Finally.

Mike is getting prepared to come home. He is in Kuwait and awaiting his flight out of there.

If you want to keep updated on his arrival time you can check this website. He is supposed to be on Chalk 12, which is not yet posted, but will be in a couple of days. The ceremony time can and will change up until 2 hours out--so just because you look once, doesn't mean it will stay the same--but it's still a good guideline. Planes get diverted and delayed all the time.

It will be cutting it close, but i'm hoping for a Father's Day arrival, considering Mike left last year in the early hours of the morning on Father's Day. It would be a fitting day to come home, and a great way to celebrate.

I'm. SO. READY. and. SO. EXCITED!

At Last

We're at home. We're together. It's a good, good day.

Waiting at the gate with my favorite little ones. There he is!
i love this one with HRB looking straight at us!
it's like meeting each other all over again.

my sweet family...kiddos are way more interested in Daddy's uniform

i love him.

Tomorrow we are having an "us" day. Just me, my kids and my husband doing whatever we want to do...no phones, no visits, just us. Can't wait.

LAST LEG

oh yeah! Mike is on his way...in less than 3 hours he'll walk off that plane and i can't wait!

Lay Over

Mike's in Atlanta tonight and leaves first thing in the morning. He should get in to HNL 4pm. We can't wait. This is actually perfect...i was worried that he would come in late tonight and not get to see the babies. Now tomorrow at 4 we will all be there waiting at the gate excited to see him!

Progress

This was Mike last night...although probably safely in a plane. Any time now he should be in Atlanta waiting for his next flight. It's getting close now...maybe we'll even see him before bedtime!

In other news...

Mike should be arriving in Kuwait sometime in the next day or so. From there he'll let me know the rest of the flight schedule to get him to HI. We can't wait!

Iraqi Christmas Continued

I was able to talk to Mike twice today, once right before i went in to get the babies and then again after lunchtime. He is doing well. He had a nice day of no work and was able to spend some time with some friends playing games.

Here are a few more pics from his day.

Merry Christmas from Iraq!

More pics to come, but i thought i would quickly post this one!

Looks like he's having fun!

Mike we love you and miss you and can't wait for you to come home. We are so thankful for all that you do for us and all the sacrifices you make. You are our everything! Merry Christmas!

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.

Thanksgiving Recap

I realized I never put anything up about Thanksgiving-- so i would like to share some pictures.

It was a beautiful day in Hawaii--sunny and warm. Hillary, Carrie and I woke up and watched the Macy's Day Parade while drinking frosted mint Kona Coffee. We were invited to a Thanksgiving lunch with a family from church and then we had all our "single married" military wives over for pizza, tiramisu and games. I know that's not quite the traditional meal, but we had such a wonderful Thanksgiving Day last year with the guys home that none of us felt the need to try and recreate it--not to mention us girls wouldn't have been able to eat all that food anyway.



Mike had a pretty good day too. He and his roomie/friend Jordan had the traditional meal at the DFAC and hung out together all day watching episodes of The Office and just relaxing for a change. The picture below is of Mike with 2 Iraqi food servers. They are supposed to be a pilgrim and an indian...pretty funny i think!

R&R, Veterans Day and a Whole lot more!

So today we celebrate Veterans day, and all of the sacrifices American service members and their families have endured since our country’s inception. I want to take a minute to thank each of our family members and friends who have served so selflessly in the armed for forces for their country. Today the Battalion celebrated the day by having a mass re-enlistment ceremony where 8 Soldiers raised their right hands and took the oath of enlistment one more time. Additionally we had a Soldier receive the Combat Medical Badge for her actions in July when she saved the lives of multiple Soldiers after an IED strike on a vehicle in her convoy. It is times like these that really make me proud to wear the uniform and serve with the men and women of 2nd Stryker Brigade.
A few short days ago I returned back to Iraq from my R & R leave which I spent in Hawaii. I could not have asked for anything more than for the time Jes and I were able to share with one another over those 18 days. Over that time we were able to accomplish many things as Jessi has written about in previous BLOGS, but we were able to have a lot of fun in the process. Between the UH game, our camping adventures at Bellows and taking it easy on the Big Island were able to finally relax, enjoy each others company, and create many memories. Being deployed for 10 months and being away from a since of normalcy has been difficult for me so it was nice to be able to come home to my wife and stay in our home and visit our church family. Those few short days brought a since of peace back to my life and allowed all of the stress I was feeling to escape away leaving me feeling refreshed and ready to finish the remainder of the deployment. The single greatest moment of the entire trip was when I walked up the jet way to be greeted by my beautiful wife. The feeling and emotion can’t be put to words but a single word sums up how I felt…JOY… As I close I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your vigilance in prayer and unwavering support for us as we finish up the hardest 15 months of our lives. Your kind words, consistent prayer and love have been an inspiration to me as I drive on over here.

