Memorial Day Thanks

I received this email from Ryan's Aunt Jane and thought I would share:

Memorial Day, 2009

John, Sue, Ryan, Katherine, Karl, Amanda, Chloe, and Tylor~

I would like to thank each of you for your service and sacrifice to this great nation. Thanks to you and your kind, we are free. I know since Karl has deployed twice that all of you have felt what I felt when John Buckingham went to Viet Nam. We also share the joy and thanks when our young brothers/ sons/ husbands return to us safely. Katherine and Ryan, special thoughts and thanks to you this year. May you have many, many years TOGETHER soon. Sue, thank you for finding and then loving my special brother. Thank you for being the building block that is YOUR Buckingham legacy. As an aunt (and sister and sister-in-law) I am just bursting with pride. I've said this before to John~ I can't even imagine how you contain the pride you must feel. You are a fine, fine family. I love each of you tremendously.

Thank you.
Jane




Thank you, Aunt Jane, for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. I have never been prouder to be a Buckingham. I married into a WONDERFUL, devoted, and selfless family. I am so blessed.

Brock Lawrence is Here

My girlfriend, Crystal, and her husband, John, had their 4th boy on May 16th at 4:31pm! He is a cutie and looks just like their 2nd son, Will. I was able to be her nurse and support system (John does NOT do blood), and it was a very special honor. She did a wonderful job and only had to push twice! I hope that one day I will be so lucky :) Congratulations John and Crystal!!!

Here he is:

All 4 Boys: Brock, Calvin, Henry, and Will

The Glass is Half Full

I officially (as of Saturday) am halfway done with my tour in Korea. I must admit, the time has gone rather quickly, and I expect the second half to do the same. I am sad that my time abroad will come to an end, but I am overjoyed at the thought of living with Ryan again (and being closer to family)! My hope is that we will one day come back to Korea or live in Europe TOGETHER.

Kerri, my sister, will be sad to not get any more confused voice messages from me when I leave Korea. For some reason, the change from Daylight Savings Time made me more confused about the time difference than I anticipated. She told me just this past week that she saved one of my messages to listen to again. I guess I humored her with my time confusion :)

I have 3 things I am looking forward to during my last 6 months in Korea: Crystal (my girlfriend from Hawai'i) will have her baby sometime in late May or early June, Mom is coming for almost 3 weeks in July (and I have vacation days the entire time she is here), and warmer weather!!!

What do you have to look forward to in the next 6 months???

Decisions, Decisions

After much prayer and thought, I have finally come to a decision about my life in the Army. My original plan was to stay in the military until December of this year and cut my ties by Christmas. However, my heart has ruled, and I am heading back to Ryan at the end of September. I miss my husband and puppies too much.

My branch manager (the woman in charge of where I get stationed) has no problem assigning me at Fort Campbell to join Ryan. I will incur a one-year obligation from the day I sign in to Fort Campbell, which will likely be mid-October. When I look at the Army side of things, I will only have 2 additional Physical Training (PT) tests (push-ups, sit-ups, run). When I say it out loud, it doesn't sound that bad. Being apart from family is what I dislike - not the military.

So here's to another year of active duty life as a dual military couple. Please keep us in your prayers!!!