Goodbye to much of my family and friends

On Saturday, 11 September, my mother hosted a welcome home to Virginia party that many of my family and friends were able to attend.  The party was catered by my favorite BBQ restaurant, Andy Nelsons, serving pulled pork and BBQ'd chicken.  At this party many people found out about my deployment to Djibouti and wished me farewell and the best of luck while over there.  My nephew, Matt, made a poster board about Djibouti with maps and fun facts about the country.  I would like to thank my mother for putting this party together and hope that everyone enjoyed the food and drink. 

I would like to thank everyone for their very gracious gifts to Wenonah and me.  The wine and spirits will especially come in handy both before and after this deployment.  We hope to have a bottle a night at dinner until I deploy. 

I enjoyed this long weekend spending time with my mother, brother, close friends, and in-laws before leaving.  Now its time to start making piles and  packing everything I will need over in Africa.