Traditions...

Every Saturday morning Hannah and I make banana & chocolate chip pancakes.  Hannah likes to help squash up the really ripe bananas.  Here's a tutorial for you:

Step one: Peel & squeeze the banana 

 

Step 2:  Squash with your hands.

 Step 3:  Smile and wait for Mommy to do the rest.

A few more..

Here are a few more...

This is on a T wall in Udairi Kuwait.  All units get to paint one and this is a unit from Massachusetts.

 This is Todd's company with a USC flag that I was able to get signed by Spurrier and Ray Tanner (with the help of Keven Cohen)

 These are all the Citadel grads in Todd's company.  Their unit is being recognized during the halftime show of the USC/Citadel game so a couple of us wives get to go!

Pictures From Iraq

Todd sent me some pictures from his time in Iraq so far.  Most of them are arial b/c that is Todd's view for the most part.  I think it's kind of awesome!  I'll do my best to explain them in captions.

This is looking onto the border of Turkey.  If you look closely you can see the dug in tank positions.  When Iraq is dominant they positioned tanks at Turkey and just left them there as a threat.

 This is a suburb of Baghdad.  You can see the palms near the river but just a couple hundred yards away it is complete barren dessert.

This is ONE of Saddam's palaces.  Notice the "small" house in the bottom left corner.  This would be the size of the White House.  Yikes.

Each company has "nose art".  Todd's is A Company and they are called the Nightmares (which is fitting b/c they always fly night missions)

 This is what the they call the Mega Mosque (many mosques are named like this so that the pilots can use them for orientation when flying).  Ironically this mosque was never finished so it's just a skeleton.  The Syrians came over and stopped the Iraqi's from finishing it b/c no mosque can be bigger than Mecca... and it was.

 My handsome husband holding an insurgent AK47.  He looks a little too happy here:)

 This is right after Todd's last flight with his company in Kirkuk.  He's now back in Taji.

 They like to "decorate" the hellfire missiles that they carry.  They always right funny slogans or pictures on them.  Did I mention how much I love my husband taking pictures while flying... with these on board.

 This is the border of Syria and Iraq.  This part is called the Heider Gate.

I kind of think this shot is really cool!  Helps to see his perspective while flying! 

 This is what his unit calls the Disco mosque.  You can see why!

 It's not as "disco- ey" during the day.

 This is Todd with his company's shield.  The guy in the middle is the artist.

 The Bubble Gum mosque.

 Inside the Apache hanger in Kirkuk.

 These are Uday & Qusay's palaces in Mosul.  Isn't it sweet that they were neighbors?  Now they are probably neighbors somewhere much hotter than Iraq.

 Todd and his buddy Chadd.  The two were roommates in flight school back in 2005.  Ironically they were two of the three company commanders based out of Kirkuk.  We love Chadd and his awesome wife and baby boy back in Alabama.

 These are some insurgent weapons.

 This one is called the water mosque.  There is water in the middle and in all the corners of the property.