Cabin Time!

This past 10 days Gabers and I have been up at the cabin with the fam just relaxing and obviously enjoying dad's pimp new boat...i.e. the caddy on the water! It's totally amazing, pops my dad up on skis instantly! Can't wait to see Michael attempting to single ski from it...:) Gabe loved the boat and below is the cutest pic ever of him standing by himself on the seat. You can all see what a strapping baby he's become!

Helping Gramps drive the boat. Apparently Gabe was not happy about this!


Wes and my dad alternately carried Gabe up Mt. Severance. He enjoyed the hike immensely and didn't even break a sweat. We can't say the same for Uncle Wesdawg...Gabe is no light load to lug around. It's nice to have pack horses available to do all the heavy lifting...thanks wes/dad!

Gabe was petting Winsty and decided to take a break and use him as a pillow, Winsty handled it pretty well. Gabe is starting to pull at the dogs ears if he can get a good grab opportunity. so far the dogs don't seem the mind.

Here's a cool painted turtle in the Wild Center. This place was amazing. It's one of the most beautifully built museums I've ever been to- the architecture was phenomenal as you can see. The designer intentionally built it level with the pond so when you were in the building the pond was eye level. It was a very fun experience...Gabe even enjoyed it and joyfully deposited a "package" at the end! Fabulous! I'm def. taking Mike back here over r & r if we have a rainy day.




New boat!

This is what happened the first time we climbed mt. severance. Gabe didn't enjoy riding in the backpack so he started crying..and it escalated to a total fit so my dad actually carried him by hand to the top! He even fell asleep in his arms and took a solid 20 min nap at the top of the mtn! He did much better the second time around in the baby bjorn. We think maybe he;s still too little for the pack, although you'd never guess that by the size of this beast!!

And the best news.....12 days till Michael starts his trip back!!!! We are sooo freaking excited!!! Can you imagine how different Gabe will look to Mike? He has tripled in weight and added almost 8 inches in length! It's going to be so amazing to see them together again...i know Gabe will adore his daddy :) We love you Micheal!

Gramp's 80th bday bash

Happy 80th Gramps! This Sunday we celebrated my Grandpa Schaeffler's 80th. It was a such a nice party, about sixty-some people showed up! Above is a pic of Gramps back in his younger days (i think twenties) on his Indian chief. Everyone enjoyed meeting little Gabers and so many people asked about Michael and how he was doing. It was a very fun weekend! And [hopefully] 30 days till we see Michael!!!! August needs to hurry up and get here!!

Here they are, married 54 years!

The future sisters! We didn't actually plan to match! Below are the studly men and a group shot of the whole fam (missing Michaels).


Here is my grandparents with their two kids. Below is the four generations shot- gabe, me, mom and gramps

Gabe looks like he's about to dive into that cake. He would've loved to get his hands on that frosting!

This is my cuz John and I. I dont think we've had a pic taken together since I visited oregon over 5 years ago!

Ah, the newly engaged couple, Greg & TZ (aka Chantal)

My parents dressed separately and ended up matching. You'd think they'd been married 30some years or something!

We missed you a lot Michaels. 30 days! Love ya mucho mucho mucho, keep safe!!- wifey

The latest

Hopefully in 5 weeks from today Michael will be getting on a plane making his way to the States! We are really missing each other a lot right now, so his r & r really can't come fast enough. He's been at Liberty working on getting some vehicles fixed for the company, thus he's been very busy. Fortunately we have been able to talk everyday. This past week was pretty low key- Gabe & I stayed home mostly. We've had some company for a few dinner parties.

This was on 4th of July, we decided to take a hike. I think Gabe is getting to the max capacity for the baby bjorn! It was a nice day, the first in probably a week that it didn't rain. Michael & I have been having opposite weather that's for sure! The trail was a total mud factory, and the creek was really rushing but the ticks weren't too bad this time.

Here's Gabers "sitting". I think he looks like Mike here..and you can see his reddish hair :)

Here are some pictures my parents took on a hike in the adirondacks. I thought they were so pretty I thought i'd share them. They're mainly for Michael to daydream about...you'll be seeing green and blue soon!




I guess Bella & Winsty were "brave" and walked out on these logs. Bella proceeded to fall in after this pic i think!


Here's my little cool baby. He's really starting to enjoy his jumparoo! He plays with all the knobs and spinners now, and squeals and cools along with the jungle music. He's such a little cutie.

Here's the new boat! After 15 yrs of the Boston whaler my parents decided to upgrade. We all can't wait to test it out this summer. I''m sure Michael will want to learn how to get up on one ski this summer...he wont have the excuse of the boat engine being too weak!! :)

Here are Sarah, Beth & Me in Lee, Mass. We met for lunch at the Red Lion Inn. This is the same town the Norman Rockwell museam is. It was really fun to spend some time with my freinds.

Gabe fell asleep while i was getting ready for lunch. He's jsut sprawls out wherever i lay him and makes himself comfortable. He's such a good baby! He's eating peaches and cereal now and had his first mashed potatoes the other day.

Anyways, that's all i have! This weekend were traveling to Long Island for some beach time and my Grandpa's 80th bday party. We love you Michael and miss you more! xoxo

SAPPER Updates

Captain Shaw (Mike's new company commander) sends out weekly updates about the company. I think they're wonderful! It's so great to be given info about how our guys are doing...so i decided to cut and paste them on here so you all can enjoy! Here's the latest news:

28 June – JSS Nasar Wa Salam
This past week SAPPER Company made use of the smalls arms range that we have on the JSS and took the time to zero and qualify a majority of the Soldiers. With temperatures hovering around 115 degrees, we spent two days out on the range, making sure all the Sappers were qualified. As the saying goes, “train as you fight” and we certainly did. As missions do not stop over here because of the heat, we kept on training, keeping an eye on all the Soldiers and making sure we had plenty of water and ice.
Red platoon returned to the JSS after completing their mission at CP Taji. Working with the civilians from MANTCH, Red platoon took six route clearance vehicles, repaired them and drove them to CP Liberty. Along with SGT Wienke, and PV2 Xiong, LT Nulk will be moving these vehicles around CP Liberty in order to get various upgrades completed in the shortest amount of time so we can begin training, and then on to using that equipment for missions. We are trying to anticipate a mission change for Red platoon. Although we do not have any official word, we have to make sure they are trained and the equipment is ready to move for when we get the call.
We have had a few dust storms in the last two weeks. The first one two weeks ago, caused us to cancel our missions. White platoon could barely see the road they were trying to clear. After a mile we had them go back to Liberty (where they started) and prepare for the next night instead. Not uncommon to have dust storms over, it is one of the many reasons we require all Soldiers to were eye protection when outside.
In the coming week CPL Ngov and SPC Salacieli will be at the Citizenship Ceremony being held at the Al Faw Palace on CP Liberty. Later that same day we are planning another BBQ here at the JSS. 1SG has already been trying to get hamburgers and steak for the entire company.
Hope you are all doing well at home. Have a Happy 4th of July. SAPPERS!
CPT Pete Shaw
“SAPPER 6”

New Michael pics

Michael's camera broke so he mailed it back to me and I inherited all his pics from Iraq so far. So here are a few new ones of him to enjoy...I'm not sure where they are all from, maybe he can explain them later.