Hello and Good-bye

My brother is in the Army and has been since I was 13, so for 18 years this has been his life. He is now stationed in Georgia, where he and his family live on base. They have been stationed all over the world and because of that we rarely get to see them. It has been 2 years since I've seen him, (and longer for the rest of the fam) when he came to my sisters wedding. He is getting deployed to Iraq for a 3rd time in early December and his unit came to Ft. Irwin (by Bartsow) for some training before leaving. He has spent nearly a month there, but wasn't sure if he'd be allowed any time to see family. However, we were able to drive up and see him this past Sunday.

My folks followed us with Zach and Grace in there car and we all drove the 2 hrs. to the base. We had a little glitch when we got to the base though. My tags on my truck are expired (long story) so they wouldn't let us on the base. :( My folks went on base and got my brother and then we drove down into Barstow to have lunch. Our time was short, but it was really nice to get to see him. The kids adore him and were all over him at lunch. I got some cute pictures of them playing out in front of the restaurant :)
I will cherish these pics forever!!!At first Wesley just stared at him and wasn't too sure, but then he was all smiles
Some of all of the family

After lunch my parents drove him back to the base and were able to stay a bit with him on base. James, the babies, Hope and I were already home when my parents Zach and Grace started back home. I was bummed that we couldn't get on base to spend that extra time together, but at least we got to see him for a little bit. So in the matter of 2 hours we said hello and good-bye. We won't see him now until he comes back from Iraq, but hope to make it out to his base when he returns from war.

Love you, Jar! So glad we could come and see you, if only for a bit!