First JV football game

We have a new Gilbert Tiger cheerleader! The first JV game was a great game, the girls had a blast even though the boys were defeated by the Marcos de Niza Padres. The boys are continuing to work hard and hopefully will prevail in the next game! The girls are practicing hard and getting better each day! Corinne is the back spot in her stunt group and the main reason why her flyer never hits the ground! We are super proud and enjoy watching her perform!

2010-2011 school year

Another school year has begun! Devan is beginning her Junior year at Gilbert High School! She is attending the East Valley Institute of Technology for Health Occupations courses in the morning and then her regular classes at the school in the afternoon. Corinne is a sophmore at Gilbert High this year and has quite a heavy work load. She is taking advanced Chemistry and World History which give her more homework than she was prepared for. Corinne was selected to be on the junior varsity cheer team for the football and basketball seasons. Kylie is in seventh grade at South Valley Jr High. Kylie is looking forward to changing classes throughout the day and making new friends! Carlie is also in seventh grade at Pueblo Middle School were she attended last year. Kylie and Carlie will be trying out for sports teams this year and we are hoping that they both make it! Sports is such a great outlet for them all! I can't wait to see how the year progresses for each of them!!!

Girls Trip to San Diego

Wow, what a trip, that's the best way to sum up the whole trip! The girls and I left on Saturday after Kylie's last volleyball game and headed off on the freeway for the sunny beaches of San Diego. When we finally got to the hotel after driving around for an hour because our directions from Google Earth were wrong, we realized how hungry we were. So we headed off to Rubio's for some fish tacos!

On Sunday morning, we got up bright and early to enjoy a day at the beach! The girls rode boogey boards, played paddle ball, and laid out on the soft sand! We had a great day!

Sunday night we recovered from our sunburns and sore muscles and enjoyed a great pizza on the boardwalk. Monday we got up and went back to Mission Beach to ride bicycles on the boardwalk.





Although we had some crazy bumps in our road, we had a great trip. We missed Sy and all thought the trip would have been more fun if he would have been there, but we had a great time!

Day 1 of 365

So we are on day 1 of a 12 month journey. Sy landed in Kuwait today and will go through the long procedure of getting registered with his company so that he can start his job. So far on this adventure he flew from Arizona to Virginia, Virginia to Georgia, Georgia to Maine, Maine to Ireland, and Ireland to Kuwait. He has one more trip which is to fly from Kuwait to Afghanistan. I probably won't know what city he is in, but that's ok. A lot of the stuff he is doing he isn't allowed to discuss. Which we probably don't want to know anyway! So, after today we will have 364 days left. The girls and I are all positive and ready for this challenge. We are looking forward to school starting so the girls can get busy, see their friends, and participate in activities. And I can't wait for my new job to start! So, wish us luck and keep the count down going with us!

The world traveler returns

So Devan finally returned this weekend. On Saturday night she came home from visiting Paris and Barcellona with her grandparents, sister and cousin. She had an amazing time and has so many stories to share! Devan had been gone for two weeks and I was so happy to see her I couldn't stand it. So as soon as she got back to her grandma's house I drove over and picked her up. The poor girl was so wiped out she passed out on the couch while showing me her pictures. This was a once in a lifetime experience for her and I'm so glad she was able to go!
Sy is on his second stop before he goes over seas. He arrived in sticky, sweaty, humid and hot Georgia on Thursday. Luckily his group was able to get registered in the next group heading to Kuwait. He will leave on Friday the 23rd and will be gone for four months when he is then eligible for his first two week visit at home. We have been using Skype to talk to him and it is an amazing invention. I love being able to see him and talk to him. The girls think it's pretty cool to see his face and their faces on the computer screen! We all miss him greatly, but we are doing what he asked and staying the course. My new course is to train for a half marathon in November. I'm super excited and hope I can get it done! I know Sy will be so proud of me and I will feel so good about myself! The girls are getting ready for school to start, some of them are excited, some not so much. But we are all looking forward to being busy again! It's going to be a good year for us all!

Almost a week

Tomorrow will be one week that Sy has been gone. It's been a smooth ride so far and the girls and I are doing fine. Sy has been writing to each of us every night and we have all learned that he is an amazing writer. His emails are inspirational and motivational to us all, just like he is. Sy is the youngest guy in his class, the average age of officer in his group is 57 years old and the average years of experience of them all is 25 years. He felt like a kindergarten kid in a high school physics class.
Sy was required to have a hearing test that showed he has some small loss in one of his ears which he of course he blamed on living with five girls. He was also required to perform in a physical exam where he had to run a course of two miles in under an hour while wearning lots of heavy gear and an extra 35 lbs added to his backpack. He did great and finished first! What an amazing guy, right?
The classes he has been attending have trained him on the benefits of his job (health, dental, vision insurance), Afghanistan culture, how to be safe while he is there, that he is under no circumstances allowed to go near an IED, and that he should treat all the soldiers with the utmost respect. The teacher informed him that the average age of soldier is only 23, so even though he may be older, they have more experience and training for their specific job. Here is what Sy had to say about what he learned from this training:
Their daily actions humble me. It is difficult to complain about simple things when these guys are doing what they are doing day in and day out. We all owe them a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to pay. After seeing several hours of power point pictures of what they go through, I was in awe...
For this, they have my absolute respect.
The only way I can sum up this past week is that I have so much respect and admiration for my husband for what he is doing for not only our family but our country as well. I love him more everyday!

