iPhone Controversy solved...

The eagle has landed. The cats in the bag. The package has been delivered. The iPhones have been purchased. Much joy and rejoicing was beheld at the local Best Buy. Mike is still all "I'm just nervous blah blah blah my software from my palm blah blah blah tons of data files blah blah blah." And I'm all "cha ching. Thank you iPhone lady for hooking me up. I'll take the hot pink case." We spent our Saturday night feeding our kids whoppers and sprite to keep them happy and quiet as well as picking out accessories and learning about our great new phones but they aren't really just a phone so I'm not going to refer to them as phones but instead will refer to them as the "comperasterepalone" (computer, camera. stereo, palm, phone). I got my iPhone, my blendtec yesterday and we hooked up and had a Guitar Hero battle tonight.

Dear Technology,

I am starting to have a crush on you. Wanna go out?

Love,
Amy

p.s.

"I am MODERN Joseph." - name that movie.

The Great iPhone Controversy of 2009

Mike and I had our first fight since he got home. It was an important issue and even more importantly I was right. See, I reeeeaaaallllyyyy think we need iPhones. For Christmas I got Mike a whole digital music themed gift. It included an Alpine stereo for his car that played CDs but also had a docking station for an ipod. He got an ipod touch, a charger, a docking station for the bedroom with great speakers, a gift card for installation of the car stereo, a charger and an itunes gift card. I know! I'm the coolest wife EVER. But the more research I did, the more I realized that he would be carrying around his cell, PDA (palm pilot) and his ipod. That's three devices already. Add the fact he often carries a camera or a video camera and there's even more. If he were to be on call, and somewhere he was taking pictures or video, he would be carrying seven electronic devices just on his little body alone. So I started to have buyers remorse about getting him an ipod. I want him to have less to carry and we are trying to simplify our lives. I did some research on the iphone and we could BOTH get an iphone plus stereos for our car etc for the same amount his ipod touch and stereo cost.

He was not thrilled about considering the iphone. Apparently he has a system. Don't ask me what that means but I guess the iphone presents a threat. To his system. He likes his palm pilot. He was willing to consider changing his phone and getting an ipod but he made it clear for me not to muck with his palm pilot. He is very attached apparently to his palm pilot. He has spent "years" loading it full of information that he has to have to do his job. The point I made is that perhaps there is better and cooler technology out there that could deliver the information he already has in a more efficient and user friendly way. He grumbled and muttered something about not liking change. I then pointed out that he isn't still working on his Commodore 64 from 1987 and maybe he needed to shut his trap and embrace the fact that it is 2009 and get with it. He grumbled again and said that he was mad when he came back from his mission and found the Commodore 64 was broken. Ummmmmm...are you KIDDING ME? I knew at this point he was just being ridiculous and I could not reason with an insane person so I dropped it.

Until TODAY. Oh today you glorious day. It does not often happen in a marriage that you get in a fight with your spouse the night before and then in the morning paper an article is published that provides written PROOF that you were right and he was wrong. Neiner neiner neiner you are a weiner. Today, in the Sacramento Bee (our local newspaper) there was a lovely little article all about how iphones are making doctors practice medicine more efficiently and how over 170 applications have been added that doctors can use to diagnose, treat and reference while treating their patients. It even went on to say that Family Medicine physicians are the ones that are finding this technology so helpful because they have to treat such a broad range of conditions. It went on and on in glorious and wonderful and happy detail. The best thing the article pointed out is that the applications doctors would use the most are FREE to download. It also said that PDAs (Mike's beloved palm pilot) are becoming obsolete and that medical schools and hospitals are issuing their students and residents iphones instead.

The article closed by saying "SUCK IT MIKE MEEKER." Just joking it didn't say that. But I did.

Disclaimer: part of me is happy that Mike is so resistant to change. He still eats Wheaties everyday for breakfast and even though there are WAY better things in which to make chocolate milk, he still uses Nestle Quick powder. He still uses creamy JIF peanut butter even though crunchy is way better and still uses Smuckers Strawberry preserves and still eats a PB&J and a glass of chocolate milk every night before bedtime. He still wears Nikes and he still dresses in jeans, nikes, a tshirt and a leather jacket everyday of his life. He still wears sweats on an airplane, still thinks Bon Jovi is the best rock band of all time except for maybe the Eagles and some CCR and importantly, finally and most importantly he is still crazy about me. So the fact that he was trying to hold on to his beloved palm pilot is secretly endearing even though I had to make a strong case to the contrary.

Holidays Number Two In Retrospective

Once Upon A Time..

A dad came home. And after three days, a little family pretended it was Christmas Eve even though it wasn't. The family had appetizers for dinner which is the Christmas Eve tradition that started when the Mom was a little girl. The Mom read the story of Jesus' birth in the second chapter of Luke in the Bible. The Dad got out the Fisher Price Nativity set with two little sisters that were three and they began to put the pieces in place. One little girl was bored. The other was pretending she was an angel and was "all lit up and visiting the shepherd and telling them DON'T BE AFRAID."

In order to snap one of the little girls out of her boredom induced coma, the family suggested that they sing "Away in a Manger" while the Dad put the Baby Jesus in place in the little scene of the nativity.

And once the story was winding down, the previously comatose child shows a glimmer of life as she kisses the angel because in her words "this angel was so so nice to help the world find Baby Jesus." The nativity set was put together, the family rejoiced and sang Silent Night.

As the night wound down, the Dad took the little girls outside because they were very concerned that it might be "a foggy night and maybe Santa wouldn't be able to drive his sleigh unless Rudolph is with him and is Rudolph ready to come to our house and does he know the way and are we SURE Santa knows that tonight is our second Christmas????" Luckily for all, the night was clear and bright with a near full moon that was very bright.

The little girls made sure a snack was waiting for Santa and his reindeer. Oreos and milk for the big guy and carrots and celery for the reindeer. The girls asked their Mom to help write a note to Santa. They left the plate on top of their empty stockings so Santa would be sure to find it when he used his special key to open the front door because there is no chimney at the family's house. The little family went to bed where there were visions of sugar plums...wait. What is a sugar plum? I'm sure it's something nice but I have no idea what it actually is. Is it some sort of treat? If so...how about this instead? The little family went to bed where visions of Hagan Dazs Chocolate Ice Cream danced in their heads.

Pretend Christmas morning dawned happily and the family slept until 9:00 a.m. because the little girls forgot all about pretend Christmas morning and were tired from staying up late the night before for pretend Christmas Eve. All was quiet as Pretend Christmas morning waited...and waited for the family to get out of bed already.

Finally! The family is alive! Girls raced out of hallway held back by their Dad who was trying to help their Mom get a few shots. The excitement of Christmas morning was real, whether Christmas morning was pretend or not.

The littlest member of the family, Jessica chose the dumping out method of going through her stocking versus her older (by 2 minutes) sister, Katie, who opted for sticking in her hand and pulling things out. In this case, she pulled out gumballs.

The two little girls were very happy with their stockings but by pretend Christmas morning, they were kind of pros at the whole thing. (Given that they had actual Christmas morning on Christmas) So they knew there was much better stuff than some gumballs, a yo yo and play makeup. And the better stuff was called presents. And they were right in Jessica's line of sight. Under the tree. Wrapped in shiny paper. Ready to be opened. And they had waited all through December and now part of January to get at them. They were ready to get on with pretend Christmas morning. Their Dad however, did not have ANY Christmas morning yet. Don't tell anyone, but pretend Christmas morning was REALLY for him. He did not know it was pretend. Can you tell? He isn't happy or anything is he? He must have had a reeeeeeallllly good long winters nap.

