home again :)

So on April 4th my Dad and my brother Willie helped me load all our junk into my parents 15 passenger van and then drove us to my Maw Maw & Paw Paw's house in Baton Rouge, LA. Then Monday morning, with all our junk having been transfered to Maw Maw & Paw Paw's minivan, we set out on the first leg of our drive to Connecticut.

That first day we got to Atlanta, GA where we stayed the night with Maw Maw's niece Dianne and her husband John. Tuesday we drove from Atlanta, to Otto, NC where we stayed with Paw Paw's brother Rich and his wife Velma. Wednesday we drove to Glouchester, VA where we stayed with Jeremy's Maw Maw & Paw Paw Duck. And on Thursday we got all the way from Virginia to our home in Connecticut - despite some navigational challenges along the way.

Reuben and Anna were SO good the whole trip, I was so proud of them! It was such a blessing to be able to drive rather than fly with them. I can't even tell you how grateful I am to my grandparents. It was really neat to be able to show them where we live, and just enjoy the"vacation time" together.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, Jeremy had flown from Iraq to Kuwait, and Sunday, April 10 he flew from Kuwait to the states. After a week of demobilization at Fort Dix, NJ we were extatically planning to pick him up at the welcome home ceremony in Hartford, CT this past Saturday the 18th. But...his company commander and/or immediate staff goofed, didn't fill out some paper work they were supposed to, and so the welcome home party was cancelled and they will now be getting relased tomorrow in New Haven, CT.

When the word came that we wouldn't be bringing Jeremy home Saturday, we were all obviously very dissipointed. Within a few hours Jeremy and I got the opportunity to chat, and within a few minutes we had decided that the kids and I were driving to Fort Dix to spend the weekend with him. So I started packing furiously, then jumped in bed to sleep a few hours before packing us and our stuff in the car at the crack of dawn. All past aversion to speeding was thorougly obliterated in the excietment of the moment, and we made it in record time.

We really had the greatest weekend too! There are some great playgrounds there on the base, and we got a room at a motel so we could stay the night. Reuben did remember Jeremy, and within hours he had warmed up to him pretty well. Anna took to him very quickly too,very in character for her. Life was definitely more fun with Dad around, he let Anna play in the dirt, fed Reuben donuts & coffee for breakfast, and showed Reuben how to blow BIG bubbles. I was downright giddy most of the weekend, and quickly began to recognize and appreciate the wonderful fact that Jeremy's can make all the decisions now, and he's way better at it than I am too!

We're now just anxiously awaiting the chance to see him again tomorrow, and this time actually bring him home with us!!