The day is finally here

So, the day that we were all dreading finally came. Sy left this morning for Virginia where he will spend 8 days in computer and physical training. Then on the 16th he will fly to Fort Benning in Georgia to be assigned to an ARMY unit whom he will deploy with. Today was a very hard day for all of us! We all know this is the right thing to do for our family, but we are going to miss Sy very much! I know that he will miss us as well, even if he is super busy working 12-16hr days, 7 days a week. We look forward to his vacations where he will get to come home, actually we will treasure those days. Sy reminded us today that if we stay the course, everything will work itself out and we will come out better in the end. All six of us believe that our family is going to be one unstoppable, loving, and close knit family when this year is over. We will be better and stronger!

Weekend get-away

So this last weekend that Sy has here in Arizona for awhile, we are in the desert visiting his father and mother in law. It's pretty cool to see the mountains and the view and be relaxed and not have five million things to do. I'm kind of sad though because when we go home tomorrow, we will only have three days left to spend time together. On Monday we are having our mommy/daddy date night, on Tuesday we are having dinner with the Meyers to get our monthly sushi fix, and Wednesday night is family night. Thursday morning I will get up and take Sy to the airport. It's going to be a difficult day, but I know that I have wonderful family and friends who will be there for me to support me. We both know that this is the right decision for us, but the reality of being away from each other for this long is truly hitting home. It's a pretty heavy weight and we are carrying it quite well so far. I love my husband and my girls and that is all I need to get through this! I hope . . .

Sy's Birthday

Yesterday was Sy's birthday and we had a great party! Each of Sy's team members were here with their families, it was amazing. It's so cool when you get all of them together and you get to see how much they are all alike. The most important part of the day was that Sy had a great time and was able to see how much his friends and family truly love him!

Our beautiful pictures

Picture Day

We are waking up super early this morning to meet a friend to have family pictures taken. I'm super excited, but the girls are gonna hate me for waking them up so early. The reality of Sy leaving is becoming more pronounced as we do these little things before he leaves. First family pictures, then Sy's birthday party, then next week dinner at my mom's house to say goodbye. I have to keep telling everyone that it's not goodbye, he is only going on a business trip. That logic only works on me so far, so I hope my positive attitude sinks in to everyone around me. I'm trying very hard to stay positive and happy and be confident in our decision, but as it gets closer, that becomes harder and harder.

So, the big day is getting closer

Well, the big day is getting closer and closer as I write. Sy was denied the military leave at work, so he had to resign his position. This is bittersweet for many at the police department because he is an amazing officer, detective and supervisor. He will be missed at the PD. But we keep reminding everyone that this is just a temporary leave and he will be back in one year.
Sy's birthday is Sunday, so we are hosting a party for him and it's going to be a blast! Good friends, yummy food, and delicious Costco cake, can't wait. All our favorite friends and their families will be here. I'm sure there will be some sad moments as everyone says goodbye, but it's going to be a great party!
We are all staying positive around here because as a very wise woman once told me "there is no use in feeling sorry for yourself because no one else will"! This is temporary and our family is going to come out stronger in the end!

So I thought . . .

So I originally thought this blog was going to be about some funny times in the life of my poor husband who is surrounded by women. Well, this is not going to be the case. We have made a decision in our family that will change our lives forever, we are hoping in a good way. Sy is accepting a job that will take him away from Arizona for at least one year. He is going for a wonderful cause and the increased salary will allow us to catch up some old debt and gain some stability in our financial department. The girls and I are very sad that he will be gone for a year, but we are all very supportive of what he is doing and why he is going. We are aware that we will be making sacrifices as well as he will by buckeling down on our budget and saving every penny we can. This year will be hard, but I know this is a good decision for our family. Please keep our family in your prayers in hopes that the girls and I can handle Sy being away and that Sy comes home safe and sound.

First post

So I'm brand new to this whole blogging thing, but so many people do it so I'm going to try. This will be a page about a loving husband, his wife and four daughters. Things get crazy around here so some of these posts will be pretty funny. I'm still working on how this works and what I want to say, so please be patient with me and I hope you enjoy.