The Season is On!

Abby's basketball season is in full swing.  She is a starting forward for the Aloha High School Girl's varsity basketball team and is having a lot of fun (most of the time).  She is pretty darn intense and aggressive on the floor and isn't too fond of being taken out of the game.  When she is playing she is the team's best defensive hustler and scrapper and maybe the best rebounder. Much like her dad, she spends a lot of time on the floor after being run over, pushed, tripped or whatever. They are in a tough league and have only won a couple of games but she is still having a lot of fun.

  

Last night was the high school winter formal dance and Abby went.  She looked quite pretty in her formal and said they had a very good time.

Merry Christmas Newsletter!

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She's almost done!

 

Abby is getting closer to the inevitable-graduation.  Tuesday she will start the second trimester of her senior year.  We had some pictures taken of her for her senior picture.  She is not very excited that we are sharing them yet but we figure, why not?! Enjoy!

Her last year of soccer ended a while ago and she has now started her last season of basketball.  She is excited to be on the varsity team and is on the starting five.  

He's Come a Long Way!

We all remember the bashful, timid little guy who was always smiling.  

It's pretty hard to believe that Mac the Marine is the same kid.

It's About Time! Our Marine McKay

What an absolute fantastic weekend we had this last Thursday and Friday. The time has come for McKay to graduate from boot camp and become a real Marine. We are so very proud of him.

McKay's friend, Cameron, and his parents, Brian and Lynda Merritt decided to come and wish him well. They flew in earlier than we did but we flew in Wednesday night so that we could arrive early at the Marine Corp. Recruiting Depot (MCRD) for Family Day. It is an gigantic place. We figure we put in at least 5 miles walking. In the center of the depot is a huge piece of cement about the size of 5 X 2 football fields (about 1000 yards by 100 yards). The bad part of this is if you wanted to go to the store that was just across this parade deck (cement pad), you had to go all the way around it. You couldn't walk on it or on the grass. Those were the absolute rules and we weren't sure if we would come home with all of our limbs if we happened to "fall" on the lawn! McKay is very obedient to all of the rules, we think that is one of the reasons he survived.

When we first got there all 7 platoons were practicing for the liberty presentation and the graduation ceremony. They were dressed in their camies and we had to pick McKay our from the back. We were right on. See if you can pick him out. One minor hint is he looks an awful lot like his brother, Shay.

After they had practiced, they returned to their barracks and got ready for their last motorun, which would be the last run they took as Fox Company. He seemed very intent and serious during this run. It was so cool to hear the drill instructors shout out orders but we later learned that the shouting of orders was the most annoying part of the whole experience. Nonetheless, we were all impressed and Abby soon learned how to imitate the marching yells.

The march that they had been practicing was for the liberty presentation which followed the motorun. Finally they were ready to show us. They marched ending up right in front of the family and friends that were there to watch graduation. They were very impressive. Following this drill, they were free to join us for the rest of the day. We couldn't take them off base, offer them drugs, alcohol, tobacco, let them drive or let them do anything that was unbecoming of a Marine. We went shopping and then we went to a luncheon that the church sponsored for members and their families. It was very enjoyable to meet with the missionaries during the luncheon. It was about a 2 mile hike to the luncheon, however. McKay ate like a horse eating at least 2 plates of everything. Even Brian Merritt was surprised at his appetite.

He had to report back at 17:45 PM for the night and so we went back to our hotel and enjoyed a nice rest from all of our walking. We thought we would go to dinner and we had our choice of about 10 Mexican restaurants. Guess what we had? It was yummy. It was the first time we tried deep fried ice cream!

After a restful night we got up early the next day for the "real" graduation. It was much like the previous day with marching only they were in their dress blues. He looked so handsome, mature, and sharp. It wasn't until this trip that we realized just how important this step was for him. It was really hard and he says that if he knew then what he knows now about boot camp, he wouldn't do it. He did a fantastic job shooting the M16s, in fact he was the best in his platoon earning the "Rifle Expert" pin. He is determined to do well in all that he does and he is very excited to serve his church mission following his training. 

He has picked up a few habits that are impressive. He never just stands without being "at ease". He also holds his hands in a refined fist whenever he walks. These are things that will probably leave him eventually but it is impressive for now.

We are so proud of McKay for his determination, attitude, and loyalty. He is a great addition to the Marine Corp. He is home now for 10 days, after which he will return to Camp Pendleton in California. After training there for 29 days he will be transferred to North Carolina where he will receive his final training. We expect him home again about February or March of 2009.

McKay, Alive and Well!

McKay wrote us another letter and we wanted everyone to keep updated. We should soon have a picture of him. He writes:

5 August 2008

Dear Family!

Well, we have begun a new week of training. It is starting to form more into formal training rather than just chaos. We did some M16-Bayonet training and learned some attacking strikes. Soon after we went over and did some Pugil Sticks (much like the gauntlet from American Gladiators). We have padded rods and we smack each other with them. I won my match with flying colors. I overpowered the other recruit, which makes me "The Dominator" which I rightfully take from Griffin!

7 August 2008

Well, I got cut off and couldn't finish writing this until today. Nothing has really changed since the 5th. We have just been doing a lot more drilling (marching) with our rifles, preparing for Initial Drill, which is the initial competition between the platoons in Fox Company. If we win it, you can expect a phone call from me. As I have stated previously, our Senior Drill Instructor care very much about his and the platoons image. He is a very proud man, but he is cool. He has served a couple of tours in Iraq and has seen the worst of war. But he constantly talks about all the stuff the troops are actually doing in Iraq which is taking care of the people. Only because he has been there and that's what they have been doing. Staying away from that subject, another cool thing has come up. We have prayer for 5 minutes every night and we separate into our different religions. We started out with 3-4 people in the Mormon group at the beginning. Now, we have 6-8 people who come to our circle almost every night. It is easy to see that the people in our platoon see us as "different" from everyone else in a good way. It really is cool to be able to do missionary work in such a hostile, unclean environment.

