Kevin's R&R

As most of you probably know by now, Kevin was able to join us for two weeks in December!  It was a very last minute decision, and we kept it on the down low because he wanted to surprise his extended family at their annual Christmas party.

I surprised Kevin at the gate as he was getting off the plane and barely made it in time.  People were already getting off of the plane as I rushed through security, but luckily he was one of the last ones off.

It was EXTREMELY hard for me to keep this secret because I am so close with many of his family members, but I was able to hold it together somehow!  It was especially difficult because we decided to book a last minute trip to Disney World for five days the week before Christmas.  Between the end of the school semester, planning the trip, prepping the house, doing all of the Christmas shopping, wrapping and decorating as well as juggling Kerriann alone, I was slightly stressed!

But if you know me, you know I love to be busy, and I wouldn't have wanted this holiday season to go any other way.  I can't even put into words how amazing it was to have Kevin home for two weeks.  He arrived on December 16th (he was supposed to get in on the 15th but was delayed) and left on New Years Day.  We decided on this time frame even though it was so early in the deployment because it was the only time we were guaranteed that I would be off from school.  We could have requested for him to come back during my spring break, but it happened to fall almost mid way through the deployment and he knew that everyone else was planning to request at that time as well.  Even if he had been approved, I would have most likely been right in the midst of midterms during his visit.  I am so glad that he was able to spend the past two weeks with us. It was nice having him here for both holidays, even though we took it easy on New Years Eve since we had to leave for the airport at 6am.

I have so many pictures and videos to share.  I'm hoping to get most of them up this week before I go back to school on the 9th.

It's been a day and a half since we dropped Kevin off at the airport and I am still working on getting past the initial shock of being alone again.  This goodbye was just as hard as the first one, but completely different at the same time.  This time, I knew exactly what I was facing, where the first time was uncharted territory.  This time I knew exactly how hard it was going to be going from having him here to being alone, but it's worse in a way.

Now, we are back to the beginning of another countdown, except the first one was only three months and this one could end up being between seven and eight.  And having him home for two weeks was wonderful, but a hard reminder of how much better life is when he's around.  Of course we are hoping and praying that he will be home sooner than planned with all of the changes that are happening overseas, but there is no guarantee.  Just keep our family in your prayers until we are reunited again!