Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Happy Holidays! Normally, I don't really care for that saying, I would much prefer to just say "Merry Christmas," but since there are TWO holidays being celebrated in this one post, I guess it's actually appropriate, right? Anyway...

Hunter and I had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with my dad's side of the family. We had dinner here at my parent's house and then opened gifts and stuff like that. We are celebrating with my mom's family on Jan 3 so that will be very fun as well, I'm sure!

Christmas morning Hunter was quite excited and ate as many chocolate things as he could find. There were plenty in all of the stockings and I eventually had to hide them from he before he got sick. He is quite the choco-holic, I have NO IDEA where he got that from :)

I actually haven't given Hunter his two bigger presents from Ben and I yet, but that is somewhat intentional. He has been quite happy with all the wonderful toys and stuff that he already got so I figured I could wait just a bit until he needed something new to occupy him, which I'm sure I will need soon with Clara's wedding just around the corner! Either way, he had a great time opening gifts and he did pretty well with all the excitement.

Hopefully everyone else had a good holiday. Ben sent me an amazing painting that was done by a local artist in Kabul who is only 15! It's absolutely beautiful and I'm very anxious to get it framed so I can hang it up. He spoils me even when he's not home :)

I can't believe that it is going to be 2009 in just a couple hours...time sure flies and I'm so excited about that! In just a few months Hunter and I will be heading back to Ft. Campbell and in no time at all Ben will be back home with us, HOORAY!!! :) Just about four and a half months, not that I am counting or anything.

Well, I guess that's about all for now. Just wanted to get back on here and wish everyone a blessed new year.

Love, em

Confusion

It seems like I have been getting a lot of questions lately about where we all are, what we are doing right now, where we are going next, etc., so I thought I would try to explain it all on here and clear up any confusion. Hopefully this will make sense to all of you, and if it doesn't, well, just blame it on the Army!
As of right now, Ben is in Afghanistan and I am in IL with my family. Prior to Ben's deployment we were living in Clarksville, TN and Ben was working at Fort Campbell, KY. Ben left in March of 2008 and it is a 15 month deployment which means that he should be home in June of 2009. Hunter and I will probably head back to Fort Campbell sometime in March of 2009, but that also depends on when Fort Campbell Family Housing lets me know that they have a home available for us, so that is up in the air. The plan is for Hunter and I to be back in TN and settled before Ben gets home. We have never lived on base before so this should be quite an adventure! The bad part is that we are only given a two bedroom house and we were quite spoiled before with having our own home with three bedrooms, so it will take a little adjusting to try to figure out where to put all of us along with all of Ben's piles of Army gear. So, I will apologize in advance to anyone who may be brave enough to attempt visiting us during the craziness of moving :)
After Ben arrives back at Campbell he will have 10 days or so of in-processing to do, which is standard after a deployment. He has to report to a class at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri on July 12 so he will also have to clear Fort Campbell which takes about 10 days as well. Because of this we probably won't have much time between the time he arrives at Campbell and the time we are moving to Leonard Wood. Of course, this will all depend on exactly when he arrives back from Afghanistan, but that is up to the Army and they don't like to give us very much information. It's definitely teaching me patience :)
Anyway, after we leave Fort Campbell we will move to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Ben's Captain Career Course which should take about 5 months. While we are there we will be living on base again so I have no idea what the housing will be like. We heard a rumor that they have newer housing for Captains so I am really hoping that is true because most Army housing can be pretty yucky. Anyway, I believe that the class ends on December 10, but I'm not totally sure on that date. Sometime during that class (probably close to the end) we will find out where we will be stationed next. There are a lot of factors that will play into that decision and some of it will depend on what jobs are available, what the deployment schedule is, where the Army wants Ben to be... you get the picture! We are hoping and praying that Fort Carson, Colorado might be our home, but that is just wishful thinking right now. The hard part will be that we will be moving over Christmas, but I guess that's just how things go sometimes.
So...that is our life for 2009. We will keep you updated as we figure things out but for now that is the best I can do! We will be moving around a lot in the next year so try to bear with us as we make all of the necessary changes and adjustments. Thanks for your patience with us!
-em :)

Our little model!

Hello there friends! It has been a little while and I am so sorry for that, but I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have had a lot going on in our lives, some happy and some sad, but I'm always happy to see the arrival of a new month and hopefully good things on the horizon!

