We are almost finished with this current separation! With approximately 6 weeks left plans are being made for the big HOMECOMING! K & I ordered a special sign for B. I also found some ACU fabric, and had my friend Lexi (www.alexiajean.blogspot.com) make some cute dresses for a few of the little girls in B's unit. She made Kennedy an extra special outfit that I just have to share with y'all.

Of course, Brian will be happy to see us no matter what, but I want this day to be extra special for him.

Some of you many have seen on Facebook, but just in case you didn't, we are 90% sure that we will be at Ft. Bragg come Jan. 2010. 90% sure b/c we don't have orders in hand, but Brian decided to take a position that should be very beneficial to our family. Ft. Bragg isn't a place we were even considering or wanting to negotiate for, so I feel God must be leading us there. More details will follow as we get them. For right now, we are just getting excited for one magical day in September!

Miss & Love all our family & friends back in the States. See y'all soon!

Brian's time at home was just perfect! The first day was spent hanging out at home and then enjoying an outdoor concert with some friends. Kennedy loved having her dad home. He gave her a fossil kit where they spent hours hours digging for dino bones. We spent the next few days just enjoying our time together before our big Dublin trip. Dublin was amazing, and will be explained in a separate blog. After Dublin we celebrated B's birthday, enjoyed dinners out with friends, visited our local lake, visited Venice & then the 4th of July. Much of this time wasn't photo worthy to most people, but we enjoyed every moment.

The 4th of July was a day filled with good friends, BBQing, margaritas, kids laughing, & hot weather. It was probably the hottest day we had all year, and the kids were running around in their swimsuits, jumping on the trampoline with the water hose. The parents were just hanging out enjoying each others company. It was so nice to be a "couple" again. Brian enjoyed being with other families and experiencing an American 4th of July in Italy. Around 6PM we headed to the base to wait for the fireworks and check out the activities there, but at 8:30 we packed up & pretty much ran to our cars. The dark clouds were rolling in fast off the mountains. We made it back to our cars just as it started raining. It was still raining at 10PM when the fireworks were supposed to start, but the base went on with the show. We kind of watched the fireworks from Maggie's house; we were mostly chatting & trying to stay dry.

Brian had to leave on the 6th. It was too quick! Having him home brought back so much joy to our lives. Everything from watching movies together, playing with Kennedy, grilling, etc. brought so much life to our house. I didn't realize the rut I had gotten into; I was just going through the motions trying to get the 365 days over with. Well, here we are with around 6 weeks left in this journey. 6 weeks until our family is whole again!