We're Back!

Whew! We are back! You know, I think part of why I was so anxious for Jasen to return from Iraq was that I thought life would slow down. Hahaha! It for sure didn't slow down last week; it was faster than ever.

The kids and I had a good trip down to TX. They are such troopers in the car. I think they've resigned themselves that they might as well enjoy the car because they're going to spend a lot of time there! The trip back to Kansas seemed longer, but was definitely more enjoyable and easier because Jasen was with us. I am so glad my partner in crime is here with me now.

We were able to spend some good family time with both sides of Jasen's family while we were in Breckenridge. Prior to us arriving in B'ridge, Jasen had been staying with his grandad and worked very, very hard to get his house and yard looking presentable. Mr. Graham is notorious for getting junk in case he might need it. I won't go into all the details, but his house has been really out of control since Mrs. Graham had gone into the hospital. Jasen got the front yard and common areas of the house under control so that people had some place to visit when they stopped by.

The first night Jasen was in town, he got to spend some time visiting with his sister, Brittany, and his brother, Scott. It had been quite awhile since they had seen each other and I know Jasen really enjoyed his time with them. We've made a committment to each other (all the adult kids of Charlie, plus Jasen's aunt and uncle) that we'll stay in contact and really forge relationships with each other. Jasen and I are very excited about spending time with them all!

Mrs. Graham's funeral went well; I think she would have been pleased. Jasen's cousin, Andrew, who is quite vocally gifted, sang two solos and Jasen, his dad, and a former student of Mrs. Graham's (who's probably over 60) got up and said a little something about her. She is really, really going to be missed. But there is relief in knowing she is free of pain, free of fighting to stay alive, free from exhaustion. Mrs. Graham's home health nurse told us that Great-Gran had wanted to stay alive to see Jasen come home again, but it was not to be.

Now, we need to pray, pray, pray for Jasen's grandad. He is insisting on staying in B'ridge and continuing to drive. Yikes. Really, please pray for him and us as we all put our heads to figure out what to do about him.

I will post some pictures very very soon. It's good to be home.

So much for togetherness!

Jasen is in TX tonight. We had an uneventful trip to the KC airport today, just to drop him off then head home to get Grace from school. Davis was great on the drive (wish we'd have had car DVD players back when I was a kid!), but was awful when we got home. He hasn't been sleeping very well since Dad got home. His naps have been off, he's up at least a couple of times in the night, then up for good around 6 a.m. So of course, I haven't been sleeping much, either.

On top of all of that, they've been doing "controlled burns" on the prairie lands around here. Lots of blowing smoke in the air, which means the Grahams (except for Jasen) have been hacking, coughing and wheezing a lot. No fun. I was just getting over a cold, too, and this has impeded my progress!

I miss Jasen already. So do the kids. I think that's why Davis was in a snit tonight. And Grace was pretty down. Nothing like getting them back just to see them leave again! Jasen better enjoy his "break" (ha!) down in TX because when he gets home, he's going to be helping more with the kids! His grace period will be over. :)

Out of the Mouths...

Tonight, after Grace's Bible story, Jasen, Grace and I got into a discussion about Peter. We talked about how Jesus predicted Peter would deny him three times before the dawn broke. Grace said, "I know about Peter in the Bible" then proceeded to put her big toe in her mouth and start sucking!! Jasen and I were aghast, wondering what she was talking about. I asked her who told her Peter sucked his toe. She told me with a straight face that her Sunday school teacher did and it was in the Bible. Then it dawned on Jasen and I at the same time: she'd been told that Peter had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth! Jasen and I had to stifle our laughter. One of those priceless moments!

Jasen leaves tomorrow to go to Texas. He's going down to help out with his grandad, spend some time with him, drive him around, etc. The kids and I will drive down on Thursday, then the funeral will be on Friday. We'll stay in B'ridge, then head back to Kansas on Sunday. I hate for him to leave us, but it needs to happen and we all understand why. And we'll be hooked up again very soon!

