Daddy's vacation!!!

We were all pretty excited to be able to have Dave home with us!!! The day Dave arrived me and Makenna picked him up from the airport. I asked Kayla what she wanted to do. I asked her if she would want to come to the airport with me, or have me and daddy pick her up after school. She wanted us to surprise her and pick her up at school. (So she could show him off??)

Makenna and I waited for him and he was the first one we saw! I was pretty excited. I had to keep myself from crying all day long when I thought about him coming home, but when I saw him I couldn't help it, I just balled. I tried to keep it together somewhat, but to see him was a feeling beyond description, a lot of emotions were felt. But mostly I was sooooo happy! We took it kinda slow with Makenna. I held her while Dave said hi and was making her smile. He had been so worried about Makenna, but what baby or kid doesn't like Dave? (Especially his own kids.) As you can see below, Makenna instantly loved him and went to him, of course she would, he is her daddy and she knows it! I'm sure she could feel his love for her. Oh, it was the sweetest thing ever to see them together!

Then we grabbed Dave's huge bag and headed north to get Kayla from school, the timing was perfect. We waited outside for Kayla to get out of school and when she spotted Dave she ran to him! She was pretty excited to see him and it seemed so natural, and Kayla had her daddy back again. She didn't go through any adjustment or having to get to know him all over again, so that made me really happy. (When we get Dave home at the end of his deployment, Kayla is going to be at the airport!) Yeah, this day was definitely the best day we have had since he has been gone. =)

We really had a TON of fun! Kayla and I have been making a list from the beginning of "Things To Do When Daddy Gets Home" that we have posted on our fridge. Whenever one of us would think of something, we would write it down. Its pretty extensive. =) And Dave knew about it, looked at it, and we were off! We actually did a LOT of the things on there. Dave just dove right in! There were some big things, but we also did just some fun, simple things that we all love doing together, like getting Slurpee's, playing hide and go seek, going to church, reading together, getting ice cream, making breakfast together, and stuff like that. This time apart has really made me grateful for times we do get to spend together, just being together, and how I sometimes take it for granted. So anything we did, was just really awesome, because we were all TOGETHER!

Believe it or not, I had to really cut back on posting all the pictures we took! I took a ton, and when we said goodbye, I felt like I didn't get as many as I wanted! Every moment was so precious. So this is my attempt of fitting in the time we had with Dave. Poor Dave probably felt like a celebrity and I was the paparazzi or something because I was always there with the camera and camcorder....

We took Kayla out of school for half the time, here and there. She had just started school, and we wanted her to feel confident and adjust to the full day of school, and her teacher and classmates and learning all the new rules and routines. We know Kayla best, and I think our plan worked out great for her during this time. When we did pull her out we had a lot of fun planned!

So Dave got SOME sleep in there.....a little bit......=)







Dave did come in time for our anniversary, which was sooooo nice! I did feel bad though. It was about 2am, the day of our anniversary, and seriously all at the same time, Makenna woke up screaming with a bad diaper rash and then Kayla woke up and just barely didn't make it to the bathroom, vomiting. Poor girls. So it was like, "Welcome home Dave! Which one do you want?" He jumped in there and I was so thankful. If it had been just me by myself.....oy, so Dave was my hero! So we stayed home on our anniversary. We did get a TON of offers for babysitting while Dave was here; the most we have ever ever gotten! Wow. Thank you. We ended up going on a date on one of the days while Kayla was at school. We took Makenna with us while she was sleeping. It was fun. But we mostly just were all together. When Dave gets home for good we'll for sure be going on some dates! =)

We were pretty sad when Dave had to go back. As you know Dave has all girls, so you can imagine how it was the night before he left. Poor Kayla woke up a few times in tears, yeah that was heart breaking. Dave's flight was again really really early, so we got the girls out of bed and loaded everyone and we were sad, but numb. I still cried of course. I made plans that day with some friends that day, which was really good. I needed to get out and be doing something, so they were really sweet and Kayla and I both got to play with friends. In the days that followed I would see Dave's things, his hat, his shoes, his shampoo, his clothes in the hamper, and it was an automatic stab of pain...he had been here and now he wasn't. But that feeling didn't last too long. Dave would soon be home again! We've made it this far already. So I left all his things out, it is comforting, and a reminder for me and Kayla that daddy will be home, pretty soon. We knew it would be hard on everyone, to have Dave come visit, but we knew it would be worth it, and needed! I wouldn't have traded the time together for anything!

Dave, thank you for the sacrifice you made on your part to come home for a little bit. All the preparation and getting things in order before you left. And you traveled a long long way on some pretty crazy flights, taking days to get here, with broken sleep, or no sleep at all, and at times, no showers! And then having to adjust to the time difference here, and then having to re-adjust once you were back in Afghanistan. 2 times adjusting to time zones! Wow, you are amazing! And then we wore you out while you were here and maybe sent you back to Afghanistan more tired than when you got here. =) You are wonderful, and we loved every minute with you! Thanks for a wonderful time!!!

This is a picture montage Dave made. For Father's Day I got Dave a gift certificate to an indoor sky diving place. He had said when we did the helicopter rides in Afghanistan it made him want to jump out of one and do some sky diving, so this is the next best thing! Kayla did it too! I was so proud of her! She was fearless! And she did a great job! Dave and Kayla both did great and had a lot of fun. Check out the video.

This video is of Dave and Makenna. They had a lot of special moments together. This is one of my favorites. Makenna would "hug" Dave and Dave would hug her back really hard. She did this a lot while he was here and it was pretty cute. I wish I had gotten better video of it, but this was the best one I had. Makenna lately just stops whatever cute thing she was doing when she sees the video camera! Little turkey! =) ) And for the record, she isn't doing the hug thing anymore Dave, you are magic! OH, and while Dave was here, if you notice in the piles of pictures, he got Makenna to fall asleep in his arms! Proof he DOES have magic arms. That moment was so cute and when I saw it, I was touched, shocked, and then a little envious. (Because Makenna has never fallen asleep in my arms, like all the countless Sundays of 3 hours of church when she is cranky and needing a nap!) But I'm happy Dave has the magic touch and the magic arms. =) He is such a good daddy! Dave, we girls LOVE you!