Final Load Out

This was absolutely the hardest day of my life. Saying goodbye to the one you love the most for a year is something that I hope most people never have to experience. I think the hardest part is knowing that I have to live a completely seperate life from my husband for a year. As we stood on the side of the road waving our flags in the pouring rain, all I could do was cry. I have been so strong but in that moment I broke. I know I can do this but sometimes a year seems like eternity...Love you Matt.

Final Formation

More pictures soon...

Farewell Ceremony

Farewell Ceremony at Bradley High School for the 252nd MP Company.

Nearly 1000 people showed up to support our soldiers on Tuesday afternoon. It was amazing. My mom counted and there were 25 people there just to support Matt. It helps so much to know there are people standing behind you when you are going through the most difficult time in your life. Words can never express the feeling...

(Jenna and Matt made the front page of the Chattanoona Times!!)

One Last Night Away...

Matt and I were trying to decide what to do for our last date night for 13 months. We wanted to do something fun and different. Luckily, Matt sold his car on Friday so we had a little extra money left from it after making a couple payments on our new car. So we went to Gatlinburg for the night while Pam kept the babies. We went to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company, which is our favorite resturant ever! It was great, as always. Then we went to Wonderworks. Neither of us had ever been there and I must say we were very impressed. It was so much fun. We stayed in there for hours! The next morning we got to sleep in late!!! Matt never gets to because of work and I never get to either because of Carson. So I rolled over to check the clock and it was 9:00! I was so excited that we got to sleep that late on a Satuday morning! We went to eat at one of the many Pancake Houses and then decided to head back to reality in Cleveland. Once we got back Matt had to pack. It wasn't fun and it took 2 hours. Thankfully that part is over and I can start packing more boxes now to move.

Take me out to the ballgame!

Aunt Maw took us all(Matt,Amber, Jen, Carson, Ryan, Shannon, Kaci, Nicole, Josh and Sheri) to a Lookouts game on Thursday night. This was Jenna's first came(Carson's too!). They played the Mobile BayBears which is crazy because that's where I'm from. The Lookouts won! I don't remember the exact score but I don't think the BayBears scored at all. Jenna loved the "balleme". She would yell RUN RUN RUN! when they would hit the ball. She also loved the Lookout's Mascot...from far away.

I know this isn't a great picture but Carson could not stop looking at the huge fans. It was so funny. He loved the game also because he was outside and there was so much going on.

Mayfield

We had friends from out of town stay a few nights with us this week. We took them to Mayfield Dairy. Jenna loves that place! The first time we went she didn't love wearing the hair net they make you wear but now she looks forward to it. They even made Carson wear one this time...seriously?!? So here is our family with hairnets on!Jenna also loves the cow that's on the patio. She climbed all over it, hugged it and kissed it a million times. If you don't know, Jenna is an animal lover!

Carsousel

Jenna's first carousel ride!

She wasn't totally impressed since she is used to riding real horses but she enjoyed it.

Girls Night Out!!

We had a girls night!! Lindsey, Amber, Jenna, Stephanie, Paulette(Grandmother), Lorinda, Anna(and baby Ben!) all went to Outback to take full advantage of Lindsey's employee discount. We had such a great time! We got appitizers, 3 meals to share, and dessert! After we got done eating we went to look at the house that Lindsey and her friends are moving into soon. (Very nice house by the way) It was so good to all be together and hang out. Can't wait to do it again...which means Lorinda has to come in town more often!!!

Two Baby Boys

Here are Carson and Ben again. They are between 9 and 10 weeks here. It took a lot to get this picture. Neither one of them wanted to be laying down. You should've seen the dance Lindsey and I were doing!

Family Pics

A friend of ours took some family pictures for us at Coolidge Park. I really wanted them done before Matt leaves. And of course we'll get some done again when he gets back home. Carson was supposed to have shots that morning but I asked the nurse if I could come back the next morning to have them done so he wouldn't be fussy for the pictures. But what I didn't know is that Jenna was going to be VERY uncooperative! She didn't want her pictures made and she wanted to run around and play in the park and in the "splash water." We got maybe 2 good pictures of her smiling. Anyways, here are a couple of my favorites!

Birthdays

July 5 is Ashton's Birthday. We had a party for him at Nan and Papaw's house. Like I said before, Jenna will not let us have a party without party hats. Jenna wore hers the whole time and LOVED it...Ashton HATED his hat. He put it on for pictures, didn't smile, and then took it off and was happy has can be. Oh well! Happy 3rd Birthday Ashton!
July 8 is my mom and sister's birtday. Our family and Grandmother went to Provino's and then to Krispy Kreme to celebrate. Back to the party hat thing, we could only find Transformer ones, which wouldn't do for my little girl. So we got the things that you blow that are supposed to make noise. They had Tinkerbell on them. She was happy with that, thankfully! Happy Birthday to Mom and Lindsey! Love ya'll!

Packing

And so Matt's packing begins...

The 3rd and 4th of July!

Josh, Sheri, Matt and I tried to go to the Lookouts game on the 3rd but they were sold out. So instead we walked around downtown and sat by the CocaCola stage from Riverbend and watched the fireworks at the stadium. They were so much better from there. We didn't have to break out necks! We spent the 4th of July at our friend Amanda's parent's house. She is a Staff Sgt in Matt's unit and we've become good friends with her. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs, went swimming in the pool all day, and shot off a few fireworks that evening. Jenna absolutely loved the fireworks. I wasn't sure how she would do but everytime one went off she would run in circles and scream and clap. She is a funny little girl. We ended up staying really late but Jenna did so good! I was impressed! Happy 4th of July everyone!

Big Canoe

Mom and Dad invited us to go to Big Canoe with them for a few days. We gladly said yes, after all, this is our last getaway before Matt leaves. We drove down(or up...Mom and I can't decide which one it is) after Matt's party. The next day we slept late(well everyone else did...i don't get to anymore with the little guy waking up at 6:30) and then went to the swim club after lunch. We all had a good time swimming, playing volleyball, going on the canoes and paddleboats, and the boys went down the rock slides. Poppy had Carson all set up outside so he wouldn't get too hot!The next morning the boys went hiking. The girls and Carson stayed at the house and ate breakfast. Then everyone took a nap and then it was off to swim again. Carson and I didn't go. He was having a rough morning.

Luckily by early evening he was feeling better and we were able to go out on a pontoon around the lake with everyone. We got a couple pizza and took them with us. It was beautiful! And Jenna LOVED being on the "big row row boat", helping Papa drive and feeding the geese.

The next morning Matt went fishing and Mom and Dad went walking. The rest of us were lazy around the house. Eventually Mom, Ben, Carson and I went to the store to get a few things. When we got back Ben, Matt and Dad went to the pool. That night Dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs that were wonderful! Jenna helped Mimi wash the dishes afterwards! After that we pack up because Matt had to be at work the next morning. We were sad to go but had a GREAT time of relaxing before our life gets turned upside down in the coming weeks. Thanks again Mom and Dad! We love ya'll.

2 months!

Carson James is 2 months old!

Here is Jenna at 2 months....what do you think?

Going Away Party

We had a Going Away party for Matt this weekend. We invited lots of friends and family. Everyone had a great time eating, playing games and hanging out. I wanna say a BIG thanks to Lindsey and Sheri for helping me out so much and also to Grandmother and my mom for the amazing fruit trays and to Pam for the cake. Thanks to everyone else for coming to support our family. This is a crazy, emotional time for us but knowing that we have all our family and friends right behind us means more than you'll ever know. We love ya'll!

I didn't get many pictures because I was running around like crazy!