Eric Comes Home!

Well, the day finally arrived! On October 21st at 9:00 p.m., Eric's unit returned home from Qatar! They were greeted by many employees lining the hall with flags clapping as they walked towards us. It was great to see them!

The smiles were big ones as they began to see family and friends awaiting them there. They were so glad to be back on U.S. soil.

I had to take a back seat for a hug because my kids desperately needed to hug their daddy. Except for Cade. He was still not too sure he was ready to go to him yet.

I tried to give him a backwards hug, but Cade still wasn't ready.

Eric's uncle Russ came to welcome him home as well. I know that meant a lot to him!

Several of the officers from the unit were also there to welcome them back.

The girls even made Eric carry them down the escalator.

My parents, and my sister her husband and their 2 kids came to the airport with us.

Finally Cade decided he wanted to go to his daddy.

He got to ride the luggage cart out to the car. It was the only way he would let Eric put him down. Grandpa couldn't even carry him, which is rare!

The kids crashed the minute we got on the road.

I had hardly got to wish Eric home because I let the kids take over. Eric decided to steal a kiss on the way home while I was driving.

Cade woke up as soon as we got home. Then he wouldn't go back to sleep. Eric had to hold him and rock him, and he wouldn't let him leave his side.

All in all, we were very glad to have him back!

The FINAL countdown!

Here is a shot of Eric getting an award certificate. This is great, because it means they are almost done! Woohoo! Only 7 more days!!!!

Only 3 more weeks!

We are on the final countdown! Eric will be coming home in just 3 short weeks!

I know this is the life of a military wife, and don't get me wrong I am so proud of him, but being a single mom sucks! I don't know how those military wives do it whose husbands are gone for 1-2 years. I know I have it easy, so I try not to complain.
So excited that he is coming home though! Finally we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Eric's Trip to Doha!

Eric sent me a couple pictures a few weeks ago! He finally got to leave the base with some of his unit! They were able to go into Doha and see the sights! Here they are in the car!

Relaxing in some massage chairs in one of the stores! Love how the chairs cradle your legs and feet. I would love to see how that feels right now!

And finally...restaurant food! Yummy!

It was too dark outside to get any good pictures of the city. He is hoping to go once more before he comes home, then maybe he can get some! We are on the final countdown now though!!! Only about 30 more days!!!

If I Get Close Enough......

I think Cade misses Eric the most, simply because he doesn't understand what is going on, or why he just never came home from work one day.

I got Eric a webcam and sent it in the mail. He got it today, so when we talked on MSN we were able to use video. We could see and hear him, but he can't see us. (My webcam isn't here yet.)

Anyway, Cade loved it! He tried to climb right up into the computer. I think he thought the closer he got to him, maybe he could really touch him. Very cute and sad all at the same time.

We are hanging in there though! Only 15 more weeks. LOL

Bangor, Maine

Here is a picture of Eric, and one of some of his Unit taken at the Bangor International Airport. There are so many troops that go through there, a group of people started a website to honor and recognize all the soldiers. Eric said it was the coolest airport he'd ever been to. They had wifi, and they were handing out cell phones. Then from this group, guys came around taking pictures to post on their website. Below is a quote from their website:

"Bangor is frequently the last American soil our troops set foot on before going over seas and the first American soil our troops set foot on when returning to the United States. MAINETROOPGREETERS.COM was established as a domestic non-profit to provide a humble thank you to our troops for their sacrifices and those of their families. To date almost 900,000 troops have passed through Bangor making Mainetroopgreeters.com and American Legion Post 200 efforts formidable."

Pretty cool.

Eric Leaving for Deployment

Today was the day I had been dreading for some time now. I don't know how these women do it for 3 to 4 times longer than I have too. It is the life of a military wife, and I guess you get used to it. We had to arrive at the airport by 5:00 a.m. The plane was leaving at 7:00 a.m.

They were able to get special permission for us to go straight through to the gate, so that was really nice. I was able to linger clear until take-off.

Here is Eric checking his monster of a bag. It was big and huge, and so HEAVY! It is truly a good thing that they waive overweight baggage fees for the military.

Everyone kind of standing around. Waiting until each one was checked in and ready.

We had one of the guys take our picture while we had the chance. While I liked the picture, I was smiling a little too much considering the circumstances. Someone was joking with Eric though so I started laughing, and I was caught with a big cheesy grin.

Here is the group of them. Several of them went on the deployment to the same place last time too (almost exactly 6 years ago), so things will be fairly the same.

Time to stand in line and board.

Here he goes.

Here is the plane they are flying on. It was a Boeing 737.

Backing out.

Heading down the runway to turn around.

Back again.

Off they go!!!

Sorry for the play by play. I was a little camera happy, and knew my kids would love to see every detail.

Good luck sweetie! We will all miss you!

It's Official! Orders have been cut!

Several months ago we heard that Eric was going to have to go overseas with his Air Guard unit. We heard all sorts of rumors about dates and times. May, June, 4 months, etc.

Well, this past week his orders were officially cut! He is set to leave the first part of June, and return home just before Thanksgiving!

He is going back to Qatar, exactly where he was before. In the above map it is the little peninsula right in the middle. In the top left of the map is Iraq, most people know where that is, so here it is in comparison.

While this is a standard deployment, and I highly doubt a dangerous one, it will still be hard to have him gone that long. I hope we can stay busy during the summer, as I think that will be the hardest part.