Merry Thank-Mas?!

In two short months, Danny is due to go on a extended vacation with lots of sand and sun.  Unfortunately, it’s not Hawaii.  Meanwhile, the kids and I will be hanging back in Germany finishing out the school year and keeping busy with Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts.  

Upon finding out about his upcoming “trip” I have been steadily finding ways to keep myself busy and my mind from worrying.  I became a Brownie Scout co-leader for Makayla’s Brownie Troop.  And trust me, Brownie Scouts are keeping me busy and I LOVE IT!!  The kids have had some concerns about Danny leaving and we are trying our best to answer any questions and help them understand that sometimes daddy’s job will take him away from us, and that he is out there protecting our freedom as a soldier in the Army.  Yes, we all agree that it sucks, but we all understand and know that we will have to be strong and help each other get through it all.  Just like the Army’s motto: Army Strong.  We are all going to have to come together as a team and be there for each other when one of us is having a bad day and we will all have to be strong emotionally as we endure this long adventure separated.  

Since, Danny will be missing out on the holidays, we decided as a family to have a Family Merry Thank-mas!  It will just be us, around a Christmas tree exchanging presents amongst ourselves, with Thanksgiving dinner on the table.  The kids are really looking forward to at least being able to share this with him.  Of course they are a bit disappointed that he will not be here to celebrate their birthdays but I’m sure we will come up with some way to make it special for them.  

In the meantime, we are planning for the kids to write weekly letters to daddy telling him about their week and we are hoping to be able to use Skpe for video chats (of course this is all hoping that internet works).  Naturally we plan on spoiling Danny with packages of goodies, as a matter of fact he’s already made is holiday cookie list.  The kids will also be keeping a calendar countdown until his return and we are hoping that once he does return we will be able to go on a big family vacation!

Thankfully, the kids and I have made some really good friends in the last year, ones that not only understand our situation, but ones that we know we can lean on for those really stressful and/or emotional days.  Being that we live in a very small military community we know that everyone looks at each other as family.  We look out for each other and it’s a wonderful thing to not only experience and be apart of...but it’s especially something to be truly thankful for.  

Until next time...