Two little girls got makeup in their stockings. These little floosies LOVE their makeup. The brighter the better. Here, an angelic little toddler (they are still toddlers at three right?) is applying eyeshadow... to her cheek. Purple eyeshadow. Upon seeing herself in the mirror she announced that she was a "makeup expert you know". Her little sister applied blue glitter eye gel shadow to her eyelids in such large quantities we had to wash it off immediately so we don't have pictures because the mother had to put down the camera to scrub eyes that were apparently allergic to cheap pretend makeup with poisonous dyes and lead from China that cost $2.00 for an entire eyeshadow, blush and lipstick kit. The mother of this family should be nominated for an award because she only buys her daughters dye free, educational, self esteem building, healthy body imaging reinforcing, organic, biodegradable toys made in the USA by battered women who have bravely escaped their abusive relationships and live in shelters funded by Oprah. This mother would never ever buy poisonous presents that have a mirror that chips off little pieces of glass into the eyeshadow so the children apply purple poisonous glass into their eyes. Oh no. This mother would NEVER.

The opening of the presents will return after this short commercial message.

"Looking for a delightful and refreshing treat? Peel fresh oranges off of your grandmothers tree and place them in your new JUICER which provides healthy and wonderful juices containing no pulp and is so delicious it will blow your frickin' mind."

Two wonderful friends named Mr. Williams and Mr. Sonoma sent the family these wonderful croissants that they took out of the freezer the night before, let them rise overnight and then baked for 18 minutes in the oven, then consumed them faster than you can blink while making yummy noises that actually sounded inappropriate. Just joking. There is no one named Mr. Williams or Mr. Sonoma. Actually there are people named that somewhere but we don't know them. But you can order these croissants from Williams-Sonoma for $39.95 for 15 plain or chocolate croissants. The rest of the story is true. And ordering them will change your life. And the size of your butt. However, they are so good they might be worth it. I think they are. And I'm glad I don't have any left. Because I would want one right now.

The Dad has been away on a deployment in Afghanistan. He learned how to make this really great dish with goat meat.....just joking. For Christmas breakfast, the main man in the family (the only man) made his very famous scrambled eggs to go along with the orange juice and croissants. His scrambled eggs are famous for the following reasons. 1) They are ironic eggs. He uses half the yolks for the total number of eggs (4 yolks for 8 eggs). He does this because it is healthier. But he scrambles the eggs in the same pan the bacon is cooked in with some of the pan drippings. See ironic eggs. 2) He makes the eggs in small batches because he does not know how to do a large task all at once because he can't multi task. 3) They have to be eaten hot and he will hound you if you talk or do anything other than shovel eggs once they are on your plate. 4) They are the MOST delicious eggs you have ever tasted. Honest. The man has a gift.
















We now return to the opening of the presents. And to kick us off is yet ANOTHER rendition of Away in a Manger. When you only know three Christmas songs, you can't really ask for a lot.
















Two little girls got pink polka dot sleeping bags. The parents told them this is in preparation for camping out in the backyard this summer. However, it is really just in case someone might want to invite the girls sleep someplace other than here. Which means they would be sleeping elsewhere. Which means they would be getting up at 6:30 a.m. elsewhere. What a GREAT idea. Goooooo Sleeping Bags yay!!! No really.....goooooooo! ha ha. Actually the girls sleep at their Grammie and Papa's very often. But they don't sleep on the floor. They sleep in Grammie's bed with her in the middle so she can tickle their arms, their backs, their tummies, their legs, their feet and it goes on and on. But in case anyone else would like to get up nice and early...they have sleeping bags now!
















A Fairy Godgrammie got the girls their favorite of all their Christmas presents for either real or pretend Christmas. Converse All Stars in red glitter with black glitter accents. The shoes went on the feet immediately. The shoes have begged to be worn everyday since. But the little girls refuse to wear them to school because they don't want to ruin them by getting sand inside of them from the playground. But any other activity, including just playing in the house, must include their glitter shoes. They insisted that they purchase the SAME shoes for their Papa's birthday just a few days ago. I tried to explain they don't make glitter shoes for Papas. So he got Navy Blue ones. And they had to make their Mom get herself black ones. Pretty soon, the family will all own Converse All Stars.

The little family had their own Christmas miracle. It was like the gift of the Magi. The Dad bought the Mom a Playstion 3 along with Guitar Hero. Because apparently the Mom mentioned somewhere along the way (when she was drunk and high on crack) that she thought it might be cool to get Guitar Hero. Somehow, the Dad received Madden 09 from Grammie and Papa. Isn't that AMAZING? The Mom is not sure which she is more surprised about - the fact that the Grandparents somehow knew he would be able to play Madden 09 for Playstation OR the fact that the Mom owns her very own Playstation.

Hold onto your socks. In addition to pretend Christmas Eve and pretend Christmas morning, the family HAD, just HAD to celebrate pretend Mike's birthday on the same night that pretend Christmas morning happened. Actual Mike's birthday had already happened on December 26th so pretend Mike's birthday happened this same night. If you think you are sick of looking at these pictures, imagine living through this day. The actual Mike wanted his pretend birthday to take place at Osaka Japanese Restaurant where we treated the actual girls, both sets of parents and two Grandmothers to dinner of sushi, teriyaki, sukiyaki, tempura, udon and once again...yummy noises.

An actual fire was started on the pretend birthday. Jessica and Katie insisted the entire box of candles were used and that a chocolate overload cake was consumed.
















This lady didn't know it was pretend. Just joking. Well not really. Follow me?
















This lady gave actual birth to the birthday boy on his actual birthday although I'm sure it was painful enough that it seemed like it lasted until his pretend birthday. This is getting more confusing. Hello? Are you still there? Testing 1-2-3. Is this thing on? Tap Tap.

The Dad who was away but now is home and happy to be back with his family and happy to have celebrated Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning and his Birthday... FOR REALZ...not pretend.

Oh, and just in case you still need a reason to stab yourself in the EYE. The family celebrated pretend THIRD Christmas, yes I said that right, with the Dad's Mom and Dad AFTER the pretend birthday party. No I'm not joking just to drive you crazy. It really happened. And it was FUN. And HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPO was given by the parents. And it has been played. A LOT. And did you know that there are secret tricks to HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPO which enable your hippo to consume MORE white balls thereby winning more often? The trick is to turn the hippo into a snapping turtle. No I don't know what I'm typing at this point. Are you crazy? Yes, I know I'M crazy but are you? I was just wondering.

And the girls launch into hugs with their Grandma. They were NOT tired of real OR pretend Christmas OR pretend birthdays OR pretend sushi by this point. In fact, they told their Grandma just after this was taken, that she made their wish come true because she brought them THIRD CHRISTMAS!!! And also did they think we could have a 4TH Christmas.

MY ANSWER WAS NOOOOOOOO.

It has finally happened. I'm sick of myself. Good night and good bye.

Happy Birthday Dad...

Today is my Dad's birthday. It was great because we got to spend the day with him and have his birthday party tonight. My Dad is the awesomest Dad but I think he is an even awesomer Papa. He is calm (unless he is traveling or doing a project) and he is dependable. He is bad at Math like me. He is a GREAT cook and artist. He draws the best pictures for the girls and they are always asking to draw with him. He taught me how to throw and catch, he was my Powderpuff Football coach, he proofread all my papers and listened to me practice my speeches over and over. I think the girls think he is their own personal playmate, slave, friend and fellow nap taker. He teases all of us incessantly. You have to be able to take a joke and laugh at yourself in our family or you will be in big trouble. He loves to do little things to annoy people. He is the most honest and has the most integrity of anyone I know unless he is cheating at cards, backgammon or a board game. He has loved my Mom since he was 15. Which lets face it...is the best thing he could have done for me growing up. He is constant and is the same today as he always has been.

Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (a.k.a "AHHHHHH HEAVEN")

Sonoma, California is a little historic town near Napa that features sprawling vineyards, orchards of every kind and rolling green hills of pasture land for dairy cows. However mostly, Sonoma is a quaint and romantic vacation spot catering to vacationers from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. It's only about 90 minutes from Elk Grove so it was a perfect spot for a quick three day get away for Mike and I when he got home. We picked the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa for a few fabulous days of pampering, relaxing, reading, sleeping and eating. It was magical from the weather (laying out by the pool in January!!!) to the food to the massages to the beautiful room and kind people who made this trip so very special. I always wanted to stay at the Sonoma Mission Inn since I was an Account Executive for Chase Manhattan and had clients in Sonoma. The town is charming and full of fabulous bistros and restaurants, cute bed and breakfast inns, spas and wellness centers, the amazing rolling hills of grapes and some of the prettiest scenery I've ever seen. It looks like the pictures my Mom and Dad brought back of the Italian countryside outside of Rome and Tuscany. If you get a chance and would like a special weekend away, I could not recommend any place more than Sonoma. Here's the pictures from our trip. Sorry there are so many but we really had a GREAT time.

(Above) Mike chills out in the sunshine near his second love of his life, his WRX which we named Silver Bullet. My dumb minivan is named Silver because it's Silver and my girls are original like that. So Mike's car is named Silver Bullet because he drives it (way too) fast. He loves this car. It was fun to take on the country roads with the sunroof and the turbo and the new performance tires we put on before Mike got home. We blared classic rock and wore our sunglasses and sang at the top of our lungs. In this picture we stopped at an olive orchard to sample and buy olive oil and dipping oil. (Below) When the Sonoma Mission Inn found out we were coming for a romantic getaway when Mike got home from deployment, they upgraded us from the standard room (which I'm sure was very nice) to the nicest suite they had on the property. Good gravy it was nice. Here is the four poster king bed and the living room. They had a fireplace where they supplied fire stuff in a little sack with a bow and all you had to do was light the sack on fire and it made the perfect 3 hour long fire.

(Above) Mike is showing you the ginormous jacuzzi tub in our room. It was in the middle of this huge arch and you could draw the curtains around it for privacy or soak and watch TV or the fire. We both agreed that we gotta get us this tub for our house someday. It was awesome. (Below) The inn is historic. It used to be an actual California mission. This building is one of the original out buildings and is now the spa. It is like three stories and has like seven different pools of varying temperatures, full spa facilities, meditation areas, exercise facilities, shops, restaurant etc etc etc. Inside all the walls are hand painted with murals or have inset fountains and ponds. You felt like you were in some sort of Tuscan castle but it was also like a really beautiful church. It was automatic to relax and center yourself and just go to your happy place.

(Above) Just some scenery from the property. I loved how everything was arched. And the ivy climbing up the walls would be beautiful in the spring and summer. I also like how it all looked in winter. The vines bare and twisting. The vineyards looked the same. Empty but beautiful and easy to see how they will explode with green in the Spring and heavy with fruit in the late summer. (Below) Mike the first night at dinner. He had a great meal of a big veal chop with five different kinds of mushrooms that grow in this region of California. He loved it. I ordered the penne with house made sausage and a pear tomato sort of cream sauce. The ultimate comfort food. Such a great little place that made you feel like you were dining in someones home.

(Above) My cousin Susan recommended this little place to us and we are so glad she did! Her awesome in laws have a home in Sonoma and have gone to this place a number of times. We were so happy she recommended it. It was so good and quaint and authentic. If you are ever in Sonoma - don't miss out on Della Santina's. And be sure to get dessert! (Below) Mike is soaking in the jet tub. He is a rookie at taking bubble baths. I poured in what I thought would be the right amount of bubble bath. But I forgot about two things. First the jets cause the bubbles to continue to foam up. Second, he is a rookie and doesn't know how to control his bubbles by squishing them down as to not overflow the tub with bubbles. Shortly after this picture was taken, he was overcome with bubbles and did not know what to do. I had to show him how you pop them so they stay controlled. Rookies.

