Committed for another 4 years...

Jason re-enlisted today for another 4 years with the Marine Corps. At the end of this enlistment we will be near our 16 year mark! Crazy and hard to believe. After that we will just be 4 years away from retirement and moving back to good ole' PA. Here are some pictures from today:

1st Sgt. reading the re-enlistment. For a brief moment Jason was out of the Corps, then they quickly swear him back in. :)

Swearing to defend and protect.Jason is standing in the Mike Company sand pit. This is where recruits are made to "push" and pay for mistakes they make. Jason chose this spot for re-enlistment because this is where he "paid" as a recruit 11 years ago. Now he trains recruits just one building over.Pretty good looking guy :)Ryleigh and I looking on. The boys were there too, but they were trying to climb a massive tree and find bugs.I was given a certificate too. Marine wife, hardest job in the Corps! :)

Jason also was just recently selected for Gunnery Sergeant. He was deep selected, and for those of you who don't know anything about the military, that is a big deal, and rarely happens. He will be promoted sometime in the next few months. I am pretty proud of him.... :)

Real life

It has been one of the those weeks. One only survived by chocolate. I am trying to wean Ryleigh and really potty train Kyle (yes he is over 3, and your child was probably potty trained at 9 months, but this is not the week to tell me about it). That translates into there always being food or pee on the floor. Yep, that about sums it up. Ryleigh seems to think food tastes better when it is being swept up in a pile mixed with dirt. I don't think Kyle will mind Depends one day, cause' he thinks the world is ending without his diaper. Aiden has been totally out of sorts. He woke up in the middle of the night last night, came in our room with his shirt off, crying uncontrollably, because he wanted me to change his pj's. That sums up how he has been acting. I have not always responded the way I should. Hopefully this week will not land anyone in counseling in their young adult years.....

In one of the lighter moments of the week, here are the kids playing t-ball. I do believe everyone was happy in these moments..

I sincerely hope your week is going better than mine.

Fun on the 4th

Jason had to work on the 4th, but the kids and I went to PI to watch the fireworks. Jason had to stay with his platoon, so we met up with some friends and tried to have a good time without Daddy. PI has a big party for the 4th with free food for military families, jumpees for the kids, the band playing and lots of fireworks.
The kids loved the little flags they gave out and carried them around almost the whole time. They even wanted to sleep with them that night (see pics below)!
I was bribing Ryleigh with candy (in my hand) to sit still. Kyle, not smiling, but at least he is in the picture! :)

Man! It is hard to get all three of them in one spot, smiling, without flags in their faces, at one time!! This is the best I got.....
Aiden and his friend Madison.The kids with some of their friends.
Kyle was getting bored waiting for the fireworks to begin. :)

Our good friends (even if they are 1st Bn!), Val and Tab with their kids. We were stationed with them in CA, now we are together here. We are hoping that they follow us next year to our next duty station!
One of the families we were with had this little chair. Ryleigh loved it, I need to get her one.

Waiting for the fireworks to begin.......
Finally they started! Kyle, just like last year, did not like them. Ryleigh clapped her hands and thought it was great.


Like I said, they slept with the flags! Patriotic all the way!! :)

Brothers!

Don't they look like just loving, sweet brothers? Good thing I wasn't taking pictures this morning. The results would have been a bit different. If Kyle even looked at Aiden he wined. Aiden wasn't exactly being nice either. The morning has been full of little fights and soon, very soon two little boys might find themselves in some deep trouble. Pray for their souls......

Happy Birthday Jason!!

Jason as a baby! I don't have many pictures of Jason young, but I did find a few. Here he is about 4 months old.I don't know how old he is here, but he sure is cute! With his Grandfather and brother.
Like father, like son.The hunting obsession started early. :)
A very young and handsome Jason.Jason the Marine. I could have put up so many pictures from Jason's 10 + years in the Corps. He has done a lot and taken pictures each step of the way! But, all the cool ones are in albums at Jason's work for his recruits to look at, so here are just a few I found here at home. Here he is in his office in Camp Pendleton, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines.

I don't really know where this is. :) But, I do believe he is calling for fire.Jason as a coach on the rifle range in Camp Pendleton. He is an excellent rifleman, an 11th award expert on the rifle and 9th (only shot for 9 years) award on pistol. Just this last time (they have to do it yearly) that he was on the range, he was range high. Quite an accomplishment out of hundreds of Marines.
I believe this was taken in Staff Academy in Quantico VA. Another rigorous school that he went through for 3 months.Marching his platoon on the parade deck.Pitting the whole platoon as the Senior Drill Instructor.

Here he is playing around, I believe in Japan, pretending to be hanging off a cliff. It really was just where the road had split. :)
Jason the hunter/fisherman! Of course if you know Jason, you know that he is a man's man all around. He likes nothing better than to be in a tree hunting deer with his bow or in a boat fishing for some large mouth bass.

One of his big bucks! He got this one when we were living in Shrewsbury.

Then there is Jason, the husband and father. To say Jason is an excellent husband and father just doesn't seem to be enough. But, I don't really know any other word to use. He constantly puts the needs of us before himself. He works hard and provides very well. He works longer hours than any other dad I know, and he still gets on the floor to wrestle with the boys and let Ryleigh crawl all over him when he gets home. After being on his feet for sometimes 15 hours a day, he comes home and helps get the kids ready for bed. Then we will come out and sweep the floor or pick up toys. I never ask him to, he just does it. He takes the boys fishing or just out of the house for a bit so I can get something done. He calls me several times a day just to say "I love you." He is more respectful of me than any man I have ever seen with his wife. The kids and I all know that we are treasured and adored by him. I really don't know how I got so lucky. So, today on his birthday, I am doing my best to say thank you to him.

Thank you for all you do as a father............



And thank you for all you do as a husband.......

We know we are lucky to have you in our life. I could say so much more!! Cause' you do so much for us, but I guess I'll just end with: Happy Birthday! We love you!!

Love, Erin, Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh