8 Months Down

Tomorrow brings the 8 month mark in our deployment. We are ready to have Drew home but are also happy that the time has gone by quickly and we only have four more months to go. The last push is the hardest! My birthday is coming up next week and Drew and I were having a discussion around everything we have missed. It puts it into perspective when you think that we missed Halloween, his birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, Easter, Memorial Day... then 4th of July, my birthday, our anniversary, Labor Day.. you get the idea. BUT we have all of those holidays to look forward to next year! I was talking to a wife last week who has been through the 15th month deployment. She said the hardest was when she hit her 2nd Thanksgiving of her husband gone that it started to get old. Drew and I feel fortunate that we will not have to miss round two of any of the holidays. Drew gave me my birthday present a week early because he wanted my parents to be able to enjoy it too. He gave me (really for the both of us) patio furniture! He has become quite the internet shopper these days. :) I love it! We had two cute lime green chairs out there before but we have been meaning to get a table. We got this set that has a fire pit in the middle but you can also put the lid on and it lies flush to create a normal table. We can't wait to grill and use it together.


Drew had a good week as far as working out, getting down time, and having his 24 hour checkpoint go by quickly, but Drew was very concerned for a guy in his company. He was injured in small arms fire but the guys responded exactly as they should and had him back to the base within minutes. It was neat to hear that they called for an emergency blood drive for his blood type and they had a line out the door of almost 50 people immediately. The amount of support and respect they have for one another is so neat. He is doing well and is back in the states with his family. They expect a full recovery. I normally don't share these types of things (and some I can't) but many of you ask if things like this happen. So yes, they do but our guys are strong, focused, and will always come together as a team. They are a brave group and I could not be more proud of all of our guys, especially our soldier.
Here's a picture of him getting notes which is a daily event. This picture also gives you an idea of where they live. He is right outside of their rooms.


On a less serious note, Drew's roommate is back from his leave. As I told his roommate today, welcome back and I didn't miss you. :) The heat continues but it at least drops down into the 80s at night. For some reason I thought a desert should get much colder at night, but then I realized if it is 130 during the day, 80 is a big drop in temp at night. Crazy. I was driving back from Hilton Head yesterday and the car read 100... I told Drew I just can't imagine 30 more degrees on top of that. He is excited to have a ruck tomorrow. He hasn't rucked (where they hike with their heavy bags) in a long time. He really likes that workout so that is fun for him.
I cannot wait for my parents to arrive!! They'll be here on Wednesday and stay through the holiday weekend. We all three REALLY wish Drew could join us and Drew REALLY wishes he could be here but he could not be happier that we can spend time together. It should be a fun visit!
Like I said in the beginning: 8 months down, 4 more to go!