(Above) Mike's favorite part of everyday is breakfast. We had breakfast in bed included in our package. But Mike doesn't believe in ordering breakfast in bed at hotels. His theory is as follows. "Breakfast includes foods that have got to be eaten while hot. Eggs, bacon, pancakes etc. do not taste good if they are not hot. When you order room service, they have to travel with your food over long distances. You lose critical minutes in which eggs go from delicious to gross. The window of time in which breakfast must be consumed is much shorter than say lunch which might include a turkey sandwich, a salad or even soup. All of these things can afford to sit for a short period and still taste as good." Sooooooo... we had to go down to the restaurant every morning to order breakfast and eat it while it was hot. This was not new information to me. After 16 years of marriage I knew enough to ask if we could eat in the dining room and still have it included in our package instead of ordering it up to our room. (Below) It appears that while Mike ingested TWO breakfasts (one order of Belgian waffles and 3 eggs, potatoes, bacon and toast breakfast) I read my book, sipped my herbal tea and waited for my perfect sourdough french toast cooked in browned butter and topped with strawberries, powdered sugar and whipped cream. I read every place we went. Some might think this is not romantic and I should have been visiting with my husband who had just returned from the desert. But what those people don't know is that Mike was reading as well. And we were so very happy to be reading and not talking. If we had something to say we said it, the other put down the book, we talked then went right back to our books. Oh the joy!!!

(Above) We asked where we could go for great seafood and we kept getting directed to Meritage. This was equal to the place the previous night. We had crab and lobster yanked (sorry guys) fresh from two different tanks. The crab was perfect. Fresh, sweet and cooked perfectly. We are so lucky to have Dungeness crab so available here in Northern California. We also had gnocchi with pancetta, cream, white truffle oil and shaved black truffles. We had gone to the spa all day earlier. We felt like it was the perfect day. Spa all day. New President inaugurated. Perfect dinner. Soaking in our jacuzzi tub. Reading our books. Fire in the fireplace. A brownie sundae ordered at midnight from the hotel. Yep, it doesn't get better than that day. It just doesn't. (Below) Mike in the lobby of the inn. This shows maybe 1/3 of the lobby. It was huge and it was all done in faded coastal/napa colors like greyish blue, sea green, yellow, wheat and oatmeal and sand colors. It had beautiful artwork and sculptures. There were gigantic baskets and bowls of fresh fruit everywhere. And everyone stays in their spa robes while on the property. So everywhere you go, even the lobby and restaurants, people are in their white fluffy robes and have their flip flops on. I told you, this place is the best place ever to be created on earth.

(Above) This is just one of ten pools on the property. Seven are housed in the spa area. Then there are three others. At night they turn the pools into fountains. They are all lit up and the sound of the water is hypnotic. Surrounding the pool areas there are campfire like fire places where guests can sit on big couches or lounge chairs under blankets and roast marshmallows or drink hot cocoa which is provided complimentary by the inn. Because our room had a fireplace, we could have our own marshmallow roasting party so we didn't hang out at the other fireplaces. But they were sure cool looking. (Below) Just some more scenery. This was the view of our pathway leading away from our building. I took this from our balcony.

(Above & Below) Our big fluffy white robes. We wore these all over the property. Mike thought it looked like a monastery when we first got there because everyone is in the white robes and sandals. By the time we left, we both thought that every hotel should make it a policy that guests had to wear robes at all times. In fact, we think it should be a mandatory dress code at work too. All robes and flip flops all the time. World peace wouldn't even be an issue if we all wore big white fluffy robes and went to a magical place where they pampered you with massages, facials, hot tubs, toxin cleansing treatments, fresh fruit and spring water infused with cucumber and limes. We would all be so happy that we would hug our enemies and invite them to sit by the fire, roast marshmallows, hold hands and sing campfire songs. I think President Obama should have the next Peace Summit at the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa.

