Pups excited when Matt gets home…

After being gone for 8 months, this was the welcome Matthew received:

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

North Carolina - Part 2: MATTHEW COMES HOME!

I got to Jacksonville around 5 pm. Janessa and I had some good quality girl time. We hung out and I tried to distract her from the fact that her husband was arriving home that night! Matthew had been stationed in Afghanistan for the past 8 months. I tried to keep her focused on anything, but I probably did not help much. :)

We decided to have comfort food for dinner: Kraft Mac and Cheese, salad and chicken tenders. It was delicious and just what we needed.

We knew he was arriving at the base at 4:15 am the following morning. Around 8 pm Janessa called the hotline and got great news! They were running ahead of schedule and were going to be at the base at 2:15 am! We were so pumped.

Janessa started primping around 10 pm. We planned to leave at 12:45 to get there early to hang out with the other families and wives. Janessa has been volunteering and hanging out with a wives club that has been just super. I was excited to meet those ladies as they were coming out to support her when Matthew came home.

We were ready by 12:30 am and were antsy so we left early. Here is excited Janessa:


We got to the hanger a little while later. It was super cool! I was surprised by the quantity of kids that were out at 2:15 am. Not only were they out, but they were running around and having a blast.


I loved all the home made signs for everyone’s loved ones:
 

I even made one!


There was one sign and baby that just got me. I saw a stroller approach me that said , “Outta my way…I’m MEETING my DADDY Today!”  I about lost it. So I took a picture of the stroller and then I saw he baby inside. He was so sweet. Check out his onsie…
 

“Welcome home Daddy. I’ve waited my whole LIFE to meet you”. Oh man. How can you not want to see that man meet his new baby son?!? Amazing.

I enjoyed the whole experienced especially so much…


Janessa’s friends arrived and gave her a beautiful necklace. They were super sweet and I am so glad she has them.


We closely watched the time. As it got closer to 2 am people started collecting in the front of the hanger. 


We were all ready. I was going to video, Janessa had her sign and the girls all had camera’s and phones ready to document the moment they found each other.
 

We were ready! Then the busses pulled up and the crowd went crazy. The guys got off the busses and lined up as the crowd cheered. What a moment…
 

and then the buses pulled away…(get ready to tear up a bit)

Formations...

Matthew and Janessa's actual meeting:

After taking the video, I snapped a few more pictures…


Then I got my hugs and Matt got to enjoy my sign… 

It was an unexplainable experience. I loved seeing all the families find their loved ones.

From there we got all his gear and drove home. It was about 4:30 am when we arrived. I went inside to video Matthew and Janessa’s puppies reacting to seeing Matthew for the first time in 8 months.

Check it out tomorrow :)

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

North Carolina – Part 1

Work sent me to North Carolina in early August for a workshop/training. I arrived a day early and spent the day and night at a dear friend’s house. Gail and Laurie and their two adorable kiddos, Katee and Maggie, welcomed me in and we had a blast.

The next day I headed into work with Laurie and got to see coworkers and friends. It was a great day of learning and fun. On Tuesday, we started our training. After training was over, my buddy, Adam, and I headed to the gym. I got an hour of spin in and he did weights. We headed back to the hotel and ate at the bar (in our workout clothes). This does not sound like a big deal, but we were staying at the O’Henry, a very upscale hotel. Luckily, they did not kick us out. :) On a serious note, if you are EVER looking for a hotel in Greensboro, you must stay at the O’Henry. It is in my top three of hotels.

On Wednesday, we had a great day of training. As soon as it was over, Jessica and I headed to Durham to meet Bertie and Katie for dinner. Katie is/was very pregnant and we were excited to see her baby belly!

Jessica and I arrived a bit early and of course we had to take a picture with the mirror covered bull…

We attacked Katie and Bertie when they arrived! Her baby belly was just adorable! We had a lovely dinner with them and sadly had to part. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory so you can imagine how full we left :)

When we got back to the hotel, I had the great honor of meeting our new North Louisiana rep, Jenna. She is a doll! Jenna had gone to dinner with Ashley and had stopped in the bar to introduce us. Yay Southern District!

Thursday was our last full day of training. That night I had the honor of going to dinner four amazing women and one fun Jonesy. Thank you Bob, Susan, Terri, Jenni, and April for a lovely night.

On Friday, we were there for a half day. We finished our meetings around lunch time. I made my rounds and said good bye to all my Greensboro friends.

I was finally on my way to see my Janessa. I left Greensboro and headed down to Jacksonville, NC.

To be continued…

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Sabrina in town – Summer 2013

Sabrina graced us with her presence for two whole weeks last month. It was AWESOME!

We got to hang out and visit many nights, but sadly I only took pictures two nights while she was in town.

The first night was when Brandon and Stephanie invited us over for dinner. It was delicious and everyone got to see Sabby.

The second set of pictures was Sabrina’s first snowball of the season after church one night. We went to Plum Street Snowball where Sabrina ordered the bananas foster, Doug had the cookie dough AND bananas foster and I plum with clear strawberry.

 
 

We had a blast with Sabby and I wish we could steal her for longer. Sabby, you are welcome to visit anytime. We miss you!

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Kate turns One!

Sweet Kate turned one last month! We were honored to be there to celebrate her big birthday!
 

Erin decorated the house with lady bugs everywhere. It was adorable!

Kate got to enjoy some daddy time before getting into dessert!
She also got to rock-rock on her new rocking horse that Uncle Doug and Aunt Lizzie gave her. She was so cute.
 

Then it was time for cake! She was a little unsure of this “cake” stuff…
 

Check out the crowd watching her. Maybe we intimidated her :)

She was a perfect angel! After cake, it was time for some water sports!

The party was a huge success. Erin had fabulous decorations and the food was fabulous. What great way to celebrate baby Kate! 

While all the kids were getting changed, I convinced our group of friends to get together for an “adult” picture. When did we become the adults?!!? 

Happy birthday Baby Kate! You are so very loved!
Birthday wishes from the Doug :)

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

July 2013 Date Night!

Doug and I headed out for July date night last month. Our goal – Felipe’s and Snow Balls.

 

We got to Felipe’s and ordered dinner:
  

Happy Birthday babe! Enjoy your date night!

Then we decided to go pick up ice cream for dessert. When we got there we ran into two of the coolest kids I know, Ryan and Dustin. We grocery shopped with them and caught up on what was going on.
Don’t you love the grocery store pic! :)

Then we headed home to try something new: frozen snow balls. Clearly doug was excited:
 

The snow balls were ok – in case you were curious. We did have fun. Yay for Date Nights! 

Love and Hugs, Lizzie