Just as fast as he came in... He's gone.

It was an early morning, as usual, Jon put off packing until the last second. He had a lot that he wanted to get done before he left the house today, so we woke up early, and got to it.... Jumped in the shower, and then woke Leyton up at 6:30am to carve pumpkins.








Just in case you can't tell, it is a mummy face!



The three amigos using the last few minutes to snuggle, and hang out.



Jon and Leyton rough-housing... the 'stop hitting yourself' game...





My sweet pea, wondering what the heck is going on...



After the car was packed, and the new pack of razor blades that Jon bought was taken out of his carry-on, we were set.... The kids, thankfully, fell asleep in the car...



And upon having a closer look, I discovered they were holding hands... lol So cute!



Here is Jon at the airport, enjoying a mocha latte.... mmmm..



It was a long ride home. We had to take a detour, when the main autobahn was closed due to a fatal accident.... Leyton cried almost the whole way. This was much tougher than letting him go the first time, Now he knows what its like to be without him. Rough.

We came home and took baths, and snuggled up.... Looking forward to getting past these first few days 'jon-less' again....

Alpine Garmisch...

We spent 4 days in the lovely Alpine town of Garmisch. I didn't get a pic of the Lodge that we stayed at, but it was beautiful, and I highly recommend it to any of you military families out there, who might be in the area.... Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.















Pictures from our trip up the Zugspitz, the highest point in Germany...

Snowball fight, waiting for the train...





The platform at the end of the train line.... from here you get on a cable car to go to the peak of the Zugspitz.









The peak is marked by the gold star behind Jon and Ava...



Having lunch on the mountain...

Disneyland Paris....

Here are a few pics to hold you over from our trip... it has been a crzy week, and we are on our way out for a few days again.... This time, Garmisch! I can't believe that we have lived here forever, and have never actually been to Garmisch... Should be fun!
I will edit this post and add some more pics of both trips, when we get back!

***EDITED 10/28***

So, We are back from Garmisch, and I wanted to finish this post, since I didn't have time before we left...
We had a great time at Disney... what's not to love? The weather was crisp, but dry, and the Davey Crockett Ranch was perfect... We had our own 'cabin' (really a single wide trailor) and it was just what we needed. Two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and bathroom with shower/tub... I would definitely stay there again!

Some pics from inside...





Some pics from the parks!



Since it was Halloween at Disneyland, they had several face painting and hair boo-tiques set up... Of course Leyton couldn't be the only kid walking around without spooky hair!














Here he is busting a move with Goofy at Disney Studios...












The best time was had trading pins... you can see some of them on Leyton's lanyard, around his neck...











Little miss Ava sneaking away...










Pink witches in the Halloween parade.



Leytons favorite, the Pumpkinheads...





His very own pumpkinhead, after a 2nd trip to the spooky hair boo-tique...



And here we are enjoying the carousel!

Home to see her first steps!

I received a call late Wednesday afternoon, saying that I should be at the Frankfurt airport bright and early Thursday morning (5:45, to be exact!). At 3am I got up, dressed the kids, and loaded them into the car... we arrived at gate B2 around 5:30am. You can imagine the look of shock on Leyton's face when Jon stepped out of the automatic doors... He didn't know Jon was coming. It was pretty last minute, since Jon was still trying to find somone to switch his R & R with, and we didn't know how long he might be layed over in Kuwait, or some other lovely destination.... But Lord knows, it is good to have him home!

Most of Thursday was spent just getting over the 48 hours of travel he endured, and just plain hanging out.... Friday we were pleased to find out after weeks of crazy chaos.... that Ava is no longer an illegal alien... Since she has SOFA status and the card to prove it... she is able to stay in Germany without a visa! Great news, since her Visa expired back in July, while we were (and continue to be) waiting for her Certificate of Citizenship to come! She is also able to enter and exit the country with no problems.... which is a relief, since there is no telling when we might actually get her COC... (The Frankfurt Consulate is currently working the issue on our behalf.... )

Friday brought another milestone moment.... Ava took her first 3 steps... again, and again.... and Jon was here to see them! It was great.... To be told just 3 months ago, that she may never walk, and to see all the progress that she has made in that short amount of time.... Its really unbelievable! It will be no time, now....












In other news, Leyton scored a sliding goal at the rematch game on Friday against the Green Machine... That's him on the ground in the net.... and the second shot is a celebration high five with his Daddy! I'm glad Jon was there for that! Leyton loved it!