Home Sweet Home

i hope you're ready for some gushing about just how thankful and grateful i am to have my handsome husband back home. i know i am!

three weeks ago today, stan's plane touched down and he was home... finally home, and we'd made it through deployment number six. it is one crazy life, filled with blessings and hardships all its own. but then, no life is immune to hardship any more than it is immune to blessing. so i am ever grateful for this life i have. and especially grateful for my big brawny man being back home!

i already posted these pictures, but they were my choices for my 365 project, so decided to post them again. there is nothing quite as exhilarating as a homecoming... complete with tears and overwhelming joy. stan's plane pulled right up to the hanger, and the girls and i ran for it. (i was a little behind with the camera, for the pictures and for letting the girls get that first piece of daddy.) boy did those girls need some good strong daddy-lovin'. there is just something about a dad's love that little in the world can replace. 

we headed home along country roads "littered" with "welcome home stan" signs & "dad you rock" signs. (thank you eric & rob for your help getting them all up and down for us!) when we drove onto camano there was the first big 4'x8' banner.  (thank you action potential chiropractic for letting me borrow a section of your lawn... and THANK YOU cascade lumber for the steaks! you guys are a true blessing to our family!) then, of course, we pulled into our house strewn with flags and banners reminding our sweet hero just how much we appreciate all he gives up for us.

one of the things the girls look forward to most is a hearty dad-cooked breakfast when he gets home. bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes... the works! when he's home, stan always cooks breakfast on saturday mornings for the family. it's one of those little moments of family tradition that stick with you for a lifetime. (emma even made stan a welcome home card with a picture she drew of him cooking breakfast.) ah, the sweet normal-ness of home!

lucky for us stan got a full four days off when he got home this time! of all of our homecomings this was the longest bit he's had off after a deployment. we had all of our meals together, walked the beach, had picnics, snuggled on the couch, had pillow fights and laughed until we were all in tears.

then back to school for the girls to finish out the last week. as a right of passage for the 4th grades, they get to build rockets out of 2L bottles and have them launched across the school yard. torrey and i had worked on her rocket, and were just hoping that it wouldn't flop. (our aviation man wasn't available yet!) it didn't go the farthest, but it made a very decent showing for itself! hurray for the internet. :) this was one of the most fun school activities i've watched... ever!

i found this super cute skirt made from a vintage table cloth at this cute little store in snohomish... and it was according to emma, "just my style."

at last... the last day of school!!!

so now i'm getting a little distracted while i try to get this blog post up... so i think i'm just going to do quick notes and get it up... then if i'm motivated i'll update it more. (mostly because torrey is standing right behind my head planning out her birthday party on friday.) so here goes... we had stan's big welcome home party with loads of yummy smoked ribs (thank you eric... again) and lots of friends to share the day. there are more pictures here.

father's day!

day at the new community park 
love that everyone worked together to raise the money and to build the park. how cool is that.

more daddy/daughter navy sweetness here

the mock theme song of our house is the song little girls from the movie annie. "lucky me. lucky me, look at what i'm dripping with... little girls" i'm pretty sure this guy isn't complaining. :)

emma started vision therapy this past week to help with focus and tracking. it always amazes me the things that these clever groups of people find to help people! we're already been able to see some of the areas of struggle, and can see buds of improvement... and definitely in emma's confidence, and it's only been one week! yahoo. i'm sure we'll have updates along the way of how it's all going.

we went on our first camping trip of the season this past weekend, and on a dry run for our big camping trip through several national parks starting next week. we camped in our favorite close-to-home spot... camano island state park. ahhhhhh, i love that place. one of the bits of fun we love about the state park is that my parents come out and have dinner with us. at least one night we always have marinated flank steak for dinner... and i'm pretty sure they've rarely missed an opportunity to join us. seriously, with a grum & pa (grandma & grandpa) this fun, how could you not want them to join you every second possible!

i'd intended to write so much more, to thank everyone for the deployment & homecoming prayers, to be clever and witty, to be much more caught up with posting along this homecoming season. but alas, i've been true to my slightly behind self. but i would like to say thank you from the depths of my heart for all of your prayers, encouragement and love through this past deployment (and those that came before it)... i thank God each day for this blessed life.

now off to the grocery store with torrey to pick up the party goods for friday! :)

xo. noel joy