I just want all my family and friends to know that I am married to a saint. She is so awesome. She is my best friend. In about two weeks I will be getting on the big jet in the sky and heading over to an unknown world that only a select few of us have ever experienced. I hate to leave my family for a whole year but it comes with part of the job that I hold at this moment in time. This will be the fourth time that I have left my wife and family. It will be the third time that I have left for a full year. I know that each time that I leave it is not so easy for her because then she has to become not only the mother but also the father. So right now I want to send a shout out to my wife for being the wonderful person that she is and for supporting me in all that I have done in my career. I want everyone to remember my family in their thoughts and prayers. If it was not for my wife and kids I could not do what I do. I know that they will be protected while I am away and that everything will be taken care. I know also that I will be safe overseas and that in one year will have the biggest party of the year. I will return home safe and sound. There will be one more entry by me here in the states before I leave and then I will turn the reigns over to my wife. Thanks for all the support.

Our Life

Well it has been a while since we have been on updating our blog and their has been many things that have happened in our lives and some of you are wondering what they are. Well I am going to take the next few pages and tell you what has happened in our life since our last entry. I believe the last entry was of my playing soccer on my battalion team. After that I left in May for California to go to Fort Irwin to train up for my future deployment. The family stayed in Missouri where the kids finished up school and Andrea continued to work. While I was gone to California the Kids got out of school and started their summer. The training went well. My platoon had a rough start of it but in the end we showed the first infantry division that we are meant to be there. We ended up coming out on top and to this day the command at Fort Irwin are still talking about how successful we were. In June I returned home to Missouri where summer was in full swing. When I returned I hit the ground running for some more training. Long days and even longer nights. The kids were enjoying their summer spending time with their friends. In July I started Protective Services Training. Exciting stuff. Learned some great driving tips in this school and got to shoot some awesome firearms. Loved every bit of this school. Wish all military schools were like this one. Graduated from school on the 31st of July 2009 and prepared my family for a much needed vacation. On the 6th of August 2009 My family and I left at Midnight to travel to Utah to visit my family. Along our route we were going to travel through some interesting states and see some awesome sights. Or so we thought. I80 west is really desolate and there really is nothing to see along that route. The kids did get to see some pronghorn antelope. That was exciting. Finally made it to Utah. Once we entered into Utah we still had a long way to travel. Finally at 9:30 at night we made it safe and sound to My cousin Cristy's house. I did get us lost and finally broke down and called Cristy for better directions. Such a guy. I called only after I made the wife mad. So there you have it. We had a wonderful visit with all my uncles and aunts, grandparents and even my mother and brother. It was nice to see everyone. My girls even got there hair done by my favorite sister-in-law Nicole Erickson. Thanks Nicole and nice job. My brother Eli came into town and we got a chance to visit with him. On Thursday the 13th of August 2009 my mom organized a big lunch with all my family on the Julian side and we had lunch at IHOP. My grandpa and grandma Julian were there along with aunt Beth and Jo Ann, and aunt flossy and uncle Walter, Crystal came along with Ieda (don't know if that is how you spell it sorry), Nathan's wife, and David, Nathan's step son, Tina, lance's wife, and her children and of course Cristy along with her family. Nicole and her two girls came along with my mom and Kaleb. We even had an appearance by my cousin Jessica and her husband Parker came too. Thanks again to all my family for coming to lunch with me. After lunch a few of us returned to my grandparents house where my grandfather standing in for my father gave me a beautiful fathers blessing. Thanks Grandpa it meant the world to me. It was fun seeing all my family up in Utah and visiting with my mom. But like all fun it must end at some point. We left Utah on Saturday the 15th of August 2009. We traveled up Spanish fork Canyon and I got to show my kids where I had hunted when I was younger. The I70 east was a much more scenic route until you get to Kansas then it is desolate. We stopped in Limon, Colorado and stayed the night. We ended up getting home on Sunday the 16th of August, 2009 at around 7 at night. It was a fun trip and we enjoyed all the family that we saw in Utah. We want to thank Cristy and her family for allowing us to stay at there house and be able to know her family better. Thanks Cristy. Hope all our readers enjoy this entry. After having gone to Utah we realize that there are quite a bit of family and friends that follow our blog. I am also uploading some pictures with this entry so enjoy.

