Very Special Pizza

This morning as we were talking to Greg over Skype, Greg mentioned that he was going to have pizza for dinner.  When Deagan heard that he said, "Send me some!" At that moment, Greg had the thought to order pizza for the boys from Afghanistan over the internet for them to eat at lunch.  We talk to Greg around 7:30 every morning (which is about 6 pm local time for Afghanistan), so he planned on ordering it a few hours after we talked.  

A few hours later, I got a text from Greg (he is able to do that from Gmail somehow) saying that he couldn't order it online for some reason, so he called the order in over the phone.  He had a calling card with only 6 minutes left, so he was trying to rush the call, but the pizza guy put him on hold! Luckily, it all worked out, and right around noon 2 large pizzas arrived at our door! Deagan thought it was Greg bringing the pizzas because he ran to the door yelling, "Daddy!" He was sad when it wasn't Dad, and it made me sad that he thought it was :( Those boys miss their dad! 

It totally made the boys day to get pizza from their dad, and it reminded me just how lucky they are to have a dad like him, and how lucky I am to have him as my husband.  He is such a great man.

"Stop taking pictures mom!"

Listening to Daddy Reading a Bedtime Story

Even though the kids don't come out and say it a lot, I know they miss their dad so much.  They always look forward to talking to Greg via Skype every morning, and mentioned Greg randomly through out the day. They are daddy's boys through and through!

While Greg was at the airport before he deployed, there was a service for everyone being deployed to record themselves reading books to their children for free.  Greg took advantage of it and we received the books last week.  In the package that we got, it recommended recording your child watching it for the first time to capture their reaction to send to your deployed spouse.  I finally did it last night, and it was so fun to see the boys reaction. (I did record it, but the video was too long to upload here.)  They were talking to Greg the whole time through the DVD, and at the end yelled, "I love you Dad!" when it ended.  It just melted my heart.  I am so grateful for services like this one that help support  families during deployments.  Its little moments like this that get us through.  

Cousins

This past weekend we traveled to Rexburg to be with Greg's side of the family.  His sister and her husband were graduating from BYU-I, and since we are so much closer to Rexburg here than we are out east, we made it a point to make it there.  It was so great to see Greg's parents and some of his siblings and especially the the cousins! Deagan absolutely adores his cousins, so it was so fun to see them all play together.  After this trip, Greg and I were both reminded how important it is to make sure we see each of our families at least once a year.  I want our kids to see their cousins more often so they grow up knowing them, and I want to get to know my sister-in-laws better and other extended family.  

We had such a great weekend, and of course it ended too quickly.  I am so grateful for our family!

(The kids decorating eggs with their cousins)

Wyoming Snow

After have no snow in Virginia this year, I was hoping that it would snow at least once so the kids could experience snow this winter.  A few days after we got to WY, my wish was granted! We got a spring snow storm (all the snow was gone the next day) and the kids loved it.  I actually was not prepared with any snow stuff, so they ran outside in whatever I could find.  They didn't seem to care though! They just wanted to play in snow! I wish I would have gotten a picture, but when Grandpa got home from work that evening he helped build a snowmen in the front yard with the boys.  They were all inside with in 10 min though since they really were not dressed for snow man building.  I was so glad though that they got to experience snow this winter though! 

The Kids and the Animals

My parents have 2 cats (Angel and Fiddlesticks) and 3 dogs (Bella, Sadie, and Hazel) at their house.  Both kids took instantly to the cats, and Kayden has loved the dogs from the beginning, but Deagan is really timid around the dogs.  3 weeks later, and Deagan now loves being in the same room as the dogs.  It is fun to see the kids and the animals.  I think the kids love the animals more than the animals love the kids though :)

Kayden with one of the cats Angel. (Since this picture, the cats have been kicked outside for scratching up new leather furniture.)

Deagan in Hazel's kennel

Kayden in Bella's kennel

Safe and sound

The kids and I are safe and sound in Wyoming. We arrived on March 14th, and have slowly been adjusting. It is so great to be with family right now. I am so grateful for them!

Greg arrived in Afghanistan last week after a grueling 4 days of travel. The time while he was traveling was stressful, but now that he is getting settled I feel better. We are able to Skype every morning which is really great! He seems to be doing well!

It is not easy being apart as a family right now, but we are being blessed so we are surviving. I am grateful for all the people in my life right now!

North Carolina Trip

This past weekend we went to Atlantic Beach, NC for family vacation before the kids and I leave this upcoming Wednesday. It was the first time we have taken a vacation like this, and we just had the best time. Of course not every moment was perfect, but we were together as a family for 4 whole days with no plans other than to spend time together and that was wonderful. We stayed in a hotel that was a 3 minute walk away from the beach, so we were at the beach everyday. The weather was never really nice while we were there, but we made sure to go to the beach every day regardless because how many times are you that close to the beach?

Other things we did was visit an aquarium where Greg and I touched a sting ray and we saw some sharks!, ate local sea food (Greg, not me), ran on the beach, visited Fort Macon (an old military fort that was used during the Civil War through WWII), played on the beach, collected sea shells, went to a movie, went swimming at our hotel pool, and saw dolphins swimming in the ocean! By the time it was time to come home we were exhausted by being on the go so much, but it was so worth it!

I fell in love with the ocean, and I can't wait to go back some day. I will never swim in it though because of my intense fear of sharks, but I will admire it from a far. Deagan and Greg shared in my love of the ocean, but Kayden refused to go near it. He kept saying "The ocean gonna get me!" The plus side to that though is that I never had to worry about him getting too close to the water.

We made the goal to not stress about moving while were on vacation, and I think we did a good job at that. We made so many fun memories that I hope will sustain us while we are apart.

We are home now and stress is in full force. Wish us luck!