Lost tooth!

M looks so different since losing his last tooth! Had to give you a close-up view!

A very happy memory!

Our favorite family memories are from this cabin that my grandfather built, we will get there again my dear!

Settling in

I am not as good at blogging as I thought I would be. When I first thought of blogging, I had envisioned myself recording all of the important moments of each day, so you would not miss a thing. It was going to be my way of keeping you in our lives, the best way I can. In the beginning of this deployment there was maybe a little bit of a high, awestruck that we were actually doing this, and making it just fine. It was a sense of victory. I am to a point where that has quickly worn off and has been replaced with the aching sense of our loss. Loss you say? Yes, temporary thank goodness, but a loss. Your absence is felt so keenly and it no longer feels like you are just away for a while from us. Your absence feels like a gaping hole in our lives. I know you are lonely on your end too, maybe that just makes it harder. And so I don't blog as often, because it is difficult to express what I am feeling and going through and yet it is impossible to act like everything is "normal". I am always afraid I will do *THIS*! Unloading! I am so good at it! I sometimes wish I could be the type of person that rides through the storms of life with a steadfast gaze straight ahead, focused on the journey's end. Instead, the rockiness disturbs my very being and does not let me rest inside. I have been watching the news and seeing the reports of the many mortar and rocket attacks on the Green Zone where you live. It brings me to a place I don't often have to go, a place where you dare to hope for the best outcome possible, and at the same time you fear the worst. A constant struggle to want to control your destiny and then offering that up to His plan in trust. A place where I offer you and your life completely to God. And so my faithful blog readers, we ask for your continued prayers for strength, peace and perserverance.

I do want to take the time to thank all of the wonderful people who continue to show their support and love for us, your care means so much to us! Starting with Famous Dave's restaurant in Waukesha, what a treat it was to come and eat for free! That is something my children rarely do (eat out!)and so they were very excited! It was good to meet a neighbor Beth Von Rueden who provided a meal for us, so yummy! She motivated me to start walking again after hearing she is training for a race!

Noelle Tessmer provided a delicious meal the night I went out with friends and that was a huge help! Noelle, I appreciate you taking the time especially when you must have been so busy with the preparations for the expectation of your newest little one! The children enjoyed the meal and I was so grateful I did not have to prepare anything before going out! Thank you Noelle, I hope to meet you someday! Jean Pritchard sent a delicious meal we thought tasted like breakfast burritos (which we love) and so all was pleased with that, thank you so much Jean!

Our faithful neighbors the Schoepkes came through for us again to watch the children so I could accept an award for Mark that was a distance away. I came back to their place to find all five children (I had taken P) asleep on the floor. They told me to go home and rest and upon their advice I even slept in and had a good cup of coffee while I read the newspaper, ALL TO MYSELF! Well, o.k. I did have P, but when your downsizing from 6 to 1 it felt pretty darn close to being completely alone! :) A huge thank you to Ellen Schlosser for helping me out with an outfit for the event and watching the children so I could run numerous errands again, ALONE! This time completely alone!:) Signing off with just a couple of pics from around the house..

Here is the new kitchen set we got for the two girl's birthday's, they love it!

Things are warming up!!

Or should I say they were. Yesterday it was in the 70's and today was in the 40's-50's, tomorrow there may even be snow! UGHH! Oh well, I appreciate just being able to get out more and take a couple of walks, just breathing fresh air is nice! I know you are not seeing a whole lot of green out where you are so I took a couple of pictures of things around the yard that are blooming. I love watching the new growth come out of the old, it is such a perfect art!

The woods looked fantastic this spring!






A leaf bud on the lilac bush, this week it already opened and is covered with leaves

At Play

I took a couple of the children enjoying the outdoors today!

Having so much fun with the neighbors











I know she looks ridiculous, but here she is calling out to everybody that they had better come and get her. She will not walk on the grass yet, so funny!


Bernadette to the rescue!






While the others were outside J was in practicing, she promises I will be able to get some more shots of her soon!