Yes I know that many of our readers have been waiting for the next installment of the Missouri Erickson family and what exciting adventures are waiting for them this summer. For those of you that don't know it already or haven't heard Karl is getting deployed this September. He will be heading back to the Middle East to fight for our freedom. But this time instead of doing the normal Military Police mission he is going to be doing PSD. For those of you that don't know what that is it stands for Personal Security Detail. Basically he will be a body guard for a general or some one high up there. Our family will be staying here during the year that Karl is away. Next week on the 13th of May Karl will be leaving Missouri and heading to Fort Riley and then onto Fort Irwin, California where he will be playing war for 30 days. Karl will fly from Fort Leonard wood, Missouri in a Chinook to Fort Riley, Kansas and then from there on a 737 jet. So it should be a fun filled trip all the way to California. For the past month Karl has been going back to his younger days and started playing on the Battallion Soccer team. They have played all of 6 games and only lost one time. I have been out to see him and let me tell you he is very good. Last Monday they played a game against the Marine Detachment here on Fort Leonard Wood and let me tell you it was a very frustrating game for Karl. The other players on the team would not stay in there position and would not pass the ball. They lost that game by a lot. Basically they got there buts kicked. Karl has been enjoying every minute of it. Over the weekend he finally bought him some cleats. They arrived on this last Tuesday. Karl was so excited to finally have some cleats so he can stop slippin and sliding all over the field. It has been a joy to watch him play. Karl's next game is Monday the 11th of May. So wish him luck.

Well two days ago Andrea went in to have her Gall Bladder removed. She is doing fine. Just a little sore. Well the same day Crystal came home all in a fuss crying and carrying on. She stated that she had been suspended for five days. So after a call to the school we found out that Crystal was suspended for five days over something stupid. We told the school what had truly happened but they don't care. So Andrea and Crystal on Friday decided that they were going to go to Wal Mart to get Crystal's hair cut. I was shocked when I came home. Well then Jennifer started carrying on about how she wanted her hair cut. So this morning, the last day of February, we woke up at 7 and decided to take the family to Ryan's for breakfast and then onto Wal Mart to get Jennifer's hair cut. So we finished our breakfast and headed onto Wal Mart to chop, yes I said chop, off Jennifer's hair. So the rest of the morning I spent at Wal Mart waiting on the girls to get done. Well as we were at Wal Mart it started to snow. But it was not just some snow flurries this was down right snow that was coming down. So as we sat in Wal Mart the snow just kept on coming and coming until it was a white out. The local people said that as they were traveling upto Springfield they had to turn around and come home. As we left to head home the snow was so bad that in several places I had spinned out. To get up our road was a chore. But we made it and are now stuck in our house until the snow clears. It does not show any sign of letting up. The weatherman says it will last until Monday. So we will see. Regardless of the weather Wal Mart was still busy. Well wish us luck with all this snow. I hope all of you are well. I want to send a shout out to my sister Tina. She just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. CONGRATULATIONS TINA AND MIKE!!!! Hope you all enjoy the pics. We will have to send some more. Love you all.

Snow Days

Well today is the first ice storm of the year. Last night Karl got the call from his work that he would not have PT but would have to be in at 9. Also the kids got the call that there would be no school. I still had to go to work. So my morning started at 5. I woke up and got ready for work. I gave Karl a kiss good bye and left for work. At 5:30 am Karl got the call from his squad leader that only essential personnell would be going into work. So since he is off the law enforcement mission for awhile that means he got a snow day from work. So you know what that means, SLEEPING IN. Well at 11:00 a.m. the commissary closed down and I came home. So it has been snowing off and on all day. So the kids and the dogs have been outside in the snow. The kids have been sledding with their friends and freezing. The whole post was shut down today. The General sent all the civilians home. Karl has taken on a big project on his off time. He has been working on the sequel to Marshmallow Mafia. He has been hard at work. He plans on starting the filming this weekend, if the weather holds out. He is hoping for good weather this weekend. So pray for warmer weather for us.

Weather

Well for the past couple days it has been really cold. The wind chill has been below zero and standing outside or doing PT in the elements you feel like your face is going to fall off. Life here keeps going on. My job is still as sucky as it ever has been. It seems that every time I turn around I am getting chewed out for something. Andrea seems to really enjoy her job just hates all the drama that come along with it. Everyday is a different day. Sometimes I want to just get out and then other days I want to stay in until the economy improves. I am greatful for the things that the Lord has blessed me with. I am greatful for a beautiful lady and three wonderful kids that keep me young. I hope to hear from everyone soon.

Visit From The parents

Well Prior to Christmas last year The Erickson Family from California made the long journey out to Fort Leonard wood to visit the Ericksons in the army. While here we visited Lamberts restaurant, went to see "Bolt", and made a movie called "Marshmallow Mafia" all in 4 days. I was exhausted after that weekend. But you know we had a blast with the family. It was fun to see the family and catch up on old times. Well it is getting cold here. The windchill here is below zero and on top of that it snowed yesterday. No white christmas but it is getting redonkulously cold out here.

Hello World

Well we thought that we would join the millions of people and also our family and start a blog of our own. Although we can't be high tech like Mike and Tina and host this blog on our own server at home we thought our family would like to hear about our adventures and see our family instead of dreaming about a visit. We don't have the money or the time to take off and spend a month with our family in California. So we will just have to settle for keeping in touch through the internet and this blog.