We now know when exactly Chris will be leaving for Iraq...July 17th. I feel like i've been saying for the past couple of months that it'd be nice to have an actual date for his departure, something to count down to, but now that i've got one, I just wish I could stop counting. I know, I know, that's not possible so Chris and I have been very actively trying to make family memories for Sophia. On Thursday night, Chris' whole team and their families barbequed down by the beach. Sophia had SO much fun playing on the playground and sticking her toes in the water. Anything by the beach is always going to be fun but it was nice to be surrounded by people about to embark on the same thing. Chris is also deploying with one Iraqi interpretor or terp as he is known to the Marines. When the terp was first assigned to Chris' unit, to get to know everyone, he invited everyone to an Iraqi restaraunt here in San Diego. He treated us all to this amazing dinner with tons and tons of food. Amar has a daughter around the same age as Sophia and he says that Sophia reminds him a lot of her. It's cute...whenever Amar sees Sophia his face lights up and he begs her to let him hold her! He was so excited to see Sophia again at the barbeque and eventually she let him hold her hand while she went down the slide. Attached is a picture that the Colonel's wife took at the end of the night of all the guys that are deploying and their families!

This upcoming week we don't have too much planned. Chris has a lot of packing to do and of course lots of cuddle time with Miss Sophia. We went to Chuck-E-Cheese yesterday thinking that Sophia would have so much fun running around and getting into everything. What we realized was that she is a little too young for the good ol' Chuck-E-Cheese! We rode the horse for what seemed like hours and ate some pizza! By the time Chris comes back, Sophia will be at the age where things like that will be more fun. Right now she quite enjoys playing with Mom and Dad at home which is fine by me!

This week will go by way too fast but the quicker it comes the quicker we can get it over with! I hope that this finds everybody well and you all are enjoying your summer, wherever that might be!