PP on the Potty

The other day we asked Sophie if she wanted to go "PP on the potty" and she said "Kay". So we set her on her little potty and watched as she strained and grunted a little bit and then there was pee! She's only gone a few times since then, but hopefully she'll get more interested soon. Yay Sophie!

Boot Camp Graduation

4th of July weekend Phil's parents, Sophie and I flew to Lackland Air Force Base (right outside of San Antonio) for Phil's boot camp graduation. It was SOOOOOOO hot. Like 105+. It was really awesome to see what Phil had been up to for the last two months though. We are so happy to have him home. We went to Sea World and into San Antonio but mostly just stayed on base. We were just happy to be with Phil!

Phil's dorm! Nice comfy cot next to 17 others.

After graduation...

At Sea World...

On the Riverwalk in San Antonio...

Phil sitting outside our hotel room cause he wasn't allowed to go in...

Trying to stay cool!

4th of July. In awe of the fireworks...

I want to thank everyone for being so thoughtful and helpful while Phil was gone.

We are so proud of you honey!

Sophie's 1st Sleepover & The National Anthem

Sophie had her 1st sleepover on Thursday with her good friend Lucy. They had fun eating banana bread, playing the piano, sharing toys and watching Curious George. It took a while to get them to sleep, but when they did Amy and I did get some girl time and watched one of our favorite movies.

My friend Natalie and I sang the national anthem at the Boise Burn game (arena football) last night. We had a really good time. It was an awesome game. My dad, TJ, and Becca all came. We were really pleased with our performance and are excited cause they asked us to sing again for one of their playoff games and an Idaho Steelheads game. So...that will be fun. I guess it can be my new hobby! If you want to hear us, there's a video on Facebook.

More Excerpts From Phil's Letters

"Today I woke up at 0200 and went to do kitchen duty. I actually fell asleep standing up. My knees gave out and I fell against the dishwasher and woke up. I couldn't believe it, that tells you how tired I am."

"All the guys that wear glasses have to wear the same, really thick rimmed ones. Our dorm chief was stopped by a TI in the chow hall and he said, "Dorm chief, where'd you get those glasses? You'd look better strapping 2 turds to your head."

"Today we learned how to dress wounds and save lives in combat situations. We practiced on each other and dummies. The dummies were pretty realistic, they had guts hanging out and bones sticking out and big open wounds like they were from gun shots and explosions."

"Today we had a drill where we get in a certain formation and out TIs walk around and inspect us. I did awesome until I had to yawn. I did it with my mouth closed so he thought I sighed. He made me drop and do pushups and said, "Oh poor Mason had a hard day everyone. Oh, its so lame he has to stand here, oh no, poor Mason!"

"When I graduate I'll get 2 ribbons on my dress blues but I'm trying to earn 2 more, honor graduate and advanced weaponry cause I can breakdown my M16 in 30 seconds and we're allowed 2 minutes."

"Today we had to go in the gas chamber. I had to wear a full chemical warfare suit. It was so hot and we had to run, go into the chamber and do jumping jacks, take off our masks and hoods, open our eyes and breathe in the tear gas. We had to give our reporting statement and then walk slowly out. It really burnt my eyes and lungs but I managed better than others."

"Today we walked around looking for IEDs. One went off in front of us on the side of the road. It was a lot of fun."

"One of my favorite places is the toilet. Its so relaxing sometimes I'll just go sit in there even if I don't have to go."

The Traveling Duo

Sophie and I spent the last week and a half traveling around Utah visiting friends and family. I thought this would be a perfect time to do just that and hopefully make time go by faster.

We spent one night with Matt and Faroe in Draper, then drove to Jenn and Parker's in Roosevelt where we stayed 5 days, then to Provo to spend the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Goodsell. On our way home we stopped in Murray to see Beth and Tru and then in SLC to have lunch with Bitty. Sophie had fun with Jenn's twin boys and she LOVES Grandma and Grandpa. She was very entertained by my younger cousins who loved to play with her and was more than excited when I told her we were going to see Tru!

Thanks everyone for welcoming us. We had a great time. I will say it's GOOD to be home though!

My camera died and of course I had forgotten the charger, so we didn't get pictures with everyone, but here are a few...

A Few Excerpts From Phil's Letters

I've been getting a couple letters from Phil in the mail almost everyday! Here are a few interesting excerpts:

"I have been staying under the radar as much as I can. I thought about taking some leadership positions but said no way after I saw the dorm chief and element leaders get in trouble for stuff all the other guys do and they have to do pushups."

"Some of the names our MTI calls us are pretty funny like turds, retards, and clowns."

"I look pretty good in my uniform."

"We have lost 3 members so far, 2 were overweight and the one we met at Gowen Field went home for depression. It was bad, he tried to cut his wrist. One guy is allergic to the wool socks and his ankles swelled up like balloons."

"Today we had a flight drill inspection and we got 10 out of 10. That is the first time a 2nd week flight has gotten a perfect score. My MTI couldn't believe it. It was the first time I have actually seen him happy."

"Our MTI made us take the keys we wear around our necks out from under our shirts and do push ups. Every time we went down they made a ringing sound on the ground. He made us sing Jingle Bells over and over, I couldn't stop laughing."

"So many people keep asking me about my garments, not many people have heard of LDS. They are jealous of my spandex bottoms cause they are sweet."

"Yesterday we were doing drill next to our sister flight and all the sudden the girls started laughing. A pigeon pooped on this girl's head and she started crying."

"You'll think its pretty crazy how we have to make our beds and fold and roll our clothes and line our shoes. I am the best bed maker and shirt roller. Everyone calls me the "bed god" and everyone always asks me to help them."

"Did I tell you I have a M16 machine gun? It's awesome! I'm one of the fastest at taking it apart and reassembling it."

Sophie's First Big Fall

Wednesday morning Sophie had a play date with her friends Aiden, Kyler, and Lucy. She had fun until she fell out of a little wagon onto the cement head first. My poor baby! I felt like such a bad mom. I'm so grateful she seems to be just fine. An ER visit would not have been something I could have handled without Phil. Here's a picture of her big bump and scrape.