Deployment

I was in denial for a while thinking this day wouldn't come.  It seems like before every deployment I have certain emotions I go through.  Lots of crying, feeling sad, anger, mostly just sorry for myself.  This deployment wasn't as bad, I made a conscious effort to not get angry at little things and just enjoy the time we had together.  I also made sure I didn't pack our schedule full of events, that always adds to the stress too!  I always am trying to get family pictures, recordings, and other things done.  This time I didn't worry about any of it.  We just spent a lot of time together.  I did pretty well with my emotions, I didn't get angry until the very end, which is progress for me.  I was also trying really hard to keep my emotions under control while we were hanging around the squadron waiting for the plane to take off.  I didn't want the kids to see me a sobbing mess.  I did pretty well, only shed a couple of tears until the final goodbye.  Then Brenalee lost it.  She started sobbing and looking at me with this sad look on her little face like "why is he leaving me?"  I will never forget the look she kept giving me.  She would just look at me and sob.  It was awful.  When she started that, I couldn't hold it in any longer and I started crying too.  It hurt, it hurt so much to watch him walk away.  It hurt to see what it did to my kids, their poor little hearts were broken too.  Tyler was doing ok until we got in the car.  Then he started crying uncontrollably.  He said he couldn't cry in front of people.  We sat in the car and cried together for a good 15-20 minutes.  We got home and they were doing a little better...until that night.  Then the crying started all over again.  It's hard for them to not have their daddy to tuck them in and give them loves and kisses.  It took a good 4-5 nights before they stopped crying at night for him.  This was by far the hardest deployment ever.  I think the kids are just right at that age where it's really tough.
 

 We had a couple of hours to wait until the actual goodbye.  They kids were acting goofy. 

 Brena decided to beat daddy up with himself (her daddy doll).

 I thought those two looked so cute standing and looking out at the plane.

 We went out to the plane for a bit, it was crowded with every one's stuff and lots of people.

 

 Brena was so funny, she kept kissing daddy over and over again.

 

 Goofy TyTy wearing daddy's gear.

 It's getting closer to the last goodbye.

 And, that was it.  That's when it all fell apart.  Brena had such a hard time.

 

There he goes...

We wanted to watch the plane take off, but we had to wait a bit.  Brena couldn't handle it anymore and she just sat down.

 Then, she just laid down on her daddy doll.

 Then they were off.  Goodbye - we love you so much.  See you in 6 months.

Student of the Month

Tyler was student of the month for November - way to go buddy!  We are so proud of you!

Daddy Dolls

The kids got to open a present before daddy left.  These Daddy Dolls are perfect!  The kids loved them and I hope they help them when their daddy is gone. 

Christmas Tree

We went and got a little tree to decorate for Family Home Evening Monday night.  I knew I'd be the one cleaning everything up after Christmas, so I wanted to get a pretty small one.  This one was just right.  I'm glad we got this done with TJ before he left.

He's really leaving

I don't think it hit me TJ was really leaving until I started to see all the boxes, things being packed up and all the desert gear.  Ugh.  I hate this.

Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest?  I had been getting invites for months to that site and I kept ignoring it.  One night I finally got on it and got hooked.  It's a good thing and a bad thing.  Good because of all the fun ideas on there and bad because it can take so much of my time!   Anyways, I saw this really cute door hanging and wanted to make one of my own.  It was fun, easy and cheap!  I really like it.

Friday Flashback

I know, I haven't done a Friday Flashback in months...  I think we all know how non-committed I am to things! 

This picture was taken Thanksgiving day 2005.  TJ's parents came to San Diego to visit that year.  TJ's sister Tammy came as well.  We also had the pleasure of having our good friends the Hurdsman's come eat with us.

I can't believe how little the kids look.  Brena would have only been 3 months old and Tyler 2 1/2.  I miss those days!

Feed the Troops

TJ's CO (Commanding Officer) invited the families to come to the Feed the Troops this year.  The kids were already out of school so we accepted the invitation.  Anything to spend more time with daddy!  It was kind of weird eating Thanksgiving dinner at 9am though!

 All the Officers fed the Enlisted first.

 Tyler's very beige food...we missed out on the Turkey :(

 All the stuff ready to be shipped out.  It was sad to see the hangar like this.

Downtown Jacksonville

 Every Saturday we go to the library and load up with books for the week.  Once a month, I try to go to the downtown library.  It is amazing.  I've never seen a library like it before.  It is the largest library in Florida.  It's in a huge building downtown.  They have the most amazing children's library there - and we love going there.  They have an art lesson on Saturdays as well that the kids like to go to.  After our library trip, we decided to check out the Riverside Arts Market in downtown.  I believe it's located right under the I-95 - so the big columns you see in the picture are the freeway just above us. 
 

 Brena wanted a balloon from the balloon man - Tyler didn't want one.

 They had so many yummy fruits and vegetables, homemade breads and lotions, all kinds of fun stuff!

 There was a dance team performing there, so we watched their show.

What a fun day we had!  One of our last weekends together for a very long time.

Fire Station Visit

 Tyler's Scout Troop visited the Fire Station for Scouts.  TJ took Tyler, I wish I could have gone!  I had to stay home with Brena - she was throwing up - gross!!

 My little man.  I feel so bad, it seems like lately he is not very happy.  He doesn't want his daddy to leave in  a few weeks.

 We have wonderful Scout leaders!

 Finally, a smile!