CRAIG...

Civil Ceremony...now we present: The Mulders :)

2007-12-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

Craig and Maria had their civil ceremony on Friday, 30 November and here are some photos:

Maria looking stunning in her beautiful wedding gown and pearls...

The married couple:

The civil ceremony

Craig is BACK!! Praise God :)

2007-10-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

We just want to say a HUGE thank you for all your prayers and encouragement to Craig while he was overseas.

I am delighted to announce that Craig is safely back on US soil- please join us as we praise God for his faithfulness in keeping Craig healthy and safe and bringing him safely home.

Maria has moved down to N. Carolina where Craig is now stationed and Dad and Mom joined her to welcome him home.

Here are a couple pictures:
PS feel free to e-mail Craig to welcome him home...
(if you need his e-mail address, please e-mail me(chantal) and I will get it to you.)

a lovely picture of the happy re-united couple

going for a walk

more walkmore pictures to come soon...

Just a little while longer....

2007-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Here is the latest picture that I have from Craig.
Also, Craig's return date to the US is estimated for the beginning of November 2007!
HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please continue to pray for his safety, health and continued encouragement as he finishes his time in Iraq.
Please feel free to e-mail him too :)

Camel spiders!

2007-07-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some more recent pictures that Craig just sent through.

They got the 'treat' of going target practicing and Craig impressively was able to shoot through an empty bullet casing and through two batteries.
here is Craig explaining it better than I can:

"my moment of pride was when i found two AA batteries on the ground and bet
the others that i'd shoot each of them a bullet each
well we went and put them up on the little mounts, walked off, and i shot
i hit the first one (they were well secured) but it didnt explode or go
flying or anything like that
matter of fact, i thought i had missed it...
pefectly understandable... my red dot on my optic is bigger than the battery is...
you have to aim below the battery to be able to see it and then at the last moment move up
turns out it really was well secured, and had merely turned around 90 degrees or so
so i spent the second bullet at it as well
well... both bullets had hit the AA battery; and i won my bet."
see the batteries and casing below

Camel spiders, these are the ones that Craig has been having fun catching lately, they do look like they would blend in well with the desert sand.
I think this one in his hand is an adult and the one underneath is a juvenile.

And a very cute and little gecko...just look at how delicate and intricate God made it :)

The Ticker program

2007-07-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

In case some of you are wondering about the ticker program(see above).

Craig is suppose to be returning from Iraq around the beginning/middle of November, so this nifty little time line/bar and the "ticker," see the motorcycle-very nice touch, if I do say so myself :), will help us to count down the days till we get to see him again :) :) :)

PS this is just SUCH a cute picture of Craig and Oumatjie that I had to put it in here:

Please continue to pray for safety and perseverance and encouragement as he finishes his time in Iraq, and also be praying for all the other soldiers still out there as well.
Thanks!

Also be praying for Craig and Maria as they start to plan details for his return.

Landscapes

2007-07-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures that Craig took...

Landscape

more camels and landscape

The blimp in the sky

A dust storm

Pretty pink sky

Citizenship!!! Today!

2007-07-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Good morning y'all- as they would say here in Texas(this is Chantal typing :)

sunset pictures that Craig took

I have some great news- Craig is officially a citizen- yesterday they got everything together and were able to send off all the needed documents to get the passport process going.

Today is officially the ceremony, Craig and two other men, one Chinese and one Belgium are also taking their oaths. As soon as I get some pictures I will post some.

****In the meantime, feel free to e-mail Craig your congratulations!!!****
Packages and letters are welcomed too :)

*** please continue to PRAY for Craig for safety, health and continued encouragement for time in Iraq***

Here are some more random pictures that are from the CD...

enjoy

(here is Craig's room)

critter pictures

2007-07-03T09:31:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Recently Craig sent a CD with some pictures, I was fascinated by all the critters he was able to catch.
Here are some of the images he was able to capture of them:

He mentioned that the latest interest is catching spiders(I think wolf spiders) that are really fast and super aggressive. Don't worry, I don't think they are poisonous :)

Some larger variations:

Craig's Citizenship!!

2007-06-28T06:19:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone, exciting news...

Craig is currently in the midst of traveling to do his citizenship swearing in!
I think it should happen in the next couple of days, will try to keep you posted on when it happens.

Please continue to pray for protection, encouragement and courage for continued time in Iraq.
Once Craig is a citizen please feel free to send him your congratulations.

no longer the one-eyed pirate...

2007-05-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Great news everyone...
Craig's eye got fixed
Here we have Craig's view on the procedure:

"imagine getting your tooth drilled, except its your eye
and you can feel it scraping away at your friggin eye
the metal had penetrated the first 2 layers of the eye
it had also "rusted" the tissue around it from being in there so long
he drilled, scooped and scraped all the bad stuff out (apparently)
scar tissue SHOULD be minimal
vision should not be effected"

Please pray for quick healing and no lasting effects.
Also please be praying that Craig's citizenship paperwork will get to
the right places in a speedy manner.

New Pictures...

2007-05-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Here are some more recent pictures.

