Packed and Ready

Ok, so I'm not completely packed yet. I'm supposed to be doing that now: Emily is at work for 4 hours, Elena is in the second semester of kindergarten, and Lucy is in day care. Ok, so I'm not completely ready yet either. Being gone for five months did wonders to prepare our family for our one year deployment: Emily was able to learn a lot about things she needs to plan, prepare and procure before I leave and can’t come home once a month or so. I learned that counter to my thoughts before training began, that saying goodbye doesn’t get easier, even if you know it’s “only going to be for two weeks this time”. I learned I need to get the bills set up to auto-pay, because I won’t actually remember to go on those couple of sites every month and click the little button to “Pay now”. I learned that webcams are wonderful! Being able to see my girls running around in the background while talking with my wife was great. I think the most important thing is that it takes a Lot of Hugs and Kisses to make up for being gone months at a time!
While packing last night, the girls decided to help. They successfully packed themselves into my ruck sack, and so I loaded up.

Ready to Roll!


Running, Spinning and Jumping, Oh My!


Ok, ENuf spinning and jumping!