Hoosier Honor Flight 2010

Here is Mr. Atwood. He had a "cardiac incident" at Reagan National upon arrival so we got to know each other in the back of the ambulance and at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He is an almost 92 year old WWII Bronze Star hero, served in Italy --infantry combat division. He is one amazing guy! He is smiling here with the ER doctor - Dr Martin--who was delightful (even when he left ER AMA)!

The most amazing thing happened when we took at taxi back to the Airport from ER mid-afternoon- the GM of Continental Airlines-DCA put us in her BMW and personally drove Mr. Atwood to see the WWII Memorial before we had to fly home.

His words (with tears): "I will never, ever forget this day."

Greg was able to fly with us as a newsreporter for WTIU, along with his camera guy, and is doing a 2-part story on the flight. You can watch an initial clip that aired
last night with a YouTube- search "WTIU NewsBreak, April 29, 2010.
In spite of some of the difficulty of the day, it was an amazing experience!

Eric has an address finally!

LCpl Williams, Eric 3F6
MCSFCO, Guantanamo Bay
PSC 1005 Box 32
FPO AE 09593

For the next 2 weeks, he will be "in the field".

Gitmo

Cruising around Gitmo

Hello hello hello!

We finally made it to the weekend here and are off for a couple of days before we do some training and then go back to work for two weeks. Our first week of guarding the fenceline here had it's rough spots, but it was "a learning experience" as we were told to look at it....Anyways, it's behind us now and we can look forward to smoother waters ahead.

My job is pretty much to have someone drive me around in a humvee and make sure the sentries in the towers are awake and don't have to pee in their canteens. I was on the graveyard shift this first week so I'd sleep about 12 noon to 7 pm then get up and work until about 9 in the morning. It was rough getting used to the nocturnal life and I'm glad that I might actually get to sleep during dark hours next time we're on. But anyways, the base is still safe so I guess we did alright in the end.

Everyone was going a little crazy by the end of the week due to standing alone for around 8 hrs in their tower and watching every little move the Cubans make, so this weekend should be a relief. Tomorrow I'm planning on going diving in the morning, hopefully spearing me a decent fish while I'm down there, and then relaxing on the beach until dinner time. We'll see how it all goes though. I hope all is well back in the motherland!!

-Eric

Happy Anniversary, Angela and Bret

Henry, Ava & Buddy....Meet Cousin Chloe

Visiting Bret and Angela today (outside, of course!)

Throop Elementary performs The Mikado

The music director with a few select fans.
Bows from the cast

Bows to the Audience

And, here is why....

The Performers were magnificent

The Sets wonderful... A great performance!!

Greetings from Cuba!

Hello there!

Good ol Eric has made it down to Cuba safe and sound (although our boat did break down in transit from one side of the bay to the other. Not a good first showing for my work with the Navy...). I don't have too much time to describe a whole lot right now, and really I wouldn't know where to begin anyways! Naturally, the weather here is great given that it's the Caribbean - warm, humid, and breezy. We've just been doing some intro classes and the like and are just learning the ropes of what we'll be doing while down here. We should be pretty busy for the next few days and even into the weekend, so it may be a little bit before I get a chance to update more, but rest assured it's on my To Do list!

Sorry this is a quick one but I just wanted to send a few lines your way! I hope you're all having a great April up north and taking good care of yourselves!

Pictures, please!

Henry and Ava want to see pictures of their new cousin, Hannah!

Spring Break & Easter

This is the view from Carrie and Joe's 2nd floor deck.


I believe everyone enjoyed using JB's boat. So... Thanks JB! ...well.....except for an occasional moment or two. Smiles were back after a fast, bumpy ride. Who can't smile when you are being tossed around an open boat?
This is the last picture that I will be able to take of Eric until mid-late July.
He took me to the Botanical Gardens for my birthday.
Hannah, where are the pictures of your new puppy?

Easter and ..... Somebunny's birthday ! ! !

Happy Easter, everyone! .... Happy Birthday,Lisa!! ....

Be safe, Eric!!!

Easter in Avon

We had a quiet day today - I miss the days of the Foster get-togethers.

Happy Easter!

Remember the days of Easter egg hunts on Sandy Hook Road? I don't have all families represented, but this was the best I could do on a busy morning. Wishing everyone a blessed Sunday!

few more photos from Florida

The boys before they headed offshore for the day

The Riley kids digging a hole - what would a trip to the beach be without a little hole digging?
Kyle buried himself in the sand!