LAST LEG!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!



After not hearing anything for another 32 hours or so, i just got a call at 0330 HI time to tell me he is boarding a plane in Atlanta to Honolulu! I am now very, very excited and can not sleep.



YAY, MY HUSBAND IS ALMOST HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 HOURS TO GO!

Update

Okay. So finally after 48 hours Mike has called to let me know he is still waiting in a hanger in Kuwait. So far the trip has been a lot of missed planes and bumps for more important people and cargo--apparently a group of guys trying to get home for R&R is at the bottom of the totem pole. Anyway, he is hoping to get out of Kuwait in the next 12 hours or so. From there, he has another stop to make before Atlanta and then finally to HI. Projected time to arrive at the earliest will be Wed. night HI time.

This waiting around stuff is killing me! Prayers for a safe and quick journey are much appreciated!

Hopefully in Kuwait!

okay so i haven't heard anything so i am hoping that is good news because he is so busy catching flights and actually flying he doesn't have time to call.


So..here's my projection of where he's at...and maybe he's even somewhere between Kuwait and Atlanta--that would be even better!

He's Coming Home!!!

R&R is so close now... I can hardly stand it! I just got word Mike should be flying out of his base about 1am EST. He has another stop in country before heading to Kuwait. I will keep you updated! ~YAY~

September Down Range

It has been quite some time now since I have taken the time to post anything tangible here on the BLOG, but I can easily say the past several months have gone by so quickly that I sparingly find time to catch my breath nonetheless write a summation of my experiences. During the past few months I have been traveling extensively to many key areas in which I inspect the sites for ammunition storage and safety violations. During my travels I had the opportunity to visit one of my great friends Jake Sweatland and hit a few balls on his driving range he spent countless tax dollars creating. I found that although I had not swung a club in quite some time, I could still hit worm burners without exerting any effort whatsoever. It hasn’t been often that we have been able to come together all in one place for a picture, but Jordan and I made sure to try and get out there on the same day. Although it was an especially long day on the road, it was well worth the time we were able to spend with our friend.

As I have explained in previous posts I spend a lot of time on the range honing my skills and learning new weapon systems in an effort to relieve the stress the builds up over time. I anticipate my “Therapy” sessions each week as I look forward to spending some much needed time away from the daily grind. Teaming up with some of my friends I have found something that I truly enjoy and appreciate that I can teach these same skills to my Soldiers.

As the time nears for me to come home for some much needed time with Jes and relaxation I can’t help but to get excited with each day that passes by. I am blessed to have such a great support network of family and loved ones who constantly check on my wellbeing and pray for my safety each and every day, but need for everyone to understand that it is the spouse that has the toughest job in the Army. While I am on leave I suspect I will do my fair share of lying on a beach and trying to think about anything but ammunition or Iraq, but I also will make sure to spend time telling my wife thank you for all of the sacrifices she makes on a daily basis. Jes you are the best…I love you!

Happy 4th of July!

First of all, I just want to wish a HAPPY 10 YEARS to the love of my life! What an awesome and beautiful ride, and I wouldn't want to change a thing. Here's some oldies but goodies!

and to everyone else...hope you have had a great 4th of July celebrating with your friends and families. Please remember all that has been sacrificed by others so that we are able to be safe and free--and have fun times like this weekend with the ones we love.

Thank you Mike --our friends, Jake, Jordan, Mark, Adam, Bryan, and all of our military for everything you do for us!

June Down Range

So, these past couple of months has been a very busy part of the deployment for me as we transition into a force that is more focused on training the Iraqi Army. During this time I have had the opportunity to dispose of mountains of ammo that I found to be bad during my inspections. Working with my EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) counterparts we were able to blow most of it up in a single day. This is a real tiring process, but with a lot of helping hands we were able to lay out all of the munitions and do some training for some of the younger Soldiers. The explosion may have been a little larger than what we said it was going to be, so there was some negative feedback once we returned, but I say it was a success since the shockwave actually moved the vehicle I was sitting in.

One of my very good friends Bryan Williams took command of A Company last month which has vastly affected the dynamics of the unit. My Soldiers are re-energized and come to work every day ready or whatever is thrown at them. This new found motivation was needed as moral was starting to go down as the temperatures keep inching their way up.



