soldier boy...

Our favorite NAVY dude is home for a few weeks on leave.  WOOHOO!  We knew that once he graduated "A" school, he would have some time off, but he wasn't sure when or for how long.  This completely drove my sister nuts.  She did not do well with not knowing what was going on.  I found it very comical.  A few days before his leave was supposed to start, she barged into my house before going to work and was all freaked out...

 

Kathy (pacing my living room)- "Jon still doesn't know when he can come home on leave.  Who knows when he will find out.  I don't even know if he is going to get to come home at all"

Me- "uh huh...it's ok...it'll all work out" (insert eye roll).

She left and I immediately sent Jon a text

Me-"So what's the 411?  Still don't know when you're coming home or is your mom just being overly dramatic?  Again."

Jon- "Overly dramatic"

Me-"Should have known"

Jon- "Of course.  I'll see you tomorrow"

 

My sister?  Overly dramatic??  Noooooooooo.  I had to lecture her that Jon is no longer in elementary school where teachers keep parents up-to-date via agenda books...he is in the United States Navy and she needs to back off and let him figure things out.  Yeah, that went over well.  Like, in one ear and out the other :)

 

Anyhoo, we were all so excited to find out that he would be home Nov 14-30...home for Thanksgiving!!!  He arrived home at 10:45pm Wednesday night and my sister and brother-in-law left for Las Vegas for 5 days at 6am the next day.  Which clearly means she was just putting on a "concerned Mother" show and didn't really care that he was coming home.  Ha!Ha!Ha!

 

We didn't give the kids specific details about  his arrival date because we didn't want to get their hopes up, so they were SUPER surprised to see him with me when I picked them up from school Thursday!!!

Cate was soooo excited that she ran right past me and into his arms.  She loves her Jonny!

Reunited at last!

"Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful.  I am thankful for Jonny"  Ironically, she had just made this in class that day :)

 Jon being home to celebrate Thanksgiving is definitely something we are thankful for this year!  When he leaves next weekend, he will be heading to Norfolk Virginia and will be stationed on the USS George H.W. Bush and heading to the Persian Gulf in February. 

 He will probably be deployed for 9+ months so we will rely on technology to keep us connected while he is gone.  As for now, we are going to soak up all the Jonny we can :)