The wait is over

WELCOME HOME!!!

Well today is the day.  Exactly 10 months ago, Wil left for British Columbia and 7 months ago he left on the ship.  Well today he comes home.  YAY!  The girls and I will go to the airport and pick him up this afternoon and our family will be complete once more.  I tell you what this has been a long 10 months.  Longer than I thought it would be but now this part is over.  Wil is going to be home for almost 2 months and then he will be heading back to BC but we won't think about that right now.  I am afraid that this 2 months will go by super fast.  There is so much that I would like to do with him while he is home but we will see what we get to do.

The first thing we will do is go visit Wil's closest friend Bob.  Bob was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall and is not doing well.  Bob and Vica visited us in Colorado Springs and last June moved about 45 minutes away from us.  We were so excited to know that when Wil got back we could spend some time with them and even talked about going on vacation together.  Now we pray that Bob will survive.  I know it has been very hard for Wil to be away during this time so we will head up there to see them tomorrow.

After that we will take it day by day.  Wil deserves some time to decompress and just enjoy being off work but of course I have a list of things I need his help with but they can wait for a bit.  Plus I want to do some family things also.

My heart is heavy for Wil and Bob but my heart is also heavy for our pastor.  Pastor Don and his wife Tricia have been fantastic supports for our family.  They have taken us to lunch to get to know us, they have been available for tough conversations and have been a resource for me when I needed something while Wil was gone.  Well Pastor Don has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and the news we are getting is that it has gone to the bones.  He has been at our church for 16 years and this is devastating for everyone in the church.  We are praying for a miracle at this point.

Cancer has been ever present in my life and I hope that my past experiences will help me be supportive and in Bob's case a great witness to God's love.

The girls have finished their first semester of 10th grade so now they are on to the second half of the year.  They are looking forward to some great activities with the youth group and Tiana is looking for a job. 

Because I didn't go to BC to meet the ship (Wil's decision), I am taking a quick trip home to Colorado to see my nephew get married.  I am so excited to spend a couple days in Colorado.  I get to have some quality time with my close friend, Michelle and some quality time with family.  It will be a fast, furious and fantastic 5 days.

I apologize for the lack of regularity of the blog.  I always updated on Sunday mornings before the girls got up and since October we have had skating lessons for the girls on Sunday morning before church.  So I will try to be better but with Wil home ...it may be awhile again.  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions and I do update my facebook page with pictures regularly.

If you want to see the ship come in, here is the link (really wish I could have been there)

http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/hmcs+vancouver+homecoming/video.html?v=2198946145#stories/video

My love to all,
Brenda