Family Day

Sunday afternoon Matt's unit had Family Day. It will be the last time everyone is together until Final Load Out(Deployment Day AKA Hardest Day of My Life). It was lots of fun. They had games for the kids, ponies to ride, food, softball games, games for adults, doorprizes. Matt played two games of softball. They won one and lost one. I didn't get many pictures because I had both children while he played. This is the entire unit, 252nd MP Company, in Formation on the softball field.

This is Matt's platoon, Headquarters. He is on the front row, second from the left.

And here is Jenna with a flower she picked while watching Daddy play softball.

At the end the Captain called all the families in for a meeting. He talked to us alot about the deployment. The short version on the timeline is this...They go on orders July 26 and leave for New Jersey July 29. They stay in NJ for about 34 days for training. Then they get a 4 day break in New Jersey just before leaving the country in early September, which means me and the kids will be making a big trip up there.(Pray for us!) They fly into Kuwait and stay there 7-10 days. After that it's on to Iraq for a year. There were lots of tears in the room; kids, wives, mothers, husbands, siblings, dads...you name it. It's amazing how fast all of this has happened from when they first got their orders. Only one more drill weekend and they will be leaving. It's crazy the stages you go through getting ready emotionally for it. Scared, mad, sad, numb, excited, worried...the list goes on. And then there are lots of physical things to take care of too....tons of paperwork, packing and moving, meetings...And then questions, How will I do this for a year? Will I hear from him everyday? Will he get injured? How will things be when he comes home? Will the kids remember him? On and on and on...But one thing that keeps all of us going is knowing that this is what he lives for. He loves it. There is so much honor in serving our country. This is what he was trained to do for the last 3 years and he is finally getting to put it to use. Anyways, this begins the season of my life that I want to go by oh so quickly...