and just like that......

The day came, and even though we have known about it for a while, it was like is snuck up and smacked us right in the back of the head. Jason's second deployment has begun. 

The boys still don't really understand what is going on, so they just enjoyed getting pictures taken.

My friend, Kay, brought duck whistle things and little flags. That kept the kids occupied for a while.

Ethan wanted a picture with just me and the boys. I love it!

There was some time before everything got started, so Jason took the boys out to the helicopter and they got to try on the helmets. Apparently those helmets are pretty heavy. Elliott could barely hold his head up.

Ethan is so "GQ". Guess what he wants to do when he grows up. Lol. Just kidding, he wants to play hockey. 

Here they are in formation. Jason stood right behind the flag, and they guy holding it was super tall, so it was a challenge to get a picture of Jason at all. 

After a few speeches from the Governor, the General and the Captain, we got to say our final goodbyes then the bagpipes started up again, and they headed out to the Blackhawks to get ready for take off.

It was a gorgeous day. Elliott figured out how to play with his shadow while waving his flag. The flag is see-through, so the colors showed up on the ground. I love how the picture turned out.

There he goes. That is Jason hanging out of the window. That's his job, to make sure they aren't going to crash the helicopter. It's kind of a big deal. :) 

They flew off, then came back around........

and that was that. What an awesome sight. I can't even put into words how proud I am of Jason and all of the other soldiers. 

Jason and I were asked to be interviewed for the news. I'm not going to lie, it was hard to talk about the deployment without tearing up or crying, but it turned out good. Thank goodness for editing. :) Here is what the news ran. I already shared it on Facebook, but I wanted to put it on here so we have it forever.