Wrapping it up...

Hey folks we have not fallen off the face of the earth we have just been enjoying our much deserved family time while the husband is home. We had so much fun doing everyday activities together. First up was lunch at school with the two younger boys. Paul got home just in time to attend his first family lunch with Jeremy & Jacob. They where so thrilled to see him there they rushed through their lunch . They wanted to show him what they get to do after lunch on the playground for Jacob & cleaning tables as a lunch room helper for Jeremy.

Then Paul and I enjoyed the first Friday he was home with much needed relaxation heated stone massages . We where both so relaxed & a little sore from working all our muscles. We headed off to lunch after that at The Ram to enjoy our time together. It has been a very nice transition with all the kids in school during the day for Paul & I to have alone time. That has never happened before on R&R. I didn't even miss our usual night away by ourselves since we had time during the day for uninterrupted adult conversations, hand holding, stolen snuggles, & kissing eachother anytime we wanted .It was heaven!


Next we headed to The Great Wolf Lodge with the boys in Grand Mounds, WA. It is only a forty-five minute drive from our home so it's the perfect stay-cation for our family. This marked our fourth time to go together & have a lot of fun! We try to go on block leave or R&R during deployment cycles. With teenagers & younger kids it's a place that has activities we all enjoy. We all raced around jumping on waterslides, swimming through the waves in the wave pool, helping Jeremy fight dragons in Magi Quest, & eating delicious food. We had a lot of good quality family time that we all needed.

Paul & I even managed to head out to dinner with our best friends with out children one night at Fujiyama's Japanese Steak House. It was fun to have our delicious meal prepared right in front of us by a wonderful chef. We really enjoyed the time with friends.

Last night we wrapped up our family & friend activites with a great BB-Que at Sam's home.

I meant to get a picture of her cooking the 60 ribs she had marniated for Paul with snow falling down, but I got side tracked inside chatting  :0/ But they where super amazing as always & there where hardly any left at the end of the night! Paul was having a great time with all his friends . I think we had a house of about 20 - 22 people running around. Great food, great conversation, & amazing food made the evening perfect. He said his goodbyes as he won't see a lot of them until he returns home later this summer. That was a bit bitter sweet knowing his time home is almost over. 
How fast the time always seems to go on R&R. You wait what seems like unimaginably slow months for it to arrive to hold your loved one. Then it's gone in a blink of an eye.  We had Sam snap a quick family picture- not the best but Paul was anxious to enjoy the evening - he hates pictures. But I need them while he is gone to help me make it through the deployments. I need to be able to look back & smile at the memories the picture brings to mind. This photo will make me laugh as it will remind me that Paul helped Nathan brew his first ever stout that day. As well as all our friends took time to come all the way out to our neighborhood to spend time with Paul before he leaves again. It will also remind me of the boys acting silly & Paul yelling " Just Smile All Ready!" then smiling himself for the picture with no sign of the craziness surrounding the photo.

 

Poor Jeremy was not feeling well all night. He laid down on a couch almost all night. I soon figured out that his head cold had moved to his chest. He was up all night with a nasty cough & slight fever.  He hasn't eaten much & is currently still asleep at 8:30AM in the morning, so I know he feels really bad. Hopefully he perks up to enjoy the last couple of days with his dad. 

We don't have much else planned except a couple more meals to make that are favorites. As well as just enjoying our time together. Then we will do the hardest thing ever & say our goodbyes for another four months at least. Happy together in this moment though as we treasure what feels like stolen time. 

My Valentine Arrived Early

My love, my friend, &  my hero arrived a little earlier then expected yesterday. I was at the gym doing my work out when I got a call on my cell.The caller ID said Texas & I knew exactly who was on the other end! He said he flew all night & caught an earlier flight so he would be in a whole day sooner then expected. I should have anticipated this but after years of the Army never getting me my soldier home on time I was not prepared. I raced out of the gym as fast as I could. Only to discover while driving home I had left my towel & water bottle at the gym by the weights-haha. But I need to shower, shave, & clean the rest of the house so I could be out the door in four hours to head to the airport. Thankfully I had started the cleaning process before I left for the gym that morning. I got myself all ready & laid out on the kitchen table a surprise early Valentines for my boys. The older boys knew their dad was arriving sometime soon, but the little guys had no idea.

I left their goodies out for them with strict instructions for the older two to not touch anything until their brothers arrived home from school. All left in a note they where to dispose of as soon as they read it they learned their dad would be home in a matter of hours not days!

Now that all was ready I could barely stand to wait any longer so decided to leave early for the airport.

I was leaving about thirty minutes early & when I arrived at the airport I was so glad I had gotten there early. His flight made good time & he would be arriving about 20 minutes earlier then we thought. I raced to the gate & waited for about forty minutes. I played angry birds on my phone which I stink at so bad! Then I looked up & it was time!

I was so excited & could barely stand to watch all the other passengers as well as soldiers come off the plane. FINALLY he walked out & I was so surprised at how much weight he had lost. I knew from our conversations he had said he lost 30 pounds but I wasn't able ot picture it in my mind I guess. He looked thin but good, so GOOD!! Of course we kissed  & hugged & I snapped a quick picture to share.

I wish we could take people with us because I would bring a friend to snap better pictures but this will have to do for now. he was tired but so happy to be home. We headed to Baggage claim where he had not checked any luggage so off we went to drive home. We chatted all the way home & stopped to grab pizzas for dinner. I phoned our oldest to let him know we would be home soon. he said the two little guys still had no idea dad was about to walk through the front door any moment!

Short little video of his welcome home. We where all so excited & just plain thrilled to have normal again for the next 16 days. I hope everyone else has just as good of a Valentines Day as our family.

Half-Way Home

Today marks exactly 6 Months ago that I watched my soldier board that ugly yellow bus & drive away. We have seen his face on Skype thanks to technology but we have not held him in our arms. I am beyond excited to finally hit this mark as it seems so much longer then 6 months since he deployed. Now we are on the count down to R&R which is much easier to wrap my brain around then to think about another 6 months until he is home for good. Here is praying that the next few weeks go by quickly, with no Murphy's Law in play . That everyone stays healthy until our soldier returns for some much needed family time.

Finally We Have A Date (s)

It happened about a day before Christmas, my soldier was holding the ever coveted R&R Leave Papers. They where FINALLY all signed & approved!! Now I have to sit back and patiently wait to see IF the Army will get my soldier to his family on said date (s)  My guy & me always say " the paper says this day so plan for this time frame."- because it's always hurry up and wait when it comes to getting them home for R&R. But man oh man can the Army get them back to their FOB's in about 24 hours when R&R is over. I won't be posting the dates here but I'll let you know when I finally get that amazing hug & kiss in the airport. I just had to share the good news that I finally have something to look forward too that is closer then Homecoming. YAY- ME!!

 Now I am off to get Jeremy to bed. He has his annual MRI & then Laser surgery tomorrow. No food in the morning on those days before the procedures sure make for one grumpy kid. Wish us luck as this will be the first time Banyan has been around Jeremy when he is hurting & not feeling well. I'll check back in when I can to let you know how it all goes. Banyan did go to see his first movie with us today. We saw "We Bought a Zoo"- super cute movie worth going to see if you have time. Banyan did great & got a lot of cookies afterwards. Have a great night everyone- I'll be checking in later this week.

Banyan watching the movie- he loved it!