Please join us...

in wishing a very dear childhood friend and soldier in the US Navy, Becky, a very Happy Birthday all the way in Iraq! Growing up Becky was like a little sister to me. You see we lived in this really close knit community where everybody knew everybody and our moms were best friends. Her big sis Crystal (AKA Crys) was my best friend in the whole world (Molly is named after her, Molly Crystal) and Becky and Rae (my little sis) were best friends. We lived in that kind of neighborhood where the kids could play long after dark in the street, where if you did something wrong the closest mom would give everyone a good swat on the behind and send you on your merry way! LOL! We were all so close, and it was just the perfect way to grow up! Becky reads here regularly and comments often about how my kids bring back memories of the way we grew up. Becky was always an incredible person, she always stood out. When she was a kid I always thought she would end up in the Olympics! That kid could flip down the street for two blocks without stopping! She could copy the gymnastics routines on TV step for step! Well, we all grew up and Becky surprised us all when she joined the Navy in 2006. Our little Becky, a US soldier, I always knew she would have to do something HUGE with her life! We are all so proud of her! This year Becky will be celebrating her birthday in Iraq, lets let her know that we appreciate her by wishing her a big "Happy Birthday"! I asked Shell, Becky's Mom, to give me the specifics about where she has been and what she has done over these last few years and she wrote this: "Becky joined the Navy in April of 2006. After boot camp she was assigned to the USNS San Jose, which is a supply ship for 1 year. While on ship she went to the philippines, a couple of different ports in Japan, and Australia. While in Australia she went to a koala sanctuary and actually got to hold a koala. After this tour of duty she was then assigned to Guam for 3 years. Guam is kind of like Japans Hawaii. Becky has an apartment 2 blocks from the beach and many good friends in Guam. . In 2008, Becky was was deployed to Kuwait where she spent 6 months. Becky is IT so she was a liaison between the Army and the Navy. She was deployed with the Naval Air Ambulance Division (NAAD) so she worked with them. In August 2008 Becky was chosen to play softball for the Navy in the Armed Forces Softball Tournament. It was played in Pensacola, FL so her family was able to go and watch some of the games. In April of this year Becky was again deployed to Iraq. The British troops had pulled out and left behind a base the U.S. decided to take over this base. When Becky got there, there were no computers. Once the computers came in Becky had to set up about 60 computers and other machines. She is supposed to stay at this base until October sometime. Becky would love to become an Air Force Personnel and Manpower Officer. She is currently trying to switch from the Navy to the Air Force and go into the Air Force as an officer there are 37 positions available for the job she wants and they are supposed to choose the candidates for the job around August 17th so pray that this will come through for her. Becky is currently a Petty Officer second class. She has also earned her Enlisted Service Warfare Specialist and her Enlisted Aviation Specialist qualifications. Becky hopes to be able to come home soon for a visit when she leaves Iraq." We love you Becky! and we hope you will be able to come home soon! Happy Birthday!!

(Sand storms must be the pits!)