So, in case you were wondering about the adorable pictures, Hunter was a part of a fashion show a little while back and these are some shots from the runway. For those of you who may not know, my mom owns a bridal shop here and so from time to time there are bridal expos and fashion shows. I (luckily!) am too short to model for her, but since Hunter owns a tuxedo (actually, he owns more than one, but that's just because he is soooooooooo handsome!) my mom thought Hunter may enjoy being in the show. I had my doubts, but figured that it couldn't hurt to at least just let him wear his tux and watch. Well, the show started and to my surprise Hunter was just climbing right up on the runway and ready to go. I actually had to fight him and bribe him with wedding cake (from another vendor, it was delicious!) to keep him OFF the runway. Ha! He is quite the little ham. There was a photographer at the end of the runway that snapped these pictures of him and I thought I would share them with you guys. There are some other pictures floating around somewhere so if they are good I will post them when I get them as well.

On a completely different note, my family lost a dear friend this week to her battle with cancer and it would be wonderful if you could keep her husband and daughters in your thoughts and prayers. It was a rough wake and funeral and something I hope to never have to be a part of again.

Well, December promises to be yet another busy month, but that is great because time is just flying by! We are on the downhill slope of this whole deployment thing and I am so grateful for that. Only 6 months or so left to go and I'm so anxious to be done and be together as a family again. I know that Hunter is anxious as well. Anyway, as Hunter would say "Ba-bye!"

Love, em

Big boy!

Hunter had his 15 month check up yesterday and the conclusion is that he is a BIG BOY! I guess I already knew that, but it was confirmed. He is 31.5 inches tall and 31 pounds!!! Sheesh, no wonder I'm exhausted at the end of the day. Actually, I was anxious to get to the doctor because Hunter has been having a problem sleeping and at least now I think I have an answer to why. For a few nights in a row Hunter had been waking up just screaming and crying and it seemed like the more I tried to console him, the worse it got. He was up for hours at a time just crying and kicking and I felt so helpless because nothing I did seemed to make it better. After talking to the doctor about it, he told me that Hunter is probably having night terrors, which are apparently quite common in toddlers his age. The strange part about night terrors is that although his eyes are open, he's actually sleeping so you are not supposed to pick him up or try to console him because he doesn't even know anything is going on, so I was making everything worse without knowing it. Luckily we have had two nights now without any problems so we are praying that it's all over now. I guess we will see.
On a much happier note, Hunter is very excited about having a new cousin (his first cousin, actually!) named Connor Ryan. We can't wait to go and see him in person, but he sure is adorable in pictures. Anyway, thanks for reading about my crazy life, I will try to get some more cute pictures up here whenever I get more downloaded. It's been wild around here with wedding showers for my sister and all kinds of stuff going on. It has also been fun though too, and the wedding planning is coming along nicely. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!
Love, em

Back in Afghanistan

I am back safely here in Afghanistan. The trip back was long, but uneventful. I was stuck in Atlanta for a good part of a day, but at least I didn't have to stay overnight. From there I flew to Kuwait had a layover in Ireland for about two hours before we headed out for Kuwait. In Kuwait it was kinda chilly and rainy. The desert is miserable in the winter time, all that blowing sand turns into a slimy muck when it rains. I got stuck there for two days which I suppose isn't bad, but I was glad to get out of there. From there we flew straight to Bagram on another uneventful flight. I got lucky and only spent a couple of hours in Bagram before I got down here to Kabul this morning. I didn't want to come back, but at least the trip is over. Traveling with the Army is never fun. I had two Masters classes start on Monday and they both look like they will be fun, but very challenging, which will be good. So long as I can stay busy time flies by. Now that my R&R leave is over I'm counting the days until I can be home again. Right now I'm just trying to get caught back up and figure out what to do for my new classes. It will keep me really busy. I will try to keep this updated better this half but we will see. It was great to see everyone while I was home and congrats to Jonathan and Julie on their wedding.
Ben

How cute is he???

So, I couldn't resist posting some pictures of Hunter in his monkey costume. He wore it to the zoo on the 30th and of course on Halloween again. He had a great time at the zoo and also visiting with some family while trick or treating. He ate a bit too much candy at my Uncle Mike's house and had a bit of a meltdown while we were visiting with G.G. (that's what Hunter calls his Great Grandma Plut), but overall it was a great time and he sure looked cute. Hope you enjoy!
-em

Has it really been that long?

