We got a phone call this afternoon around 5:00. We were both home so we were pretty happy about that! Elly sounds good and had lots to share. She was "selected" to be the Chow Runner for her group. We looked that up on line. It is not a good job for sure. It was interesting to read what others had to say about it. She is no longer doing this - which is good.

She is now an Element Leader for her dorm. There is one dorm chief and four element leaders. We looked that up too. (The internet is amazing!) If anyone else has done this, feel free to let us know your experiences. She says there are probably about 40 or 50 girls in her flight.

She also told us she is in the Band Flight. It is a brass and percussion band. She thinks she will play the cymbols. She said the marching is going ok. Her band teacher from high school prepared her for this - he also yelled a lot and was never happy so they had to redo and redo things.

They are up every day at 4:45 a.m. Maybe her Caribou Coffee Shop days should have prepared her for this, but she didn't sound to happy to start her days so early! (Can't say we blame her.)

Elly also said that they were given M-16 and A2's - trainer models. They don't fire but they are the same weight.

They did their first 3 mile run yesterday. She ran the entire way but it was not easy, not that we thought it was! They will do it again on Sunday or Monday.

She has gotten some mail and that made her happy - they must have come in plain, white, boring envelopes. She was also allowed to write to us but they haven't earned the privilege of mailing letters yet. We bought small white envelopes for her before she left. Her training officer said that only long white envelopes could be used so she bought some on base.

Thanks to everyone who is writing to her and praying for her!