Matt and I recently returned from a great visit to the mainland thanks to COTs (Continuous Overseas Tour) leave. We hadn’t seen any of Matt’s family or my mom in close to five years, which is far far to long.
Our first stop was to FL. We stayed with my father-in-law, his wife, Diana, and her son Nicky. Matt’s Dad got married while we were stationed in Guam so we hadn’t had the chance to meet Diana, Nicky, or her daughter Amanda. Amanda was in Orlando, so we were bummed that we weren’t able to meet her too, but we’ll meet her one day. It was very exciting to meet Diana & Nicky though.
We were also able to see Matt’s Mom, his brother, Freddie, and Dave, my Mother-in-Law’s boyfriend.
While the visit was short, it was sooo nice to see everyone, it had been too long.
Our next stop was GA to visit my Mom. She thru a baby shower for us, which was exciting. I was able to see some of my family from my Mom’s side and my dear friend Jenn (she drove 4+ hours to come too). The family I saw, I hadn’t seen in over eight years, yup, 8.
Here are some pictures from our first shower. 🙂
Our super cute cake…
Me and my Mom.
All of my wonderful guests.
Me and Jenn
Me and Matt
My Grandma and Me.
My Mom, Aunt Angel, and Me.
Opening gifts.
So cute.
The next stop in our big trip was MA. We stayed with Matt’s Aunt Jeri and Uncle Chick. They are oh-so-dear to me. We were able to see Matt’s cousin, Ami, her husband, Matt, and their sons, Sam & Max. The last time we saw them, they were living in Alaska. Since we moved to and from Guam, they have since moved to the same adorable little town as Aunt Jeri and Uncle Chick. This makes us so happy, because if we happen to get stationed in CT again (our number one pick for our next move), we’ll be that much closer to more family.
After a couple days in MA we drove down to CT to see some of our closest friends, Bryan and Erin. Since we saw them last, their family has grown. They now have an adorable little girl, Addison. She’s got to be the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen. We were also able to see Abby and Emma, B & E’s dogs. Emma is our Tess’ sister. I always wondered if the pups would remember us after years passing… and they did, very much so. It was amazing and made me smile.
After a couple days, we drove back up to MA to spend more time with family.
Our next and final stop was to our Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C.
One of my best friends, Liz, and her husband, Paul, moved there from Guam about a year and a half ago (maybe closer to two years ago). We spent a day walking around D.C. and then another day or so just soaking up the time together before flying back to HI. Before flying home, we were able to ask Liz and Paul to be Holden’s God Parents. They said yes, which made us very happy, and once our little guy arrives at the end of this year, they’ll officially be family.
Oh, how we loved our trip, but it’s really good to be home.
