He's leaving home...bye bye

The countdown has officially started.
Nathan has left and is presently flying off to never never land to find his ship. October 21st seem so far off but I'm praying it will fly by quickly for us all. I plan to do all I can to keep us entertained and distracted until he comes home to us. We're quite the wrong type of family to go through something like this. We all love each other so much. We don't even want to be with anyone but each other. Sorry everyone else, but you're all just fillers until we can be together again.
Levi and I had pretty similar responses to the realization that Nathan would be leaving. Levi said, "But you're my papa." And I said, "But you're my best friend." So, we're gonna make the best of our time now, but we won't be settled or feel at home until our rock returns.



Here is a recap of our last week and a half. I can't be believe that's all the time it's been since we started this process! Geesh. Anyway, the movers came to pack up our house on August 3rd, thus we started staying at the Navy lodge at Pearl Harbor that night. Levi enjoyed using this little ride to bring all our bags up. But, he did not appreciate actually living in that "new room." He's been a little freaked out since that night. Knowing all of his toys and things were on some truck headed to some boat was weird enough. But sleeping somewhere different was too much. I've really been praying for God to give him some supernatural peace during this time, because I know exactly what he feels like, and it's not fun. But, at least swinging from this bellhop cart was fun!


He was really excited about getting to ride on a big jet. Of course! He sat up in the window sill and stared at it until the moment we could finally bored.

He enjoyed taking off and seeing Hawaii fade into the distance. It was much better having his own seat this time around. The three of us had a row to ourselves and could switch off who was at the window throughout the 5 1/2 hour flight.

This is how he passed the first hour or two. Reading new books, playing with stickers, snacking and glancing out he window from time to time.

Eventually he got restless and sleepy so we set him up with a movie on my Zune, accompanied by a pillow and blanket. He fell asleep for a decent bit of time. He was not pleased, however, when he woke up. Moving is hard!

Aunt Martha picked us all up from the airport and took us to her house for the night. The next morning, after breakfast the four of us headed on up to Whidbey Island to drop Nathan off at his new base. We took a ferry across the water, which was pretty fun for Levi.

Being cold is a new experience for Levi. So are socks and shoes! He needs a new wardrobe for winter. What's winter?

And Marth, Levi and I had to get out and stretch our legs while Nathan went in to check in with his new command once we arrived on base. We happed across these tractors (or whatever they are) and since aunts are more fun than mama's, Levi got to hop on.

Monday morning, Nathan calls to tell me that he is flying out on Friday! They wanted him out there so badly, that it went much faster than I was prepared for. So, Nathan rented a car and drove down monday afternoon to pick us up. He took us back to Whidbey Island with him to spend a few nights and days together before he was whisked off to who knows where. I'm really glad we were able to do that much before being separated. It helped Levi and I to calm down a little and know everything would be okay. Levi doesn't understand of course just how long Nathan will be gone. But, it's probably better that way.

So, on Monday when Nathan drove down, we stayed at Aunt Martha's for an hour or so before taking off again for Whidbey Island. I think one thing Levi has really hated so far is all the sitting in the car or on the plane. Long car trips are foreign to that little Hawaiian boy.

While we waited for Aunt Martha to come home, Jeremy took us out in the back yard to show us all the blackberry bushes. Levi had fun picking them and handing them out to everyone.

While in Oak Harbor, we handled lots of things that I was not looking forward to doing by myself. We got our housing set up so that all I have to do is pick up the keys once I'm back from KC. And I got checked into the hospital there. But we also took time to drive around our new home town and add some things to our favorites on Garmin. One of our favorites is now this beach side park and walking path.

It has a great path to jog or walk with this wonderful view as you go. Ocean on one side....

And washington forestry on the other.

This was a funny little stop along the way.

We finally made it down to the beach. Cold and rocky, but still fun. Not scary for Levi like the ones in Hawaii. These are calm and approachable.

Lots of papa and Levi play time. Climbing, getting wet and ruining shoes.

5 months along. I wanted a picture of the girls.

I love this one. Levi's darling little barefeet marks, and Nathan's big 'ol tennis shoes. It was a good day for everyone to remember while we're apart.

Found a little fort along the way. Levi climed in and said that he's watching a show. The ocean.

Lots of fun times thins to do on this new different beach. We're looking forward to exploring even more once papa comes home.