Skiing

Gabby and Daddy went skiing on Saturday at Crystal Mountian. Gabby took a two hour class to get back into it and then skiied and played in the snow with Daddy the rest of the afternoon. They had a beautiful spring day - sunny and 55. Gabby enjoyed it and Daddy did too.

Tolmie State Park

We went to Tolmie State Park yesterday. The weather was beautiful, as you can see. We started out on a short hike through the woods. A few flowers were starting to come out. The we walked down to the beach. That's the Puget Sound we are dipping our feet in. It was cool but not too cold since it was shallow there. The kids liked looking at all the different critters - sand dollars and crabs. Jordan was particularly happy to have her feet in the water. She is not as spry as she used to be but she still loves a walk through the woods and a chance to get in the water.

What does it feel like...

when you see your husband again after a year? A friend who's husband had already returned came to our welcome home ceremony because, "New babies and homecoming ceremonies are my two favorite things." Yes, they came at 4 am - they're hardcore (and they were fortunate enough to have family in to stay with the kids). But what she said was true. I get all giddy feeling even when I go to a ceremony that doesn't involve my husband. I've been to my share of my own and other people's and wish it were something everyone could witness once.

The feelings start up a few weeks before they come home. You try not to get your hopes up TOO much in case of delay or, as some of you have experienced, extension. I've said I'll believe he's going when he's gone and I'll believe he's coming home when he's home. But in spite of yourself, you start thinking about it a few weeks before, mostly because life and plans go on. When he gets home.... By then he'll be home and he can help me.... I can't plan that because he may be home by then.... Oh! We can go do...because he'll be home by then.

The last week or so can be the worst, ranking right up there with the first week. It's so close but so far away! You can't rest for fear of being delayed until he is on that plane. Then you can't rest because you're too excited. Time drags. Everyone is just ready for it to be over. Emotions rage. The kids are nuts.

Then, all of sudden, you're there. You're getting dressed and wanting to look beautiful (no matter what time of day). You're wondering what you will do if your car doesn't start or someone gets sick. You're driving to the hangar or gym or airfield or wherever. You know by that they are super close - maybe even on the ground already. You're excited and nervous and relieved and triumphant and almost can't stand it. We made it! We survived! Whew, we made it. The nervousness is hard to describe. A little like a first date, except you really know your date and are already married. So it's not really a date. A little like your marriage day, you're happy about it but you know things are about to change in a way. It's a hard feeling to describe. Everyone has lived another year of their life and have been changed by it. There is an element of the unknown. But the nervousness only lasts a few minutes.

Finally you know they are there. They all start to come in and you're just hoping to pick yours out in the sea of uniforms. Finally! There he is! Does he see us? Yep, he does! Tears and laughter and a sigh of relief. It really is over. This time.

Homecoming!

There's Daddy's plane!

Patiently waiting

There he is!

First hugs

Happy boy

After 357 days, Robert made it home VERY EARLY Sunday morning.

Not to complain or anything, but couldn't the best Army in the world somehow manage to get folks home at a decent hour? If course out of the four flights for his unit, we had the worst time. Seems like that happened to me before. At first the ceremony was slated for 1:30 AM. It then changed to 5:20 AM. At 930 PM the night before, it finally settled at 4 AM. Oh yeah, and this was daylight savings night so that's after the change so really 3 AM. What a mess! So my attempts to get the kids in bed early so they could get a little sleep were automatically negated by the lost hour. I finally got them in the bed about 8 (9). Then I had to get everything ready to go since forgetting something at 2 AM was very possible. I finally got to bed at 10:30 (11:30). Gabby was out but Sam, my night owl, was just barely asleep at this point. My alarm was set for 1:30 (new time). So I got about an hour and a half of sleep, since falling asleep was very hard. If I could have slept all night, I probably would have taken something to help me go to sleep. Up at 1:30. Not just up at 1:30 but having to dress and look beautiful for my husband I haven't seen since November. This is not an easy task at 1:30 on two hours of sleep.

I got the kids up a little after 2 and we left the house at 2:30. We got to the gym just shy of 3. Not much traffic out at 2:30. We snagged a parking place and good place to sit and settled in to wait. The flight was a little later than anticipated. It was not my goal to be there to see the flight land on the screen (I didn't want that much wait time in the middle of the night) but we were there anyway. It landed at 2:58. They ran a video feed over of the flight landing and everyone getting off the plane. We saw Daddy heading in to the processing building. There was also feed from there so you could keep up with the progress and see everyone. When they loaded up on the buses, we knew we were about 20 minutes out. Whew - that last 20 minutes! Finally we saw them pull up outside and unload from the buses and line up. They marched in about 4:30, we had a prayer and a couple of words by somebody (don't even know who!) I was waiting on the National Anthem since they said it would play and they dragged the poor band out in the middle of the night. Without the song, and almost without warning he released them. Maybe they took pity on us because they were a bit late and it was the middle of the night. Shortest ceremony I have ever seen in any case. We got all our hugs and kisses and smiles and then loaded all the bags in the van and came home. We got home about 5 AM.

I have to say we were all worn out, but running on steam. The kids played with Daddy and we ate breakfast again. By the time the Wii came out, I couldn't keep my eye open and took a short nap on the couch. Sam fell asleep literally playing Cars on the Wii. One minute he was driving, the next minute, he was out. Gabby fought a long time but eventually gave in to sleep. Everyone napped on and off all day, in between showing Daddy everything and playing and just being happy. We finished the day with supper at IHOP and then tried to get everyone to go to bed. No easy feat with one jet-lagged person and two over napped and out of schedule kids. I had no trouble once I got everyone else settled!

