Today is Kellie's B-DAY!!!

Happy Birthday Kellie!!!

I just got the FIRST call...yay!! He is able to talk for about 15 minutes each time (he has to call the base operator and they will get him an outside line to speak to the wife and kids) and he seems to think that he will be able to talk almost daily?! He may need calling cards to call anyone else...we are still waiting to find out. I will let you all know.

He still does not know his mailing address, he should get it tomorrow?? He said he has had very long days with only a few hours of sleep each night so he is very tired. Plus, the jet lag is killing him and he said he is cold--or his room is :-)

I have to send him his PT gear because they are only authorized to wear the BTUs or the PT gear, no civilian clothes except when they are in their dorms, which he said is like a trailer.

He misses the dogs, wants me to make sure and give them a hug and to tell Sully to "get off the bed". Sully has since claimed Dave's spot on the bed. Even right now as I sit at the computer on the other side of the house he IS on that bed---ahhh!! He and Cooper usually follow me around the house to keep me safe so it is funny that he is more concerned with the bed now!

Thank you all for the prayers, keep praying :-) He says it's "not too bad" and that despite the long days he thinks things will be good. Below is his update email for those of you that he does not have on his email list yet. By the way, if you would like his emails, let me know so I can tell him to put you on his "Family and Friends" list.

"Well, I started off with a bus ride to Atlanta Sunday morning. We had a really long layover so we watched the Colts game which was a huge disappointment. We then flew to Norfolk, VA where we stayed until monday morning. We were supposed to leave at 1 am on monday but they delayed the flight til 10. We then stopped off in Bangor, ME where there was a huge blizzard. I went outside and threw some snowballs, it was great to see real snow again. Then we flew to Germany and stopped for gas and then to Al Udeid AB in Qatar. We stayed here last night and are in the airport waiting to leave. It's about a 3 hour flight to Kirkuk so we should be there pretty soon. Hopefully we'll be able to get settled in tonight. It's been pretty smooth so far. The customs here in Qatar are crazy. They won't let you bring hardly anything with you. That's a quick update of the last four days. It should be a lot easier to contact all of you when I get there. When I get my email and physical address I will let you all know. Love you guys.

Dave

Oh yeah, we are 8 hours ahead of Eastern time so It may take a while to get back to you."

Miss you all and will continue to update here as I get info! Please pass this blog link onto anyone interested :-)