**Please be praying for Craig's eye, he found a piece of metal in his eye that is obviously VERY painful. He is trying to get in to see an eye specialist and have them do something about it. Pray for quick, easy and safe procedure to remove the piece of metal and that there would be no permanent damage. I will update this when I hear more. :)

Here he is with his 'updated' hairstyle, since the weather can be so grueling.

Pray for safety, encouragement, courage and wisdom for continued time in Iraq.

Pray that each day would go by quicker than the last and that he will soon be able to be home with his family, fiance and friends and able to ride his motorcycle to his hearts content :)

****Feel free to e-mail/write or send packages galore :) *** e-mail/call me for any contact info for him

here he is with the Raven...go USA!

***He especially likes letters, e-mails, magazines(like motorcycle/computer/games), movies, healthy snacks like jerky, dried soup mixes(especially potato/bacon/cheesy types), nuts and the occasional chocolate(especially the Hershey's white chocolate chip and gold nuggets with the toffee chunks)...***

Eina pein! Ouch! Blisters after digging duty...
hardworking, dirty Craig picture :)

Funnies!

2007-03-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone, Craig requested that I post this for your viewing pleasure!

Pictures from Craig...

2007-03-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Here are some pictures that Craig sent through.

Please continue to keep Craig and the other soldiers in your prayers.
Pray for safety, wisdom and guidance for both the soldiers and those who are in higher command and encouragement and courage for each day until they get to come home again.

Close Up

Craig and a buddy

Celebrating Birthdays!

2007-02-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

January was the month of Birthdays! Jason on the 3rd, Althea-Mom the 11th and Maria the 18th! To celebrate all these great lives, the Mulder's, Maria and Jason and Chantal all came together for a weekend of fun and feasting.

We went to the cheesecake factory where we ate delicious food and.... ok, ok loads of yummy, smooth, mouth-watering cheesecake!

The entire Birthday group. Angie, Dylan and Raquel also joined us for the B-day celebrations since Angie's birthday was on the 2nd Jan.

Maria and Mom looking after Raquel.

Cheesecake.
Each Birthday individual got served cheesecake with a candle and then we all shared the different kinds!

Pretty in Purple!

2007-02-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

Maria was a great sport when she let me take a bunch of pictures to send to Craig. She looked stunning, but don't take my word for it, look for yourself!

Maria and flowers.

Beautiful Smile :)

Maria and her ring

Here are two cute photos of Maria and the Mulder folks!

Dad and Maria

Mom and Maria

The Group

Bowling Fun!

2007-02-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

While Craig was back we all(except Mom, her arm won't allow anymore) went bowling and here are some pictures.

Check out our great form!

The Boys!

Craig

Maria

Dad!

Jason

Chantal

Craig's vacation - continued

2007-01-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

This is proving to be an epic journey ... too long to do in one post ... so we continue.

To the right is a picture of Craig and Maria on a jetski and below, one of Craig and Mom. It was great fun - Craig and I took a spill when we turned too sharp at top speed, and lost our sunglasses in the ocean!

What a wonderful week it was. We were truly blessed with awesome weather, great adventures and the best company - we only wished that Chantal and Jason could have been with us.

Below is Craig feeding the fish at one of our favourite diving spots - called the Tugboat as it is the site of a sunken tugboat ... duh!

We arrived back home tired but excited to see Chantal and Jason!

The four youngsters went thru to Madison on Tuesday. Craig let Maria pick out an engagement ring and were officially engaged!!!

Maria picked out this classic silver and diamond band with intricate detail that makes it sparkle and perfectly compliments her petite hands!

They are celebrating at the Outback Steakhouse below.

Aren't they just so cute?

Welcome to the crazy Mulder family, Maria!

One more...

Craig's last day in Milwaukee was spent doing typical Craig stuff. Unfortunately, Maria was working, but Chris, myself, Chantal and Jason tagged along and had fun with Craig.

After going to the Rifle Range, we went to Starbucks (yummy) and ended up at Adventure Rock. Craig was amazing - like a fly on the wall - he scaled them with very little effort. Actually, we all managed quite well and had lots of fun - Chris got to be photographer as he has an arm inqury - after the climbing we all ended up with sore arms! Here are some pics of the intrepid mountaineers.

We ended the day off with Chris making us a very fine meal of steak and fries, topped off with Craig's favourite cheese sauce.

Welcome!

2006-12-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

The purpose of this site is to keep family and friends updated with what is happening in Craig's world. As it is difficult for Craig to personally contact everyone, we'll post messages and pictures from him on this site.

This picture is of Craig during a visit to Glacier National Park in Montana while Chris was working there.

Craig left the beginning of August to serve with an army airborne unit in Iraq. Here are some pictures of him with his very proud parents and one of Craig and Maria.

Brother and sister. (below)

Craig returned for a break early December and Chris, Althea, Craig and Maria had a WONDERFUL beach vacation. Here we are all dressed up having cocktails at a larney hotel.

Craig had plenty of opportunity to show off his adventurous spirit! He and Chris went on a deep sea fishing trip - check out the results (It's a Wahoo) On his birthday, he got to try windsurfing and proved to be a natural.