My kid is SO cool

So, I got a picture FINALLY! He has tried to tell me they have no where to develop a picture in Afghanistan. And no place to mail it. Come on.
Anyhow, their email is really crappy too so when this came through, I was thrilled!! He looks so good. He also sent a nice letter to the ward. Really impressive for him. He got a package from our Young Women and he said it made his whole week! The ward is making a plaque for him just like the missionaries. It will say Operation Enduring Freedom and have this picture. It will also have the young men and women's theme scripture for the year. Joshua 1:9 He felt like this scripture fits him perfectly.
So the most recent news is that he found out that the will be coming home in January for his leave. January 27th - February 11th he will be home and safe and we are so happy.
Thanks again for all of your support and letters. He loves to get mail. They leave it on his bed so that when he comes in from a long mission day, he can find love from home. Nothing better for sure. I have made a couple of amendments to his address, so I will update it again.

PFC Moore, Macade
118th Sapper Company
FOB Salerno, Afghanistan
APO AE 09314

Double check to make sure you have it right. Thanks again.

Governors Day

So, yesterday I spent the day up at Rice Eccles Stadium with our FRG leaders doing some fundraising at Governors Day. I think we made money and did well. Macades good friend, (I call him Cades babysitter), got awarded soldier of the year. That was fun. I took our photo and sent it to Cade. It was a miracle I found him in that mess of soldiers. Anyone in the Air or Army Guard was there. They literally fill up the whole field when they get in formation. Amazing to see actually. They flew over 6 Apaches and a C-130. It's always cool for me anyway. So right about the time they were getting started, I get a call from Cade. He sounded so happy! He had got the chance to play gunner and as much as I hate the idea, he was so giddy about it. He also has been doing recovery. Which means he is going out to recover vehicles that have been hit or broken down. He took charge of a situation the other day and received praise by the 1st Lieutenant and was pretty excited about that too. He is to be promoted to Specialist next month. He also told me about getting out of his big ol mean lookin truck and talking to the people. You know, people always say they fall in love with the people from their missions? Well, he is no different. He loves the people. He got to talk for quite some time with an Afghani kid about his own age. He says he is making a difference. This is exactly the answer to my prayers that he will see the good in being there and not just the bad.
So, speaking of bad... if you only want to hear the good, here is where you click the little X in the top right corner....
They have already had some incidences where their machinery has had a chance to prove it works. Macade is FINE. I have spoken to him several times and he is OK. I have found out more about there notification process and the news is unfortunate. Info is slow coming. And if it comes from Macade, which is preferable, it is very vague. He cannot say much at all except to let us know that he is fine. I do not know if he was involved in the latest incident, but with several missed calls to me and finally getting through to Sterling, it is my guess that he was there. Again, he is fine.
This was not the first incident and it most definitely won't be the last. They are very busy and working sometimes more than 14 hours a day. Please keep him and his "family" in your prayers. And please keep sending letters. Some of these soldiers will keep letters they get with them all day. In a day when email is certainly easier, sometimes it is the good old fashioned letter that is appreciated the most. He also loves pictures! Thanks again for being so great. We take great comfort in knowing we have wonderful family and friends to support us through this difficult time.

Warning

Hey all. Hope everyone is doing well. I haven't spoken to Cade since Sunday, but he warned me he would be working so no biggie. Sterling got to talk with him yesterday and he says he is fine.
So, we got a phone call last night from a group claiming to donate money to homeless veterans. Sterling, in a fit of compassion for veterans given our current affairs, began to give them a credit card number. Luckily, he got a bad feeling about it when he heard laughing and such in the background. (Sounded like a party). He immediately hung up before finishing his number and called the Orem police and his cc company.
So, the moral of this story is... Don't give your cc info to anyone over the phone! We don't know if they were even legitimate. But a reputable company would never ask for that info over the phone or they would have some other way of billing you.
At all my Army meetings, we have been told to not let people prey on our emotional state. People will search out those with family serving and abuse the situation. Sterling and I feel like somehow they knew that we had a loved one out and it wouldn't take much to convince us to donate.
Now, I have donated to such organizations as the USO. I wasn't convinced that it would make a difference at first, but the first phone call we got from Cade was provided by the USO. They do hound you for more donations once you have given, but to me, that is a worthwhile charity. Once again, I would never give them my info over the phone.
So, beware of those that are heartless. Especially during the holidays.
Thanks for all your support. Our family feels your prayers on our behalf.

Doing good in the neighborhood

That is the post on Macades on Skype. He gave me a little call this morning and I loved it. He is doing good. As usual, he wanted me to tell everyone hi and that he is doing fine.
A couple of things stood out when I spoke with him. We talked a bit about the preacher that wants to burn Kurans and I wish that preacher could've heard my son. He told me he hoped that he didn't do that. I wish I could write word for word what he said, but he said it would ruin their goal of "hearts and minds". There is more to this than a few words, but I am not sure what I can write. It was touching to hear my soldier tell me this would only hurt their mission.
Another thing he said was "Mama, this would really suck if I wasn't having so much fun." I felt a bit better when he said that and I hope it also eases a few of your minds somewhat. My boy loves being a soldier. He loves his army family. He loves our country. He loves all of you.

First Mission

Macade went on his first mission! He wasn't able to tell me anything but he showed me some pictures. He is anxious to get to work. If he isn't working he is bored. Thanks to yomega they have some sweet yo yo's to play with and I am trying to get Sportcraft to send a badminton set. He sounds and looks good. Aunt Di was able to skype with him on Labor Day and that was fun. He had helmet head. He is loving getting some mail. Please don't forget him.

Yomega rocks

OK friends and family. There are still good people out there willing to give to a good cause. I have been wanting to send fun packages to Macade once a month or so and have been trying to think of cool things. Macade LOVES to yo yo! (Thanks to Kris B and friend.) And he has been wowing his fellow troops with tricks for some time. So I decided to see if Yomega would donate to their troop. Well they came through!! Macade received a whole box full of yo yo's to share. It turns out Yomega's CEO is former military! So everyone go out and buy some Yomega's and show them we love those that donate to our troops!
We love Yomega!!!
http://www.yomega.com/
ps Macade is now getting mail and hungry for more.

PFC Moore, Macade
118th Sapper Company
FOB Salerno, Afghanistan
APO AE 09314

This address just requires normal postage.

My boy!

Skyped with my boy tonight! He looks good and sounds great. He is hard at work already. He was able to get internet just in time to Skype Skyler for his birthday. Although it was a gift to us all. He has his own little room that he says he will send pics of soon. He has not received any mail yet. I am not sure why not, but if you want to send him packages, you may want to wait until I get word that he is getting his mail. I started sending letters at least 3 weeks ago. So, I will wait to send anything more than letters. If I get word of a different address, I will post it. For now, we are just happy to see his face and hear his voice and know that he is fine. He is doing some Facebooking if that is a good way for anyone to keep in touch with him. Thanks everyone for your support of our son!