Dad's Departure

Tonight has been a sad one for all, and many tears have been shed especially by the younger children over the departure of our dear dad.
To stem the tide of grief for the next 6 months we have Lots of pictures, and good memories, as well as phone calls, letters, and video conferencing to look forward to.(very comforting)

As today was the last opportunity for us to get our family picture taken, this afternoon found us at our favorite portrait studio " The Picture People."
Many of you well know that this is no easy task, especially if the responsibility of coordinating the date/ time/ and color as well as finding all the matching clothes, ironing, doing childrens hair, finding shoes, socks, and bows, falls upon you.
Other than that the only thing left to do is : 1. Get there on time, 2. Smile.

We really do have a fun time and everyone's favorite photo shoot tradition is that when we're finished we get to go to Costco and get Salad, Pizza, and Ice-cream.
This time Dad wanted to eat at home so he and mom went and got all the food while we went home and got changed.

After dinner dad and mom wanted some more pictures of just them two in the front yard. When they had finished we all sat on the couch, looked at the pictures we have taken over the past 3 weeks, and ate our ice-cream.

After we helped dad pack his ruck sack, we had Bible time and as his departure time drew near he gave us all his praise and encouragement as well as his expectations for us while he's away.
Right before he left he tucked each of the sobbing children in bed and prayed over them, then he, Mom, Sill, and Kenneth headed off to the airport.

We miss him already and are excitedly looking forward to his return next year.