Heroes

This one is for my Grandma Dorothy!

It’s hard to believe that my dad will be leaving in a month for his fourth deployment in ten years and my brother, Jared, for his second.  They left Utah in January for training; it happened to be that they were sent to Ft. Hood, TX, which is about three hours south of where we live.  My mom, sister-in-law Amie, nephew Kai and niece Aria recently flew to DFW when the guys had a four-day pass.  It was great to have so much of my family in one place (although, we sure missed Jason, Emilie, Parker and Preston, who were in the middle of moving).  Jared and I figured that it had been about 14 months since we had last seen each other and a year before that, so it was very special to get to spend time with him.  My parents stayed with us, while Jared, Amie and the kids stayed closer to Dallas so they could explore a little.  We still got to spend a lot of quality time with each other and kids REALLY enjoyed each others’ company.   Amelia was pretty much in LOVE with Aria.  Even days after they left, Amelia would walk around the house saying, “Where Aria at?”  Noah and Kai are such great playmates, and Noah is especially thrilled  that Kai is now into Legos.

My dad is a lover of surfing and snowboarding.  Therefore, for his birthday, I reserved he and I a session at a nearby place that has an indoor wave rider.  Being confident in our skills, I skipped right past the boogie boarding warm-up phase straight to the surfing, sure that I would quickly master it.  Well, that was NOT the case!  In all fairness, the bottom of my bathing was a bit loose-fitting; I was petrified the article of clothing would come off when I fell, and the audience of 15 or so would see.  My dad, on the other hand, did really well!  All in all, we had a good time, although I’m still recovering from whiplash.

We had a great day at the Dallas Zoo and a lot of just letting the kids play at our house.  My mom and I played about 100 hands of gin rummy, and I’m pretty sure I came out on top!  It was hard to say goodbye, but even harder to see them have to say goodbye.  They will get a chance to see each other once more before they leave for Afghanistan; it was so humbling to see the sacrifices they make – not only for our country but for their family.  My dad and brother are two of the most honorable and courageous men I know, and I am so proud to call them family.  

Noah, Kai and Aria on a camel ride.

Amelia's first time on a carousel!

I also want to say how great I think my sister-in-law Amie is, she is so strong and one of the most AMAZING moms and such a supportive wife!  And, of course, my mom . . . she’s a veteran herself, so to speak, being that this will be her fourth time to send her husband away to protect our country.  I am so happy that she’s so close to Amie, Kai and Aria and that she has an amazing support base of friends in Utah.  I’m planning to go to Utah this summer for a month or so to spend time with all of them and to escape the heat of Texas.