Two Weeks Down...

Dear Sweetheart,

I can't believe it has already been two weeks since your departure. The first week drug itself out slowly and painfully, but this week has gone surprisingly fast. I hope the remainder of this deployment keeps speeding up this way! ; )

This week has been a fun one. We were very busy with the regular Fall activities...The apple orchard for apple picking and apple pie tasting; The pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins for this year and to have a hay ride and other little fun activities; Topics like apples, nests, seasons, and hibernation in school this week. This week was packed full to the brim!

The kids are bursting at the seams for Halloween to get here. I am excited too and am really enjoying the chill in the air each morning. It has gotten so that we have closed the windows at night and re-open them a few hours after waking. I just wish we had some lovely fall foliage to go along with the slight change in weather! Maybe in a few years time.

On the schedule this week? I will be pulling out a few of our favorite fall recipes to enjoy together - chicken pot pie, chili, pumpkin cookies, applesauce, and hot chocolate of course. We will be attending a small halloween carnival at the community center and then trick-or-treating at our usual place. This week in school we will be continuing our study of fall things - nests, birds, hibernation, weather, and seasons. Soon we will be adding in Thanksgiving to the mix!

I am thankful today for the timing of your departure. As we know, after Halloween, the holiday season officially begins! The time will quickly pass by and before we know it, Christmas will have arrived in all it's glory! Though we will miss you like crazy during the holidays, it will definitely make these next 2 months pass by more quickly. Then after the new year, we will have only 4 more to go! How we long for that day when you return.

I am also thankful for you...a man of integrity, loyalty, and passion who is not afraid to carry out what he stands for and is not ashamed of standing for something substantial. In this crazy world that we live in, men like you are becoming less and less common. I am so grateful for the gift that God gave me in you. Thank you for being the man that you are. I am so, so proud of that man today and every day.

I love you,
Love, M~