Hunter and Daddy

Wearing Daddy's hat

The guys at the aquarium

Wow... I just realized that it has been a REALLY long time since I last posted on the blog here. I suppose that's not a bad thing, we have just been busy! Let's see...
Ben arrived back in IL on the evening of October 13 and Hunter and I picked him up from O'Hare airport. It was crazy at the airport and I thought we would never find each other, but it worked out and it was soooooooo amazing to finally see him again! Hunter was a bit shy at first but after a few days he was playing with his daddy like they had never been apart.
On the morning of the 16th we headed to Clarksville, TN as a stopping point on our way to Jonathan and Julie's wedding in Atlanta. It was a long trip, but it was enjoyable to be together as a family after so long. We had a great time visiting with the family in Atlanta and Hunter performed his duty as ring bearer quite well. I did have to help him and I hate to admit it, but he carried a tractor down as well, BUT he made it down the aisle and that is all that matters! :)
After a couple days in Atlanta we headed to Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC and spent the night there. It was beautiful and we really enjoyed it. We could have done a lot more there, but we were anxious to get to the amazing cabin we rented in Pigeon Forge, TN. We spent a week in the mountains of TN at an amazing cabin and just relaxed and enjoyed life! We visited an incredible aquarium, went on a monster truck ride, walked around the town of Gatlinburg, spent a day at Bass Pro and just had lots of fun!
After that we came back to IL since Ben had to fly back out of here and spent the last couple days here. We took Hunter to Brookfield Zoo and went trick or treating (well, just to a couple houses of friends and family.) Hunter was very happy to have his Daddy home even if it was just for a while. Ben headed back yesterday morning nice and early and he's in Kuwait right now waiting for a flight back to Afghanistan.
Now it will be back to things as usual for all of us. Ben starts his next couple classes for his Masters on Monday, hopefully he will be back in time to get his homework done this first week! He will have a lot to do for a couple of weeks as he gets back into a routine so I'm sure he won't have much time to post or email, but I will do my best to keep everyone updated on what he is doing. I suppose that is enough for now, I will try to get some adorable pictures posted soon.
Love, em

Getting Close

Well, it's just about a month now until Ben gets home and we can't wait! Hunter and I have been keeping busy and passing the time, but we are starting to get really excited about visiting with Ben for a while. Today we started getting his clothes out to make sure that they were not all gross from being in the attic, and miracle of miracles... they actually smell good! Yay for not having to wash tons of clothes! Thank goodness we have lots of stuff going on to help pass the time and keep us busy or we might go crazy waiting another month.
I'm going to try to post a few new adorable pictures of Hunter. He is getting sooooooooooo big, it's incredible! He's really trying to talk, but not a lot of real words yet. He is definately an outdoorsman like his Daddy. He just can't get enough of being outside. I don't think I posted it before but at his 12 month checkup he was 27.5 lbs and 31.25 inches tall. He's quite a big guy! I'm so happy that he's doing really well walking now, he's really almost starting to run. I definately get a workout with him all day long. Speaking of working out... tomorrow after Hunter has tumblebees at the park district we are going to sign up for a gym membership there so that Hunter can get used to being with other kids in the daycare there for a while. He isn't very good if he is away from me, so we need to work on that. I figure it will be good for both of us!

I guess there isn't much else exciting to share with you, at least not for now. I did add a slideshow of Hunter's first birthday party, there are some really cute pictures of him eating his cake and I think that if you click on the show you can view them a little bigger and at your own pace. Oh, and if you think of it be praying for a dear family friend named Shirley. She is in her 80's and has a lot of things going wrong right now and has been hospitalized for a week or so. She has been like a grandmother to our family and we just hate to see her ill. Thanks so much.

Hope everyone is well and I can't wait to see the Feicht family soon!

Love, Em and Hunter

Greetings from Afghanistan...

Things here are very busy, but that is ok. It is making time go by very quickly. Work has been really busy lately and my two Masters classes are keeping me very busy. I have had an exciting couple of days though. Last night LTC (Ret.) James Megellas was here and told us some war stories and handed out free signed copies of his book “All the Way to Berlin”. He has the distinction of being the 82nd Airborne’s most decorated WWII officer. From what I am told the book is very well written and a great account of the 82nd and their exploits during WWII. The other big piece of news is I have been emailing back and forth with Shah Muhammad Rais better known as the bookseller of Kabul. He has written a book that rebuts some of the liberal propaganda published in the book “The Bookseller of Kabul”. This morning it was delivered to me and Rais signed that book as well. It is only published here in Kabul and I haven’t seen it offered anywhere online. It is very short, but it is very interesting. It was delivered by Rais’s cousin Mustafa. The pictures are of me standing with him.
That is my exciting news for today. I guess I am taking too many classes because I’m having fun collecting signed books. Hope all is well at home. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Take care and God bless.
Ben

