Saint Augustine:

Founded in 1565, Saint Augustine is the oldest continuously settled city established by Europeans in the continental United States. It's a whopping 10 square miles (2 of which are water)...but it is full of history.

Here are the boys in the car on the way!
Ok for some reason- I really love this picture of Becka...

Crazy twirly hall way that made you feel like you were going to fall over! This was at Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Hayden wasn't really liking the dinosaur so much...

On the Trolly

Potter's Wax Museum

More Trolly

Sleep over for the boys!!

At the airport in Jacksonville waiting to go home. :(

I fear it will be too long before we can snap a picture of us in this silly pose again.

Beck, thanks so much for letting Joshy and I come crash at your place! We really did have a blast and we can't wait to do it again!

Pictures of Tyler!!!

A huge spider. I'm just glad it's not a camel spider... it's not, right??

First rain.... in a long time....

I'm pretty sure because of the womens clothing that this picture is from the last time they went to Bartolla. (the Christian city) There aren't near as many pictures from this visit as there was last time they went.

a really big bug.... yuck.

Sometimes along with the pictures Ty sends, he also includes a picture of us that he's been looking at quite a bit. I guess I don't remember this one, but the looks of it- this was taken right before he left for Iraq last December. What a great picture, huh? :) Poor Josh wasn't expecting it...

Trunk-or-Treat:

Hello from not-so-sunny Florida!!!

Josh and I are having a blast here at Becka and Mike's house. Josh and Hayden became fast friends and Becka and I just picked up where we left off! It's like we see each other every day! (well, we kinda do, thanks to the webcam... but you know what I mean...)

Here are some pictures from the Trunk-or-Treat last night!

Awww, our monkeys. :)

...Just getting Becka back for that lovely picture she posted of me on her blog... ;)

Oh, and LOOK! I found Spongebob's house! Who knew he relocated to Jacksonville?? This tree in front of Mike's parents house just looks like a giant pineapple to me...

And here's my friend, Lynn. We've become friends through couponing and she's in Becka's ward, I got to meet her today! What fun!

So, that's it for now. We were going to the beach yesterday, but it was too yucky outside. Tomorrow though, we're planning on running down to St. Augustine for a trolly tour. It should be fun! The boys will love the ride!!

I'll update again soon,

Kelly. :)

*REMINDER*REMINDER*REMINDER*

Tomorrow, Saturday October 25th is the LAST day to send packages to Tyler for him to be able to take them to Bartolla!

Please be sure to send ALL packages off tomorrow!!
Thank you!!!!
Kelly.

Thanks to everyone!

I needed to get on here and say thanks, after hearing of the huge response this has gotten. It's really overwhelming and I am trying to prepare myself for how much stuff is on its way. Kelly is such a great person and it's awesome to see how many friends she has that really care about what is going on. I wish I could say more than just thank you, but words don't cut it. It broke my heart when people were asking me to help them and all I could do was give the little bit of candy I had in my pocket. These people are good people and will be so incredibly grateful for everything you're doing. Thank you!

I got the "ALL-CLEAR" from Tyler!!!

Hey everyone, I talked to Tyler last night and this morning about what we're all doing for Bartolla, he is so excited!! He thinks it's incredible that we have so many people willing to help these families and it just means so much to him.

He did give me some important information, it sounds like they have set aside an entire connex container for these packages! And I have a slightly different address for everyone to send the packages... If you have already sent packages, that's fine- but any more that you send needs to be addressed to the following:

SPC Tyler E. Adams
C/O Chaplain CPT Pratel
HHC, 1-8 IN BN
UNIT # 43179
APO AE 09334

Please, if you have posted this information on your blog, or emailed people with the address to send, please please update that information so everyone has the correct mailing address now.

Tyler also said that they need to put a deadline on this thing so it doesn't continue after they come home in a few months, in fear that no one will be able to organize it like they will.

