We got an extra day with Derick!!!! Some of the soldiers had to leave from Sebring but D got to come home for another day. We were up early EARLY to get to his Unit. Luckily we have made fast friends with another family and carpooled together. I thought we would be just dropping him off and leaving again but we got to stay and watch him leave. again....and again.... They had some technical issues with Derick's bus so there was a bit of starting and stopping, but they got it together and finally pulled away.
O'lena looking at all the "Daddy soldiers" as she calls them.
Our family picture
Derick on his bus...notice how dark it is....
Went around front then stopped.
Good part was they made all the soldiers get off the bus and I got another kiss!!!!
Stuck bus at the battery.
They totally got a police escort out of town!!
And off they go....notice the light now, haha
They drove them through town and there were many people out waving to all the men. Everyone was following behind in a caravan. It was really neat.
Yeah, this is where I lost it. I was doing great up to this point!
Here are some pictures from Derick's deployment ceremony. The put together a family day for everyone. It was fun, with a lot of waiting around. I think O'lena had a good time. She got her first experience with clowns. She also learned how to take pictures.
They were doing a formation for accountability. Then off to a briefing.
O'lena watching her daddy.
O'lena taking a picture of daddy.
O'lena's picture
O'lena's picture of me :)
O'lena's picture of daddy.
I love this picture!
O'lena getting her face painted....and her arm
Soldier coming in for the formal send off ceremony.
Yes, I was one of the people that got out of my seat to get a better picture of my soldier.
Ceremony
This is the madness after the ceremony. I love this picture. The families were just mingling.
One of the things I really wanted to accomplish before Derick left was gettting O'lena's hair cut. I knew she would need one before he got back and I wanted him to be there, so we made it a haircut family day! First I went and got mine done so O'lena could watch. Then we did hers. She actually did really well. She moved her head around a bit, but not too bad. Dawn did a good job trying to cut while she was moving. We didn't take much off, just trimmed it a bit. Then Derick got his done to get back into regulation. The nice thing about the Guard is that you can wear it however you want to until you have to report back. Well anyways- on to more pressing matters, like finishing my paper!
Yep, it is official and actually have been official for a while, I just didn't really want to talk about it. D is leaving for Qatar next week. Well actually he goes to training first then off to Qatar after that. We are still not sure for how long, but we do know it is "no more than 400 days." Life has been one big stress ball trying to get prepared, mentally and physically. We are telling O'lena nightly and she seems to get it, well as much as she can. She is handling it much better than me :( I still kind of don't want to talk about it. The fun part is, we all get to learn about a new county and me and O'lena will get some good quality time. Well, I have better be getting back to my paper, which is due at the exact same time as he is leaving, of-course, but I have included the video of O'lena seeing Derick when he came home last week. It was really cute. He hid in the car for her to find him. The conversation went some thing like Me: olena there is a surprise in the car for you O: a pretty crown? Me: no not a pretty crown O: a pretty ring?! Me: nope not a pretty ring. Opens car door to find her daddy in her seat O: it's my daddy!! He is here!!He is not a soldier!!!
So Derick got a phone call yesterday from his captain. They are moving home from the bench list to the deployment list. It seems some dude tore his ACL and derick will be the one to replace him. We haven't seen any orders yet, but hopefully soon because we can't do anything financially or anything else requiring those documents without them. I guess you get what you wish for right? We are still not sure the length of the deployment or what specific day he leaves. That hopefully be on the orders too. Right now he is packing for a training, then home for a short stent, then gone to Qatar. I am just trying to keep everything on the positive because if I don't it won't be pretty. Everyone keeps saying it will be easy and he is going to enjoy it. I know he will. He is excited to go, just sad about leaving us. Hummmm
I spent some time while d was gone this last time to re work Olena's area. We just finished moving around the pictures and adding the cork board. Not sure if I am liking the configuration of the boards but it is a "once you sticking you leave it" kind of a thing. Anyways- Lena likes her area so it is all good. She still just plays and plays with her princess castle.