A little late...

sleeping at the zoo

eating birthday cake... kinda

Well, Hunter's first birthday has come and gone! I'm a little late with this post, but I suppose it's better late than never, right? Hunter had a wonderful birthday and he is enjoying all of his new toys and clothes. Alright, maybe not the clothes as much, but he is definatley enjoying the toys! On the Saturday before his birthday we had a party and Hunter enjoyed his favorite dinner of pizza, although he fell asleep in his high chair while eating. The poor little guy was apparently quite worn out! He was quickly revived when he started opening presents though, and he did a great job of that! The first couple presents were great and he did a great job of tearing the paper off all by himself. After that he opened a ride on Lightning McQueen (from the movie Cars) and he was done opening gifts. He was way to busy playing with his amazing car to worry about anything else. Must be great to be a kid, huh?
I am going to try to post some pictures of his cake eating, hopefully they will work. He had a great time smashing his birthday cake. He didn't actually eat very much of it, but it sure got everywhere!
On Monday (the 18th) my mom and I took Hunter to the zoo for his real birthday. We had a great time and it was a perfect day for the zoo. Hunter wasn't so sure about all of the animals, but he got a kick out of the bears and the elephants. He also loved the petting zoo because there were goats to pet and brush. That was pretty cool to him! I personally thought it was a bit smelly, but it sure made him happy. He must have had a great time because he fell sound asleep in his stroller until we got some ice cream and then headed home. What a great first birthday! Thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts and cards, we really appreciate you remembering his birthday.
Hunter and I also started a mommy and me class at the park district called tumble bees. It's basically a class that allows the kids to play on different equipment and mats in the gym, it's a lot of fun and Hunter just loves it. We are taking it with a new friend and so that makes it even better for both of us. We have been keeping really busy and trying hard to pass the time. So far, so good!
Ben should be home in mid-October and we are very excited about that! Everything is set for going to a wedding in Atlanta and then vacationing as a family for a while afterward. We are looking forward to just spending time together for a while.
I think that is all of our news for now. Hope that all is well with our few faithful readers!
Love, em and HJ

First Haircut

So, today our little Hunter got his very first haircut! We went to this amazing place called Kid Snips where he got to sit in a little car, watch a movie of his choice and get his hair cut all at the same time! He even got a toy and a balloon, and a certificate (which is sooooooooooo adorable!) He did cry, but it could have been a lot worse. And his new hair cut looks adorable! I just realized as I went to upload pictures that I didn't get any good shots of his new cut, so I will have to do that soon. It must look alright because tonight we were at Kohl's and a lady who must have been at least 75 said that he was "quite a little dude." What a compliment!

We are busy getting ready for his birthday party, I can't believe that he will be turing one in just over a week! Where has the time gone? We ordered a cake today and now all we have to do is order the pizza. My mom and I are planning to take him to the zoo on his real birthday, so he has lots of exciting stuff coming up. He is just getting so big and soooooooooo smart!

Well, I should be getting to some other stuff, but I wanted to post about his first haircutting adventure! Hope that everyone is well...

Love,

Em and HJ

Walking, walking!!!

...and he's off! Our little Hunter J is walking all over the place. It's amazing to see! He had been taking a few steps here and there, but on Saturday we were at my grandma's house (Hunter's great-grandma, his Gigi) and he just discovered that he could walk quite a bit. It was so fun to see him toddling around and giggling like crazy. He's just getting so big so quickly!
He was also asked to be a ring bearer in his Uncle Jonathan's wedding, so he's very excited about that. We will have to perfect this walking stuff in time for the wedding in October, especially since his Daddy will be there and we have to show off for daddy. Only two and a half months until Ben is home to visit and we can't wait! We have a great time planned, starting with going to his brother's wedding (yay for Julie joining the Feicht family!), then on to Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina, and finally to Gatlinburg where we have a FABULOUS cabin for a week. We are sooooooooooo excited to be able to spend time as a family and just be normal for a while! After Gatlinburg we will head back to Chicago because Ben has to fly out of here, but it should only be for a couple of days. We are leaving that part of his trip open for right now, just in case we think of something fun to do.
Anyway, it's getting late and I should be sleeping but I just wanted to share the great news that Hunter is walking!!! Yay!
Love, em

