Memorial Day

Growing up I loved both Memorial Day and Labor Day, for the same reason...it meant a three day weekend. I knew Memorial Day was a day meant to honor those who had sacrificed their lives for our freedom, but those people were just nameless faces that I really couldn't relate to. That all changed in the past three years. I now have way too many faces that aren't nameless and that leave my hear aching and heavy on Memorial Day. I'm gonna share these wonderful friends of mine with you this week of Memorial Day...

SGT Lester D. Baroncini
Born January 19, 1973
KIA October 16, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
He was our other cowboy. His family has a ranch in Southern CA. He only got to ride in the saddle Brad made for him two times. Ride on forever my dear friend....


1 LT Michael Cerrone
Born September 2, 1982
KIA November 12, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
Mikey, as he was affectionately called among us wives, was an amazing LT. He knew all his soldier's wives and kids names. I ran into him two days before the guys deployed...he promised me he would bring Brad home to me. You kept your promise Mikey. Thank you for all the wonderful memories, miss you!


Cpl. Michael J. Jaurigue
Born August 11, 1986
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Jaurigue, the quiet steady one. One of the first soldiers was in charge of training. Brad was proud of him. He never said much to me, but that one Thanksgiving I'll never forget his quiet smile of thanks for having him over and feeding him "too well".


Jonathon M. Cote
Born February 11, 1983
Died April 23, 2008
Operation Iraq Freedom
Cote I never did get to know very well personally, but I heard plenty of stories from Brad. He was in the company when Brad arrived, and helped Brad navigate the new world of an 82nd Airborne soldier. Cote left the Army before the 2006 deployment, but was in Iraq at the same time as Brad as contract security for military convoys. He was captured and killed by the insurgents.


Spc. Gregory Millard
Born April 29, 1985
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Millard...the class clown. He knew how to make everyone laugh even when they didn't want to. Yet behind that goofy grin was a hard core steady soldier. If given the choice again I know he would choose lay down his life for any of the guys.


SPC Harry Winkler
Born March 12, 1974
KIA November 12, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
Winky, the seasoned veteran. This guy had more crazy combat stories then anyone else. He'd served with the 101st before getting out and then coming back in and serving along side Brad. He knew what he was going into and was ready to serve and willing to give his all. I wish he didn't end up giving his all, cause I never got to know him in person. I'll always regret that. Winky left behind a wonderful wife and the cutest little man, as you can see below.


And finally...

SGT Clayton Dunn
Born November 2, 1984
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Clay (well I actually knew him as Dunn mainly)became Brad's best friend during the deployment. I only spent one afternoon with him before they left, wish we could have had more. From that one afternoon I could tell he was a man of amazing integrity who had an undying love for his beautiful wife, Haidy. He also had this little sparkle in his eye that let you know he had a great sense of humor as well. We lost a friend and a brother when God called him home. Clay left behind not only his wife, but his 6 week old daughter (pictured below a little bit older)whom he did get to meet briefly when home on R&R. Tragically he was killed on his first mission back after returning. You are missed daily Clay, can't wait to see you again in Heaven!


There were others we lost, but I didn't know them personaly. These are the faces I see every Memorial day, and many days in between. I now understand all too well that freedom is not free. These brave men (many younger then I am) gave their lives so that I could live in this beautiful country. I will forever be grateful and forever remember each and everyone...

life flies by...

Wow...I've been so bad about posting on here. It's been months since I really posted. My background was even still set for St. Patrick's Day!!!!
These past two months have been crazy months for us...
In April the girl's and I spent a week up at my dad's. My brother Nate was mobilized to Ft. Dix to prepare for a deployment to come sometime soon. Therefore we went up and spend his last week in IL just hanging around. We were also there to see him off, and for all the FRG send off activities. (FRG stands for Family Readiness Group, for all you non-military people. Basically it's a group that facilitates getting information to the soldier's families and does some social activities.) It was a little strange to be back in a military setting. Our really big even in April though was Miriam turning 4 years old! How to believe she's that old already. We had a small family party on her actual birthday, and then a big party with all the extended family and friends the next day (Saturday). I'll do another post with all the Birthday shindig details and pics. Needless to say we didn't have a free weekend all month! Two weekends Brad worked (one at NG drill, the other at Mediacom), another he had a guy's skeet shoot event, and the other one was filled with Miriam's Birthday.
In May things haven't been much calmer, in fact I would dare to say it's been even crazier! The church softball league started mid-month, so we had a practice the first Saturday of May. I get to play this year!!! I couldn't play last year because of being pregnant with Abby. I must say after that practice I was pretty down....I played like a girl!!!! For those of you who knew me in my sports heyday years you will understand just how distressing this was for me. Thankfully I was able to snap out of it and put in a performance at our first game that I could be proud of. I'll post about that later too. Then came a horribly emotional week for me. May 7th would have been my mom's 60th birthday, and the following Sunday was Mother's day. Needless to say every year the beginning of May is not so much fun for me... makes me REALLY miss my mom. The Saturday after Mother's day the girls and I again headed up to my dad's for a week. This time for a going away party for my Uncle Buz (dad's older brother) who is moving to Alaska in the beginning of June. That was on Sunday afternoon. We stayed the rest of the week so I could go to an Andre Reiu concert with my sister on Thursday. Our awesome brother Chris gave her two tickets for Christmas! We had a blast, thanks to our WONDERFUL papa who watched my girls for me!!!! Poor guy got run through the wringer too. First thing he said to me when we walked in the door after the concert was, "Becs I'm nominating you for Sainthood!" I'll post more about the concert, and why he considers me a saint candidate later. We rushed home on Friday to be back in time for Valley High school's graduation ceremony. One of the young men in our youth group was graduating. We're so proud of Joe and all his accomplishments! (he got a full ride theatre scholarship to the local community college!)
Then came Memorial Day weekend. Brad had to work for Mediacom on Saturday, we had a graduation party on Sunday for a family friend who's basically family, and then memorial day itself. I will be posting about Memorial Day next...not something I can just put in with everything else.
Well...that's pretty much the last two months of our lives in a nutshell. We'll finish this month by celebrating Brad's grandparent Davis' 60th wedding anniversary!!! Their actual anniversary isn't until June 5th (if I remember correctly), but this weekend is the only time everyone was free to come celebrate. The family is all coming in from their corners of the US. Well actually the Davis family is rather small, so most of us are local...just a son and grandson (to the guests of honor) living out of state (NY and VA respectively). Not going to be a huge gathering, but still all the family will be there which will be a special treat.
Okay...this post has become long enough, but I wanted to update everyone on our lives. We hope you all have had a wonderful spring, hard to believe it's summer already!!!! My how time flies....