(Above) Me and Mike - together at last! Man I missed that kid. We stayed up super late talking and talking and talking about all we missed out on in the past months and about our girls and stories and jokes. We got hungry at midnight and ordered ice cream and then talked for a few more hours. I love LOVE LOOOOOVVVVEEEE this man. He is the very best there is for me. (Below) Me at dinner. I only inlcuded this because I like my earrings.

(Above) Mike was reading on one of the benches. He was reading Twilight in case you were wondering. I love having a husband who is a guy and goes off to war and can do tough stuff but who will go to a spa with me, read a silly vampire teen romance book because I told him it was a great read and will literally laugh and talk with me for like 3 solid days. In case I didn't say it before....BAAAAA we had the best time!

ONE is the loneliest number...

I'll be posting pictures of our super family fun and romantic getaway to the best spa ever and awesome goings and doings. But for now, I just would like to share my loneliness with my blog. See, I'm not popular anymore. Nobody wants to snuggle with me. Nobody wants to sit by me at the table or on the couch. My two little pals have ditched me...big time. This morning, as we snuggled and watched cartoons, Mike had to make them give me hugs and kisses because "mama is so so sad you guys." So they reluctantly jumped all over me in slobbery displays of love. Katie made her baby Sophie hug my neck while Jessica gave me the explanation I was lacking. "See Mama, it's not that we don't want to snuggle you. It's just that we want to snuggle Daddy because he was gone for a long long time and he just got home and we missed him because he was in snackganistan."

It made me feel a lot better.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig...

He arrived.
Safely.
Looking healthy and a few pounds heavier.
Decked out so he could hide if needed in the desert.

We were there, decked out in velvet and tafetta.

Red Lipstick.

Our fanciest of fancy.
Parents were there, both sets, and two Grandmothers.
Flags were unfurled and signs waved.
They said Welcome Home, USA and I Love My Daddy
Passengers started to come down the escalator.
Waiting and waiting.
A tired looking woman touched my arm.
"He's coming" she said kindly. "I saw him on the flight."
"Thank you so much" I said to her, more grateful for that small sentence than she could ever know.
Waiting waiting waiting.
Katie and Jessica each had a sign.
Six hopeful eyes. Three silent mouths.
Then, a pair of boots running down the stairs.
My husband, their Dad, their son, their grandson emerged.
The airport erupted in applause from our group and all those that were on the flight and strangers who all of a sudden weren't.
The girls ran. As fast as they could. Toward a father on his knees with waiting arms,
That enveloped them both in a tight hug.
That lasted longer than 4 months did.
Then I stepped forward.
And I fell.
Into arms I have missed more than I thought possible.
And those arms came around me.
And I was whole again.
And well.
And grateful.
Fierce hugs all around for the moms and dads.
Gentler hugs for the Grandmas.
Jumping girls.
Jumping jumping.
Hanging and climbing on Dad.
For the first time in a long while.
Dragging Daddy's backpack.
Toward our van.
Loading us inside.
Driving Home.
A stop at In and Out Burger's Drive Thru.
A deep exhaled breath upon crossing our threshold.
A little family snuggles on the couch.
Watching Dora The Explorer.
All four people climb into one big bed.
Lullabies are sung.
A little girl finally cries her eyes out.
And is finally able to let us know she scared her Daddy will have to go away again.
Whispered reassurances.
Hugs are given.
Kisses too.
And the little family drifted off into slumber.
Wrapped around each other, feet and legs and arms jumbled together.
And slept.
While the world, and war, and efforts for peace continue on.
But for now, all is still and warm and right.

Please enjoy some of pictures from our happiest moment in a long time. Watching the girls run to Mike was in my top five best moments of my life so far. It was really wonderful. Thanks to all for the prayers and support.

The End.