Vacationing in the Deserts of Iraq

I think you all may know- Mike is deployed to Iraq. He left in August and will return in March. It has been 4 years since his last deployment. So, it was his time. I guess since he was gone while Ryan was a baby, Carter got the same treatment...

It is hard to explain to a 5 year old why daddy will be gone for so long. Ryan also has no concept of what 6 months means. Mike did a great job explaining it to him. He bought a map and drew a line from our town to Baghdad. Every week, we put a heart on the line. Eventually, we will be out of hearts and the biggest heart will return home. God speed, Mike!