Some Highlights of Our Visit

Well, I've heard from Don twice since he left yesterday. He left about the sweetest voicemail ever on my cell phone once he arrived in Atlanta. I think we're both feeling a bit blue about this departure after spending such a great couple of weeks together.

Today he called from Kuwait. So, not too much longer and he should be back at his normal base. I'm sure the traveling has got to be exhausting.

Now, to answer a couple quick questions that people have been asking me:

When will Don be home again?

He will be in Iraq another 11 months and is due back stateside in October. That will be the next time we will see him. And he already has a countdown going!

Did you celebrate Christmas while he was home?

Definitely! Santa knew Daddy-O was only home with us for a short time so he made a special trip here. It was quite exciting. Benjamin woke up on Tuesday morning this week and we told him we thought Santa had been here. So, we went downstairs and sure enough there were presents under our tree. Benjamin was thrilled! He said "Look at all the presents under our tree!" And Santa brought him just what he was asking for: the Dinoco Helicopter! (from the Cars movie). We all enjoyed that morning but the excitement in Benjamin was just awesome. And it was great to share that with Daddy-O!

We had a great visit and made every minute count.

Some of our highlights of our two plus weeks with Don were:

Don's sister and kids came to visit and we spent two nights in Williamsburg, VA at the Great Wolf Lodge. They have an indoor water park and we all had a great time. We also spend a morning at Colonial Williamsburg.

The day Don got home Samuel took his first step! I knew it was coming and I thought he might have been waiting for Daddy. hmm. Smart lil guy, eh? Now he has taken up to 4 steps at once! Won't be long and he'll be go, go, go! ahhh.

We put up our Christmas tree and some decorations on Thanksgiving Day. Benjamin loves it and Samuel has his favorite ornaments too!

The day after Thanksgiving we all went ice skating at Reston Town Center (an outside skating rink). It was Benjamin's first time on ice skates. He loved it! He had double bladed skates and used a bucket (and Mom, Dad and cousin, Aaron) to help keep his balance.

We went to Chucky Cheese (Benjamin kept saying he wanted to take Daddy there!) with our friends, Dave, Nelly and their kids Brooke and Reed.

Don took Benjamin for a bike ride (one of Benjamin's favorite things to do!) And they went and got smoothies and lunch on their bike ride. Benjamin was grinning from ear to ear after that outing.

We went to dinner and out for ice cream with our dear neighbors and friends, Cheryl, Mike, Abby and Hannah who are getting ready to move to Philly next week. (ugh). We had a great time with them that night. The kids were all well behaved.

We went to an Army vs. Navy football game party at Dennis and Natalie's house. We all had a fun (even with the outcome of the game) and Benjamin loved playing with Jack (after not spending much time with him while Daddy was home).

I think I could keep going on and on about the gazillion other lil things we did. It was just awesome how much we did together as a family. But it was probably the lil thing we treasured the most. I managed to sleep in a few times past 8 a.m. (amazing!!! Thank you, Daddy-O!). Don and Benjamin shared lots of books, rocketship flips in the air, and Don and Samuel got reacquainted too. It's just a joy to make Samuel laugh these days.

Don also joined us for 2 of Samuel's doctor's appointments while he was home. I was thinking that it was probably not an exciting way for him to be spending his R&R but he mentioned that he actually enjoyed being able to go to the doctor's appointments. I guess when you have the perspective of missing out on those sorts of things than they might be enjoyable when you actually get to go. hmm. I appreciated having him there for them that is for sure.

Well, that's all I'm going to say about our visit for now. I'm sure I will have lots of more to share in the near future. Please continue to pray for Don as he makes his way back to Iraq.