)

Change of Command Ceremony
(Jack is on the left and the Battalion Commander is on the right)

The tradition is to give the outgoing wife a bouquet of a dozen red opened roses and the incoming commanders wife a dozen of closed yellow roses.

Jack got Katelyn a rose of her own! After all, it is tough being the Commander's daughter haha

That night as we sat watching tv, Jack and I both looked at each other in disbelief. Did it really happen?!? Was the FRG no longer my responsibility? Was Jack no longer in Command?!! And the answer to all those questions - YES!!! This meant, no more late night phone calls about soldiers getting thrown in jail for any number of reasons and no more emails/calls from spouses regarding their soldier. How freeing this all felt! When Jack brought his cell phone into the bedroom that night, I had to remind him that he could leave it out in the kitchen. No one was going to call and wake us up in the middle of the night!

Jack - you did a great job in command and I was so proud to be your partner in crime throughout those past 2 years. There were some tough times but all in all it turned out well! I know many soldiers felt very lucky to have you as their commander and were sad to see you leave! You left a lasting impact on many young soldiers! I love you !

BN Christmas Party

Our Battalion (2-3 BSTB) had a "Holiday" Party on December 1 at Holbrook Pond Recreation Center on post. It was catered by Shane's Rib Shack - deliciousness! Katelyn had fun running around, playing on the playground and jumping in the bounce house.

She was pretty excited to see Santa for the 2nd time and had been talking about him since I told her that afternoon we were going to see him at the "Party." However, when she actually saw him and realized he didn't look like the Santa she saw in the Mall she was a bit skeptical of him. Reluctantly, she sat on his lap but she was not very talkative. I guess I would be skeptical of a Santa with a Kevlar helmet on too!!

There was a silent auction to raise money for the FRG. The only people that got nominated were the BN Commander and the BN S3. Unfortunately no one knew prior to the party that this was going to be going on so most people didn't have much extra cash on them so the Battalion Commander only brought in $8 and the BN S3 only raised $1! Pretty sad but still funny none the less! Katelyn seemed pretty confused during this whole thing as to what was going on!

I'm not sure that there are many other places that you can have an outdoor Christmas party on December 1, but the weather was perfect!

Battalion Trunk or Treat

Thursday night our Battalion had a Trunk or Treat. Katelyn was very excited to put her costume on and put candy in her pumpkin! She was so excited and couldn't wait for it to get started. Of course, she wanted to eat (or taste) everything in the pumpkin before we got home. She still talks about candy all the time. (She isn't a bit candy fan, but wants to open try stuff. Why can't dinner be the same way?!?!)

Katelyn and Esmee
(Katelyn is a Southern Belle - she wasn't a big fan of the hat and the wind kept blowing it off her head)

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat Daddy!
"Put some candy in MY pumpkin!"

Taste testing!

Holding down the fort!