Burns Family Thanksgiving--Deployment Style

Hello. Mike Here.

So I am sure there are many of you out there asking "What does Mike do on Holidays over there in Iraq/Afghanistan"?

Well let me tell ya.

You can usually start off your day with an organized run...This year was the "Turkey Day Trot", a 5k around the FOB (Forward Operating Base) ...if you know me, I don't like the cold (which it is right now) therefore I save these runs for the 3 other seasons where morning temps hit 60 or above. So instead of running...you guessed it, I went to work? Who knew there could be so many problems on a holiday? Why cant these guys just take a nap on holidays celebrated by Americans? Heck, it's a holiday where you eat a lot of food and take a nap ...it's a double win!

One of my great friends and fellow Warrants, Ruby Freeman, runs the Dining Facility and coordinated to have our entire section sit together for lunch. So at 11 o'clock everyone from the Support Operations (SPO) Cell came together to share the Thanksgiving meal. In addition to the folks from SPO, my friend Jason who works on a different FOB was able to fly in and enjoy the meal as well. The contract staff did a great job this year with the food and decorations. From the moment I walked into the door my senses were overcome by sights and smells of what was to come. While I am away from my family and home, it is still nice to have such a great group of folks to call friends. After the meal, the rest of my day was filled with a movie and lots of relaxation as I took the time to think about what I was truly thankful for this year.

Me Me and JasonSPO Thanksgivingthe decorations

A Message from Mike

and on the home front....

Jessi Here.

Our Thanksgiving this year was nice and low key. We ate dinner at our friend Jenny's house. Jenny is actually Jason's (who Mike had Thanksgiving with) wife. They have a son, Caedmon who is 17 months. Two other couples came and we all brought a few dishes. So...no major cooking or clean-up was in order this year. We did make a HUGE pot of mashed potatoes, corn pudding, Caramel Heavenlies (cookies) and some wassail.

The babies didn't really take much of a nap but were very good all day long. They were however quite tired when we got home and they went straight to bed. Mike called and we talked for a little while and that was the end of the day. It was a quiet, peaceful, beautiful day and as I am ever year, I am so thankful to have good friends to share the holiday with even though we are away from family.

I actually did a terrible job of taking pictures and do not have any to share of our Thanksgiving meal or friends. Still, here are a few from the day.