Dear Friends and Family
Once again, it’s that time of year when you wish you’d have moved and “forgotten” to give me your new address. I suppose you can always stick this letter back in the envelope, and mark it “return to sender”. In any case, now you have a New Year’s Resolution already picked out, right?
This year has been one of the least boring to date. I usually start by telling you about the youngest members of the family first… This year we have a new arrival on the way – and the doctor said after the last ultrasound it’s 90% likely to be a boy. I told him that it’s 90% likely that this baby will likely be his supreme dictator in about 40 years, but he just stared at me blankly.
Regardless, there’s a greater than 90% chance that we don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl – we’re just ecstatic to have a baby on the way after five years of waiting. We are trying to come up with new names, but nothing seems to be working for us. Becca likes family names – I like names related to the Army. I submitted for Becca’s review the following names: Colt (like the Colt M4 carbine), Ranger, Creighton (as in the General Creighton Abrams, for whom the M1A1 and M1A2 series battle tank is named), Browning (as in the M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun)… Somehow, I don’t think she’s on board with any of those.
Anyways, Eli is showing Machiavellian ruthlessness at an early age, by teaming up with me against his mom. On a daily basis, he clarifies this in front of the entire family – “Dad, we’re allies against mom – I’m on YOUR side, right?” Usually I can’t reply because I’m so choked up, and my eyes are brimming with tears – so we just tackle Becca to the ground and Eli bites her toes until she gives up.
Eli’s goals of world domination have taken a twist now that he has an unforeseen sibling in his future. Rather than “weeding out the weak”, he intends to mentor his younger brother (90% chance that it won’t be a sister) in the ways of ruling with an iron fist. Likewise, they can focus on different areas of dictatorship – Eli will concern himself primarily with the impending Zombie Threat, and little “Knox” (as in Fort Knox, Kentucky – home of the 15th Cavalry Regiment) will concern himself with determining whether pirates or ninjas constitute a greater threat to their dominion. (FYI, it’s ninjas, and the best way to fight off zombies is to get to a second floor of a building, and block the stairs).
Becca has been enjoying having her own house – it’s about time too. When we consider that Eli has attended three elementary schools and he’s only in the first grade, and he’s lived in seven different apartments/homes over the last seven years… It’s about time we settled down. Becca has been a trooper, keeping herself and Eli together until I was able to safely return from Afghanistan, and then putting up with me as I adjusted to being back home again.
We’ve been living in our new (to us) home in Bountiful since the middle of September, and have loved it. It’s a strange thing to go from living in relatively austere conditions that require body armor and gun, to living the “cushy” life we enjoy here in the United States. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to serve our country, and grateful to be back home again. Somehow, every day is a little bit sweeter now.
We hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and that you can fully enjoy this coming year with your families.
Love,
The Broughs