Great-Gran

Jasen's grandmother, Leta Graham, passed away Friday afternoon in Abilene, TX. She hadn't been doing well for over a week and her passing is a blessing. Of course, it's hard to remember that when you love someone. Please pray for Jasen's grandad, Onnie. It's going to be hard on him. They were married over 65 years. I can't imagine losing someone after that long together.

Great-Gran did so much for us all. Just yesterday, the kids got their Highlights and High Five magazines that she subscribed to for them. She was all about learning!

It appears the funeral will be next Friday, the 25th, in Breckenridge. We don't know all the specifics on our travel, but we'll have to get back to get Grace back in school. Thankfully, she has the 25th off, which means she'll miss less school than she normally would. We'll keep you posted.

Family of Four

We are having a good time together as a family of four! Jasen signed back into work on Wednesday, but doesn't have to do anything until Monday. So we've all enjoyed our time together! Grace had the day off from school on Monday, the day after Jasen returned, so she had some downtime with him, too. She went back to school on Tuesday, which I think was good. She was almost too excited about Dad being home, talking incessantly, jumping all around!

Jasen has spent time playing cars with Davis, lots of time. I don't know who has enjoyed it more! Grace got into the game this morning before school. She played a little rougher with the cars than the boys usually do! It was too funny; Jasen and Davis were watching her crash the cars and send them over the edge. A little shocking that the girl was playing rougher than the boys!

Let's see, what else? Jasen talked to his grandad and aunt last night. I haven't blogged about this, but Jasen's grandad went to Lubbock with his Aunt Ann and her family on Wednesday. They are going back to Abilene today, where Mrs. Graham will be put on hospice care and the respirator will be turned off. They do not expect Grandmother to live very long. They've already discussed where the funeral will be (Breckenridge) and burial (Adamsville, near Lampasas). Once we get the call that she has died and when the funeral will be, we'll decide when we are going to TX. It's tricky now that Grace is in school and Jasen has some reintegration stuff to do with work. Sadly, we still have a schedule we need to stick to; those plane tickets to Charleston have already been purchased and we've told everyone that we will be in TX the week prior to and the weekend of Memorial Day!

Typing that last paragraph made me think about how this blog was really started because Great-Gran, a.k.a. Grandmother, a.k.a. Mrs. Graham wanted to be informed about what was going on with us. Can you imagine that she was over 80 years old when she got her first computer and learned to use the Internet? And she learned to do that because she wanted to keep up with Grace, and later on, Davis. She was overjoyed when she got her first email with pictures from Germany. I'll never forget it because I never imagined someone her age would be that interested.

Jasen and I just spent the last few minutes talking about his grandmother. She was a blessing to us. I'll write more later about her. A little emotional right now!

Reunion

So many of you have written to ask how our reunion all went down. I'll try my best to explain!

On Saturday, the kids and I were supposed to go to KC to see my cousin, Jennifer, and her family, specifically her precious little girl, Maggie, who is less than a month old. When I got up that morning, I had an email from Jasen stating that he would be home on Sunday at noon at the KC airport. So I told Grace and Davis we couldn't go see Joe and Maggie on Saturday (Joe's chicken pox was a great excuse!!), but we'd try to go on Sunday.

Saturday was spent making last minute touch-ups to the house. I'd done a lot of cleaning on Friday. Saturday evening, Grace and Davis went next door to play and eat dinner while I finished the bathrooms and do one last sweep/mop/vacuum of the floors. I have to say that I got the house pretty clean with very little notice. I work well under pressure!

Also on Saturday, Grace and I made two signs to hold when Jasen came home. I drew one with Grace's requested message "Welcome Home Super Dad" and she did one with a picture on it. She didn't ask why we were doing them that day. I think she assumed we were just doing them a week or so early.

On Sunday morning, we were up and out the door by 9:30. Grace thought we were just going to see Joe and family, even though I put the welcome home signs into the car. Finally, when we pulled up at the airport, she said "What are we doing here?" I told her we were picking someone up and she asked me who. I asked her if she wanted me to tell her or if she wanted to guess. She asked "Who?" again, then gasped and said "MY DADDY?" Her jaw fell to the ground. It was precious. When I told her yes, I don't think she believed me.