One Year

What is one year? Is it a lot or not so much? Someone actually said to me on Saturday, "Wow. Has it already been a year? That went fast." Really? Maybe for you. For us, this was one year:

One year of preparing every breakfast, lunch and dinner. One year of helping and eating with kids at every meal. One year of pouring every cup and fixing every snack. One year of wiping every nose, changing every diaper, and cleaning every wound. One year of dressing everyone, putting on every shoe, brushing every tooth and hair, packing every bag, helping with every coat, and getting out the door. One year of buckling and unbuckling the car seat. One year of baths, bedtime stories, medicine doses, prayers, and tucking in. One year of getting up every time in the middle of the night. One year of getting up every time in the morning. One year of doing every dish and load of laundry. One year of cleaning every toilet, sink, shower and floor. One year of pumping every tank of gas. One year of driving everywhere. One year of buying every grocery item. One year of disciplining and dealing with tantrums. One year of going to every practice, game and event. One year of taking every picture and video. One year of every drop-off and pick-up. One year of every dog walk. One year of every appointment. One year of mowing, edging, pruning, weeding and raking. One year of taking out every bag of trash. One year of pushing every swing, steering every bike, playing every game and reading every book. One year of communicating with husband and Daddy through mail, e-mail, chats, Skype and the occasional phone call. One year of telling him goodnight in the middle of the day and to have a good day before going to bed.

One year of working 18 hours a day, each and every day of the week. One year of trying to squeeze in time to write, e-mail, chat and Skype with wife and kids. One year of eating every meal in a dining facility. One year of showering in a trailer with a bunch of other guys, always in shoes. One year of sharing a CHU with a stranger. One year of living in something called a "CHU". One year of wearing the same clothes and boots day in and day out. One year of being covered in sand. One year of carrying a weapon everywhere you go. One year of walking everywhere. One year of not driving. One year of deciding between being up all night to see football or to get that much needed five hours of sleep. One year of no trips to the school, park, ball field, movie theater, mountains, pool, ski slopes, or beach. One year of missing out on what your kids are learning and how they are growing and all the funny things they do. It's like walking in the middle of a movie and trying to figure out what you missed.

Yeah, in some ways maybe it did go fast. The kids seem to grow so much and being busy with them makes the time pass faster. But really, when you look at it, a year is a lot.

Link to paper

Gabby's gotten herself in the paper again. Go all the way to the last page.

Changes are A-Comin', Part Two

Lest anyone think I am only thinking of the things that we are giving up when Robert comes home, we're spending a lot of time thinking and talking about the things we will do when Robert comes home. Even Sam is in on it. The garage door was broken and Sam said, "The garage is broken. Daddy come home and fix it." I keep telling him Daddy will be home soon. He crinkles up his forehead and nods when I say it, like he wants it to be true but is trying to figure it out. Occasionally he will say, "Daddy will be home soon." Since R&R he's talked about Daddy being on a plane. I hope he doesn't think he's been on a plane this whole time! It's tough for a two-year-old to figure it all out. He also says we will go swimming, up to see the snow on the mountain (Mt. Rainier), and to Disneyland so he can ride the roller coasters. Not sure where he got that last one except that Disney World made quite an impression on him and he wants to go back.

Gabby wants to show Daddy her new classroom and have him meet her teacher, her artwork, and all the new things she can now do. She wants to take him to Great Wolf Lodge, to the rock climbing place and hopes they get a chance to go skiing. She wants to go running with him now. She looks forward to the things they used to do like hop on pop, breakfast at McDonald's, and Gabby-Daddy days. She probably won't stop talking for a week.

Me? I'm looking forward to adult conversation in the evenings instead of TV and the internet. Really, being able to carry on any conversation that is not mostly made up of "Can you hear me now?" and "What? I can't hear you." and "Just e-mail it to me." and "I'll just e-mail it to you." Someone to share cooking and bathtime and bedtime and getting ready for church and dog walking and trash duty. Someone else to worry about the yard and the car and anything else that breaks/ceases working (except the computers - they're my territory). Mostly, I just want my best friend back here with me. The person who knows me better than anyone (except maybe my mom) and loves me anyway. The one I like to spend time with, who makes me laugh and takes care of me. I wouldn't do all this if he wasn't all that.

What's Robert going to see that is different? Sam wasn't quite two when he left. Talking in one to two words. Toddling about. Still didn't have a neck to separate his head from his shoulders. Pretty much rolled with the punches and didn't have much of an opinion. Now he's two months from turning three. He's running and taking the steps one foot on a step. He has almost mastered the tricycle and will probably want a bike this summer. He can swim in his lifejacket. He's very opinionated and can tell you about it with complex sentences "I don't have a jacket because I don't want one." He's mastered the two year old tantrum (when I make him put the jacket on anyway). He's playing pretend, singing songs and quoting movies. He has a neck that you can see. He's funny. His head doesn't fit under my chin anymore when I hold him. He's getting closer to potty trained (hoping Daddy will help that one along).

Gabby had just turned six and was in Kindergarten when he left. She could read short words and beginner books. Her bike had training wheels. I still walked her everywhere. She only had two permanent teeth. Now she's seven and over halfway through first grade. She can read chapter books (and e-mails and chat messages - wow, that makes a difference when trying to communicate with Daddy!) She can ride her bike without training wheels. She definitely needs a bigger bike this summer, along with that inch I think she just grew last week. She can walk herself to Children's Church and the bathroom (in some places) and to a close friend's house if it's not dark. She's got six permanent teeth. She has a boyfriend! And, oh, that attitude. But I know she's still Daddy's girl in her heart.

I hope Robert has never doubted that he makes a difference in this world. He has made a difference to people in Iraq and Bosnia and Kosovo over the years. He makes a huge difference every day to the three of us waiting out our last weeks to have him back. We can't wait!