Please Pray for My Brother

Sadly, my brother will be deploying to Afghanistan on Saturday.  He will be gone for one year.  This comes after being stationed 3 hours away for the past year and spending the previous year deployed in Saudi Arabia.  That's a lot of time away from your family...especially when you have a 3 year old!

Will you please remember Eric & his family in your prayers & thoughts? Thank you!


SFC Eric Egelstad
Platoon Sergeant 101st Airborne "The Rakkasan's"

Eric, we love you so much.  We are praying for your safety and the safety of your guys.  Anxiously awaiting your safe return!

Eric and his girls Logan & Jordyn

Eric & Donna

Fast Weekend

Our weekend went fast.  We met up with Eric, Donna & Jordyn Sat. afternoon in St. Louis and then departed late Sun. morning. The guys did a great job hauling Dad's car trailer and thankfully, all went smoothly!

"The triplets" (Jordyn, Bryce & Drew) were SO excited to see each other, and of course, to swim in the hotel pool!

 

The kiddos play so well together. They sat for over 2 hours at dinner just coloring, chattering with one another and playing quietly at our table...that NEVER happens with just my boys! It was nice to have fairly uninterrupted adult conversation!  Sadly, our visits with my brother are infreqeunt because we live about 10 hours away, so we cherish our visits with them.  Especially this weekend since Eric is deploying to Afghanistan in a few days.

We love you Uncle Eric, Aunt Donna & Jordyn.  We had lots of fun with you this weekend!

Almost Time to Deploy

My brother Eric is about to deploy to Afghanistan next week. He has asked if we would pick up my Dad's car trailer from him and haul it to our house, so... we will be driving to St. Louis tomorrow (1/2 way for each of us) and staying the night in a hotel.  We are thankful to have an excuse for a little road trip and another opportunity to see Eric, Donna & Jordyn before he deploys. 

Please be praying for Eric and his girls as they spend their last week together.  It is extremely difficult!  Thank you!

A Kentucky Thanksgiving

The next week, all 6 of us piled into our van and headed to Kentucky for Thanksgiving with Eric, Donna, Logan & Jordyn.  It's about a 12 hour drive so we stopped 1/2 in St. Louis to stay the night.  The boys were perfect travelers.

We had a wonderful time with my brother & his family.  We had not seen them in about 1 1/2 years so it was really fun to see the little ones (Jordyn, Bryce & Drew) A.K.A "the triplets" together.  
They got along so well and had so much fun together.  They played amazingly well together and actually entertained themselves for hours at a time...something my boys NEVER do at our house.  What's up with that?

Bryce & Drew had lots of fun playing with their cousins and Uncle Eric.

Most of all, we were just THANKful to be together for the holiday.  Eric will be deploying again in just a few weeks to Afghanistan so it was good to spend time with him.  It makes me so sad to think that he will have to leave his 3 girls for another year after just spending a year in Saudi Arabia. Hopefully this will be his last deployment before he retires.

We tried to get a cute picture of Mom &Mike with the 4 grandchildren.  Logan & Jordyn look cute but look at my little monkeys!

Thank you Eric, Donna, Logan & Jordyn...we love you all!

Welcome Home Brother!

After 12 months in Saudi Arabia and a 24 hour flight, my brother is safely at home with his family.

I received an email this morning that he was looking so forward to being at home with his wife Donna and girls Logan & Jordyn and sleeping in his own bed! He left 85 degree temps in Saudi and came home to 14 degrees!

Thank you Eric and your girls for the sacrifices you ALL made this past year. We are so thankful for you and all the other military men and women, and their families, for the sacrifices you all make. Thank you God for protecting Eric and his family while he was deployed. We are so glad you are home safe and sound!

WE love you and are so proud of you!

Bye Bye Uncle Eric

We arrived home safely from our road trip to Kentucky and are so thankful that we got to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, 2 nieces and my Mom. We had a wonderful time with all of them and are especially glad that we made the effort to see my brother. He had to fly back to Saudi Arabia today for at least 6 more months, if not longer. It breaks my heart that he will miss another huge chunk of time with his girls. Jordyn, who is 2 days older than my boys, just started really reconnecting with Eric the last week he was home. Now, he'll have to leave her again. Logan, his 10 year old step-daughter is just starting 5th grade. At least he got to share in her first day of school while we were there. Thankfully, they have a web cam and get to see each other a couple times a week. But, it's still not the same as being together in person.

I love the video below of Eric with the 3 toddlers playing in the bounce house - I call them "the triplets!"




Bryce and Drew had a blast playing with their Uncle Eric. He's just a big kid! Eric, thank you for loving your nephews like you do!


Eric, we are all so proud of you. Thank you for serving our country and for the sacrifices that you and your family are making. We love you and will miss you. We will continue to pray for safety for you and your girls and that your time In Saudi will pass quickly.

More pics from Kentucky to come...

Deployment

My brother Eric is in the Army and will be deploying to Saudi Arabia tomorrow for 1 year.

On one hand he's ready to get to Saudi, to get his one-year clock started and to find out his exact orders. Afterall, this is his career and what he's trained to do. However, it does not make it any easier for him to leave his loved ones and his life in the US for that extended period of time. His wife Donna and 2 daughters Logan (10) and Jordyn (2 days older than my boys) and all of his family and friends will be anxiously awaiting his safe return.


Bryce and Drew love their Uncle Eric!

PLEASE pray for Eric's safety during his long travels and for his protection and safety in his job. Also, please pray for Donna and the girls that they will be safe while he's away and that all will be comforted during this difficult time.

I LOVE YOU BRO. Please be safe! WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU!