the budge's

some more pics of william

2010-08-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

well, i noticed that i had quite a few new pictures of william that meagan and others have sent me while i have been out here in AFG. so, i thought it would be a good idea if i posted some of them so that those who pay attention could see how much he has grown. he will be 1 in two weeks. man he grew up fast. at least i will get to be home for his birthday. thank goodness for that. it is about time. i am ready to be home.

pics of william

2010-08-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

pictures of william

2010-08-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

a few more pics...

2010-08-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

we are nearing the end of our stay at this camp and i thought i might post some more pictures before we leave. there really isn't much to take pictures of inside the camps...but we don't really want to go outside the wire either, so...i really need to get more pictures of people...

this is of me and ron chappell. the country stud from salina, tx.
this is james kamau from kenya. he is an awesome guy...and an afghani. he drove the truck in the back of the picture with all of our material on it. didn't get his name, but got is picture.

this is the famous pizzaria of camp stone. this is an italian base, primarily, so they have a little pizza place. it is pretty good. i had to get a picture.

another site, another day

2010-08-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

well, here we go again. i have recently moved on to the next camp. this camp is really nice. well, still, i like the last one better. but, the nice thing about this camp is that it is several degrees cooler than everywhere else. about 10 to 15 degrees cooler actually. and there is a cool breeze that blows through constantly. that is awesome! got a few more pictures that i thought anyone that is paying attention might like to see.

the door to narnia...or afghanistan

how would you like that for a towing fee, instead of cash. can you do 25 pushups?

an afghanistan gas station

this is the russian "bone yard." a bunch of their old, broken aircraft.

one of Daddy's trips to Afghanistan...

2010-08-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

well, it's daddy budge's turn. meagan really hasn't had time to keep up with this. william has gotten sooo big. he is nearly walking now. the last time there was post on this, william couldn't even really sit up on his own. he can now...and a lot more. he might even be running by the time i get back. unfortunately, i am in afghanistan currently and totally missing out on all of william's firsts. i missed out on his crawling, walking, and even teeth. lame. i don't believe in facebook, so i figured i might as well keep up on this when i get a chance. so, i have some pictures from my first and now my second trip to AFG. pretty cool.

this shows the cooperation on the base i am at currently, from front to back, the flags are Afghanistan, Georgian, and the US.
This is the mayor of Delaram's compound....uh yeah.

Sleepover with Amy and MIna!

2010-02-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

Amy and Mina spent the night a few weeks ago because that night Jennifer came to pick up Levi, and I was also making Cheesy Chicken Casserole, which I hadn't made in a long time because I made it so much when we first got married that we got tired of it. Amy let Mina try some of it, and she absolutely loved it. She ate so much, and she looked so cute doing it!

She made a big mess:)

We gave her a bath while Amy went to the store to get Skookie ingredients. When I poured water on her head it made her hair look so funny, like it was painted on. She makes us laugh so hard!

We put them in William's crib to play. William is just learning how to sit up. He's not as good as Mina, but he's really trying.

Mina likes to take William's toys.

He rally wishes he could sit up!!!

They are so cute together:)

Mina flaunting her skills in front of William. She doesn't need to sit in a bouncer to stand up by herself. I wish Amy and Dru didn't have to move because I really want our kids to grow up together. We'll just have to take many road trips:) At least I can take a lot of pictures while they are here, and enjoy the time we do have together before they leave Texas.

The Stockyards!!!

2010-02-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

So my cousin Laurie and her 5 kids just moved to Texas after living in Utah their whole lives. Stephane and I wanted them to experience some real Texas fun, so we planned a trip for the stockyards. Even though it was freezing cold that night, we had soo much fun.

Stephane had to keep William inside his coat the whole time. He was able to vaguely experience what it feels like to be pregnant:)

Our little family.

Stephane really wants to be a cowboy baby! And they are both soo cute wearing those hats!

The lovely Jorgensen family. Love them!

Laurie was entertaining William with a bowl, and he loved it. He loves trying to grab anything and everything.

Mina is soo cute. She didn't really like wearing the balloon hat, but she looks adorable in it.

The whole gang outside the candy shop, our favorite place there.

The stockyards at night. It was so pretty. I think everyone had a good time. Some rode the mechanical bull, and some did the human maze. We would've gone to the rodeo, but it started at 8 p.m. and that's too late for us. We're old and go to bed early, but we really enjoyed ourselves!

William Can Roll Over!

2010-01-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

William had been trying to roll over for weeks and had actually been successful on our bed a couple of times, but this was the first time he had done it on the floor for all to see! He's such a talented little guy. He was 3 months and 1 week old. We're so pleased with the little guy.

Wrangler and William

2009-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

Before William was born, Stephane and I were worried how Wrangler would react to having a baby around. Heelers are known to be protective and we heard a story about one attacking a baby because it was "hitting" his mom. Luckily, we picked the perfect pooch. Wrangler loves William. The other day William was laying in his Boppy on the couch when wrangler walks by, licks William's hand, and keeps walking. We call it a "drive by kiss". Wrangler does a lot of those. When he is in the car with us and William is crying, he will lick William's face to try and make him feel better. It's so sweet to watch, even though William sometimes doesn't like. lol. I can't wait for William to get bigger so he can play, run, and maybe even ride Wrangler! They're going to be the best of friends:-)

New life

2009-12-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well we're finally in our own house now, and it's great. We did already flood the kitchen and living room after only being in it for 4 days, but it's all fixed now:) William and Wrangler both have their own rooms. Wrangler even has his own TV, which we'll be letting Dru borrow while they're living down here. Speaking of Amy and Dru, I am SOO excited for them to be moving down here in about a week and a half! I can't wait for William to play with Mina, since he's finally bigger than the first time Mina was here. And he's staying up much longer, and smiling, and finally laughing!!! I love my little baby boy, and I love Christmas time. We have our Tree up and all decorated with presents underneath. William loves staring at the tree when it's all lit up. It'll be William's first Christmas, and I'm going to take a lot of Pictures. I'm trying to be better at taking more pictures like Amy does. I just need to learn how to put pictures from the camera onto the computer. Now I need to go play with William:)

William's First Bath (he didn't like it)

2009-09-30T16:51:00.001-07:00

William James Budge

2009-09-16T17:40:00.001-07:00

Well, we have a little bundle of joy at home that we welcomed into our world on the 13th of September at 1931 in the evening. His name is William James Budge, or Liam for short. He weighed 7 pounds and 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. As much as we wanted him here, nothing could have prepared us for life with a newborn. No matter how much advice we received, or how many classes we took, nothing really prepares you for the riggers of raising a newborn. We love him very much and are very happy to have worked out several of the kinks in keeping him happy and healthy. Welcome to the family little one!

This is Liam in his going home outfit.

This is Liam the first time we had him in the room with us.

san antonio

2009-08-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

so, with the help of Meagan's parents, we took a trip to san antonio this week. we only spent one night there, but it was worth it. we had one inspection to do in killeen so we thought, hey what they heck, lets just go all the way to san antonio and make a trip out of it. we only have so many more days to do stuff like that, what with the baby coming and all. so we did. we got there later in the evening so the first thing we did, because it is much cooler at night, was the riverwalk boat tour. it was fun. then we had dinner at the oldest restaraunt on the river, the casa rio, which was some of the best mexican i have ever had. there salsa is sooooo good. we stayed at the crocket hotel, which is right across the street from the alamo. litterally, we looked out our window and there was the alamo.

we visited the alamo first thing in the morning. not much to it. the grounds are gorgeous. but the alamo as a whole was just kinda.... anyway. we couldn't figure out what to do after that. we were going to try and go to the zoo, but meagan can't be on her feet for very long, and it was getting really hot. so we went to the wax musem instead and got wax hands. it was a lot cooler than i thought it was going to be. some of them looked real. and others, not so much. but pretty cool. we took more video than pictures, so we only have two to post. one is at the sign for the hotel and one is of the wax hands we got done. anyway, it was well worth it. we had fun.

the joys of life...and the not so joys of life...

2009-08-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

i am the kind of person that likes to exceed expectations. when i don't, i get really down on myself and depressed. and i always, always assume the worst in every situation. sometimes, that isn't such a bad thing, but it sure makes me feel like crap. and they only way that i think i can make up for it is to be given another chance to do better.

so, if anyone reads this that i have let down, i am truely sorry.

becoming a dad....

2009-08-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

what a roller coaster ride this whole ten months has been. granted we are still at nine and a few days, but to know that we are at NINE months and our son could be here in a few weeks is really something to take in. in the proclamation to the world; the family, published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it clearly outlines what we believe a father should be to his wife and kids. now that i have a wife and will soon have a child, the weight and responsibilities of fatherhood and husbandry are pressing down. being married was a whole different ball game than having a child. at least the person i was taking responsiblitity for could take care of herself if needs be. but our son will be totally helpless. i will have to provide for him and teach him how to be a better person than i am. i have to teach him the importance of living the gospel and staying close to the church. i have to teach him that the most important thing he will do in this life is to stay worthy to be married in the temple. what a daunting task. words cannot express the depth of my feelings of how awesome and overwhelming this seems. i love my wife. i love my son. and though i know things will be good and be bad at times. bring it on.

ok...now it is for real

2009-08-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

alright, facebook is no longer a part of my life. i think i much prefer this. i can control it much better than facebook. there aren't all these online apps that can be addicting and take away from my family and my life. this is a much more subtle and relaxed setting. much better. ahhhh. what a breathe of fresh air.

whew, no more facebook

2009-08-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

ok. i finally did it. i got rid of my facebook, account. ok not completely yet because i am waiting until the end of the day. but, i feel very liberated. getting my time priorities in order is a very good thing. i feel awesome!!! i will post some of the latest pics of our son on here a bit later, probably after i cut the ties to facebook for good. :)

pics of William James Budge

2009-04-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

So we have a few pics of William. The place we went to gave us 86 pictures of him and a dvd of our session. The DVD is like 30 minutes long so if you want to see that, you will have to ask and I will upload it.

late....again

2009-04-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

well, i tell you what, finding time to write on the blog is difficult. there is facebook to look after, and work to do, and books to read, and a wife with a bun in the oven to look after. and meagan hasn't quite caught the blog bug yet.

we are waiting for new insurance to kick in so that we can go see our baby doctor down here, and meagan is getting ancy to see the baby. we found a few places around here that will give us 3d and 4d packages several weeks apart for fairly cheap. we are going to try one soon. probably this week. when we get those, we will post some of the pics here so you can see. yes, you too grandpa. ;)

Moving Again

2009-02-11T16:25:00.001-08:00

well, its true. the rumors have been floating for a while now and its time to come out. Meagan and I will be moving back to Texas on the 6th of March. her Dad is trying to get to Iraq to work on the drone aircraft and has asked me to help keep his contracts alive while he is gone.

our married life has been short so far, but we have experienced a lot already. we have already had to move once, though i wouldn't say we are pro's now. we are very excited to be going "home". a large part of this desicion was about our child (or children ;) i think we are having two). we want our kids to grow up around their grandparents. that and it is cheaper to live in texas. sorry utah, but its true.

we will miss the friends we have made here, the johnson's and the proper's and seth and the fagan's and the fuller's and the higginson's and the ratanawan's and ratsapasith's, and many many many more. i will miss the mountains, but Meagan probably won't miss anything. she isn't too fond of the mountains or the weather....especially the weather. i guess it doesn't help that she is pregnant either. ;) i love you sweetie.

Let Property Settle Smoking Disputes

2009-01-27T09:30:00.001-08:00

Let Property Settle Smoking Disputes

Posted using ShareThis

...we have an announcment...

2009-01-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

well....we have an announcement to make. we found out a few weeks ago, but haven't had the time to get on here and let everyone else know, other than immediate family...and some extended family. Meagan is expecting. she is now six weeks along. estimated date of arrival is Sept 27th...says the doc. i say it will probably be sooner. but yeah. we will have more on this later. EXCITED!!!!

The Time is Now

2008-12-12T13:33:00.001-08:00

I have recently been enlightened as to what the governments rights
really are with regards to the constitution, and have been shocked to
discover how our politicians have been leading us down the road to
socialism. Shocked and appalled. I have done a lot of research into
economic history, especially of the last century, and its trends with
what has worked and what hasn't. The constant theme is that
centralization doesn't work.

The biggest difference I have noticed between the US and countries
like Russia and the countries of the former Iron Curtain, with regards
to centralization, is how well our politicians have masked it. They
have, in a most despicable manner, twisted and distorted their efforts
to make it seem as though they are striving for freedom, though what
we are getting is socialism.

I understand the emotional drive to want to help people the way
socialists want to help people, but let me decide to help when I want
to help. Making me help is taking away my divine right of free
agency, and when I say divine may that phrase apply to whatever faith
is yours.

I, for one, am not interested in being forced to do something good.
It takes the value out of it. What do I gain from being forced to do
good? None.

I have put much thought into what I can do as a person, as a loyal
citizen and a patriot of freedom and liberty, to stop this socialist
trend. The media in general is very biased and has sided with the
"oligarcs" of the US. My one little voice isn't loud enough. There
has to be something we can do. We need to band together. Thomas
Jefferson said that every generation should have its own revolution.
I think that we are long overdue.

We have got to do. We have talked long enough. Since the great
thinkers of von Mises and Hayek, who predicted this downfall, we have
been talking. We have sat on the sidelines and been "the
peacekeeprs". The "non-offenders" and in turn have been abused. It
is time we fight, and I mean literally, fight for our freedoms and our
liberty's, for our ability to do as we wish. We need to get back to
what this country was originally founded for. Enough talk. Do it.

way past due

2008-12-11T13:12:00.001-08:00

well, you know what i realized? i realized that i used to keep up on this thing way better than i do. i would write at least once a month and post pics and everything. speaking of posting pics, i have some of meagan and i when we went to temple square to see the lights. we got some good picutres, not a lot though. we also saw the joseph smith movie in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. it was meagan's first time to see it and we both cried. i love that movie though. fantastic.

i just wanted to give another shout out to the google group that i started. you know, i never really realized what the governments rights were and what kind of power they were actually supposed to have until i actually sat down and read the constitution. we are being played for fools, the vast majority of americans, mostly because we just take it for granted that the government is doing what is in "our", meaning we the citizens, best interest, when in actuality it is in the best interest of those in power, politicians and businessmen alike. our situation is very similiar to, but not as obvious as, the russians during the cold war. after gorbachev resigned and the ussr was through, a more free government, democracy or a republic, which ever you choose, was trying to form. the only way that freedom was ever going to be had in russia, was with a tricky and rather unfortunate necessity of the government selling its many state controlled business to private owners. from the time that gorbachev left office until this happened, there were very few entrepreneurs who actually did well, due to the ever present pressure of communist forces still thriving in russia. it ended up turning their free market and economy into a gangster controller oligarcy, of which they are still suffering from today.

in our situation, the government has done a much better job of putting a pleasing facade ontop of what is actually going on, but it is essentially the same thing. our liberties and our control over our own country and economy is being syphoned slowly and very cleverly away by greedy politicians and big businessmen, who are creating laws to meet their own lusts and keep the entrepreneurs at bay. posted in that group are many articles written by modern day intellectuals who follow after the thoughts and ideas of the greats like von Mises and Hayek. check it out. maybe you will learn something.

The Education of America

2008-12-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

well, i have been trying to get this group out and noticed, but not having much luck. so i decided i would put this on my blog to get more notice. here is the address:

http://groups.google.com/group/the-education-of-america

this group is open. join if you wish. just stick to the topics. see you there.

