Pre-deployment parking lot selfie

Nick took off last Friday afternoon for his latest 5 week deployment to the desert.  For months, I had hoped that June 28th would fall off the calendar, but it came and went without incident.  He has arrived at his final destination and is already hard at work.  We've had a couple of conversations via the one shaky phone line and he tells me that he's settling into his groundhogs day routine just fine, which should help the time go by more quickly.  Emmy knows that Daddy is on a long trip for work and that he'll be home for his birthday, but really has no concept of the time (and Sissy is just completely oblivious.)  Emmy's excited for her upcoming swimming lessons and dance camp, which should help the time go by a little more quickly on our end.  My mom will be joining us in a few weeks, and we are really looking forward to some quality time with Mimi.  After this deployment, Nick's travel will be domestic until the beginning of 2014 because of necessary training for their helicopter upgrade.  So, for now, with the emergency plan in place, we have our heads down and are focused on just getting this done and praying that the babies don't pull any funny business.