Christine's Wedding

  Not even two weeks after Andrew got home we packed up and headed to Utah for Christine and Robin's wedding.  As per tradition, we made matching shirts for a family night of bowling.  So on Thursday some of us tie-dyed shirts while others went and helped move Robin and Christine's stuff into their new place.  

The "us" that tie-dyed shirts were Maria, Chris, Bryson, and myself.  Some turned out really cool, all turned out good enough to wear.  

We went to BYU to bowl.  Ellie loved pushing her ball down the ramp.  After a couple of times bowling she insisted on carrying her own ball to the ramp.

Friday afternoon we went to visit Grandma Bonnie.  Andrew hadn't seen her in a couple years and she loves getting visitors.  It was good to see her.  On our way out the door Grandma offered to push Abby on her walker.  We were totally against it but she insisted and made it all the way to the tables.  

Saturday was the wedding.  Here's Grammy with the flower girls and Andrew trying to get the gum out of Abby's mouth.  So, pardon the arm.

The ceremony was beautiful.  The officiator went on a little much about bonsai trees, but who cares?  Christine and Robin couldn't look more happy!

After the ceremony was pictures... and then dinner. 

Christine and Robin did a surprise jive dance for their First Dance.  It was so much fun to watch.  They were amazing.

Kate and Abby had so much fun dancing.  They danced like they never have before.  It was such a great time.  Even Ellie joined in on the dancing.

The send off - and they lived happily ever after.

Andrew's Homecoming!!!

  The day finally came for Andrew's return.  The girls and I were counting down to April 10th just in case Andrew was delayed on his way home.  We didn't want to put the girls through that disappointment.  Thankfully we didn't have to and Andrew arrived home on April 6th.  We arrived a couple hours before Andrew was bused out to the building we were at.  They had to go through customs before coming out to us and depending on who is doing the job, it can take a while.  We lucked out and didn't have to wait as long as others have. 

All the girls were dressed up and looking super cute for their Daddy.

 Abby was delighted to hold the sign her and Kate had colored.

 We were all so happy to have Daddy back.  Ellie didn't want to let him go.

 Right after Andrew got all of his luggage, we went to the playground on base so the girls could play with their Daddy.  The girls wanted to show Andrew all that they could do.  Some of the things they learned while he was gone.  Other things, well, they just wanted their Daddy's attention.

 I was a little surprised that Ellie didn't cry when she saw Andrew for the first time.  I've heard stories of little kids being a little scared of their Dads when they get back because they haven't seen them in so long. It only lasts a little while but Ellie didn't act that way at all.  Even with Andrew's amazing 'stache.  

I attribute a lot of that to Andrew putting his family first.  He always tried to call before bedtime to say goodnight to the girls and during the day if he could.  He would send Marco Polos to the girls if he hadn't been able to talk to them on the phone in a couple of days and always had them on his mind.  I am so grateful for the technology we have that allows for us to stay in such close contact, even while Andrew is deployed to some God forsaken country. 

 Dog pile on Daddy

 The day after Andrew got home we went to a friend's birthday party.  It was a good excuse to get out of the house and go somewhere together.  The girls had a great time playing with their friends and showing off all that they could do to their Daddy.

 Andrew had to go into work on Monday and because his 'stache was technically out of regs he had to shave it off.  It made him sad.

 Story time 

 Tuesday we went up to Milton to pick strawberries.  This was our first time going as a family and it was great.  We were there for about 45 minutes and picked 21 pounds of strawberries.  

 Once we got home we cleaned all of the strawberries.  Some were used to make strawberry jam, the rest were put into the freezer for smoothies.

 Abby was a great little helper.

  The strawberry jam turned out yummy and life was back to how it should be.  No complaints here.