2008-10-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

well, my little brother is a marine. this is a picture on the day before his informal graduation. my dad took it and sent out this awesome email telling us about family day. very touching. and they will have a video up soon too. we love you, Remi.

...so....WE GOT A DOG!!!!

2008-10-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

that's right. you heard me. we got a dog. we went and picked it up from the North Utah Valley Animal Shelter yesterday and he is awesome!!! he is a red heeler pure, we think. we aren't sure about that one. he was in the shelter for two weeks when we found him. he was the most mild mannered dog in the whole place and we fell in love with him. we still haven't heard him bark. he is very quite, and we like that. we decided to post some pics for all to see, though they aren't the greatest.

meagan hates this thing...

2008-09-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

this is meagan posting, and i hate this. i really don't like doing stuff like this but my husband makes me. so, we are in utah now. got done with the open house in texas which was fun, but very tiring. the drive was freakin long.

and just so you all know, i really love my husband. :) and we will get pics up here as soon as we can we have been way busy. love ya tons.

...well...

2008-08-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

well, it has been quite a while. i was talking to grandpa duncan yesterday and he asked me why i hadn't posted in a while....well....it could have been that i have been really busy at work, maybe because i have no internet at my house...or maybe the fact that meagan and i finally got married on the 16th of august. sadly, i was going to work the monday after we got married, cause our honeymoon is this next week. they are going to let me go negative in pto so that we can spend a week on our honeymoon in so cal. i was trying to do the honorable thing, but they forced me to stay home... ;). they were going to send me home anyway. and mike told me to stay home. my wife was happy. :)

so yeah, we have been married for a couple of weeks now, and it is pretty good. i think we are both enjoying ourselves. we still have a lot to do as far as wedding stuff goes. we still have the honeymoon this next week and then an open house in texas on the 13th...and we are driving. that is going to be one heck of a short, but long, trip. it will be nice to spend some time in texas after having been away for a while, but the trip will blow.

we have almost 1600 pics of the wedding and reception and we will post some when we get some time. we love you all. wish us the best... :)

...finally...

2008-06-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

so meagan finally got here on sunday and i tell you what, it is so nice to have her back. she is extremely sad that she had to leave her family, but excited to start a new one.

we are getting a lot done for the house too. meagan and her parents brought up her car (the one she is allowed to drive) the 78 beamer, and a whole bunch of my stuff too. i thought that i had more stuff than i do....and i do....because not all of it made it up. the important stuff did....minus pots and pans....and flatware. but i can survive until august with what i have at the house. i mean they brought up a ton, of which i am very grateful for. the house is starting to look lived in. it still needs a bit of cleaning on the outside and still needs to be mopped in spots on the inside, but other than that, we can live in it now. uncle jeff and aunt dev have given us a bunch of stuff too, namely a dresser and a really comfortable chair. i love that chair.

the hard part is that we still can't spend as much together as we did when we were in texas and so close. she lives in taylorsville with aunt dev and uncle jeff, and i am in orem at the house, and gas isn't cheap. i filled up today at 3.89 a gallon. flexfuel here i come. or a toyota or something. toyota will most definately be the next car i get...it will be meagan's car...a 4runner. anyway. yeah.

tonight i get to start on the invitations. :) they are coming slowly but surely.

...life alone...

2008-06-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

well, just so ya'll know, meagan and i have been separated for two weeks now. i moved back up to utah on the 25th of may. i made it in one day. that was incredible. i was so happy that i did it too. it was good. anyway. so i left on the 25th and haven't seen meagan since then, though we talk on the phone everyday and last night we talked for over 5 hours. (good thing free nights and weekends and we are on the same carrier) talking on the phone is great and much better than not being able to talk like some of our soldiers in iraq who can't talk to their families for weeks at a time sometimes. don't get me wrong, i love the fact that we talk all of the time. i just hate not being able to see her or be with her.

