Thanksgiving Trip Home - 2011

For the past month, I've really been bummed about this holiday.  We were pretty positive we wouldn't be able to make the trip home.  I knew I'd be home for Christmas but that still didn't mean I wasn't upset over missing Thanksgiving. 
It's one of my favorite times with my family.  (Who am I kidding, every time with my family is my favorite time.) 
The main reason I was bummed was because of my brother.  I'm sure you know by now that I am obsessed with him and he's my best friend.  Well, his partner and him alternate the holidays each year.  This year, they would be spending Thanksgiving with us in St. Louis and Christmas with Randy's family in Kansas City.  Which meant if I didn't come home for Thanksgiving, I wouldn't be seeing my brother at Christmas....and I don't even know when I'd be back in town again.  Summer?  Nine months is entirely too long to go without seeing my brother.  It's just not okay.

Thank goodness, the Navy gave the student aviators leave!!!!  WE WERE GOING TO GET TO GO HOME!!!!!

It was going to be a short trip but that didn't matter.  I'd take just 24 hours with my family.
Due to how short the trip was, we made the decision to make this a family only trip.
The last time we were in town it was unbelievably stressful driving from house to house to house to visit family and friends.  And we didn't even visit any of Nick's friends.  (What a sweet husband to be so understanding and good about that.)  But to be honest, we didn't really enjoy our time.  We had limited time and it felt rushed and almost forced.
So this trip, just family.

And it was amazing.  We did nothing but sit and relax with our family.  It was much needed. 
We weren't able to leave Pensacola until about 10:30am on Wednesday and the drive took 12 hours.  But that we got in, my family was still awake.  And of course we spent a few more hours sitting around talking and laughing like we normally do.
I absolutely love being at home with my parents, sister, brothers' and sister's boyfriend. 

The next day was of course Thanksgiving and it might have been the best one yet.  Tons of laughs.  Lots of old stories.  It made me so thankful for the absolutely amazing family I am blessed with.

My mother (best friend) and I

My sister and I

My brother

I was also so incredibly thankful to be able to spend this holiday with Nicholas.  In our almost 5 years together, this was only the second Thanksgiving we were able to spend together.  He was never able to make it home for this holiday.  I'm also thankful because I know I will be husband-less for many more Thanksgivings throughout our life together.  He's chosen a career that causes him (us) to make these sacrifices.

Hubs ♥

This year was a little sad for me.  My Grandma made a few announcements that day...something she doesn't normally do.  About how she's thankful for us and our love.  For our health.  Our families. 
I know this was because she's worried about Grandpa.  He's been having some issues with his heart.  I know I'm not the only one in the family to think this.  But with each passing year, we obviously all age.  And it's becoming obvious just how much my Grandparents are aging.  While we don't know the details of his heart, we know there's the possibility of it being serious or meaning surgery.  And we know the risks involved with that in someone 81 years of age.  I couldn't help but wonder how many more Thanksgiving we will get with my Grandparents.  I hate thinking that....my family is ridiculously close and I cannot bear the thought of losing my Grandma or Grandpa.  But it's inevitable it will happen...it will happen to us all.  So I make sure to cherish the time I have them.
This Thanksgiving both Grandma and Grandpa spent a fair amount of time at the Dickbirdkromly Table (as we named ourselves....Dickens, Humbird, Oberkrom, Finley).  They both gave us many, many laughs.  Made my very full tummy hurt from laughing so much.  I absolutely adore my Grandparents.   They're pretty much the best people in the world.  Whether God takes them tomorrow or 20 years from now, I will always look back on this Thanksgiving with fondness.  I will always remember these times we do get with them.  I realize how lucky and fortunate we are that they are both still with us and that they are in relatively good health and both have their minds (even though Grandma has lost her filter and it's the funniest thing ever!!!!)

In addition to Thanksgiving fun, we always celebrate my birthday.  Of course it can never be normal. This year, my delicious homemade chocolate chip cookie cake (my pick every year) not only had the appropriate "27" candles on it, but it was also complete with a turkey and bunny candle.  Why?  Couldn't tell you.  My family is just bizarre and random.  And we like us that way!!!

The evening ended with us all gathered in the family room passing around vodka.  Yep, you heard read me.  My Uncle Rich has a plethora of alcohol (he's a buyer for a large grocery store here in St. Louis).  He has many, many flavors of vodkas so they brought some over.  We poured them in tiny glasses and passed them around the room for a taste testing.  Here's my consensus:
"Cake" tastes exactly like a chocolate cake shot.
"Gummy" which has a picture of a Swedish Fish tasted like cough syrup (but the good kind.)
"Cotton Candy" tastes exactly like bubblegum.

