Surprise! Spend The Week With Daddy!

I was very lucky to have to come back to the States for some training this past week, and even luckier to be able to fly Denise and the kids out to meet me. I surprised them at the airport on Thursday night when they landed, since I wasn't supposed to get there until Friday night. Kenneth just looked at me like I wasn't real for the first 2 days and was really shy, then finally warmed back up to me being there. Even developed some seperation anxiety just in time for me to say good bye again. Oh well.

We spent a lot of time together this past week when I wasn't at work. Highlights included going to the zoo and Chuck E Cheeses. Since I'm currently stuck in the airport waiting to fly back overseas, I thought I would post some zoo pics and some comments.

I can't believe how much Kenneth has "grown up" over the last 4 months, he is talking so much, is so much taller and looks like a little boy now, no trace of baby anymore. I wonder how much he will change between now and Christmas, when I hope to take my 2 weeks of R&R in Kerman.

Julia is so excited about starting school on Monday, I think she is definitely ready. She showed off by climbing a tree outside of lodging. Her poor legs show all the "battle scars" of how active she is. I was explaining all about different countries and sports as we watched the Olympics this week. Very cool to get to teach someone all about life in general.

Overall it was really special to get to hold the kids and see them interact together. Their natural state doesn't really come across on web-cam or phone calls, although I'm really greatful to have those. I don't know how people handled seperations before we had all this modern technology.

Denise is holding up really well being a "single parent", the kids are thriving and she is still sane (or at least as sane as she was before the deployment started :)) . I don't think I or the kids would be doing nearly as well if the situation was reversed. I don't know if she knows how much I love, appreciate and miss her on a daily basis. I hope so.

Well, Denise and the kids will be getting home soon, they should be in San Francisco by now I think. I unfortunately still have over 20 hours of travel and 7 time zones left to go...

Love to everyone,

Kelly