meagan's dad was in the military and gone all the time too on tours and missions and what not.

my parents were apart from each other for months on end a couple of times during their marriage. my dad was in haiti and my mom was in colorado with the kids finishing up school. my dad was in bosnia and kosovo and iraq and my mom was in the states taking care of the kids. i don't know how they did it. meagan and i aren't even married yet and it sucks just for three weeks. i don't ever want to be separated like this again. it is way too hard and would, i am assuming, be much harder if we were already married. this was most of our discussion this last week, so i thought that i would throw that out there. for those who are in love but thinking about being apart for any length of time for whatever reason, don't do it unless it is absolutely necessary.

i guess as further updates, as i already mentioned i am back in utah already. i left early because i committed to the company i work for, directpointe, that i would be in utah on the 26th and ready for work. when i committed this, i didn't know meagan. so it just had to work out this way. she had to finish up somethings back home before she could move out here and that is why she is still in texas.

me coming earlier than meagan was a good for a couple of reasons (other than being separated which really is not fun). a couple of my goals were to find a house for us, get a place booked for our reception, etc. well, so far it has worked out well. i have already found a house for us which i will be moving into by the end of the month. we just happened upon it on my first day back, memorial day. i was over at my foster brother's house doing the barbeque thing and he had a couple of his neighbors over as well. one of them lives two lots down from him. the lot is for sale but it has two houses on it that the landlord rents for real cheap, utilities included. we are renting a house to ourselves for 350 a month. all we have to pay for is propane...and i have to maintain the lot. but it is a nice place. on the inside, it looks and feels like a cabin and on the outside there is greenery gallor. it is soo cool. it is like we live in our own little forest. pretty sweet. i will post some pics after i get it all cleaned up and working like it is supposed to. no one has been living in this particular house for a few months so it was a bit messy.

and all of the wedding stuff is falling into place too. we have a lot of good ideas that will be cheap but still look really classy and elegant. we are very excited for that. and announcements will be out soon. some of them would be out already but i forgot my printer and some other things when i moved up, so meagan is bringing them with her so we can get started on those. ok. thats it for now. be ready for those pics. :)

Engagement Photos

2008-05-28T18:46:00.001-07:00

hey ya'll. we finally took our engagement photos. we went to the japanese gardens in the botanical gardens in fort worth really early in the morning, got the early bird discount and there was hardly anyone there so we got to take some good pictures. unfortunately, the camera we were using didn't have a very big memory card in it, so we didn't take as many as we would have liked, but here are our favorites. the first will be our in our announcement. the others are just cool. enjoy!

Dru and Amy's Wedding

2008-05-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from Dru and Amy's Wedding. It was an awesome day for them as well as for Stephane and I. Well, the day and late evening were good for us. The day because we got to share in Dru and Amy's wedding. We spent almost all day with them. All the way up until they left the reception. And the night because Stephane proposed to me that night. :D But, this post is about Dru and Amy. Our time will come later. The first three are ones that Stephane doctored. The first is the best. Congrats Dru and Amy!!

This is Britny (cousin) and Marina (Dru's sister)

The Mom's

Karen is Dru's Mom and Janene is Amy's Mom

The Folks

Jim (or Pops to Stephane), Janene, Amy, Dru, Karen, Mark

Mark and Dru

Breklyn (cousin), Me, and Aunt Dev (Jim's Sister)

Breklyn, Marina, Me, Amy, Whitlee (our sister), Alaine (Dru's other sister), and Britny

Breklyn, Me, Amy, Whitlee, Britny

The Grandparents

Janene, Grandpa, Amy, Grandma, Jim

The Extended Fam

Aunt Dev, Grandpa, Amy, Grandma

Our Family

Me, Dad, Amy, Mom, Whitlee

This is everyone that are already part of the family (hence why Stephane isn't in it).

Me, Whitlee, Ricardo(is Nicole, my other sister's husband), Dad, Mom, Amy, Dru, Karen, Mark, Mike (is Alaine's Husband), Alaine, Marina