Thank God for technology...

Today marked 4 weeks down for Jason's deployment...15 to go. For the most part it seems like it has been much longer than that, but Riley and I have been keeping busy and that is key to making this time go by fast. I am so thankful for the methods of communication that we have at our fingertips today...I would be writing a much more unpleasant post if I had to rely on writing letters...although I would obviously not be posting on a blog if that were my only means of communication either! My most preferred method so far is using the chat through Gmail and my second favorite is Skype...the only downside to Skype is never knowing how good the connection is going to be. For the most part we have been pretty lucky but this past Sunday Jason kept losing his internet connection and our call dropped 5 or 6 times...aarrgghh! It is so great to see him though and boy does he look good! He is working a lot and working out a lot...and eating healthy! He is still doing really well, but misses his girls. You can take pics using Skype and this is a pic I took of him last Sunday night...he didn't even know I was taking the picture but you can see how happy he was to see his girls...Riley was smiling for him and clicking her tongue!

They have an awesome program where the soldiers can read children's stories and they record it on DVD and send it home to their families...ours is on it's way and I can't wait for Riley to be able to watch her Daddy read her a story every night...how great that will be! There are so many moments throughout each day where I just wish he was here to be a part of it. I am thankful to be a part of what he is doing and thankful that God has given us the strength to get through this time of separation.

On a funny note, I really wished Jason was home last night when I discovered that Hank and Kadie had managed to leave a nice surprise for me on our porch...a dead squirrel! It was so gross and I just kept looking out the window wondering if it would magically disappear...it didn't. I knew it had to be taken care of before dark, but it was just so gross. I contemplated calling our friend Wiley to come take care of the matter but felt that I was a wuss...after sharing these feelings with Jason through e-mail he agreed that I was a wuss and told me to get a shovel and take care of it...fine! So I did and I actually had tears in my eyes and let out a few screams in the process but the squirrel was removed and laid to rest in my garbage can...I can't wait for the trash to be picked up! UUUGGGHH! It was just so gross...have I said that already?

Here is another pic Jason sent this past week...this is he and some of his fellow comrades after attending some sort of function...I don't get much information as you can tell! The reason he sent it was to show us how he was being given a hard time since the Aggies had lost to Arkansas State and the original picture had Arkansas State paraphernalia photo shopped into the top of the picture, but I cropped that out...I'm glad to know they're having some fun over there but no need for that nonsense!

He looks so good in this pic!

As for the Aggies, Gig 'Em on the win this past weekend! Here's our little Aggie!

I know this is hard to believe but this is the same onesie that Riley came home from the hospital in...so much for calling her a fatty Derek...I bet Kaleb can't squeeze into his homecoming outfit! HeHe! Granted it was huge on her when she came home and it was a little snug this weekend as you can see her belly pooching over, it is still a 0-3 month outfit and we made it work...it was the only Aggie gear we had so we had to make it work! We went to watch A&M beat New Mexico with the fellow Aggies in Arkansas and had a great time...Riley watched much of the game and finally conked out the last 30 minutes we were there...one of the few moments recently where she has fallen asleep in my arms...it was great!