On the road again.....

Hello to all. This is Charles. (Don't you hate how it doesn't tell you who's writing the post until you get the end? I'll get halfway done before I figure out who the author is.) Anyway, it's been quite some time since I posted; and just about as long since I've talked to some of you. We've been keeping to ourselves as my departure date draws closer. For those who are wondering, I am leaving in mid-October (I won't post the actual date on the internet, so call me if you want it).

Ashley and I went to the temple together last Friday and, as we sat beside each other in the Celestial room, the reality that I will be leaving for 15 months finally sank in. This is a difficult time for us. I remember the day I left last time and it was absolutely the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life and I am not looking forward to doing it again. I took some leave a couple weeks ago and each one of the children got to skip a day of school and do whatever they wanted to with me. I had fun mountain biking with Charlie and Ryan and gathering almost 500 tickets with Josh at Chuck E Cheese's. We decided to do this rather than keep the kids out of school to see me off on the day I leave - that is just too emotional for everybody. I'll probably just wake up and go in like any other day of work.

At the beginning of the month, Ashley had the chance to visit her friend Julianne (her husband deployed in August) in Utah. After coming back to Clarksville, she decided that there was nothing more for her here in Clarksville. We've prayed long and hard about it and we have decided that she will move to Ogden when I deploy. She wants the kids to experience life out there for a while, and this is the perfect opportunity (really the only opportunity) to do it. As we've worked through details of preparing for this transition, it has become apparent that this is definitely what we are supposed to do. We have made an offer on a house in Harrisville and are scheduled to close in December. Additionally, we have found a buyer for our house and are working through the details of that. Upon my return from Iraq, I will be assigned to Ft. Huachuca to do 1 year of the degree completion program with the U of A (Bachelor's of Computer Science) and a subsequent 3 year assignment at Ft. Huachuca in one of the 4 slots there. This means that once my family leaves Clarksville, they won't be back and I'll only be here for a little while before I leave for AZ in '09. It is a nice feeling to know that I'll not have to worry about deployments for at least 4 years upon my return.

I've enjoyed all the time we've been able to spend together since we moved to Tennessee.

I love you all and I'll catch you on the flipside.

Charles