Today, we were doing some "cracking of the sticks" which is drilling with our rifles. It was a pretty stressful time. Our Drill Instructors weren't in the best of moods and some people in the platoon were having trouble with some of the movements. So whenever you would mess up, they would scream their lungs out at you and put you in pain with "rifle work outs" which are terrible. I swear the Lord was guiding my hands because I would randomly do the right movements while I was confused on what to do in the first place! However, one of my friends, Recruit Julson was yelled at because he made a small mistake . He lost it, slammed his rifle on the ground and took off out the door. He came back and is fine now but the instructors have a close eye on him.

8 August 2008

Well, I keep running out of time and can't finish this letter so I'll finally finish it now. We have been doing pretty much the same thing. I look forward to chow every day and Sundays cause that means the end or start of another week. Plus, church is like heaven on earth. Today we were out doing some drills with some "weapon inspection" moves. Another platoon from our company, 2122, challenged us to our "weapon inspection." We did and kicked them. Well, I have got to go. I will write later.

Have you guys bee getting my letters? I haven't heard or gotten anything from you guys so I am wondering if everything is alright.

I love you all very much and again look forward to October 17.

Mac

P.S. Let Shay and Griffin know that when I get back, I'll get on World of Warcraft again. That will get me through my MOS training. Plus, if you could type a letter or just print a picture of the family on a normal paper that would really boost my morale here.

Just so you know - we have done both - sent a letter and picture.

McKay Writes Home

McKay wrote a couple of letters recently and we wanted to share them with you.

July 29, 2008

Hey Family!

It is so nice to finally write you guys. It really has been a long week since I have gotten here at MCRD San Diego. But all is good. Last Friday my Platoon 2.1213 finally got together with our Drill Instructors who are a handful. We have our Senior Drill Instructor, Sgt. Brown, (some black dude who very much cares about his self image and is a perfectionist); 2) Sgt. Linans (crazy little Asian dude who always seems like he is going to rip you arm off); and 3) Sgt. Gomez (white dude who yells so much). We are constantly busy every day marching (drilling), cleaning, yelling, and eating. Chow is the best thing ever! The only reason I have time to write now is because I got my wisdom teeth pulled and they put me on bed rest.

Since today is training day 1 (T-1) we haven't really done much besides preparing for training which includes things like getting all of our issued gear, learning how to maintain that gear, and just learning the basics. I have been doing great and have been motivated and optimistic since the beginning. I have easily made some life-long friends here who all look out for each other. We do have the 10% of retards who make it wosre for everyone, but we are moving on. Sundays are the best. They have church here on the base. It is just like regular sacrament meeting. I am so grateful for the church and for all that Heavenly Father does for me. As you could imagine, prayer is mandatory here and it really is cool to see it work. We have about 4 recruits who are LDS in the platoon and we have scripture time every night. We also have 2-3 recruits who come to church because they were curious. Oh, how rough times open people's eyes!

Our drill instuctor has told us many times after seeing each platoon in the company that we are the best, which isn't really surprising after seeing our drill. We are pretty good at marching. Well I have to "get online"now so I'll write more when I can. I love you all so very much and think about you all every day here. Nights are the worst because the emotion is doubled at that time but I will see you all again on the week of October 17, 2008.

P.S. There is a church website for the MCRD that has some pictures of me. I don't know if you have seen it yet but I will let you know about it as soon as possible. I love you all.
Recruit Allen

2 August 2008

Hey family!

Well, it is now T-5 and PT (personal fitness training) is starting to get kickin'. We started doing the obstacle course and it was a lot of fun. We have had some interesting changes with our Drill Instructors. DI Sgt. Linans got booted from MCRD for abusing one of our recruits, so we got a new DI. The new on is DI Sgt. Williams who is cool but is a typical DI. So in reality I don't like him too much. I am always confused still of what is going on but I am getting through.

3 August 2008

Hey family!

I currently am here sitting in church. How grateful I am to have finished 2 weeks of boot camp, only 11 more to go. I can not tell you guys how much I have depended on the Lord and how much he has helped me. Cameron probably could relate when I say that I am so grateful for church. It really feels like I am home.

Our new DIs really have been kicking our butts and it really gets annoying after a while. But I still have held to my goal of not getting ITed (incentive training). We have been doing a lot of drilling with our M16AZ lately and they really make your back sore. But I am surviving. We have also been doing MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) which is pretty fun but very tiring. I have some good bruises from our "Body Hardening" training which is pretty much just punching and kicking each other. Every night it sure does hit home how much I miss you guys. I sure do look forward to the day I will see you all again.

It sure is cool because the other recruits around me are from all over the United States. One of my good friends, Recruit Anderson, is from Minnesota while another is from Texas. About 1/4 of the platoon is from Texas and Cass could probably understand that. Another one of my friends, Recruit Coan, is from Vietnam. He moved to the US 10 months ago, then joined the Marines. Talk about dedication. He even has trouble speaking and reading English so I help him out a lot.

Time has slowly began to speed up as we start getting settled. The afternoons are still long. I think boot camp tests your patience more than anything. So many times I have wanted to punch DI Sgt. Gomez in the face. That guy never shuts up and has too much energy for his own good.

One thing that Abby is going to hate when I get back is how tan I am. San Diego is very sunny so I have gotten a good San Diego tan. Again, I have run out of time and have to close up this letter. I love all you guys and look forward every day to see you all again. October 17 is getting closer which is awesome.

Love,
McKay