News from Pete

Peter reports that he has officially caught his first cold. The weather is beginning to change so, the nights are getting cold. Thankfully he already received the electric blanket from us. We have figured out that it only takes one week for a card to reach him and about two weeks for a package to get to him. That is FABULOUS!!!
This week he should be finding out if he will be transfered to a new base. There is some shifting of personnel going on and it is very likely that he will be moved to another base in Afghanistan. I'll be sure to let you know when he does move.
On Monday morning we were able to have our first web cam call. It was so wonderful to see his smiling face!!! The boys were excited to see daddy. He even played peek-a-boo with them and we blew many kisses back and forth. It was so nice not to have a time limit. We talked about silly things. We laughed and we cried. Hopefully we'll do it again tomorrow.
As far as what things Pete could use, the list may change once he gets transfered. We'll see. However, he did send me a wish list of DVDs. In case you didn't know, Pete is a movie buff. He loves old movies. So, just in case you have any of these movies hanging around your home that you would like to send to Pete, here is the list he sent:

Hey folks,

The following is a list of DVD's that I would to watch.

1. Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (Paul Neuman)

2. Khartoum (Charlton Heston)

3. The Long Hot Summer (Paul Neuman)

4. Touch of Evil (Charlton Heston)

5. Who Frame Roger Rabbit

6. Dr. Zhviago

7. Harper (Paul Neuman)

8. Fifty-five Days at Peking (Charlton Heston)

9. Sixteen Candles

10. 2001: A Space Odyssey

11. The Rack (Paul Neuman)

12. The Naked Jungle (Charlton Heston)

13. The Sandpebbles

14. Lawrence of Arabia

15. The World's Greatest Athlete (Disney)

16. The Compter Wore Tennis Shoes (Disney)

Thanks,

Peter

**Pete also enjoys listening to books on CD.***
I also wanted to add that Pete loves celebrating Halloween in a fun, festive way. We decorate the house and go trick-or-treating every year. I know he would love to receive fun cards or maybe small decorations (ones that he wouldn't feel bad about throwing away or giving away). Also, his favorite comic strip is the Peanuts. His favorite candy is Doves Milk Chocolate. Maybe now that the cold is settling in we can send him chocolate.

Thank you for reaching out to him and helping make his days there bearable.

Love to all,
Cristina

The WE in ME

In a recent conversation with my dear friend Sonia I was telling her all about the many people that help me out on a daily basis. Not a day has gone by without a friend or family member calling me, stopping by to visit or dropping off food. On one particular day mom was here at home with me spending time with the boys and helping me out with household chores. She stopped what she was doing and she said, "O.K. so what do WE have tomorrow?" I turned around to look at her and I just began crying. I thanked her for saying "WE." It is so nice to have someone with me who considers themselves a part of me-- together we make a WE. I knew that I wold not have to face the next day alone.

I never realized how much I enjoyed being a WE with Pete until I didn't have him around to help me with day to day stuff. Thankfully I can still rely on him to help me with decisions and advice. However, the day to day stuff is often difficult without a WE.

So, as I told Sonia about this realization and conversation with my mom I began to realize how many people are a part of my WE. All of you reading this are a part of my WE and many more who can't read this. Any one who has prayed for us is a part of my WE.

Thank you! Thank you for being a part of my WE. May God bless each of you abundantly for your prayers and sacrifices. May your families be blessed with much peace and love! Know that I am praying for each of you as well.

Love,
Cristina

Pete's Address and Wish List

Peter is finally settling in at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He would love to receive cards from people. His address is:
Peter Zakis
HHC 218th BCT
Camp Phoenix
Afghanistan
APO AE 09320

You can also reach him through e-mail at peterzakis@yahoo.com.
You can reach me at cristinazakis@yahoo.com

By the way, if you think you will be sending a package to Pete you can call the USPS at 800-610-8734 and request the "Military Kit." They will send you boxes, tape, address labels and the customs forms you will need.
He says Uncle Sam is taking good care of him so there is not much that he really needs. I will tell you that he does enjoy nuts like peanuts, cashews, almonds and walnuts. He also enjoys reading magazines about politics, the Catholic Religion, and fitness. He says he could use baby wipes to help keep things clean. Also, if you have any old movies on DVD that you can send him, he has his lap top and would love to have some movies to watch.

Right now Pete is working the night shift doing intelligence work. He says he is slowly getting into a routine. He has been able to call us each morning. He uses the international calling cards some times and then other times he uses a number the Army gave him which connects him to us for free for 15 minutes. We are all adjusting to this way of communicating and relating to one another. We save "technical talk" for e-mail and use phone time for personal/fun stuff. The boys enjoy listening to daddy on the phone. We hope to use the web cam soon.

Pete does have internet service in his room so he his able to check e-mail regularly. I have enjoyed sending him pictures and short videos of the boys. Thank God for our modern technology!

So many of you have written words of encouragement and offered to help out in so many ways. We truly appreciate your generosity and your prayers!
Love,
Peter, Cristina, Ricky and Paul

Peter is in Afghanistan

Hello to all! Well, Pete is now in Kabul, Afghanistan. We just found out that he will be staying on the main camp, Camp Phoenix. That is a relief! He has been assigned a very small room all to himself. He is in the process of settling in. By the way, you can google "Camp Phoenix" and check out some neat web sites with great pictures of what Pete will be seeing.

Today, he began his job. He has the 4am-12pm shift which he is happy about since he is a morning person. He has been trying to reach us today but kept missing us at home. So, I hope to have more details for all of you soon. He will give me his address tomorrow and I will pass along a list of things he could use.