Grad School Here I come

Hey everyone. I know it's been a long time and I haven't posted anything exciting. Work here is really boring actually. It keeps me busy, but it just involves researching different questions (you'd be amazed what some people will ask) and trying to keep people working together. Let me tell you, some people are really stubborn and very hard to work with. Other than that nothing exciting here. Emily just posted my big news. Yes, I am going to try to start grad school over here. The Army pays for most of it and I get a Masters in homeland security. I am very excited about the possibility of teaching at West Point though. If I get selected (I've been told only about 18 CPTs a year get selected) then the Army will pay me to go to grad school full time for two years and get a Masters in military history. After that we would move to West Point to teach. I don't like West Point cadets (cadidiots), or the communist NY gun laws, but it is a great opportunity to get some great schooling and teaching experience - while at the same time not having to deploy every other year.

The nly other exciting piece of news I have is that I have switched rooms yet again. Hopefully this is the last time. The pictures in this post are of my new pimp pad. The roommate I just moved away from snored so loud that one night some folks thought we were being attacked! Okay, not really, but he was the loudest snoring guy I've ever heard. The walls of our connex room literally shook from his snoring. The new room is great though and I'm rooming with Scott, the guy I also work all day with. One of the good things is I won't have to get a new roomie every couple of months (yes, some branches of the military send their people for 4-6 months...air farce) while the Army sends me for 15. But, at least for now things are looking up as far as housing.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I am doing fine over here. I miss everyone and I can't believe HJ is already taking steps, but time is flying and pretty soon I will be back home.

Ben

His First Step!

Hi all!

Well...I just wanted to share some exciting news. Hunter took his first step! He hasn't been able to get more than one step at a time yet, but he is sure working hard on it. He uses his little walker thing to get all over the house so I'm sure it will be no time at all before he starts cruising around on his own. Of course, he took a step toward me because I had one of my Grandma's homemade peanut butter oatmeal bars and he wanted that...but hey! It was a step!

The other good news today is that Donna, my mom's friend who is battling cancer, found out that her tumor is actually shrinking so the chemo is working this time. Yay for that! She is fighting hard so it's very encouraging to everyone to finally get some good news.

Ben is doing well, he has started his master's degree online at American Military University (AMU). He is studying homeland security in hopes of maybe getting a second master's later in History and a job teaching at West Point. We are really hoping for that but it would be a few years down the road (after this deployment, career course in Missouri and a company command somewhere...) But, we are hoping and praying that it will work out because that would be an amazing opportunity for Ben.

Well...that is all the news from IL. Hunter and I have been passing the time although I have no idea what it is that we do all day! Thanks for sharing all of our exciting news with us.

Love, Em and Hunter J

Happy Father's Day!

Well, I had written some of this post quite a while ago, and wouldn't you know, I forgot to actually post it! So... Happy belated Father's Day to all you dads out there! You have such an important job, and an exciting one. Since Hunter can't spend the day with his Daddy, we spent it with mine. We went to the horse races in Arlington Heights where there was a petting zoo, pony rides, tractors... and of course, HORSES! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Hunter and I are going to be travelling next week to visit his Grandparents in Ohio and we are looking forward to seeing all his Uncles and Aunts; it will be a full house and I'm sure that Hunter will love the chaos! He is getting closer and closer to walking, which I am so excited about, but dreading at the same time. I just can't believe how big he is getting. Since our last blog he has gotten three more teeth (for a total of 8) and is getting better and better at getting himself around the house. He uses his little bike to help him walk around and he's getting very good at it. Naturally, he takes quite a few tumbles, but I suppose that is just part of this learning process. I put a couple pictures up, the blue truck is a Toyota!!! Can you believe it? I just couldn't resist getting it for him. Now he has a truck just like Daddy's! Well... maybe like what his Daddy wishes his truck looked like.

Well, hope that everyone had a great Father's Day and a good July 4 coming up as well!

-Em and Hunter

Hi There!

Well... at last we are done with the house! Everything went well as far as I was told, and we closed on the house on May 23. It's a relief to have that finished, although I do miss knowing that we have a place of our own. Oh well, such is life!

