daddy, my dear daddy

ANDY COMES HOME IN A WEEK!!!!

SADIE IS SO EXCITED. SHE IS GOING TO MAKE HIM TAKE HER TO CHUCKY CHEESE AND WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND. JUST LOOK AT HER HAPPY FACE, SHE CAN BARELY CONTAIN HERSELF!!!

BAM

just like Emeril, Sadie loves to help cook. Her favorite thing to make is scrambled eggs and cookies. Everything tastes better when you cook while wearing a Tiara!!

the Bucket residence

For those of you who don't watch British comedies the title will make no sense. So really my dad and Brianne are probably the only ones who will get it!! This is a picture of the latest flowers Andy has sent me. He knows right when I need them and there they are waiting for me to cheer me up. I love you Andy...thanks for all the cheering up while you have been gone.

again with the cheeks

I love the way Sadie's cheeks go when she smiles. They are so nice and round and chubby. xoxoxoxo

tuckered out

After putting away some laundry I came downstairs and found Sadie like this. It was quite impossible not to kiss those sweet cheeks. And I didn't get swatted away so that was extra nice as well.

10 Miles!?!

Sunday, Oct 5th, 2008 was the official Army 10-Miler Shadow Run here at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Can you imagine, me running 10 miles? Well, I'll have you all know that I did it! I ran with my friend Thomas Good, and we finished the Army 10-Miler in 1 hour 38 minutes. Neither of us have ever run that far in our lives, so it is something we are both writing down in our history books. We have been sort of working up to today by running the perimeter of Bagram Airfield, which is approximately 8.1 miles itself, and that alone was my previous distance record. I don't know what has gotten into me. I have never really liked running, but here I am doing it. I really appreciate my teammates Thomas Good and Brigham Fugal. They have really helped motivate me to get out there and run; they even run with me, most of the time, until we get closer to the end and then they ditch me so they can actually challenge themselves a little. Brigham wasn't able to run the 10-miler with us because he is home with his family on Leave. Lucky!!! Anyway, just wanted to brag a little for myself. Here's some pictures....

Won't you be my neighbor?

Our wonderful neighbors and best friends are moving at the end of this month :( So now comes the time to find new neighbors. Their house is beautiful, all the other neighbors are great, the ward is lots of fun and there are several parks near by. If you know anyone interested in moving to Springville check out spagtimes.blogspot.com and look at the pictures of their house.

Eid al-Fitr

Oct. 1 was the second day of Eid al-Fitr here in Afghanistan. I was invited by several of our interpreters to come to their dinner celebration. It was quite fun. They had a couple of authentic dishes to eat, like rice and lamb shishkabobs, and plenty of Afghan music. It is interesting observing some of the cultural norms of the Afghans. The men dance... a lot! And it is a little too strange, if you know what I mean. The females don't usually dance in a more public setting like we were in. I didn't grab my camera from my Hut until near the end of the party.
Here are some pics with me and a couple of our interpreters. They are great people and I have enjoyed getting to know them. They have been doing an excellent job for us. I am not going to put any names, for security reasons.