Right after we returned from our Christmas vacation, Chris left. Not for deployment…that’s later this year. However, it is more than a couple weeks & we all pretty much miss him if he’s gone for more than a duty night. Camille knew this was coming, and definitely wanted to do something for daddy. So did I. It was decided that we would make him a memory book with a twist. 
Here is the book. Camille and Noah’s sweet hand prints are on the front. They both LOVE making handprints… I think all kids do. Camille drew on a ton of envelopes. Each day for how long Chris is going to be gone. Then she stuffed them with pictures that I had printed from the past two years. Different memories of our little family.
The plan is that each day while he’s away that he had a little something to open with a sweet memory inside of it. I provided double stick tape for him to affix the photos to the pages. 
We then packaged them in a couple of felt bags that I hand-stitched a while back and didn’t use. Camille and I also wrote Chris a letter. Handwritten letters are so wonderful. In a day and age where everything is email, facebook, blogging sometimes we forget the special gift of a written note.

Chris has emailed and even been able to call a couple times since he’s been underway and more than once he’s mentioned how much he loves the album. He says that especially after a hard day, its great to look forward to opening an envelope with a memory inside. He said that he’s used little sticky notes on the page and writes his memories out.

Even before we had kids, I always tried to think of special ways to nurture closeness while Chris and I were apart. Now that we have them, I’m determined to do that even more. So stayed tuned …

By the way, the note paper that I used to write Chris his letter was this paper by Mandy Gerth.

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