Costume Number Two

Merrilee donned costumer number two for a Friday night party at her friend Emma's house. Emma licves across the street. Merrilee went as Ariel, wearing a costume mommy bought for her during this summer's trip to Disney World.

Daddy helped Merrilee decorate her pumpkin party favor...

Emma had a lot of her friends at the party...

Everyone had a great time at the party! And all the kids got lots of candy to take home. They'll have sugar highs for weeks to come.

Thank you Emma! Thank you Mrs. Jessica and Mr. Dave!

And Merrilee, you looked marvelous!

Halloween -- The First Of Two Costumes

With mommy away, Merrilee paid tribute today to all the men and women in uniform. For her school Halloween party, she dressed up in her BDUs. For the record, this is an AIR FORCE uniform!



I admit, the pants were a little too big in the waist. And since there wasn't a safety pin to be found, we made do with some velcro straps through the belt loops in the back. It worked!

And here's a little video message to mommy...

One last thing...on the way to work today, daddy stopped and got a cup of coffee. While he was checking out, the man behind him was wearing a uniform too. He was a sergeant in the U.S. Army. Daddy bought the sergeant's coffee. If you see someone in uniform the next few days, buy them a coffee. It's the least we can do.

Missing Mommy

Merrilee is already missing her mommy a lot. She has asked a number of times, "mommy going away?"

We are trying to keep her occupied and thanks to a few friends, Merrilee has some new entertainment.

First, our good friend Edie Brown is handling PR for the Disney on Ice show. Edie gave this flashing tiara to Merrilee and she just loves wearing it around the house.

Next, Miss Kristy, who works with daddy, gave Merrilee this musical card. Merrilee loves musical cards. This one has that hamster music. Merrilee wanted to dance, but she couldn't really get those hips going until she took off the tiara.

Thank you, Merrilee, for the gift of joy you bring to us!

We are so lucky, and so blessed!

Merrilee's Bedtime Prayers

We've been very busy these last two weeks, getting ready for mommy's deployment.

Mommy leaves in the morning for two weeks of training. She comes home late on November 5th, and then heads to the big sandbox on November 11th.

We are already missing her.

One thing Merrilee does every night is say her prayers. She prays for her mommy and daddy, her dogs (Bogart and Bacall) and for herself.

This is the way Merrilee ends her day...

Thank You Steve Bisciotti

Merrilee's mommy and daddy got to go to the Ravens football game this past Sunday. They went with their friends Rob and Susan. The weather was terrific. The outcome of the game could have been better, with the Ravens losing to the Bengals in the last minute of the game.

At every Ravens game, the pre-game festivities include the Baltimore Marching Ravens and a military color guard performing this routine to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A."

It's not the hippest song in the world, but 71,000 people rise to their feet for it every week. And then, this is the way the Ravens handle the team introductions.

By the way, October 11, 2009 was breast cancer awareness day, and thus the Ravens cheerleaders had pink pom poms.

Thank you, Steve Bisciotti for being a professional sports team owner that we all admire!

Fire House Open House

The Ellicott City Fire Station on Route 103 had an open house from 1pm to 4pm on October 10, 2009. Merrilee took daddy to the open house.

Merrilee enjoyed it so much! The fireman were very nice.

She started off with a big hug for Sparky, the department mascot. Then, she got to sit inside a BIG fire truck, and she got a fire ducky for the bath tub and a bright yellow fire hat.

She saw lots of demonstrations about fire safety, the tools the firefighters use, and how they rescue people from burning houses and vans in crashes.

And after the open house Merrilee took daddy to McDonald's, where they share an M and M McFlurry!

Uncle Jim And Aunt Judy Visit

Mommy's uncle and aunt, Jim and Judy Brady, visited this week. They came to participate in mommy's promotion ceremony. They also got to spend some time getting to know Merrilee better.

While they were here, mommy took them to the Naval Academy and it just so happens it was the day before the big Navy-Air Force game. They caught up with the Air Force band practicing, and they even discovered that the Navy mascot, "Bill the goat" had been painted Air Force blue.

We also enjoyed time with Merrilee blowing bubbles, and sitting outside on the patio just visiting.

Uncle Jim gave Merrilee some T-ball lessons too!

Scenes From Mommy's Promotion

As we mentioned in an earlier blog, mommy promotion ceremony was Thursday. She is now officially a Lt. Colonel. The ceremony took place at the Defense Information school at Ft. Meade.

Rev. Mark Waddell, the pastor of Catonsville Unitd Methodist Church, offered the invocation.

Lt. Col. Will Manley, the Deputy Commandant of DINFOS, introduced the guest speaker.

Col. King Gillespie has been a mentor to mommy for most of her military career. He was the guest speaker, and he also administered the oath of office.

Mommy's uncle and aunt, Jim and Judy Brady, flew in from Arkansas and helped "pin on" her new rank.

After taking the oath and pinning on her new rank, mommy said a few words, and had some special gifts for those who took part in the ceremony. The sweetest moment was when she presented Merrilee with her first "big girl" wrist corsage.

A few other special people were there to witness the promotion -- our friend and neighbor, Sharon Jones, and our friend and Vietnam vet, Al Parsons.

Lt. Col. Beth Miller. We are all so proud of you!

A Portrait

Merrilee's mommy had her official promotion ceremony on Thursday. She's now a Lt. Colonel. We're hoping to have a little video of that up soon.

Mommy works at the Defense Information School at Ft. Meade. It's where all of the military folks train to become public affairs officers. They learn many, many skills -- from writing press releases, to photography, broadcasting and the graphic arts.

There are many, many talented instructors there. One of them is Jason Shipp. As a present for daddy, mommy had Jason draw this sketch of our family.

Daddy didn't get to meet Jason, but he did get to meet Jason's mom and brother. They are a terrific family, and this sketch will be treasured for years to come!

Thank you Jason!