Things are busy here as usual. Hunter is always on the go, and usually tumbling all around. He has discovered that he can climb the stairs and open cabinets. He even stood up by himself last night and a couple times today. Not for long, of course, but it's a start! He had his 9 month check up on May 21 and he was 24 lbs, 11 oz! What a monster! He is 28.5 inches tall. I can't believe how quick he is growing up.
We are starting to get excited about Ben being home in October, though it still sounds like a long time from now. Time has been passing quickly though, I can't believe that it is already the end of May.
I guess that is all that I have to report for now. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are so thankful for all of your support!

-Em and Hunter

Updates...

Afghan National Police truck
Me, dressed all silly
Me, dressed sorta silly
the entrance to Chicken Street - rather disappointing!

Hey ya'll! I know it's been a long time since I posted, but things are really pretty boring over here. I just attend meetings and pass along information. I have had the opportunity to take a few more pictures, but it's nothing exciting. I will try to upload them after I write this blog. Who knows, maybe it will even work for me this time.
Like I said before, things here are really busy. I've been working with all kinds of folks trying to figure out how to best teach the local people how to run a government without all the bad guys. We are really working on trying to teach the police how to be police. For so long this country has been without a real police force that even simple things are sometimes very difficult. For example, the literacy rate is well below 50%. It is very hard to teach someone how to be a cop and write a report if he can't read.
We have also been working within our unit trying to figure out our "mid tour" leave. Down where I'm at we are so small that we can only have one person gone at a time; and we have to work all of that around critical mission issues and personal schedules. It has been crazy and I wasn't really sure when to come home. I have two weddings and a new nephew/niece being born, along with all of the holidays I'll be missing. I was so torn I just kinda let the Army decide. It worked out that with everything going on that it looks 99% sure that I will be home the last half of October. I say 99% because it is the Army and they have a bad habit of making things difficult and inconvenient for individuals. So Jonathan, it looks like I'll make it to that wedding. Andrew, when that little girl......or maybe it'll be a boy (just not as good looking as Hunter, of course) arrives give her a hug and I wish I could be there. Clara and Chad, I'm sorry things didn't work out. I wish I could be there with you, but I just want to wish you two the best of luck. I know you will be happy.
Well, I suppose this is getting long enough for now. I will try to post a few pictures and hopefully my "amish" internet will work tonight.
-Ben

Hello Again!

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been a while, I guess I just have lost track of time. Things have been going well for Hunter and I. He has lots of new teeth coming in (two on top and one or two on the bottom) so we had a few grumpy days there, but we are over that now (thank goodness!) He is also crawling ALL over the place and pulling himself up on anything and everything. We have had a few bumps and scrapes and I know that there are lots more coming. I can't believe that Hunter is 9 months old today! He sure is growing up quickly.
Let's see... my sister had surgery on her ankle about a week ago, so Hunter and I have been helping to keep her company and I have been working at the shop for her while she is on crutches. That is helping pass the time, but I'm sure that she would say otherwise. It's been nice to get out of the house and work at the bridal shop for a while. Hunter has had a couple babysitters and so far things have gone great. Hopefully we can keep that up.
Can you believe that it's been two months since Ben has left? Time has been passing pretty quick, but I hate to think that we still have 13 months to go before he is back home for good. Oh well, that's Army life! I have been sending lots of pictures so that he can see our little Hunter as he grows.
We are all set to close on our house on May 26 and the buyers have already moved in. They are temporarily occupying the house before the closing, which actually works out perfect for everyone. They pay us a little bit in rent which helps with the mortgage, and they have a place to stay and don't have to move multiple times. Hopefully everything will go smoothly with the closing. So far everything has gone great. All of our inspections went well and everything should be ready to go. I have already signed and had all of the papers notarized, so now we are just waiting for the actual closing. I will be very relieved to have that done!
Well, Hunter is getting restless so I should finish this post. Hope everyone is doing great, we love to hear from all of you!
Love, Em and Hunter

