Bouquet of Flowers

Here's what Nicole & Kevin made for me. Nicole picked the flowers & Kevin tied them together. Later, Nicole placed them in this brown bowl. How sweet are they?...

Home at Last

Even though we were tired, we all got up early on Saturday morning. Megan was especially excited. She couldn't wait to go pick Charlie up from the kennel. As you can see, Charlie was sooooo happy to be reunited with Megan. In the picture above, Charlie is on her back, waiting for Megan to rub her belly. Below, she can't get enough of Megan.

Below is a picture of Charlie looking FAT. Yeah, I think they might have over fed her at the kennel.

As Megan was trying to do some yard work (pull weeds), Charlie was still trying to play. Isn't she just cute?

We had so much to do when we got home, but it felt SO good to be home!

Abe's Boudin

This is one of the things Kevin COULDN'T wait to eat. Ewwwww........ BOUDIN!!!

You might ask, "What is boudin?" Boudin, is spicy Cajun sausage containing rice & meat (pork) or seafood. Kevin LOVES it, and the girls like it OK. Me?.....Well, it's all about the PRESENTATION to me; I really don't care to eat something that resembles a turd so much.

Above & below are pictures of Greg, who was working at Abe's that day. Greg was such a friendly and helpful person, and when he found out that we were not Louisiana natives, he offered to give us samples of the different types of boudin they sold. I passed on the samples, and purchased what I was there to get - just some regular boudin for Kevin.

When I gave Kevin the boudin, he was really touched that I drove over an hour to buy boudin from Abe's store and because I thought to get this special treat just for him while he was tied up in class at Fort Polk. I scored HUGE brownie points with the hubby that day! :)

Change of Responsibility

While we were at Fort Polk, Kevin was invited to attend a Change of Responsibility between two First Sergeants. One was relinquishing responsibility (1SG Stephens) of the 272nd Military Police Company and the other (MSG Gipson) was assuming responsibility as the 1SG.

There was something special about this Change of Responsibility special for Kevin. MSG Gipson was one of Kevin's young soldiers years & years ago; Kevin was his Platoon Sergeant ten years ago.

Below: The Change of Responsibility taking place.

Then, MSG Gipson, is pictured on the left, and 1SG Stephen is on the right.

1SG Stephens giving up the responsibility.

1SG Gipson taking on the responsibility of a First Sergeant.

Done deal!

...and so they march away.

Below: Kevin & 272nd's new First Sergean, 1SG Gipson.

Kevin & me after the Change of Responsibility. I accompanied Kevin, while the girls stayed back & relaxed.

We linked back up with the girls. Below, are Kevin & Nicole.

Kevin & Megan

Megan & me.

The girls & me.

Back in Time & Mexico Lindo

I took Kevin to his class at 0800 and decided that I would take my daily walk on Ft. Polk's golf course like I used to do years ago. How refreshing it was to walk the very familiar walk all over again. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, even at 0800. I think it was 69 degrees that morning. :D :D After my 6 mile walk, I went back to the hotel to meet the girls, shower, and later we went to ride in downtown Leesville, Louisiana and went to a few of the local stores. Soon enough, it was time to meet Kevin for lunch. We went back to Ft. Polk, picked Kevin up, and had lunch at the PX (Post Exchange). After lunch, we took Kevin back to class & then decided to do a little window shopping. While window shopping at Stage, I found something I did NOT expect to find at all; I found an old friend from college, Heather Castro. I was quite shocked & amazed to see her. We talked in the store for about 45 minutes, exchanged phone numbers and promised to look for each other on Facebook. Wow!....It was really good to see her and chit chat about old times. I went back to the hotel room feeling so happy. I couldn't wait to tell Kevin about bumping into my friend Heather.

When I picked Kevin up from school, we were all hungry & decided to go to Mexico Lindo for dinner. I was a bit disappointed because the food wasn't all that great. BUT, the company was fantastic! We sat outside, laughed, ate, drank our drinks, and had a wonderful time anyway.

Crawfish Boil - Easter Cajun Style

For Easter Dinner (actually lunch), we went to Uncle Paul's house. Here is what crawfish boils in Louisiana looks like. I have actually tried crawfish, and they were OK, but I really don't mind if I don't ever eat them again. I did, however, enjoy the yummy corn & red potatoes that were cooked with the crawfish & the HOT Louisiana spices. Ummmm...those were really yummy.

Since Paula, one of Kevin's cousins, doesn't eat crawfish either, Uncle Paul made some BBQ for us to enjoy. :)

OK, so my pictures are out of sequence, but here's how it all went down.

Below, is a picture of some of the crawfish as they were being purged. Yes, they have to be purged because otherwise, you might eat the dirt (mud) that they have in their bellies. Oh, I though the purging process was rather interesting. As you can see, they are in a cooler of water. They then poured LOTS and LOTS of salt into the water.

After they sat in the salted water, they purged & the water was drained. At that point, they were ready to be dropped into the pot of boiling water (which had hot Louisiana spices added to the water).

Oh....here are a couple of pictures of the girls playing with the crawfish.

Below: Megan & Kelsey

Below: John Paul (Paula, Kevin's cousin's, son) putting all the crawfish in one cooler.

Ahhh....checking out the crawfish.... They are so creepy; they remind me of scorpions!

Kevin, sampling a one of the first crawfish after the first batch was cooked.

Megan & a half a craw daddy!

Below: Kelsey

Below: Nicole

Below: The cooks...minus Uncle Paul

Kevin, Seth, Uncle Paul & John Paul

Below: Tim's baby (Blase), Savannah & Kelsey

John Paul & Blase

Savannah, Tim & Blase

Below: Mitch

Below: Aunt Earleen & Kevin

Below: Kevin's Cousins (Paula & Tinsey)

Below: Uncle Paul & Blase

Below: A very sweet couple - Mitch & Tinsey

Below: Everyone eating the crawfish. Notice that they don't use plates. Everyone just grabs, sucks & eats.

Kevin just COULDN'T wait to eat the craw daddies! It had been six years since he had been to a crawfish boil in Louisiana. Oh, and if you ask me, and he ate SIX year's worth of crawfish!!

Chowing down....