Ireland Family reunion

Our first night there, we had this wonderful view from the back porch. Greg had commented that a shepherd was being born there. It looked pretty biblical.






Ireland Men . . . all grown up.







Brad and I made it safely to and from Bozeman for the wonderful family reunion. It is the last time all 3 of the Ireland boys will be together for the next year, as Brad leaves in 12 days for his 400 day deployment. :( We had an amazing time though. Couldn't have asked for a better time spent with my new family.
We all got to know Kaley a little better, to spend time with the newest Ireland, Jadon Gregory, and have some pretty cool conversations with Esther!

The plan was that each night, one Ireland 'newly wed' was to make dinner. Greg and Christine made very tasty enchiladas and we had a mexican theme for the night.








Tim and Kaley did kabobs and was Hawaiian. They got Esther a little Hawaiian skirt to hula in to set the mood. Greg and Brad wanted to show her how to dance in it.





Brad and I were supposed to do BBQ chicken, or ribs or pizza, but we were having too much fun at Yellowstone and we had to postpone that. All well. More tasty bbq sauce for Brad and I! :-)




It's becoming the harsh reality now that Brad is indeed going to be leaving. We are starting to go through the banks and how to log into them. What bills to pay and when. What to do in certain situations if they come up. I know that I can take care of myself, but life is easier in general with someone else to make sure you are doing it right.
I know for certain I will be leaning on a few of my close friends for advice or just for ears to listen to me. I would like to think that I am prepared for the worst, but I'm not.
The first few weeks will be easier than I think, as Brad will only be in new jersey for a few weeks, then Kentucky. But after he leaves Kentucky, its real life and I'm not ready for it. I'm not emotionally ready for my husband to leave and to be in a combat zone. But we both knew that upon him joining the army, it would be a reality.

On kind of a cool note, the 592nd for a spot in the local Billings news tonight thanks to yours truly. :-)
Brad and I watched the 10 o'clock news last night and they mentioned the National Guard and the Air National Guard deploying to Irag and Afghanistan, but nothing about our little billings unit.
So i shot them an email, and not more than an hour went by and I got a response. They didn't know that they were leaving because I guess the hire-ups usually inform the media of deployments. They however told me that they would get a hold of the 592nd today to get the proper information and would get the story taken care of.
So Brad and I turned on the 5 o'clock news tonight and by golly, we were mentioned. :-) Props to the KULR-8 news team for taking care of this promptly.