Well, we bought tickets for our trip out there and I have to admit it's a huge relief. We've been praying to know what we should do and just kept getting more and more unsettled and nervous about trying to fly Space A. It's never been easy to fly Space A and it's only gotten worse as ticket prices go up and budget goes down and they book more and more families on these flights so there isn't any extra space. Then we figured we'd try Space A and buy tickets at the last minute if we couldn't get on but the more I looked into it the more I realized it was probable the flights would all be booked, already they were telling me there were no seats for the day I wanted and only a few on the next day, etc. Plus, you pay more at the last minute and it's cheaper to buy round trip. The military deal offered out of Seattle last year was only $650 one way to get back, this year it's $950.... so if we didn't get on a flight we would pay nearly twice as much as we can get them for by buying them round trip now... and that is if there were even seats left on the flight. Needless to say, it's been overwhelming stress for the last several weeks looking into this deal and that deal and watching friends on their space A flights, etc. So I expected to feel sick and upset after spending so much money for non-changeable non-refundable tickets but I actually just felt great. So, the point is, I can't take it back now and we feel good about the decision. We fly out on June 23rd and arrive back here on July 15th (leaving the states on the 14th.) It's only 3 weeks but it will be a fantastic three weeks. We will just be in vacation mode the entire time and will love every minute of it. We arrive in Seattle on June 23rd at 9:15am...anyone want to pick us up? Then we fly to Utah on the morning of July 3rd, out of Portland. The trip is coming up fast and we are so excited! (We are even more excited knowing that it's the last time we'll have to do it!)

Hooray!