From July 30th, to August 19th Alex was in SERE School. This was the longest amount of time we have been apart with ZERO communication, no emails, no phone calls, texts or even letters, thankfully the time went by quickly for both of us! The weather during the three weeks was very stormy! It rained and poured and there was plenty of thunder and lightning, on the bright side, the weather wasn't painfully humid and hot like it normally would be!
SERE stands for Survive, Evade, Resist and Escape. Details are not allowed to be talked about, and this training is Top Secret. Before he left, instructors are allowed to tell the wives and families that our soldiers are hit and are sent out in the woods and will most likely have to go without food. Alex came home 10lbs. lighter, but, I am happy to report that he was not sent home with bruises!
While Alex was away, I was able to get together with other Aviation spouses just about every night! It was a lot of fun getting to know some other wives- we are all so different from eachother and come from all different parts of the country, so it's been great making new friends!
Something fun the wives of SERE students get to do is put together "SERE bags" for the soldiers when they graduate. Our FRG group decided we wanted to make sugar cookies shaped like helicopters in addition to other snack-type foods that are in their care bags.
Our cookies with camoflauge marshmellow fondant!
Aviation Spouses and Children :)
60 SERE bags all packed and ready to go!
The day finally came when we were all reunited with our husbands! It was so nice to have them home and safe!
Our banner!
Alex with some of his friends; Dave (Reynolds) grew a mustache!
Petey, Richard and Jay all looking slimmer!
Happy Reunions! Alex was on the 2nd bus, so I was able to snap a few pictures of our friends before he arrived, although I was getting so anxious to see him!
The Best, Softest Sugar Cookie:
1 1/2 c. Crisco
1/2 c. margerine
1c. sugar (plus more for sugar cookie coating)
1 c. powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 c. flour
In large mixer, Cream together the crisco, sugar, powdered sugar. Add eggs one at a a time. Mix in vanilla. In separate bowl, combine the cream of tartar, salt, baking soda and flour. Slowly add to creamed mixture. Use cookie scoop to mold round shaped cookies, then using the bottom of a moist cup, dip the end into granulated sugar and press onto cookie (this should coat the cookie with sugar)
Bake @ 350 for 8-10 minutes. Use cream cheese frosting to frost the cookies. Add sprinkles if desired.
Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is at SERE school right now, and comes home in 3 days. I think I'm more of a wreck about him coming home then leaving because I hear people talking about how their husbands come home with nightmares, and don't want to be touched, and all of that. Your photos look like they came home happy so that is reassuring. I don't know ANYONE who's husband is there right now. I didn't receive any information, no one talked to me about it, no one has said anything about welcoming them back, so these few weeks has been harder on me than any of the deployments so far! Is there anything I should know on their return, or your husband just came back like everything was normal? Also, how did you know what time they'd be back?
Hi! I'm sorry you don't know anyone else that is going through this with you! Are you at Fort Rucker? I know SERE is very tough, but once your soldier is home he will have learned some great survival skills! I think the worst part is the unknown. My husband didn't have nightmares and we didn't sleep in separate beds or anything like that, but I know everyone responds differently. Are you in touch with the FRG at all? I know when my husband left we had a time and place where we would welcome them back, and when you're husband has completed SERE he should be able to have the use of a phone! I wish you a happy reunion!:-)
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