Reunited Husband and Wife

I left the boys at the Roundy house so I could get on a plane to go visit Sterling.
I had not seen Sterling in person in two months. That's a long time. I missed him so much and was so excited to go see him.
The boys and I were doing great. I had been focusing on what I love about them and had adjusted my methods of disciplining. I try to not show anger at the boys. I try to be calm when I need to discipline them or correct them. I avoid spanking. I will put them in time out and/or threaten to spank them before I get to spanking. Plus, what has really helped a lot lately is the behavior chart. Behavior charts are hard to do because I have to keep up on it every day all day but they are very affective.
So there is a smily face side of the chart and a frowny face side: Good and Difficult.
If a child listens to me they get their name on the good side. If they disobey or ignore me they get their name on the difficult side. The big motivation is a special secret prize when they fill up the good side of the paper with their names.
Ty has his name on the difficult side two times in a day and a half but Luke has not gotten any there.

Anyway, things were going great. They are loving being at their grandparents' Roundy house. They love playing with soccer balls in the front yard with whoever will play with them. One afternoon Trevor and Simone came over to visit and they ended up with Travis and Hannah playing soccer with the boys.

It was hard to leave them even for just a few days. I was worried the boys would have a hard time with mom leaving for days since they've had to deal with daddy being gone two months already. SO I made them a count down chart so they can mark off the days til mommy comes home.

 Thursday October 24 I got up early and got ready to leave for my flight. The little boys were sleeping but I woke them just enough to say goodbye. Ty had a harder time with my leaving than Luke.The evening before I was using the restroom and I heard Tiberias yell "Mommy! Mommy!" looking for me. Then I heard Luke say "I think she's already gone" as if my leaving wasn't a big deal. I then imagined the sad look Ty must have had at thinking I was gone and didn't even say goodbye.

In the morning when I was about to leave I said goodbye to Luke and he went right back to sleep. I said goodbye to Tiberias and could tell he did not want me to go. After goodbyes I told Ty to go back to sleep. I left the room. A few seconds later he called "Mommy!" I went back in and said goodbye again.

Kelly and Denise both drove me to the airport in Salt Lake. I said goodbye to them and went in. I was already checked in and had my boarding pass with no luggage to check so it was pretty easy. Online the night before is so convenient.
I took as little as I could for the trip so I would not have to wait at baggage claim ever.

My flight was at 8:40a from Salt Lake to Dallas/Fort Worth. There I was blessed to have met someone from there , on my plane, who told me where I needed to go and which gate I was going to be at. He had looked it up on his phone for me as soon as we landed. I had to hurry to get on the shuttle to go over to the building that had my flight. I made it.
But I also needed lunch. The airport Starbucks had sandwiches but they were $9 and didn't look very appetizing. SO I got chips and a candy bar from the vending machine.

It was hard to fly almost 6 months pregnant. The seats were uncomfortable and I was cramped, leg room etc.  The first flight seemed to take forever. I read my book for about an hour but it felt like two hours. Then I tried watching a show on the tablet but didn't have headphones.

The second flight, from Dallas to Gulfport Mississippi, I had no one sitting next to me so I stretched out...legs on floor to my left.  It was a much shorter flight.

Sterling met me there at the airport! SO wonderful to see him! When I hugged him I smelled him and realized I had forgotten what he had smelled like. It was a nice remembrance.

We got in the car and drove to Biloxi, not far from the airport. It is beautiful here! Green trees and grass all over. The beach in Biloxi! Gorgeous! The base is right there by the beach and Sterling lives on the base in the hotel.

Thursday we got Papa John's pizza and a giant cookie and brought it back to the hotel. We enjoyed staying in that night.
Sterling surprised me with a colorful bouquet of flowers that were waiting for me on a bedside table in his room. Along with coconut chocolate granola bars and a big bag of Twizzlers, my favorite!

We did go out for a walk that night. Walked by the beach and back. It's not cold here. That night I walked without long sleeves. But it started to cool down in the mornings and night after that.
We had called and talked to our boys twice that day. Once when I got to Biloxi for the first time and then again at night. The boys were doing great.


Friday morning we hit the road to go to the temple. Now the closest temple is over two hours away in the next state...Louisiana. Baton Rouge temple! It's a small temple and you have to make a reservation to do anything inside of it.

We drove to Baton Rouge but still had an hour and a half before our reservation...for a session in the temple. So we checked out all the restaurants in the area and ended up getting a brunch at McDonalds.Most of the dining places were closed because it was still morning. Our temple reservation was at noon.

We took pictures outside the temple and went in early to get ready. We borrowed temple clothes etc because we don't have ours (they are in government storage) and that temple doesn't rent out temple things. They let you borrow them.  :)

We did a session. It was different from doing a session in a big temple! And different from a live session because it was simply a regular video session.

When we left the temple we stopped at World Bass Pro Shop which was on the way home. That was fun! It's decorated somewhat like Cabelas does...woods and animals. With some live animals too, fish in ponds and big fish tanks, a raccoon in a cage! We walked around the store then went into their restaurant. We ordered alligator and crayfish! The alligator was a little rubbery. I liked the crayfish...it was fried so it wasn't in it's full body form where I'd have to eat it all but the head or whatever. And they had a sauce for the crayfish that I loved.

