Family Movie Night

We had our inaugural Graham Family Movie Night and it went pretty well. The kids really enjoyed "Swiss Family Robinson." At first, I was afraid I had picked the wrong movie. Grace asked "Are they going to die?" at least 10 times in the first ten minutes of the movie. Once the fear subsided and the tree house was complete, she really liked it.

I didn't realize, as Davis has been acting out "The Lion King" that it would extend to all movies. At different times during the movie last night, he pretended to be a tiger, fought off a dangerous snake in the water, rode an ostrich in the Mayday celebration, and fought off pirates from a hilltop. It was pretty hilarious.

We made our pizzas and ate them in the living room. It was a really fun time. We're going to figure out another movie to watch and have another movie night soon.

This morning, Jasen is inspecting cadets. He had to be there at 8, but didn't anticipate being there for long. I hope he hurries home because we are preparing for our next visitors, the Heidgerkens. The 'Gerks are some of our oldest Army friends. Sean and Jasen went to OCS together, then us wives joined them for OBC at Fort Sill in late fall 1998. I can admit today that I wasn't sure I really liked Chris very much. She gave me heck about being young (at the time, she was over 30 and I was 22) and I was very sensitive about it. Now the tables have turned, since Chris is over 40 and I am not!! What goes around....

After we left Sill, Sean and Chris headed to Fairbanks, Alaska, while Jasen went to Korea and I went to Dallas. My dear friend, Chris, wrote me letters all the time and sent me cards while Jasen was gone. I cannot tell you what that meant to me. That was a very hard time in my life. I was a newlywed without my husband, living in a new, big town (which I grew to LOVE!) alone, my uncle was dying, my grandmother died, and my mom had more cancer removed. Sucky times. But Chris was always there, be it either an email or a note in the snail mail. I'll never be able to say what it meant to me.

We were all back together at Sill when our guys went to the Captain's Career Course. The 'Gerks had Ellin by then, and we had Grace. Chris kept Grace for me while I went back to part-time work to help my old boss out. When the Farm asked me to come back, I told Jasen I would only do it if Chris agreed to keep Grace. Chris did and it ended up helping her decide to give Ellin a sister, Natalie!

Flash forward three years or so, both families had experienced our first deployment. Although we thought we'd be in Germany for a lot longer, the Army sent us to Fort Riley and the 'Gerks were there to welcome us. It's always nice to have friends at the next place!

And now, the 'Gerks are at Fort Bragg, just a few hours up the road. We're all one deployment and move older, probably not much wiser, but certainly more tired! And anxious to be together again. I'm with Chris: I don't want to do anything this weekend, but sit around, drink beer, and just be together. Just like old times!