So we went into the airport and waited for my friend, Kim, to get there. She was crying by the time she made it there. She was there as our photographer, just like she was last time Jasen returned home. When we knew the plane was there, we took off our coats, got our signs ready, and made sure most of the people around us knew to stand clear of us! Kim and I could see over the frosted glass and watched for Jasen. When we saw him, I yelled "There he is!!!" then let out a yelp. I couldn't control it. When he got to the door, the kids saw him and we all rushed to each other.

Wow. What a feeling. I can't explain it.

We all cried (well, not Davis). And just felt relief and disbelief. I mean, getting Jasen home had happened so quickly, so fast, it was hard to believe he was there. There wasn't the usual two-week build-up that most people have. We had two days notice and it was done. Can you imagine we didn't even have a chance to get new outfits??

That day, we had to tell Grace numerous times that she didn't have to tell Daddy everything she knew...he'd be here for awhile. Davis was very shy around his dad. Like, when they'd make eye contact, he'd look away and grin. It's pretty cute!

Although Jasen was exhausted and suffering from sensory overload, we had to get something to eat. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Abuelos, then went to Jen and Jimmy's to see the new baby. Then we came home and have been enjoying each other ever since!

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday, we had a couple of cool firsts, and one not so cool first. The not-so-cool one first: looks like I am going to have to have a crown put on one of my molars. I am not happy about it, but I am in pain on this tooth. And this is one of the teeth that a Lawton dentist drilled into a canyon, so it's more filling than tooth, so my current dentist told me there's not much she can do. And I can see why! Anyway, not happy about it, but it's got to be done.

I also got my first flowers of the deployment. Yes, a couple of weeks before coming home, Jasen FINALLY sent me flowers! I am not the least bothered about not receiving any before now, just think it's funny that he chooses to send them now! Think he's angling for something? ha! It's a gorgeous arrangement of white lillies and some kind of blue flower, maybe a blue bell? They are beautiful and so smelly that I've moved them into the living room because Grace said they were too smelly to eat by. I think she got that from her grandmama.

Okay, the BEST first from yesterday: Grace has her first loose tooth. It's one of her upper front teeth and I can tell it's loose. She's wanted to lose a tooth for such a long time, I am quite excited for her. She's been talking about hard stuff she can eat so that will help it fall out. Her hand has been in her mouth constantly since then, too. Working on it, of course. I am hoping it will hang on until Jasen comes home. I don't think there's much chance it would fall out before then.

Also, Grace has been talking about getting her ears pierced. I don't think she's really serious about it, but she's mentioning it more and more. I am sure it won't be long. Wonder if I can get her to hold out until her 11th birthday like I did? I doubt it!

He Counts!

Davis is counting everything these days. It started with the stars hanging above his bed. It's amazing how one day they start something and you didn't even realize they'd been paying attention to you! Anyway, only Grace and I can understand some of the numbers (we're fluent in Davis-speak) he says, but he's definitely counting, no doubt about that!

Grace has had a couple of meltdowns in the past few days. If she asks me for something and I don't say "Yes" right away, it unleashes a freak out in her. It's quite frustrating to me because I don't say no all the time, just yes in a different way than she expected. We've talked a lot this week about waiting for Mom's complete answer before we form an opinion on what is going to be the outcome.

With Davis' behavior under control at the moment, but Grace's not so hot, it makes me see how this deployment affects us all in different ways, at different times. We all have our moments when it just becomes "too much." That week is here for Grace. Every time she's upset about something, she cries for her daddy and talks about just wanting him here. I know that's so true for her.

It's also funny how things can be going fine, then the closer the end of the deployment comes, everyone reaches the end of their rope. It's like when you still have two months to go, you know you have to hang on. But when you know it's just a few weeks away, you can't hold it in anymore. You feel the end is near and you just can't handle it! So many emotions, so many anxieties, so many expectations.

I tell Grace everyday just to hang on. He's on his way!

We've got a very busy week. I am glad it's almost half over!