Easter Monday

Caiden came over Monday and spent the night with us. He is such a good baby! Went to bed about 9 and got up briefly at 10:30 for a half hour and then was out for the night. Let him sleep in our bed and for a small guy he sure spreads out and takes up the majority of the bed. I woke up stiff as a board!
Brendan called about noon on Tuesday and we were able to talk quite a bit with only one disconnection. I believe that has to be some sort of record. As soon as Caiden heard Brendan's voice his eyes grew 3 times their size. He definitely knows his Daddy's voice. Had peepaw not been feeding him broth from his bean soup I believe he might have tried to listen to his Dad longer but the only thing Caiden loves more than Daddy is food!!!
Brendan is doing well. The usual frustrations from being around a large group of alpha males. I have to commend him for his restraint. It's not something he used to be good at and something I certainly couldn't do for very long. But he lets it roll off , for the most part. Just keeps himself busy with PT and such so as not to have to listen to all the BS. His infantry buddy is back but they aren't in the same living area. Apparently they do too much of the right thing together whatever the hell that's suppose to mean. I think they just enjoy screwing with the infantry guys who the tank guys think are completely useless and the scum of the Army. But enough about that.
He was out patrolling the village yesterday and was just getting back when he called. The kids in the village love the soldiers but I think it all has to do with what they can get from them. Brendan gave one kid an ink pen because it's all he had on him and as soon as he handed it over a swarm of kids came out of no where trying to get his glasses and everything else they could try to grab. Brendan says he can see why they appreciate such small things as a pen because of the way they live but it's almost better NOT to give them things because it just starts a feeding frenzy. One thing is for sure , one flat rate box full of goodies doesn't last a day over there. He says the people in the village they are at live in mud huts with one room. There is one water source in town that is used for drinking , bathing , cleaning , cooking and for bodily functions. They are working on getting clean water and all the other goodies to the village but it takes time. Brendan said about a year ago a Marine group came through the village and forced everyone in the village out onto the roofs with their hands on their heads and made them get on their knees while they were interrogated and their homes were searched. Because of this the elders in the village are leery of the Army boys there now. Women have asked them not to hurt them or tear up their house. That is not what Brendan's company is doing there. In fact , they have to have a search warrant to enter a home. They are just trying to improve the village as well as collecting information through casual contact with the villagers. Of course there's always the village idiots who will be in the market and make a motion at the soldiers as if to indicate they have a bomb strapped to them or something. We are the good guys and have to use non-lethal force whenever necessary which makes these idiots very lucky men.
As for the medal Brendan was given it's the Army Achievement Medal. It's one of the ways they say "Great job on a job well done". It doesn't give you anything extra in the old paycheck but it's pretty and shiny and looks great on a dress uniform , I suppose. It's good to see that his hard work isn't being taken for granted. He really goes over and above what he has to do , volunteering for crappy jobs all the time. Eventually all that hard work has to pay off.
Email over there will be another month or so to get up and running. I'm sure he'll have an email box full of emails by the time it gets going which I'm sure he'll enjoy immensely. In the meantime he's just having to buy alot of minutes for his phone so he can call Rachel and Caiden at least for a few minutes each night.
Back at the home front , Caiden left here last night about 6:30. He had a pretty good afternoon before that. I took him upstairs to visit with the other 2 grandsons. They all laid on the floor and played with their toys. Caiden and Matty T are almost the same size. Caiden is just beefier and Matty's legs are longer. Tom came up after he got off work and I had him take some pics of the boys on his I-phone. I'll have to get them from him and post the pics on here later on.
Today is tax day and Tea Party Day. File your taxes and get those protest signs drawn up. Hope your neck of the woods is warmer than it is here in Ohio. Can't believe I'll have to have a veggie garden planted in 2 weeks. Mother nature is going to have to get busy warming things up around here real quick!
Rachel is still collecting pictures of yellow ribbons for her project for Brendan so if you can get those to her that would be great. I went to the floral shop and they donated the ribbon as did Rachel. It was a surprising jester and very much appreciated. Thanks to Ethel's flowers in Urbana and Wren's in Bellefontaine.
Also , if you would like Brendan's mailing address give me a shout out and I'll get that to you. Rachel has been pretty good at adding folks to her weekly email update list that includes all that but if you have been missed let me know and I can add your email address to her list.