Trips around Kabul

Burqua
Market
Gas Station

Hey Ya'll, sorry it's been so long since I posted a new blog. Things here are either really boring or I'm really busy. Over the last week I've been out and about in Kabul. I forgot my camera on a couple of the trips, but I do have a few photos to post. One of the highlights was going to the US Embassy. It was really nice inside with a manicured lawn and all the accomidations of home. Funny how they don't do that kind of stuff for regular Soldiers... Anyway, we tried to take some pictures in there but the guards got all upset so we backed down and walked out. We had guns and they didn't have any visible, but you know how Marines are, they get all upset when someone is tougher and more HOOAH then they are. I did sneak a picture as we were driving out but the window on the truck was really dusty and it caught a bad glare from the sun.
I also got a few pictures of the apartment complex mentioned in "Bookseller of Kabul." They are still pretty ghetto and from what I understand they still don't have running water. But for this country they are not bad accomodations. I also have pictures of some ladies wearing burqas now as well. It is funny how some still choose (or are helped to choose by their husband) to wear the awful looking things. I really dont' know how they can breathe in them during the summer time. It's bad enough here with all the stuff we wear, but that covers their whole body. I keep trying to remember to take some pics of me while I'm out, but I keep forgetting.
Well I shouldn't let this entry get too long. I will post again when I have more stuff to show. Thank you all for your prayers and support.
-Ben

Going Well...

Hello again!

Just thought I would let you all know how things are going. Hunter is crawling and pulling himself up and basically getting into everything. We have been hurrying around trying to get stuff out of his way. He is loving the good weather (although it has been cold the last few days) and we have been playing outside as much as we can!

Things are going well with the house. We had the home inspection done and there was just two electrical things that needed to be taken care of and actually the electrician is there right now so hopefully that will be done at the end of today. The appraiser was there yesterday and we will have that info by the end of next week. Also, the termite inspector was there and we have a clean record in that regard as well. Along with the electrican, the HVAC inspection was happening today and so we are well on our way to being done with all the little things we needed to to before the closing. Then it will just be a matter of waiting until the 26th to close.

Ben is doing well, still busy as always! He is in touch as much as possible. We still haven't been able to get the webcams working well, I think that is mostly due to his internet connection. But at least he can see Hunter and I on our webcam here. No exciting news to report on him either, he is just keeping busy and hoping that time continues to pass quickly.

Hope that all of you are well. We miss everyone that isn't here in IL! Love, Em and Hunter J

Good News!

Well, thank you to all of you who have been busy praying for us, we have some good news! We accepted an offer on our house yesterday!!! We are very excited about it, and although it is a little lower than we might have been hoping, we are content with it and thrilled to be nearing the end of the process. I believe that the closing date that we have set right now is May 26, so just about a month from now. The buyers are having the home inspection done tomorrow and I'm sure that they are anxious to get into the home, just as we are anxious to be done selling. Now we just need some prayers that everything will go as planned and we can close without any problems.
In other news, Hunter is cutting one or two more teeth on the bottom. I still haven't captured a good picture of his teeth, I will keep working on it. Hunter and I have been very busy going for walks and playing at the neighborhood park. He absolutely loves playing on the swings and watching any other kids that might be around. The weather has been beautiful the past few days, so that has been great. We are trying to keep ourselves busy to make the time go by faster. 38 days down! We are getting there.
Well, I just wanted to share our good news with everyone. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers. Talk with you soon! - Em and Hunter

new pictures of HJ

Hi again to everyone! Thanks for all the great feedback about the blog, we are really enjoying sharing it with all of you. Ben has been able to keep in touch very well, we talk on the phone quite often and email daily. It's been such a blessing for him to have internet available in his room this time around. We are able to keep up with each other, family and of course, Hunter J! Today marks one month since Ben left. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but it also feels like it's been forever since he has been gone. Hunter and I definately miss him a lot!

Hunter is getting bigger by the day and eating like a monster. Just this morning he had an entire bowl of oatmeal along with his bottle, and then he helped me eat a pear. I can't keep up with him. He's moving around so well now and he has almost mastered crawling. Everytime he hears music he wiggles and dances around, it's so sweet. I can't believe that he will be 8 months old this week! He misses his Daddy of course, but he is getting lots of attention from everyone around here. We went to a bridal expo this past Sunday for my mom's shop and Hunter wore his tuxedo, he definately stole the show. He even got to be a part of the fashion show. We are so lucky to have such a sweet little boy.

Well, I hope that you enjoy the new pictures. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers! Only 14 months to go... love, em and hunter

Pictures from Afghanistan

My Office. The guy in the back is Scott.
The fence and road just outside my office.

An ANP checkpoint on the road between Kabul and Bagram.

Hey ya'll I don't really have any new exciting news but I do have some pictures finally of the area. Right now I don't have any of the city of Kabul but the next time I'm out I will try to remember to take a few. So far I have seen chicken street, the Russian apartments from "Bookseller of Kabul", as well as the obligatory Ministry of Interior and Defense Compounds. I will try to work on getting pics of some of those places as soon as I can. - Ben

Eating is fun!

