Dave's Leave and a Literary Masterpiece

If you didn't know already....Dave was able to come home for leave! Yeah, it was AWESOME!!!! (I know, I am finally posting about things on our blog....) Dave told me a few months ago that it was maybe a possibility, but not to get my hopes up. So I didn't even mention it to Kayla. It was getting more hopeful though, because other guys in Dave's office had come and gone on their leave. They all had to take turns going. Dave was one of the last to go on leave. Which in a way is good, because he will be home that much sooner, but still hard because there is still time to fulfill and carry out his mission over there. (a.k.a. Endurance!)

So I waited and hoped and prayed he would be able to come. And then it seemed pretty for sure! (Even with all the flooding over there.) I was so glad Dave was able to come home on leave. Dave and the other Civil Engineers and members on his PRT team have worked so hard this whole time. No exaggeration, they have not, and do not get a day off. Nope, not even weekends or Sundays. They work 7 days a week, from early in the morning to all day long and into the night, often until they go to bed again. (Its been like that pretty much the whole time Dave has been gone, even when he had training.) Sometimes they take a 15-20 minute break in the day, like you see from the pictures on Dave's blog, but they work so hard all the time. They do manage to have some fun and they do make the best of it. I admire them all! So breaks are good for them, and they try to set aside time to unwind and relax; they have to. But yeah, they all needed a long break. So I was pretty happy Dave would be able to have some time to rejuvenate and relax. 2 weeks R&R. He needed it!!! Yay for leave! Thank you Air Force!

This was so exciting, but we were worried about Kayla. She has gone through so much while Dave has been gone. She loves her daddy. Its has been a hard thing to understand why he has to be gone and its been hard on her when she misses him. She's been a trooper, but she has had a rough time. So we were worried if Dave coming home for leave, and then having to go back again would totally confuse her and be really hard on her. We wanted to make the transition as easy as possible and be able to prepare her and help her understand, and tell her it would be a fun time! Kayla is a very visual learner, and she loves books. So I asked Dave (my very artistic husband) if he wouldn't mind drawing some pictures for Kayla, like a little book, that he could then scan and e-mail to me, that we could put together for Kayla to tell her about him coming home.

Dave went above and beyond! He really did an outstanding job! I love this little book he made for Kayla. He would work on it a little bit every night, and then he e-mailed it to me. I went and printed each picture on 8x11 card stock and had it bound into a book for Kayla. I was thrilled! Dave and I have always thought writing children's books would be fun. Here is his first! An instant classic. =)

Hopefully you can see it, you might have to click on the picture to see it better, and then click the back arrow to get back to the blog. To view in order, read from the top left to the right, and then go down to the next row, left to right.

Kayla LOVED it! She couldn't stop smiling either! Dave's book really helped her, I believe. And she would often go back and look at it again as a reminder. It was a great help Dave! She was pretty excited when I told her and when we read it!