Please send your packages no later than Saturday, October 25th. With this date, they will have all the boxes by the middle of November and be able to take them to Bartolla and start organizing distribution. Tyler also promised me that he will take pictures so I can post them here and on Babycenter for you all to see what good you're doing.

I asked Tyler what Sgt Briggs and Chaplain CPT Pratel did when he told them what they were in for, he laughed and said that their faces looked shocked but that soon was replaced with gratitude and excitement.

Thank you all very much for your support and enthusiasm. This is such an amazing experience, and an incredible way to end Tyler's deployment!

Kelly.

Update to add: Thanks Shaney, for this great information!!!
If you go www.usps.com and do click and print you can save .45 cents per package. Sign in and add the address to the address book. You choose united states to ship and enter the address just like any other US address. I am doing a drive here and sending flyers out asking for donations and also money that will be used for supplies and shipping:) Good luck to all and God bless! Happy Shipping.



UPDATE! Shipping Day 2:

Here's Joshy, coloring pictures (and himself) to contribute to our boxes today! We filled another 5!!

And here he is, after his bath- getting ready to take them to the post office!!

Tyler is asking for help:

I received an email from Tyler this morning- He's asking for help, and this means so much to us, I want to post it here also and see how many people I can get to help us out.
As some know, by talking to me or just by watching the news, the Christians in Mosul are in trouble.. On the speakers that surround the Mosques, instead of the regular prayers being recited every 5 hours, now there are warnings to any and all Christians the leave the city or be killed.
Tyler went back to the Christian city Bartolla, that neighbors Mosul. The same city he visited a couple of months ago when he was overwhelmed with the feelings of hope, love and gratitude they had for the US soldiers.
The city has changed. Drastically. Most Christians from Mosul have now gone there to get away from the persecution and murderers in Mosul. There are multiple families per home, and they're running out of food, clothing, and medical supplies.
Read Tyler's email below:

Hey Kell,
We got back kind of early today, so I hope to get to bed at a decent time to get more than 4 hours of sleep. I can't wait to get this stuff over with. I got Sgt. Pittman to replace me on Saturday so I can have all night to get courses done instead of 3-4 hours. Good stuff hopefully.
Hey babe...you remember how I told you about the christian refugees here? There are getting more and more and they are running out of stuff. Can you talk to the ward on Sunday and see if they can send over some clothes for the kids and regular stuff that these people could use? They have nothing and it sucks. The families that are taking care of them right now are broke themselves, so yeah it's bad. Also, run it by your dad and see what he thinks. If the packages are sent to me, then we can get the stuff out there that same day or the day after it arrives.
Just see what they say.
I love you. I better get going.
I love ya,Ty

Just to refresh your memory, here is something I posted a couple of months ago about these same people he has become such good friends with. Link Here: Monday, August 25, 2008
Some pictures from Ty.

At any post office, you can ask for Flat Rate Boxes. To send the largest size box, no matter the weight, it's only $10.95. If you can, get a couple of these and just fill it with stuff you don't need at home. Old clothing that your kids have grown out of, unused tooth brushes, unused tooth paste, band aids, canned goods, even seeds for planting, just anything. This would be an incredible way for you to have a family project and have your kids understand how important it is to give. Show them the pictures of these families here on my blog, the link to the pictures is posted above. Have them draw pictures- and even stick some colored paper and crayons in the boxes as well.
Anything you send will help more than you could ever imagine. If you send a box, 1, 2, 3.. post below. Let's see how many we can get over there.
Please send the boxes to Tyler.

His address is:

SPC Tyler E. Adams
HHC, 1-8 IN BN
UNIT # 43179
APO AE 09334

Also, if you want to post this or a link to this blog post on your blog to get more help, please do.

Want to see what my other amazing friends are doing to help? Follow this link:

Click Here.

UPDATE: Joshy and I spent a large part of today going through his room and old clothes! So far we filled 5 boxes of just his old stuff he said was "OK" to send to Daddy to help other kids. Augh. I love my kid. :)

And now we're off to the post office! :)