Cards and Packages to Robert

A lot of people have been asking me about sending Robert Christmas Care Packages or Christmas Cards. I know he will totally love getting anything. Letters from home are completely priceless to our soliders. "Here is a link to care package ideas, most of the items on the list he has mentioned in the past. The fun ideas are all also really good. And itunes gift cards are good too, he can use these to purchase music, games, books on tape and more. If you have any questions just call me :) It would also be a good idea to have it in the mail before the 11th of December to ensure he gets it by Christmas. And as i mentioned even a Christmas card would be such a blessing to him. He loves and misses all his family and friends so much.
If you do send a package be sure to mail it in a APO box from the Post office to get special discounted rates for mailing packages to soliders

https://www.msu.edu/~sst/care.html

Robert Le Bel
ACO 1-186 IN 41/IBCT
Task Force Guardian
Camp Adder
APO AE 09331

New Robert Info

Just wanted to update everyone to Robert’s status, he called this morning and he is settled into his “home” for the next 7 months in Tallil Iraq. He will have email in the next day or so, so if you can send him an encouraging email that would be awesome!

Robert.lebel@us.army.mil

His address is:

LeBel, Robert
ACO 1-186 IN/41 IBCT
Task Force Guardian
Camp Adder
APO AE 09331

For those of you who are local…..I will be sending him packages every month or so, so if you want to include something in my package just let me know I am more than happy to send it for anyone. He sounded great, tired but great. He seems very upbeat and ready to see what the adventure brings.

We back home are doing just great too. We have had our share of challenges (i.e. broken down car, swine flu, etc) but the Lord has blessed us to see the silver lining in all of it. We are looking forward to the exciting events of October. We get to see Joe get home next week. The boys are so excited. Bobby has a taokwondo tournament on Saturday that is he super nervous to compete in and he finishes his testing next Friday for his next belt level. Then he will get to use weapons. And then of course there is Halloween which all the boys can't wait for. Soon we will be carving pumpkins and picking costumes. So Oct. will be over before we know it.

Fantastic End to Summer....

Well that all dreaded end to summer has finally rolled around, especially dreaded for the Le Bel family because it means Dad is going to Iraq. But we have enjoyed our summer to the fullest. We were able to attend our annual family campout! It was great and so much fun. The weather was a bit chilly but we still managed to swim in the river, hike, toast marshmellows, play in the dirt, jumprope, EAT and EAT and EAT, visit two seperate lakes we have never been to, and enjoy the company of our great family.

We also spent many lazy afternoons curled up on the couch (yes all six of us on one couch) watching movies and some of our favorite tv shows together. We remodeled mine and Robert's bedroom and made it a beautiful retreat and restful place for me to spend time while he is away. This was a much needed project, it was a sad pathetic space before. I am sure this will help raise my spirits while Robert is gone. He also managed to finish my "office" space. Which I will brag is also beautiful. The yard is also clean and neat and life seems to be in order for the moment.

Because of the delay in Robert's deployment we were also able to have Cody's baptism. He was so happy that we didn't have to put it off and Daddy was here to baptize him. It was great day and we did it at the Skinner's pool. We had our closest family and friends there. It was such a blessing that we are so thankful for and we are so proud of our Cody.

We also reached anothergoal in our home. All four of our boys are now full time students.....So strange to have Carson start kindergarten this year. Tuesday was his first official day and here at Jewett they do full day kindergarten so he goes the same hours as his brothers. He jumped off the school bus today and looked and me and said, "School is AWESOME!!!" He is too stinking cute for his own good. All four of the boys love their new teachers (so far) and are doing well. It is weird to have a totally empty house all day. I am hoping it will help to keep it cleaner :)

So the next step is saying good bye to Dad on Saturday the 12th. He will head out to Mississippi and then on to Iraq at some undisclosed date. We are hoping that between school, flag football, karate, baseball, and the holidays and family activities thrown in there that the time will fly by. We are proud of him for his service to our country. The boys can't wait to start their activities and I really I can't either. Time will fly by. Please keep Robert and our family in your prayers as we embrace this adventure. I will be posting some more pictures soon, just needed a break from work today so wanted to get this post done. Have a great Fall!!!