We are thankful that he will be able to have his own internet connection for a small fee. It also looks like he will buy an internet phone to be able to more effectively communicate with all of us and to be able to receive calls as well. I'm not sure how much calls would cost then. I'll let you know.

Here on the home front all is well. Ricky will begin his preschool this week. I can't believe he is turning 4 in a month. Paul continues to copy everything Ricky does and constantly makes us smile. Ricky assures me that while Daddy is gone he will take care of me when I am sad. He is so sweet! He has been praying for a little sister and the other day he announced to me that he now knew how I could have a baby girl. He said, "You and daddy just need to get married again." He comes up with amazing explanations and even more amazing questions. What a fun age!

Please keep up the prayers! They are being heard!!!!!! and they are being felt!!!!!!!! Thank you!
With much love,
Cristina

P.S. On a sad note, Peter's family dog died last week. He was very sick with cancer. Please keep his family in your prayers.

Pete is on the move

Well, we had a wonderful two weeks with Pete home. We spent the first week at the beach having a wonderful time swimming and sight seeing. Thanks to Mom, who came to the beach but stayed in her own place, we had three date nights in a row. We were able to eat at beautiful restaurants on the beach or marina. We created some beautiful memories.

The second week we were blessed to have Pete's parents and brother Mark with us for three days. We enjoyed spending time with them at the pool and just hanging out together. The boys enjoyed water gun fights with Uncle Mark and blowing bubbles with Grandma and Grandpa.

On Saturday, August 25th, Peter left to begin his trip to the Middle East. Thankfully we were able to get passes to walk him to the gate. My brother, Eugene, accompanied us. Once at the gate we had time to sit and have lunch together and a few minutes of playing and watching airplanes. The goodbye part was very difficult. Thank God for my brother who was by my side to help with the boys and to remind me that all would be O.K.
We are so blessed to have family and friends who love us and are willing to go the extra mile with us and for us. Thank you LORD!

I heard from Pete early this morning as he had his lay over in Germany. He said he thought they would make it to the Middle East tonight. He wasn't sure if he would be in Afghanistan tonight or later this week. He still is unsure about which part of Afghanistan he will be stationed in. I promise that as soon as I get an address for him I will post it here as well as e-mail it out to all. He has a laptop now with a web cam. It will be fun to stay in touch through e-mail as well.
We are not sure how the phone situation will work out. He has his cell phone but I found out that it would cost $4.99 a minute to call from Afghanistan using the cell phone. So, we bought a couple of international calling cards for cell phones to get him started. I'll send more details on what he can use once he knows more about his situation.

The main thing I ask for is fervent prayer. Please pray for Pete's safety. Please pray for us here at home, not just me and the boys but my family as well. They are doing so much to support us. I also ask for prayers for Pete's family as they endure some difficult times these days. Pete's maternal grandmother is in the hospital with renal failure and his family dog is very ill with cancer. Please keep them all in your prayers.
Thank you for your constant support!
Love,
Cristina
God Bless America!

Peter is Home

Praise God!!! Our Peter is home. It is wonderful to have his strong, Godly presence home again. The boys are so excited. We were able to get passes to meet Pete at the gate at the airport. When they saw Pete walk out the boys ran into his arms. I got a couple of great pictures. Then we had the family hug! What a great feeling!
We ate dinner at the airport in order to avoid rush hour traffic and then came home to begin the playing and updates. We all had to show Pete all of the new toys, decorations, etc. around the home. Ricky was so excited that daddy would be reading him his bedtime story. It took them both a while to settle down enough to fall asleep.
We spent this morning having a family breakfast and then packing up lunch to spend some time at the pool. Ricky showed dad how he can now jump off of the diving board. Paul showed him how he can jump from the wall and how he plays with balls in the baby pool. It was wonderful to be together as a family.
Tomorrow we'll gather with the G-C family for lunch and see our friends at church. Then Monday we head out to the beach. We are looking forward to creating some more great family memories at one of our favorite places, St. Augustine. We'll take the boys to the Mission of Our Lady of La Leche. Peter and I made a pilgrimage there when we were trying to conceive. It will be great to show the boys where we prayed for our babies. Pete can't wait to show them the fort. And of course we'll spend plenty of time at the beach.
We pray that you are all doing well and enjoying your families. May God bless you with peace and happiness.
Love,
Cristina

Communicating with Pete

Just wanted to let everyone know that you can communicate with Pete via e-mail. His e-mail address is peterzakis@yahoo.com. Right now he is not able to check e-mail daily but does check it every Sunday at least. Sometimes he is able to get to a computer sometime during the week depending on how hard they are working him. Once he gets sent to Afghanistan he will have his own lap top (thank you Gene). So, he'll be able to check e-mails and answer on a more regular basis. He'll also have a web cam and a digital camera to keep us all up to date on what he is doing. This should all help us feel more in touch with him during the long stretch.

Thank you for the continued prayers for all of us. There is no doubt in my mind that every ounce of peace I feel through out the days are due to the many prayers that are being offered on our behalf. We can't thank you enough. The power of prayer has become quite tangible for us.
May God bless each one of you!

Just in case anyone who lives close to our house is interested, we will be having a "work in the yard" day at the Zakis home on August 4th so that when Pete is home for his short visit he won't feel the need to get anything done. It will all be done for him. Feel free to e-mail me at cristinazakis@yahoo.com with any questions or suggestions. Pizza and beer/soda will follow!
God Bless America!