i (heart) my boots

My Winter Work Boots
I slip them on and am immediately transported back…

Back to muddy mornings with arms full of hay
stomping through manure like Godzilla
heedless of where each foot lands
knowing I’m invincible.
Kicking ice out of buckets, kicking open gates,
and kicking memories out of frozen earth molded to a horseshoe.

Back to cold days when my nose felt red as I slide on the bridle.
I use the nearest stool, whether it be a hill, a tree , a trailer, or the hitch off the bumper.
I have to go bareback, my feet won’t fit in the stirrups,
His hide is overgrown - thick and itchy.
Each hoof breaks the thin crust covering the soft under-belly of winter.
My cheeks prick with icy hot glitter floating in the rays of the sun.

I wear them now, on different terrain
excited to show off my country fortitude in the city
almost smelling the earthy pasture scent of muck
almost feeling the scratch of a stray piece of hay in the lining
still feeling invincible as I traverse the parking lot
and stomp heartily into the store to buy some milk and eggs.
by Kristen Inman
December 18, 2008


I posted this on my Inmanclan blog, but wanted to share it with you as well, and I don't know how often you get to my blog:-)

Hello from Konar

Hello from the Konar area of Afghanistan. Normally I don't get to post because I usually only check e-mail on Govt. computers, but today I am using the MWR at FOB Fortress. We're out on a mission right now, doing what you ask. Well you should know better than to ask because I can't say, but it's nice to be out of BAF for a while. Bad timing for this mission though because I think I'll miss Steve when he comes to BAF to go on R&R, that sucks! Anyway I actually thought I was signing into the Inman clan blog so I could comment on the picture of Enoch in the vest. I love it, what a great picture. I love all you guys and wish I could be there to see everyone at Christmas.

change in less than an hour

This is the 'before' pic. Tawny asked me to take her hair back to all brown and cut it, she did her own bangs. Cute!

Update on Steve

About 3 weeks ago Steve and his troop left Terwa and have finally met up with their brothers in arms at Gardez, where they will stay. He is excited to have indoor plumbing and heat! Squadron immediately stole Steve away from 3rd Platoon and he is now the Battle Operations NCO. This is a MUCH safer job, so we can all relax a little. He'll be working a regular schedule of 12 hours/day every day, yep, that's right, not a single day off. He is the go-between for the soldiers out in the field and the higher-ups who make the calls. He will be indoors and be doing a lot of reports and such. He's not thrilled with the job, but he is glad that it will be less stressful for all of us.

The only change in the address is instead of B-Trp, it should be HHT.
So it will look like this:
SSG Marrott, Steven R.
HHT, 1-61 CAV
FOB Gardez
TF Currahee
APO AE 09354

He should be leaving in about a month or maybe less for his R and R. And we are excited that we might be able to spend our 13th anniversary and Christmas together if the timing works out. It is looking like he will come home for good sometime in April.

Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support!
~Sheralan

Happy Birthday Becky!

We'll have to do some new pics next month now that Enoch is so much bigger:-)

Happy B-day Sheralan!!

This was just a fun picture! Miss you!
Love, K

a day at the park

In anticipation for our yearly Christmas Newsletter we started the picture process yesterday. We went to a beautiful park that's about 1/4 mile from our house. After the pictures were taken the kids took Enoch and Danni down to the playground. Bill and I sat on the hill overlooking our children running around and playing with each other. We realized that these times are becoming more sparse as the children grow. Next year David will be on his mission, the year after Tawny starts college (and she's NOT staying here- says she) David will come home, and Harrison will be leaving for college, then the twins...all so quickly. We knew this would happen having those five so close together, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly. Anyway I wanted to share some fun pictures from yesterday with you!