2 down, 363 to go!

Well here I sit, finally getting to the point of keeping this blog in the first place.

2 days into OUR first deployment.

Leaving this stressful and inconsistent summer behind us is leaving my mind at peace. It sounds crazy but 3 months of never knowing when your husband is going to be home, not being able to make plans, spending only a handful of days as a family, and throwing off two babies schedules constantly was exhausting to say the least. Honestly, keeping up with my marathon training was all that kept my head on straight.

We kicked off the past week with a great yellow ribbon send-off event down in Marana. Local organizations set up booths, Deployment survival kits for the kids, there were Apaches set up for display, a great lunch was provided, and some nice speeches were given honoring our soldiers heading out.  A bunch of our family was able to make it down which made it that much more special. I must say that Mr. Pants had QUITE the second birthday, playing on Apaches all day, enjoying his first Eegee icee, and making a few different news stories will be a difficult one to top.

Mr. Pants in a news article!
We were on the 10pm news!

Everyone that made it out!

My Papa, retired USAF Pilot COL Olson, Grandma, and us

All 3 Stevensons

Our family

WHO can point out the two goofy patriot fans ?? 

After a few more days of classes and preparation, we were THRILLED to have two days together before saying our goodbyes on Friday.

There really are no words for seeing your husband kiss and hug his sons goodbye. We are just lucky they are so young. Mr. Kaners has no idea what is going on, but Pants takes it pretty rough. I feel fortunate that we have had such an adjustment time this summer .The long sobs of  "DADDY?? DADDDY HOME?" have become less frequent and easier to redirect. He understands that Daddy is at work, but the duration of this time around is something that he will just have take day by day. The resiliency that our energetic big-hearted toddler is learning every day really amazes me.  At the ripe age of 2 he really is the man of the house when Daddy is away.

So after a relaxing night alone at Starr Pass in Tucson ( our first night without kids ALONE together in 2 years... thanks Mom!)

we headed out to the airfield in Marana one more time. 

It is a feeling that is impossible to explain, even though I wish that I could. You know it is going to be tough, you know that tears are inevitable, but at the same time you are incredibly proud of what your soldier is about to do over the next year.  You know that you will survive and that things could be much worse than this. This is what your loved one has trained and worked for , and here they are about to go do it.

Most of the guys/girl took off on a commercial jet to Ft. Hood texas to finish up training. But someone had to take the final 4 aircraft . SW was one of the 8 making the cross country trip, mainly to gain more experience since he has the fewest flight hours in the company. HOW cool is that?

After an early wakeup with no time for coffee, I stood back and soaked up what has become normal routine for my husband over the past 2 years. Flight briefing, Pre-flight, and checking that everything is ready for take-off. Once they were good to go we took a minute to say goodbye to each other, taking in that last bit of scent and warmth that will be unfamiliar in the near future.

The rest was pretty surreal to be honest. For the first time I watched my husband start up his Apache, the rotors begin to spin and instantly I am being blown over by rotor wash. The four aircraft , well organized of course, slowly make their way to the end of the runways. One by one they each begin to reach a hover and take off into the air. They make a loop around the airfield, the same airfield they have been training at, the same location where SW Began his Army Aviation career as a controller years ago.

Within minutes they were heading off towards the gorgeous Tucson Sunrise making their way east .

I should be sad, I should be devastated, at least that is what this moment is always made out to be. But instead I find myself extremely proud and awe struck by what I just witnessed. My Husband, the Father of my sons, my best friend , just set off to do what he has always dreamed of.  It is not just his love for the AH-64 but his love for his country that pushes him to such heights. And Now I am off to hold down our fort and keep our family going strong while he is away... right after I jam out to his favorite song  that ironically plays as I hop into his Charger for the two hour drive home. " It's JUST SO CATCHY"

I keep telling myself how fortunate we are. My husband has a job that most little boys dream about, he is a pilot on the most BA helicopter out there. Our paychecks are enough that , with sacrifices, I am able to stay home to raise our two perfect little men; but also small enough to keep us very grounded.  Our kids are extremely happy and healthy. We have each other. I have two legs that allow me to run great distances which I never knew possible. We have plenty of food to eat, a roof over our heads, two cars in our driveway, bills that are paid, two ridiculously annoying dogs that we can't seem to part with, family that offers us help more than we deserve, clothes on our backs, 2 iPads, 2 iphones,  a beautiful camera, etc. etc. We have a GREAT life, better than most. Not to say that we haven't worked our butts off to get here, but we ARE here now .  We have people in our life that are sick with cancer, going through divorce/separation, not able to have children, grieving a lost loved one, can't find jobs, suffer from dangerous addictions, the list goes on.

What I am getting at is that if being away from my husband for 365 days is the only problem I have, then it really isn't a problem. There will be tough days and easy days. There will be times when I may not be as strong as I feel today. But today is day 2 and for the next 363 more days we will take it ONE day at a time.