We drove back to Biloxi and did not need dinner right away. We had eaten at the restaurant around 2pm. We ended up just getting ice cream from an ice cream shop nearby instead of dinner that night. It was delicious, but expensive. We called the boys, Skyped with them, that evening. They were still doing great. They are so cute! We love our boys! They were able to go "hunting" with grandpa. Basically they went walking with him while looking for deer. They saw a doe deer so they didn't shoot it. They didn't see any male deer.

Saturday morning we went to Waffle House for breakfast. Waffle House's are everywhere! Moreso than even McDonalds....here. I got strawberry waffles and ster got a mix of blueberry waffle and chocolate chip waffle. It was yummy! It was a fun friendly restaraunt too. When we first walked in the door most of the ten workers there yelled out a greeting to us. The kitchen was right there for you to see while you sat to dine. It was a Saturday and it was busy so there were ten workers there! It was really fun.

Then we  went on a hike. We drove 30 minutes or so to get to a wonderful place where they have a good long trail. There was a pond and it was a beautiful day! I had seen pictures of Sterling on that hike and near that pond and now I was there with him!

We hiked about 2.5 miles out then back again. So just over 5 miles we went altogether. Then we drove home.

We ate a salad as a late lunch then went out for an early dinner. We had hoped to beat the rush at Ruby Tuesdays by arriving at 4:30 but it was busy when we got there!
We had a delicious meal! Our waiter was so friendly and it was just a really good time. We both bot burgers after our appetizer of coconut shrimp...amazing! I had a peach drink that had chuncks of fruit in it. It was pineapple juice orange juice and peach. mmm.
Then we got pumpkin cheesecake for dessert!

After that we went to the BX so I could see it. We looked for souvenirs for the boys. Sterling bought them each a military coin that says military brat and has a cartoon boy on it. I like it! They boys always want to
play with Sterling's military coins so now they can have one of their own.


Sunday morning we went on a walk and took pictures in front of one of the decorative airplanes on the base for our boys . We played Guess Who together...the new animal cards are fun.
We ate lunch, got ready for church and drove to church. The LDS ward for military meet at the base chapel building on base. Church services start at 1pm.
I was expecting a very small turnout but was surprised. There were 20+ people there and quite a few were female. Only three were under the age 18.
All of the speakers were there to give their talks and there was an amazing musical number by a man in the ward. I think some of the big turnout were people he invited to come hear him sing.
We had sacrament meeting then Priesthood/Relief Society. The women were very friendly and it was wonderful. After two hours of church there was no more. There was a mingle with food downstairs for the ward but Sterling and I did not stay for that. He said that usually do that every Sunday but he doesn't usually attend.

Instead of going to the hotel room we drove around. He showed me the other side of the base where the ocean comes to the base! It's beautiful! Such a beautiful place here and a beautiful base too. You can rent boats from on base, lol.

We drove to find Stephanie's house. My friend Stephanie Dale ,who I met on my street in Italy, lives here now! I didn't know where she was living. She had moved some months before we moved from Italy. I kept contact with her on facebook. I knew all of her children are now in school and since she's not in Italy she can have a job. So she has two. I think they are both part time. She enjoys working.

So a few days before I came out here she ran into Sterling at the BX store on base! And so now I get to go catch up with her. So Sunday we drove to find where she lives so I would know where it is Monday when I go by myself to visit.

We called our little boys who are still doing great. And we drove to the beach because I had not been there yet. I knew, driving by those beautiful sunsets on those sunny days that I was taking a chance waiting for Sunday evening to go enjoy a sunset at the beach. And I was right. Sunday evening it was cloudy and began to rain. We went anyway. Walked in the sand a little before it got too wet, took a few pictures and walked down the pier...keeping an eye out for lighting. lol. We didn't stay long.

Today is Monday. Sterling walked to work early this morning...it's not raining. I slept in. At 9:30a I am meeting Stephanie at her house so we can hang out. I am hoping she will want to go to the beach to hang out because I want more beach time and today might be a better day for it.
If not I will likely go myself to the beach to enjoy it just for a little while before Sterling is done with work for the day.

I am going to get to see Sterling for his lunch break. I am picking him up at 11:45ish. We'll have lunch together then he will go back to work. He will probably take the car and leave me at the hotel. It's only for a few hours more and I will need to pack up my stuff.

When Sterling finishes work for the day we will have maybe an hour and half together before he takes me to the airport. We are going to go out to dinner together as our goodbye. Maybe Dennys. I really like Dennys!
This evening I get on an airplane to Dallas Fort Worth then another to Salt Lake City. My last flight is to arrive around 10:45pm. So my boys will definitely be asleep when I get home but I will wake them with hugs and kisses then let them go back to sleep.

There is about a month and a half left before we move to South Dakota. After two months away from Sterling, then this wonderful vacation with him, I can totally take on a month and a half! I am so excited to have that count down to our move.
I love spending time with our families but it's missing one important thing...Sterling!!! I can hardly wait until our little family is whole again...united and perfect.