He's leaving...on a jet plane...again.

Before Audrey was born we had a great idea that Mike would deploy for a month so we could be on Tricare when Audrey was born. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, his orders sat on someones desk and didn't get processed until after she was born. Not the end of he world, but it meant he was still deploying and we didn't get sweet insurance we were planning on. ;)

We dropped him off at his base on March 13th. Steven is pointing to Qatar on the map.

Mike has started a nice tradition of sending me flowers after he leaves. He is a very, very smart man. (As I write this in May I realized that both plants on the counter have since retired. I stink at keeping plants alive) 

This is a picture of Mike in the sweet hammock he bought for the plane ride over. There are always two crews on long trips so he can relax while the other crew is flying. 

Here are some more pictures from his trip  deployment. 

We did a lot of Facetime while he was gone. Audrey showed him how good she'd gotten at eating her feet. (It's a real talent, I'm tellin' ya.)

While he was gone I bought him a special welcome home gift. A trampoline! He was SO excited when he got home and saw the boxes.

We finally got to pick him up on April 17th. 

Mike brought me a new Nativity from his stop in England. He brought the boys golden camels and Sarah got a Louis Vuitton backpack. (real of course) ;)

Mike and Audrey's first order of business was a good nap. 

Grateful he's able to serve our country, more grateful when we have him home from deployments. 

Spring Break fun

Mike was gone most of spring break. He wasn't supposed to be home until Thursday, but he was able to come home Wednesday evening, which was AMAZING!

The kids and I tried to make do without him. First up was trying out the Rec Center in Lehi. We'd never been before and it looked life fun. The water slide was being repaired, which was  bummer, but everyone still had fun. The girls sneaked into the hot tub until a lifeguard asked their ages. :) Audrey tried out the pool, but after getting splashed and cold she decided she'd rather snuggle with me in a towel.

On Thursday we went with the Rane's to the Ogden Dinosaur museum. We needed to drop off the donations Steven had collected for Operation Adopt a Ghost  and headed there after. I'd never been there before and was impressed with how cool it was. We weren't planning on Mike being home, but are glad he could join us.

Through the military we were given free tickets to Comic Con. We'd always wanted to go, but tickets aren't cheap. The kids broke out their Harry Potter costumes and we went. It was fun to experience it.

Audrey's Blessing pictures

Mike and I went to JC Penney's to have some pictures of Audrey taken in her blessing dress. I'm so grateful Mike's mom made this for Sarah 13 years ago. It's not quite as white, but just as beautiful.

She was smiley and in a good mood until the very end and we got some great pictures.

One of the fun things about Audrey is comparing her baby pictures to Sarah's. Here's a picture of Sarah on the right. They're definitely related. :)