Le Bel Update

Well it has been a crazy month for the Le Bel family. Robert graduated Airborne school and has his "wings" now. We are so proud of him. I was able to fly out and watch the graduation ceremony and spend a few days with him before we flew home together. It was amazing. Georgia is beautiful, way too humid, but when you live in a greenhouse everything is GREEN!!!! The buildings are so historical and majestic, and the people are very diverse. It was so much fun. We flew in on Monday the 20th and Tuesday morning we found out that Robert is being deployed to Iraq on August 17th. :( Obviously it isn't what we had planned for, but we had prepared for it. We are trying to enjoy every minute of time we have together.

The first weekend Robert was home we loaded the family up and headed to the coast to camp for a few days. It was so nice to escape and hide from the world after such bad news. We totally enjoyed the time we had over there. It was cool, in the 60's, while back home was over 100...

Robert started work on Monday and is adjusting to the short time he will be there. He will work for about two weeks and then have a few days off before he leaves. We are planning on going to Bend on the 14th for a family reunion campout, however, it may end up not working out. We did just find out that the National Guard may not let him leave the area. Apparently he needs to keep his phone on him and ready to deploy at any minute. So being 3 hours away maynot be an option.

The boys love having their daddy home, and don't stop hugging and wrestling with him. They are taking the deployment incredibly well, but I suspect it will be very hard when he actually leaves again. Carson gets to have his Daddy Day and get his Kindergaten shots next week. Then he gets to pick any activity to do with daddy for the day and then have a nice dinner out. I think it will be the Family Fun Center, but we will see what he chooses. The other boys are so busy enjoying summer. We have swam a lot, watched tons of movies, played lots of games, and now are hunkering down in our air conditioned house till the temps drop below 100.

That pretty much catches you all up to date. I have a lot of pictures to post but just havent taken the time to do it. I will soon, probably after Robert leaves. We are staying positive and enjoying our time with him. The Lord has a plan for us and we are supporting and embracing it.

So now he wants to jump out of airplanes......

Friday Robert graduated from Basic Training!!! He finished the Field Training Excersize last week. They spent 7 days out in the woods being "attacked" by the enemy and fighting to defend their camp. His platoon won 5 of the 8 banners during the week. In fact Robert was saying that his platoon is historically one of the best performing ever. We are so proud of him. He has done amazingly well over there and impressed many people. So much so that they have offered him an Airborne contract. This means that he will be learning to jump out of airplanes. He is so excited to do this. Me not so much, one more thing to worry about. But I have been assured it is perfectly safe. (Yes I realize he is jumping out of an airplane and in no way can that be perfectly safe) This also pushes his welcome home date back to July 12th. I have decided that I am going back there to watch his graduation from Airborne. I booked my flight yesterday and am so excited to be there to support him. Bonus, as long as things go as planned, (weather, training, etc) they will be parachuting into graduation. How cool to see that!!!!! He was very excited to find out I would be there to watch him.
As far as us here at home, we are doing well. Jason is 95% recovered from his surgery (he had his appendix out two and half weeks ago), and loves to show his scar off to everyone that walks by. All the boys have finished the school year and are already driving me crazy with their pent up energy. I am already trying to plan some activities for the next month so we don't all end up in the funny house. Cody's last baseball game is on Saturday, Jason can't play due to his surgery, then we are done with our activites for now. All the boys were very disappointed Daddy isn't coming home this weekend, but they are really excited that he gets to jump out of airplanes. While four more weeks doesn't seem like a big deal, to a 6 yr. old who just had surgery it is too long. Jason is the one kid who CONSTANTLY reminds me how much he misses his daddy. At least fifteen times a day. :( Very sad, but sweet. I will send probably one more update toward the middle of his training to let you know how he likes it. Have a great weekend everyone!

The Craziest Week in the Last Four Months.

So I really haven't been keeping my blog up like I should but once you read this you may understand a little as to why. This last few weeks has been a rollercoaster! We will start with updating on Robert. It has gone back and forth for a few weeks now whether he would enter Airborne training, which would extend his stay until July 12. It is an honor to have it offered to a member of the National Guard, and a once in a lifetime experience. Plus Robert has been dying to jump out of a plane :) . Thankfully the Lord has helped to make this decision for us and Robert will not be going. Things didn't quite work out and there weren't enough open positions. So he will be home in 11 and half days!!!! Yahoo! He has had so many wonderful experiences and I can't begin to tell them all. But to give you a few highlights. He has managed to get his two miles to 13:22, which is a whole two minutes less than before he left. He became GFT (Ground Fighting Tactic) Certified, which was earned by getting beat up by a rather large drill sergeant. Well, not beat up but beat. He held his own and reached whatever the criteria was to qualify. So yay! He has also completed a seven day Field Training Exercise where his platoon is dropped in the middle of no where and they have to go through the experience of being at war. They are attacked, clear buildings and vehicles and protect their camp. On the last day, wearing all gear and carrying all supplies they hike around 20+ miles back to camp. They call it the Honor March. Once there they have a ceremony called Turning Blue ceremony where they are officially soldiers. I can not express to everyone my pride and love for Robert for what he has accomplished, sacrificed, and achieved. He truly amazes me.