Hi everyone! Well...we have teeth! Hunter got his two bottom teeth in a few days ago, but I haven't been able to get any good pictures of them yet, so I guess I will just have to keep trying. In the meantime I thought I would post these pictures of him enjoying his new favorite snack, rice rusks. I have no idea exactly what they are, but he just loves them! As you can see in the pictures, he even holds them himself. It's so funny to see him chomping away. He is getting really ready to crawl, he even makes it a few steps (well, if that's what you call it when it's crawling) and then he falls. But he's making progress! Other than that, not too much exciting going on here. We are waiting for some good weather so we can start getting outside more, but we are adjusting pretty well to life in IL. We also had news yesterday that there is a couple who may be putting an offer in on our house today so we are praying that will work out for everyone. Well, Hunter is getting restless so I should sign off, but thanks to everyone for all the calls and emails. We really appreciate your thoughts and prayers!

Love, Em and Hunter J

Hey Ya'll

Hey Ya'll just checking back in from good ol' Kabul. All the books describe this place as metropolitan in a third world sense but it's still very rustic. You can still see donkey carts right in the city itself and the farther out you get from downtown the less likely it is for buildings to have electricity and running water. The people in the city are a strange eclectic mix as well. Shoulder to shoulder you can see a traditionally dressed Afghan man; and a very European dressed Afghan. It's the same way for the women some dress in a very European style, some wear a little scarf over their head, and some are still wearing burqas. The society here in general is just very adamant against change. They are very used to being occupied by foreign armys that they can't beat militarily so they just patiently resist any change. Some of the young people are more open but for the most part the society is still trying to maintain it's roots in the 6th Century.

For me things are to bad. I do get a chance to get out from time to time. I don't interact with the Afghans as much as some people but I do get a chance at some of the meeting I attend to talk to some of the Afghan leadership. It is amazing how so many of the people on our staff don't go out and try to understand the Afghan point of view and try to ensure that we mentor them and teach them so eventually we don't have to come here any more. A lot of the staff guys read about the Afghan culture and history before we came over here but it seems like as soon as we got over here they threw all that out the window and now they want to win "the war" in a week. Maybe it is competition because we are taking over from the 82nd or maybe it is just that so many of them haven't deployed before. Either way it is frustrating how many people don't see the big picture.

Overall though things aren't to bad. I'm living pretty comfortably and once we get folks to calm down the job won't be too bad....I think. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Still teething...

Hunter is still working on getting his bottom two teeth in. As you can see in the picture, we found that apples are a great thing for him to chew on! He rejected all the teething rings and everything else that we tried. But hey, this is healthy and easy too! There isn't too much else to report. Just trying to keep the fussiness down and still get stuff done. Hunter is apparently growing like crazy because the pajamas I bought him last week are almost too small already! I guess we need to go pajama shopping again. Anyway, we miss all of our Clarksville friends and our family that isn't here in IL. Hope that everyone is doing great and we really appreciate hearing from all of you! Talk to you soon! - Em and Hunter J

Checking in from Astan

Hey ya'll. I just got a new room with internet and I thought I would post a quick update. I am now at my final location in Afghanistan. I'm trying to get settled into this new room and at the same time learn my new job. Basically I attend meetings at various places and ask a lot of questions and then pass the info I learn up to my bosses. really I'm just a glorified research assistant to them. The only good part is it is relatively nice where I'm at compared to some of the other places I've been in this country. The other good part is I'm away from the flag pole. Which basically means I don't have to listen to these guys here if I don't want to. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. -Ben

Hunter's cute hair!

Well, I suppose that it's time the Feicht Family enters the world of blogging. So much has been going on in the past couple of weeks and this is a great way to keep up with everyone! First, thank you for all of your prayers, we definately appreciate them! It's been a crazy time, but we are all getting settled into our new homes. Ben made it safely and is working on getting integrated into his new job. He doesn't have internet in his room, but he will try to keep in touch as best as he can. Hunter and I are safe in IL at my parents house, we are so grateful for the help that we have had in moving and getting settled in. Hunter is definately missing his Daddy, but he is adjusting as well as we can hope for! He finally seems to be getting some teeth, so he has been a bit fussy the past few days. Other than that, we are just waiting for our house to sell and praying that it will be as quick as possible. We did have an offer this week, but they didn't accept our counter offer. Hopefully next time! Anyway, I'm off to bed before Hunter wakes up again. Hopefully we can keep up this blog! -Em