Home Away From Home

Meet Piggy. I guess you could say Piggy is our family mascot. She has traveled with Dallas for several years now. She has been to many countries and on countless trips. This time she is keeping Dallas company while in Kuwait and Iraq.
Dallas and Piggy on the flight over.


They all traveled to Kuwait on a big military cargo plane. All of their supplies and gear were secured in the plane with them. The plane is basically a hollow shell and the guys and girls could walk around as much as they wanted but it was cold. They all brought their sleeping bags and ipods to help them make the 24 hour trip. I find it very interesting that they are all wearing their leg holsters in these photos. Do you really need your weapon strapped to your body when you are in the air for 20+ hours? Then again I guess they did not really want to misplace them before they even made it to their destination.

Then it was down to business.

These are the Pods (their rooms). Dallas’ Pod is on the bottom, second from the right. For the first two weeks they were all living in tents while their Pods were being prepared. And now for a look at the luxurious accommodations from the inside:

How lovely! The Pods are only about 7 feet wide. Piggy is hanging out on the television.

I see a coffee pot, peanut butter and Tabasco. So, with those three things I know that Dallas is doing OK!

Piggy takes a rest in Dallas’ bed.

They visited the U.S. Embassy shortly after arriving.

General Powell was recently in the area.

We speak to Dallas several times a week and try to connect by webcam at least once a week. With him being 8 hours ahead of us it is hard for him and kids to talk much. He seriously wanted me to send Lin-Ley to school with a cell phone so he could call her there. I told him I did not think that would fly with her teacher or principal. We have finally figured out a time in the mornings (before school) that they can talk. I am able to speak with him more often from my office. We can connect through Yahoo and talk for free or sometime we just instant message back and forth for a while. With technology it is a lot easier to stay in contact than it was in the first Iraqi war. Seventeen years ago it was letters and the occasional and precious phone call. Now it is email, instant messaging and webcams.

We have sent him a few packages of goodies and some Christmas decorations. It has been surprising that he receives our packages in about a week. He sends us cards and has recently mailed a package of Christmas gifts for the kids that he purchased on the local economy. They will be thrilled.

Lin-Ley always requests stickers in her cards. Dallas could not find stickers anywhere. He searched and searched but no stickers anywhere. So as a last resort he sent her some Christmas labels (To: / From:) that you would use on Christmas gifts. Well that worked – she loved them and immediately filled them out with the names of everyone in our family.

So Dallas is doing well! I just thought you might enjoy seeing a little of where he is and what he is doing. We will be updating his (and Piggy's) adventures again in the near future.