My Marine Monday

I know the picture is old, and blurry - but for some reason I love it

I took Karate for some years, eventually earning my brown belt, and so I look at his fighting stance and the position of his hands, and I am just digging it!

The latest is that LCpl Catmull has received his duty station assignment!

Camp Pendleton, CA

We couldn't be happier!!!  It was the best case scenario that we have been praying for!  And, to make things better, he is assigned to a non-deployable unit!  What does that mean?  That for now, he will not be deployed.  With the military, that means very little since they can do whatever they want with their people, and once he is married, it kind of takes away his single parent status and then makes deployment more reasonable so that is always out there as a possible, but for now - we will rejoice in the fact that he will be close to home, and will be sticking around for awhile.

He and his darling Karalee are getting married June 17th, so we will all be heading out to San Diego for the beach wedding.  They are then working on being sealed in the LDS temple a year later.  Great goals for them.

What does this mean for Chloee?

Transition.  We are working closely with her therapist.  The therapist has determined that she is very bonded with us, in particular me and so the transition will need to be slow and on Chloee's terms.  Weekends with me there.  Next, weekends without me.  Then longer spans of time.  If she gets too stressed or displays signs of stress, we back off to her former comfort level and try again slower.

How long will this take?  I have no idea.  It will be up to how Chloee does.  She needs to leave behind not just the one and only stable home she's ever known, but her school, her primary friends, extended family and her other grandparents.  It is a transition from all of these things. 

The thing in her favor?  She is young and kids are resilient.

The hurdle for her?  Until Christmas, it's been documented at how unstable her life was.  Counting it all up, she moved 9 times before May of 2010.  That's a lot of moving around, different bedrooms, different people in her home.  The therapist mentioned that is whole lot of instability that can affect what the ultimate goal is.

The bottom line?  Corbin, Karalee, Splenda and I are all committed to making at smooth as possible.  Being patient and taking things on her timetable.

Back to my Marine - we are INCREDIBLY proud of him.  Beyond words proud.  It's amazing how he isn't even the same kid that left MEPS last August.  In such a short period of time, he has become and is still becoming an amazing, amazing man.

We skyped on Sunday, and spent an hour with Chloee reading him every one of her Challenger books.  Showing him her whipcream face and talking about how Daddy will be working for the Marine's in California.

I think of all the awesome things he will be doing to make sure that his 'brothers' who do get deployed have safe and well functioning arms.  His job is important, and I respect him so much for choosing a job that would enable him to do his part in the war on terror and keeping America safe.

Very much to be proud of him - our LCpl !

Semper Fi