My Birthday!!

I am so touched by all of you that remembered my birthday, it truly was one of the best B-days I have ever had!! I was first greeted in the morning with a Happy B-day phone call from Mark ( a wonderful way to start the day!). A couple of hours later someone came to the door with the largest bouquet of long stem red roses that I have ever seen from Mark. I took a picture, but it sure did not do it justice, it was too difficult to actually get it all in the picture! If you imagine our kitchen table Mark, they took up almost the whole length! Those flowers kept me smiling all day!

Later on in the evening the Mercy mom's treated me to a night out at Bravo's! What a wonderful treat! They had presents and a wonderful cake made by Kate Gehrig with four layers of chocolate ganache, yum! And if that wasn't enough A. Wichgers babysat and Julie Swielik and Mary Schmidt provided a meal for the children so I wouldn't have to think of that! WOW! They honestly thought of every detail, we are so blessed by our Mercy family!! I am including a picture of some tulips they brought for the tables that I got to take home. A huge thank you to all of you for making my birthday one of great joy! I will post some pictures of the evening as soon as I get them from some of the ladies! :)

Can you believe it, she's ONE!!!

I am a little behind in taking these, but today it was snowing, *yes, snowing* outside and so I decided to play with the studio lights a bit. We had a wonderful party for P and C last weekend with family. I was so grateful to have everyone there to make it feel special for them. All of the children are a gift but I have to say having a little one around during this difficult time is such an incredible gift! As A said during night prayers the other night:

"... and God thank you for our baby that makes us laugh and laugh and laugh. We love her so much!"

out of the mouths of babes...Thank you God!

Just a note, she is so proud of this tutu! She walks around holding it and loves it when people say she is cute in it! In the middle of taking her pictures with the cake she waddled over to me and gave me a big "mahh" kiss, I love that girl!









We broke out the bubbles here, unfortunately one got in front of her face!

A thank you from Mary!

O.k. now it is my turn! I have had a great week with the mail! I have always enjoyed getting snail mail, but up until the deployment pretty much all of the mail came for Mark (go figure). This week was full of presents that came in the mail in the form of gift cards and such from different people! To the Schmidts, Kolbs, Churchills, and Schmitzers, it will be used well, thank you!!!

I have a very sincere thank you to Marie Wycklendt for giving selflessly of her time and watching the children so I can could get out with the ladies. You are a dear! And to your whole family, we loved the cheeseburger casserole! It was a real hit here! Thank you again!

I received a wonderful meal from Mary Ann Hanson and besides that an incredible bunch of tulips, sooo pretty! Thank you so much for everything Mary Ann!

And last but not least, thank you to all of my wonderful friends who pitched in to take me out to the Melting Pot on Monday, I had such a wonderful time! It sure was on a day that I needed a little break from everything and seeing all of you lifted my spirits so much! I am so blessed with incredible friends and family!

A thank you from Mark!

Some of you may have seen this already, but in case you missed it, here is a thank you from Mark to all of you who have helped us out!


A Letter from Mark Gundrum

Dear Friends,


Hope all is going well back in beautiful Wisconsin. My wife has kept me informed of what a challenging winter it has been. But for a few sandstorms, the weather here in Iraq has been tolerable thus far, though it did hit 100 degrees earlier this week. I am sure I will be very envious of Wisconsin weather come summer.

I have been in Iraq for about a month and a half now. Serving our country in this capacity is one of the greatest honors an American can experience. My work is primarily focused on helping the rule of law take hold and, hopefully, one day thrive in Iraq. Because of my background in the state legislature and local government, I have also been plugged in a fair amount on Iraqi governance matters as well. Earlier this week, we convoyed into downtown Baghdad for a committee meeting of the Baghdad Provincial Council (a near-equivalent to our state legislature).