Also this week has been CRAZY. My little Jason Wyatt has been a sick boy for quite awhile, probably three weeks or more. So we went BACK to the Dr. on Tuesday and to shorten the story a little by 10 pm he was being rushed into emergency surgery to have his appendix removed. This was probably the scariest thing I have ever had to deal with. I am sure it is probably a pretty common surgery, but in the moment on my own it was terrifying. He pulled through like a trooper and was released the next day from the hospital. He has been home recovering since. He is doing really well and we are hoping he will be back to school in time for Kindergarten Graduation. I have to thank Debbie for dropping everything to come and stay with the other boys, and all the friends who have stepped up and helped out. Oh then on Thursday morning I got notified by the school that Cody was in the office and had ran into a wall (funny story), and broke his tooth. Well upon inspection, he shattered his front adult tooth :(. So we got to spend three hours at the dentist office on another emergency visit getting it filed and reconstructed. Again, he was also a trooper and really didn't even cry other than from a little embarrassment because he ran into a wall. Apparently he was racing a fourth grader and trying to look cool and "lost control and slammed into the wall". I know it sounds like Nascar, but no, this would be elementary recess. So needless to say I am contemplating having the entire family committed to a padded room for the next eleven days. Here are some pictures of Jason in the hospital. We had to capture the moment for Daddy when he gets home. Next post should be about Robert's Homecoming.

Ok, so no pictures, it won't let me post them. I will try again later. Have a great week all.

Finally I am getting around to this

Sorry the updates are few and far between, being a single mom is a lot of hard work! Especially during baseball season :) But I have had a lot of great letters from Robert and wanted to update anyone who cares! He is really starting to have some fun now. They have made it through the training and conditioning (i am sure it never really ends) and have started some of the application of the skills they have attained. As far as I can tell it just seems like a bunch of war games. Scenarios are set up and the soldiers have to accomplish their missions. This is the part that Robert has been looking forward to. He is one of four squad leaders in his platoon and is embracing this responsibility. They had shooting range qualification last week and Robert reached marksman. It isn't the best he says, but he is happy to just qualify and go to the next phase. We have passed the halfway mark until he comes home, so the end is in sight. We miss him like crazy and can't wait to get him back. He did get to call home for Easter and what a joy to hear his voice. He sounded fantastic! He said they have had two tornado warnings since he has been there and once touched down close enough to knock out power and slow down their training for a few days. He also said they have some of the most amazing lightening storms he has ever seen. He is loving the weather thus far. He only has about 4 weeks of actual training left. Then a week long Field training excersize and then a week or so to clean up, turn in equipment and get ready to graduate. I really have to admit time is starting to fly by. I still have some projects I want to get done before he gets back. His favorite day of the week is still Sunday when he gets a little down time to relax. He says to tell everyone who has written how much he appreciates the letters. They are what keeps him going. Even when he has to do pushups because there is no green dot (I too seem to keep forgetting this little detail.) He said as of this point he hasn't gained or lost any weight. Just maintaining. But he said he is hungry ALL THE TIME! They never seem to have enough to eat, or enough time to eat it in. He is definitely home sick and misses home and us :) a whole lot more than he ever expected to. All in all things are looking up for him it seems and he is ready to move forward and finish this little adventure.

We have been really busy with Taekwondo, baseball, yard work, school, scouts and all the other things we have going on. Life never slows down and it helps us to mark of the days. Jason will be turning 6 next week!!!! He is very excited about that, and Carson has Kindergarten Round up in May, he is beyond excited about that!!! Bobby has his first National Tournament for Taekwondo on May 8th, and he and I are going on a little road trip together while the boys stay with Grandma and Grandpa. Both Bobby and I are excited for it, we have never been able to do something like this together. I will keep you all posted on how he does.