Ryan is off to Virginia

The day came far too soon, but Ryan is now off to Virginia for the training phase of his deployment.

We had a great time Friday night at dinner and playing whirlyball with the West clan. I nominate Jeff for MVP since he was only one-armed and managed to score multiple times. What is truly impressive is that his cast actually goes above the elbow and he was able to steer, catch and hurl the ball toward the target. Kudos to the MVP.

Ryan packed and repacked his sea bag Saturday and finally resigned himself to bringing an extra duffel bag with him. I'm already preparing the first package of extra items and creature comforts to send tomorrow.


The dogs and I had our first night alone last night. I'm proud to say that we also took our first walk alone last night. They did incredibly well and I'm looking forward to having Kadi go with me on Thursday to their third night of training. They are constantly looking around to see if Ryan is with me or if he's pulling in to the drive, but I hope that they settle in quickly and we find some sort of routine.

The last few weeks have been really great and I can't express how much it meant to both of us to spend time with family and friends as we prepared to send him off. Ryan's law school friends surprised him with a going away gathering at a local pub. Justin coordinated the group and put together a fantastic care package with games, food, movies, music, books and toys. GI Joe in fact. It really surprised Ryan to have so many people come. With incredible dinners, game nights, comedy shows and movies- it was a great way to keep us both laughing and focused on all the good things to come when he returns.

Thanks to everyone for your love and support- when Ryan gets his blog up and going we'll link it to our page so you can all keep up with his adventures!

Emily