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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Yay! Email from Phil!

So far he is doing great and keeping extremely busy. He sounds very excited about the work they are getting ready to do! They are currently on a British FOB (forward operating base), here is a little of what he has to say about the food:

[It] is a british FOB, and has a british DFAC with this Dutch chef, no joke. We are only allowed to eat there once a week, otherwise it's just the crappy Army tent DFAC (rations cooked in mass in boilers). It's like a fine dining restaurant at the british place: everything is freshly made, bread and pastries and desserts baked daily. You are only allowed to take one meat item, and as many sides as you want. For dinner on Friday (our company's day), I had a lamb chop and potato gniocci (pasta) in this tomato basil sauce. It was ridiculously good.

He also gave me a mailing address, so if you like you can start sending packages, letters, etc.

Philip Ambrose

Headquarters/557 En Co/864 En Bn

APO AE 09355

Because they have many missions and will likely be on the move quite a bit, the best things to send right now are things that are consumable and won't need to be packed up and moved or are very easy to pack up and move.

  • snacks
  • baked goods*
  • good coffee (already ground)
  • tissues, wet wipes
  • single use items
  • things he can share with his soldiers

Please keep in mind the season and do not send things that could melt or be destroyed sitting in the hot sun. Letters and cards from home are especially heartening.

*for baked goods to make the journey successfully they must be packaged carefully. Cookies and other things that could crumble should be put in plastic or tin containers that seal. Putting a slice of bread in with the cookies is a good way to keep them soft. Keep in mind it will take 7-14 days for him to recieve anything and it will likely sit in the sun for a few of those days. I have hear vacuum sealers are fantastic for keeping baked goods fresh, though I have yet to try it.

As for Nora and I we are doing great and keeping busy. Next week we will travel home (to Clarkston) to attend Kathy's bridal shower! Thankfully we will be riding with Terry and Mike (and Allie), so Nora and I won't have to make the 7 hour journey alone.

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