FAMILY DAY

This past weekend Paul had his monthly drill down in Salt Lake City. However, this time it was a little different as it was Family Day on Saturday.

Instead of driving down Friday afternoon, Paul didn't have to be to drill until 0700 Saturday. He was picked up from a friend in his unit at 0445 and was off to drill. Paul had a PFT to run that morning and some Admin paperwork to get done. He ran two seconds shy of a perfect run time (perfect is 3 miles in 18 minutes) so he ended up getting a 299 on his PFT. I think that is still pretty good! :)

I drove down later that morning and met him in SLC around 1100. They gave the guys two hours to get around for family day so Paul and I went to a Farmer's Market and Art in the Park going on in downtown SLC. We tasted this watermellon that a local farm was selling and it was so delicious. The owner saw my face and told Paul he had to purchase one for me since I liked it that well. Paul informed the man we didn't bring any cash with us (as they didn't take check or cards). That man was so nice he actually gave us a medium sized watermellon for free!! We were pretty thrilled to say the least!

Family day activities started around 1300 and included a BBQ, children obstacle courses, information about their deployment, and a squad competition. Paul's squad won 1st place in the Tug O War competition and afterward a group of Army MP's came over and challenged them as well. Let's just say that they made all the Marines there proud! :)

I got to talk to the Officer In Command's (OIC) wife for a little bit about TBS. She motivated me and was very open to help with any information about life in Quantico. She then informed me that they loved living in 29 Palms, CA and are hoping for another posting there. She is the Key Volunteer Coordinator for the unit and has many good ideas for when the men are deployed. Even though Paul is getting commissioned and out of the unit so he cannot go to Iraq, we signed up to help with the support group back home. I know that Paul really wanted to go with his fellow brothers in combat, but the Lord has a different plan and a later deployment will come soon.

Overall... A great day to mingle with the families and gather in support of our men.