The R&R

I'm really late posting this but then again what's new.  To read more about my brother's deployment click here.  If you haven't seen the video of Clifford surprising us when he came home for R&R then here it is....grab a tissue first and I'm an ugly crier (just wanted to warn you).



Clifford came home April 7th and surprised Mom and Me and then realized that the next day was our Dad's birthday. Best birthday present EVER according to my Dad.

Sr. and Jr.

I'm a really bad liar - even when it comes to surprising someone. I called Dad just like I normally would to tell him Happy Birthday and to make sure that he was home. He asked why so I said that I had the afternoon off of work and Ivy and I wanted to spend some time with him on his birthday. He said that he was at Mama Hancock's and I should just come there. He sounded REALLY bummed out and grumpy.  I was a nervous wreck but I knew this would make his day.

I made Clifford and Jeanna duck down in the backseat of my car going up the drive way and then when we got next to house they opened the door and jumped out. I was shaking the whole time driving out there and I had butterflies in my stomach. It almost didn't work because when Dad saw us coming up the driveway he started walking outside and they barely got out of my car in time to hide. But as you can see from the video Dad was VERY surprised.

After Dad started breathing again he called my Debra. I felt kind of bad because he was fine when he called her and then when she answered he just started crying and he could barely get anything out...I know she had to be thinking the worst. He finally got it out and then she left work and joined us.

As usual...Dad is talking when we try to take a picture.

We just spent the afternoon at Mama Hancock's house. Talking and laughing and living in the moment. Ivy played in the dirt, picked up caterpillars, and picked flowers...all very fun things to do when you're in the country.

Ivy picked her Paw Paw out a bird house for his birthday and she wanted him to see her paint it. And of course he loved it.

Clifford was home for two weeks and he kept a pretty low profile. He said he wanted to do NOTHING and that's exactly what he did. He just needed some downtime after basically being at work 24 hours a day for the past 10 months. But all good things come to an end and eventually he had to quit doing nothing and get ready to go back. So for his last worry free night we had Taco Night at our house. Mom did most of the cooking and I helped a little...and by helped a little I mean I opened beers and made Margaritas.

It was a low key evening. We ate and laughed and just soaked up being together.

It sucked saying goodbye again. But it was a little bit easier this time knowing that we were only saying goodbye for a couple of months instead of a year. And we are officially on the count down now!  I can't say when he'll be home because of security reasons but there is an end in sight and we are so ready for this to be over.

See you soon Cliffy!