Most of my time is spent in Baghdad, though I did make a site visit to Mosul for several days to assess the extent to which the rule of law is taking hold there. We convoyed into town for some insightful meetings with local Iraqi judges, the police chief, and the jail administrator. Because al-Qaida in Iraq and insurgents are still very active in Mosul, we always had to make these visits unannounced and keep them efficient and fairly brief.

America and Iraq are at such an important crossroads for the future right now. There have been so many encouraging improvements in conditions over the past year in Iraq. The Iraqi Army and police force have begun picking up more of the security responsibilities that used to fall on Coalition shoulders alone. The national governing bodies - the Council of Representatives and Presidency Council, as well as the provincial governing bodies - like the Baghdad Provincial Council, have begun functioning like governing bodies in other more established democracies. Similarly, many Iraqi judges and other actors in the criminal justice system here are beginning to demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law. It is exciting to see decisions being made by Iraqi officials based on debate, persuasion, justice, and a commitment to doing what is right, instead of out of fear for personal or family safety - as was the case for more than three decades under Saddam Hussein's regime and even just a year ago when terrorists and insurgents controlled portions of Iraq.

But things must be kept in perspective. There are many forces within (and some outside of) this country still actively committed to undermining a free and sovereign Iraq. Mortar and rocket attacks, car bombs, IEDs, suicide bombers, snipers, etc., attacking innocent Iraqis and American troops are still a very real part of life here. Corruption is still a concern throughout much of Iraq's government to a greater extent than in most other, more established democracies. And fear, though less than perhaps at anytime in the last few decades, is still a concern for honest, upright government officials here. That's why we are at such a crossroads.

The next several months will be quite telling. This is the time when Iraqis, from the policeman on the street to the shopkeeper on the corner to the highest government official, must take full responsibility for their sovereignty and freedom and make the sacrifices necessary to make it their own and make it permanent.

While here, I have been privileged to work with some amazing American patriots. So many wear a uniform - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Many are not servicemembers, but are civilian government employees and contractors who have volunteered to come to Iraq because they too want to serve their country in this capacity. Many of these servicemembers and civilians have made tremendous sacrifices to come here and do their part for our country.

America is so great and strong, however, not just because there are servicemembers willing to go to far off lands to fight for our country - but because other great Americans - the ones who are back at home, also step up to the plate and do their part by supporting servicemembers while deployed. That is something my family has been very blessed to experience first-hand over the past few months.

Thank you to all those who have helped clear our driveway during one of the worst winters ever, who have made meals for my family - so my wife could use that time to tend to the needs of our six children, who have bought groceries for our family, watched the children in times of need, and have helped in so many, many other ways.

Please remember to pray for the military spouses and children left behind when a loved one goes off to serve. It takes a significant toll on the family. Though many months of my deployment still remain, for my family that toll has been lessened substantially thanks to the great generosity of so many wonderful friends, family and neighbors. Other servicemembers may not be so fortunate. If you know someone who is deployed, please consider offering to help their family in some small way. The impact it makes for that family and the peace of mind it helps provide the servicemember serving overseas is substantial.

Once again, my family and I wish to say 'Thank You' for all the support we have received during these initial months of my deployment.

Mark Gundrum


The comments herein represent only the opinions of the author and are in no way meant to represent the views of the United States government or the military.

signs of spring

Thought you might enjoy seeing some snow drops from our woods. We have had so many of these this year, a definite sign of spring! I also thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of what you were doing around this time last year. Remember when you saw M working so hard on his golfing and you ran out to show him how to do it better? I am so glad I captured that moment!

You had better watch out!!!!

After reading the letter you sent to A, he was really intrigued by the idea that you said you were afraid he might be so strong by the time you came back that you might get hurt when he hugs you. The rest of the evening he was checking out his muscles in the mirror and asking me if I thought he was strong. He kept me laughing inside all night long. Today he asked if we could take some pictures to show you how much his muscles grew (sooo boy!). You better watch out honey, he has set some serious strengthening goals!











O.K., I guess there is still a soft side to him left. He simply can't resist his sister! She is so into giving kisses lately!