Going back to Alaska...

Tomorrow we leave to go back home. I am so grateful to my parents and in laws for their support during this deployment...I would have gone crazy in more ways than one without their love, company and support for the past four months. But the snow has melted, the kitchen overhaul beckons, and we need to open our house to the sun, wind and delights of an Alaskan summer. You hate to miss a single moment of irises, moose and blue berries when it only lasts a moment.

So many things have made me glad we came down here to DC. We finally discovered why my family has been ill. Connor's speech has improved greatly. Timmy had access to the best medical care possible when he desperately needed it. The boys got to really know their grandparents in the way I want them to know them -- in fact, I think they both would happily go off to Indiana or Virginia without a second thought just to be with grandma and grandpa or Nani and Pop. We got to enjoy the National Aquarium, the National Zoo, the museums, a great preschool, wonderful gymnastics, all sorts of lovely things that are hard to come by in the wild North. We got to roam all over mom and dad's land in New York. We got to explore Luray Caverns. And we took an epic and thoroughly enjoyable trip to DisneyWorld. Amazing four months of adventure and fun.

I am so grateful I have the people I do in my life who are willing to open their hearts and homes to us. We are lucky indeed. And the best part is that my boys have known unconditional love every moment of their lives from every one in their lives, to the point that they don't even know how lucky they are. But I do. And I thank those who made that possible.

But now it's time to nest as our own little military unit in our own home. We have a new dietary adventure to embark on. We have bikes to ride in the midnight sun. We have parks to visit and moose to watch. We have gardens to hoe. We have milestones to tackle. Hours of bug hunting, sand digging and swinging. And daddy to welcome home after six long months of watching and waiting. Hopefully this last two months will pass in a blur of sticky summer days, and we'll have daddy safe home before we know it.

We love you all. We'll miss being here. We'll miss you. Daddy, come home safe...we're waiting.