It's been 3 days since Jake left and I've been trying my hardest to keep busy. Friday, I went to my Apples of Gold class and the kids went to their class at church.

Saturday was a busy day for all of us...

I went shooting in the morning with the Brummetts, Moons and Swans.That was soooooo much fun!

and since it was Cinco de Mayo, my favorite holiday, I invited some friends over for enchiladas. Half way through our party, the guys were on skype, so Jennifer Bancroft, Ashley Palma, myself and our 6 kids were all crowded around the computer talking to all the guys. It was quite the experience!

Wyatt got to spend the night at Hurley and Alex Moon's house on Saturday and he had a blast! It's nice for the kids to get a little one on one time every once in a while :)

Then this morning, Sunday, we all went to church. I had to help out with the 2 year old class at the 11 am service. about midway through, Jake called on Skype, so I was huddled in the corner of the playground with Cheyenne and Wyatt talking to daddy. It's so nice to live in a military community. Everybody is so understanding, because they have all been there!!

After church we were able to go to the Train Park in Temple TX with the Brummett family! It was so fun to get to play with them for a while. Wyatt and Jackson are best buds and Cheyenne absolutely adores Holli and Dave. we all had a great time.

So anyways, that is our weekend in a nutshell! Love You Jake!!

Well, yesterday was the big day. Jake and the guys left for Afghanistan for a year. It was an extremely emotional day, but we survived, just like we will survive the next 365 days. We had a little miscommunication with Wyatt. We told him he could go to formation with daddy. He thought that meant he got to go with Daddy on the plane. When we finally explained to him that we were just dropping him off, Wyatt was in full meltdown mode. I was expecting a long day of meltdowns for him, but to my surprise he did pretty well after that!

Cheyenne on the other hand has been having a tough time. She cried for her daddy as soon as we got to the car. Then that night. Then all the next day. We drove past a car dealership yesterday with a ton of balloons and I hear her in the back seat, "mom! Look at the balloons! They will fly up in the sky and bring back my daddy from Afghanistan!" When we got home from dropping Wyatt off at school yesterday our 2nd car was sitting in the driveway and she got all excited thinking daddy was home. It's so hard to keep explaining to her that daddy is going to be gone for a long time. She'll adjust, but it's been hard to watch her try to work through it.

Holt has been the easiest out of the kids, he's only 11 months after all! It does make me sad to hear him say "dada" all the time! we have Mama-Dada fights all the time, he thinks its hilarious to say Dada instead of Mama!

So long story short, it's definitely going to be an adjustment for all of us, but we are tough and can adapt. Thousands of families have gone through the exact same thing we are or worse! We are so grateful that we get Jake back after a year. Some families don't get their daddies back at all.

I love you Jacob Ryan Crist! God Bless TF ODIN

Well the day is upon us. Tomorrow is D-Day. Jake will be off fighting the bad guys for a whole year while I man the home front. Considering how insane our life is now, with 2 adults on hand to maintain control of the troops, it's only going to get more intense.

This next year will be an adventure for all of us.