Chris has been a part of the Army Reserves for 3 years, we have known of his deployment for almost 9 months and then he was at pre-mobilization training for 1 month, so when it really came down to the time before he left, we had 20 days together as a family before he deployed. I took military leave from work so that we could all be home together for those 20 days.
While there were things to prepare before he left and we planned a few fun activities, the treasured moments of those 20 days were in the simple, day-to-day rhythms. We spent hours upon hours playing trains with the boys, building blocks and snuggling up with movies. It was so precious to be able to take each day as it came and invest in our time as a family.
There was a special grace to our time that allowed us to enjoy each moment without getting caught up in grieving the moments we won’t have in the coming year. The last few days were difficult and more emotional, but before that our focus was simply to have fun together and we did! Chris and I feel so incredibly blessed to have these 20 days and I know the memories will help to sustain us in the coming months. Here’s a quick picture glimpse into our sweet family time…
Daddy hugs when Chris got home from pre-mobilization training
The day after Chris got home, our yard got "flocked" by my mom as a welcome home.
The boys thought it was so funny that we had flamingos all over our yard. =)
Beach Day!
We re-celebrated Caleb's birthday since Chris was gone
The boy's first backyard fire pit!
And, first S'mores!!
Our little Pirate - Arrrgh!
Caleb wanted to be like Brody - glad we had another pirate hat!
Pumpkin Patch!
No comments:
Post a Comment