Latest Flat Zach Shanenghans

Meanwhile back in Portland, flat Zachary has been keeping busy.  Here are his latest shenanigans.

 Flat zach and his unit found zoom the elf and are interrogating him.

 Zoom the roof saluting our finest

 Flat zachary and his crew, giving thanks for their service

 I think flat zach made it to the north pole

 A message from big sissy and neice

 Marilyn Monroe is fascinated with flat zachary

 The photo above is like the game'where's Waldo', oh looks like big sissy found him

 Zachary was on Santa's nice list.

 Flat zach getting into the festivities

 Flat zach in Paris

more pics from the north pole

I recieved my 2nd letter from Pt. Buchanan

It was such a joy to come home and find my second letter from Pvt. Buchanan.  He starts out on how he has come to realized that he is the govenments pet, because:
-They take him on walks
-They feed him
-They yell at him when he does things wrong
-They give him dog tags and label his things
-And if he shits on the carpet they make him sleep outside (not really),  just his sense of humor.  Which I might add gets from my side.  Lots and lots of sarcasim.  Proud of my boy.
He continues on the funny things drill sargants say, such as: "Yeah it's cold but you need to go to 7-11, get a big gulp straw and suck that shit up"
We will have to take him to the aquatic park so he can sit in a hot tub.  He says he needs one because he has worked places deeper than muscles.  He is having fun though and says he is having great experiences.  I was shocked that he says how easy and fun basic is, if you have a positive attitude towards it.  And he refers to the military as being normal for him and used to the stress levels in the environment.  I always told my kids I would help them with future therapy sessions, but damn, didn't realize that I acted worse than a drill sargant.
He is loving the people he is meeting and has a strange feeling that he has meet them before, but knows it is impossible,   I was surprised to learn that there are a lot of Non-American Citizens who joined the army to get citizenship, which he was impressed with.
He says basic is way to easy as long as you listen carefully to what they are saying execute it.  He looks at the drill sargants as teachers, using a different style so they won't forget.
He will be going through the gas chamber soon, they just recieved their gas masks and he is excited.  I would be dreading life and...ugh not looking forward to the burning and watery eyes...must be a guy thing.
The name of his unit is "The Punishers", his unit is the best in the nation for basic and supposedly the hardest.  He also gave me the correct address, but I got that from the letter they sent regarding graduation.  He did get letters from people.  I personally want to thank those who have written to him thus far, it means the world to this Momma who misses her son, I deeply appreciate the care and love you provide.
Pvt. Buchanan will be home on Friday for a couple of weeks. I cannot wait to see my boy.  Seems like forever and it hasn't even been a month.

Finally got a letter

Yeah, I finally got a letter from Pvt. Buchanan.  At this time he was still in reception.   He said he cried when they made him throw away his $70 bottle of Cologne.  They aren't allowed to do any exercises because they don't want them to get injured before basic.   He says he is just sitting around getting fat.  If anyone of you know Zach,  you will enjoy the fact he is not impressed with everyone trying to show their leadership skills by bossing others around.  He said they are undisciplined.

He says that as long as you don't mess up,  you will get along with the drill Sargent.  He also learned not to 'knife hand' ("pointing all flanges facing forward" his words not mine) at a drill Sargent.   A mistake he says he won't make again.

In the meantime we went hunting for our Christmas tree and brought flat Zachary with us.   He even found his own Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

Letters

Yeah finally heard from Zach.   Well not me exactly,  but he wrote Chandler.  He was still in reception and sounded like he was in a bay with 60 other guys.  He met some people who literally live down the street from him.  He loves the army so far.  Says it is cold there and will be heading off to basic.  Which he is at now.  He had to borrow paper and envelopes to send the letter.  Can't wait to hear more.   Thanks for sharing your letters Chandler.   I'm excited!   Miss my boy!!

Yeah, we got our call!

Happy Day,
We heard from Pvt. Buchanan, or should I say Chas heard from Pvt. Buchanan.  He called using his cell phone and it was only a minute long.  He told him that he is in basic, he is doing fine and that he is sending a letter with is address on it.  It was short and not a lot of conversation.  We are anticipating him home for Christmas and are patiently waiting to have more conversation regarding his flight.  I am proud of him and wish I could speak to him and tell him just that.
I will post more when I get it.

December 2, 2015
    It had been a week now,  and no word from Zach.   I was hoping that he would've called by now with an address to start sending letters.   We did have fun with flat Zachary. ..so until I hear from our Pvt.  Enjoy!

Day 2, No contact

We got a message yesterday from Pvt. Buchanan that we can't write him for 7 days,  but he can write us.  In the meantime we have been finding creative ways to take pics of flat Zachary.   We will print these out and and send in his letters.
During these next 7 days,  Pvt Buchanan is getting shaved, gathering all his new gear,  being placed with his unit.   It is weird not hearing from him daily.   I pray that he is staying warm and adapts to being away with no problems.

And He's off

Today was surreal as we woke up at 0300 to take our son to the airport were he will begin a new chapter in his life.  He has had the urge to serve his country at a young age and today he starts this journey in the Oregon Army National Guard.  So to commence his journey and in his absence, I have decided to start a blog with updates as we get them.  Chandler (Zach's lovely girlfriend) and I decided since he is limited on what he can receive while in boot camp, we decided to create Flat Zachary (like Flat Stanley) and take pictures of him doing odd, crazy things and sending random photos in his letters.

Pvt. Buchanan called his dad today to let him know that Oklahoma is flat, I don't know what he was expecting.  He was going to call before boarding the bus for Ft. Sill, but was only able to text us.  When I get his address, please IM me on facebook if  you want his address.  Please be considerate of things you do send as it is limited, as much fun as it would be for us to send crazy things, I am sure it won't be for him.