The school semester is almost over and I have to say my stress level is getting ready to go down once I finish finals week. I have had the opportunity to see just how much I can fit into a day and I have to say this isn’t something I want to do all the time. The Army has decided not to fully fund its educational programs from now on due to the cost of the war on terror so it looks as if I might have to slow down a little bit.


I have been taking financial management classes the past few weeks as I try and make the most of my time here. The classes are based off of a program by Dave Ramsey who a well known financial counselor and syndicated radio host. My roommate Jordan and I go every Monday night in hopes we are able to take away some information that both we and our Soldiers can use.


As you can see I have found many things to fill my time while I am over here. I feel the more that I can cram into a day the quicker it will go by…the quicker these days go by the quicker I can get back home to my wonderful wife as well as all of you…

March Down Range

The month of February has sped by incredibly fast here in Iraq as we get a little more settled in and used to the daily redundancy that a deployment creates. Although I do not care for the “Groundhogs Day Effect” for reasons I am sure you all can understand, looking on the optimistic side of things, I am still luckier than most. Highlights are few and far between to come by out here so I here goes my schedule on any given day. The alarm usually decides it must go off at 0400, only because my roommate Jordan sets it so we can go to the gym. I admit I am a morning person, but getting out of the rack at that time to throw weights around is not what I consider fun. Thank goodness for IPOD’s and Scope! The gyms here are really nice in comparison to what I have had in the past. There are all types of equipment, free weights, and cardio equipment which gives everyone the opportunity to stay in shape during their tour. After a good workout it is time for a shower and little something to eat. We always go to what they call the CSM Cooke DFAC (Dining Facility) which is the closet to our CHU (Containerized Housing Unit). The military makes acronyms for everything….I promise I will devote one whole BLOG to just acronyms very soon. Now getting back to having breakfast there is a multitude of choices to choose from on a daily basis. In fact you might even say that I am getting spoiled when the hardest decision I have to make is between the fresh fruit or fresh omelets but who’s askin! The coffee could be better, but they have to make it such abundance that they just never can get it right unless you creamer it to death. After breakfast it is time for my daily devotional and then off to work. This is a 2 mile walk so I usually make it there after about 25 minutes. My work schedule differs everyday but generally I do not get out of the ammo before 1900, and then it is time for the nightly meeting. I might as well be asleep during this meeting but my 15 second piece is just too mission essential…sarcasm? After I grab a bite to eat, it is time to go back to the gym and call it a night….Usually we have a season of something to watch like 24 or Sopranos, but here lately there just hasn’t been any time.


Our room is far more comfortable that any I have ever had before while being deployed. Usually I have been in a tent, so these trailers are a major upgrade. The heat and AC work great although the real test for that will be later this summer when 125 degrees roll around. I guarantee I won't be leaving any doors or windows open! The CHU’s are well protected by the concrete overhead, and the sandbags around from any rounds that may find themselves in our area. I have been receiving plenty of letters and cards from home and I try and place most of them on my wall. Please keep them coming as they are appreciated.



All of you wishing to email me my email problems and access issues have been resolved, so please email me at any time to michael.burns6@us.army.mil.

Video Teleconference with Mike

Tonight I got to have my first VTC with Mike. Even though we do get to talk, this was the first time I have gotten to see Mike since he left in Nov. The silly girl in me started getting a little nervous and i dealt with those feelings by spending longer than necessary in the bathroom getting ready for the "big event". I just recently got a new dress and decided to wear it, tried to curl my hair a bit (not that the humid weather allowed one curl to stay) and I even lotioned up and put on body spray (like anyone was actually going to smell me--the things we girls do for our loves!). The end result for the bathroom was a bit disastrous and will need to be dealt with tomorrow--but it was all worth it to see my sweet husbands' smiling face.

There is a classroom set up for these meetings and I was in it all by myself --and Mike was on a screen in the front of the room. It was really the first time since he has been gone that it felt like we had any privacy. His normal calls are always in rooms with lots of other people--and for this, it really was just the two of us. The reception was really good and there was hardly any delay. We were supposed to have a full hour, but there was a mix up and we just had 30 minutes. Still, it was so great to see him and very easy to set up. We are going to hopefully try and make this a more regular thing.

I know the pic seems a little crazy, but i just couldn't resist. We even took a little time to make a few videos for family. It's kinda funny to think about taking pictures and videos of a video image of Mike...but if that's the best you got, what do you do?

Anyway, Mike is good and should be sending another blog update in the next few days so check back soon! Holler.