So it's safe to say this might have been my favorite Thanksgiving ever!!!!

After Thanksgiving with the family, we headed home for my absolute favorite event....decorating the tree.
Each year, we turn on "Elf" (only the best Christmas movie ever!!!) and decorate the tree.  Dad puts the angel on the top as Mom sits on the couch and sifts through the giant box of ornaments, handing them to us.   Leah, Ben, and I each have an ornament from every single year.  St. Nick always brings up one on the eve of December 5th.  Each ornament has our name and year somewhere on it.  It's always so neat to look back at these ornaments every year because they are personal to each of us.  This is a tradition that makes me so happy and I love decorating the tree with my family.

Sadly, shortly after the decorating, Ben and Randy had to head back to Columbia =(  Randy had to work in the morning (stupid Black Friday).  We said our goodbyes and I tried hard not to cry.  I know I'll see him again.  It just sucks knowing it will be so long from now =(  Thank goodness for Facetime!!!

At midnight, we headed out to do some Black Friday shopping with my sister.  Nick and I picked up some small things for our house that we either didn't register for or didn't receive from the wedding as well as buying gifts for others.  (Nothing makes me feel better than being able to buy something for someone else.) 

Friday we obviously slept in since we didn't go to bed until about 3am.  Then we went out again that evening to get some more deals. 

Saturday was a lounge around day and then that night, we headed over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for game night!  We had pizza (of course Nick and I had to get our Imo's fix in!!) and of course drank.  The vodkas were brought again and poured over ice to be sipped on all night.  And of course more shots were had.

My mother and two aunts

Uncles!

Then we played Hand and Foot.  I am happy to say that my team won first place =) 
I absolutely love my family.  We had such a good time.  So many ridiculous things being said.  Faces hurting from laughter.  I cannot begin to explain the fun I have with my family.  I wouldn't trade them for a thing in the world! I seriously have the BEST family anyone could EVER imagine!!!!

Sunday we woke up, packed the car, said our goodbyes and headed to Florida Home.  And of course it'd only make sense that I'd be sick the majority of the drive home.  Thank goodness my husband loves to drive!

So that was my Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend Trip back home to St. Louis in a nutshell =)

I'm beyond grateful for a trip home.  I know there are many others who do not get this opportunity.  I also know I will spend many Thanksgivings away from home and possibly away from home AND without Nick.  For that reason, I am thankful.  This trip was short.  Very short.  Do I wish it would have been longer?  Of course!  I'd love more time with my family any time I visit....even if I had been there for 3 weeks!  I just love my family and we're beyond close!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and/or friends!!!

If you'd like to see ALL the photos from our trip home, click HERE

My 27th Birthday

Today was my 27th Birthday.  (yes I am that old.)

While I'm sad I couldn't celebrate with my family and friends, I was happy that I had Nick.

[Back track a few days.  We went out with two other couples, the Rosa's and the Robida's.  While we weren't out specifically for my birthday, both Lauren and Jenny each bought a round of shots for us girls for my birthday =)  THANK YOU girls!  You're the best.  Happy I was able to celebrate with at least some friends!  It was nice to have a night out of drinks, pool, and some juicy sex girl talk lol]  

He had to go to work that morning but was home by about 10am and came inside with my gifts (wrapped so nicely!!!).

I didn't really expect him to get me anything other than Dumbo (which I knew I was getting...I am collecting all the Disney movies on DVD now since my VHS's are useless lol) because he had spent so much on my iPhone 4S.
But there was a second gift.  A KINDLE TOUCH!!!!!

I had been wanting a Kindle for quite some time.  I've done lots of research between the Kindle and Nook.  It was an easy decision for me to choose the Kindle.  While I know there are fancier (colored) Kindles out there, I didn't want that.  I plan to only use my Kindle to read books and therefore don't need color.  It'd be a waste of money for me.  I don't want to read magazines on my Kindle or other things of the sort.  It was the perfect gift and I was shocked he bought it!!

A little while later,  I had mentioned something about my family's birthday cakes and Nick walked out in the garage and came back in with a grocery bag.
"I'm going to make you a cake!"  ....ummmm "Have you ever baked anything before????"
Nope.  Never.  This should be interesting!  Nick was going to attempt to make a 2-tier cake.
He bought chocolate cake mix and chocolate icing (he knows me well) and pink sprinkles with pink/purple candies to say Happy Birthday (he has boy handwriting so he didn't want to attempt to write on the cake).  And he didn't forget the candles!

So I sat in the kitchen and watched.  It was pretty freaking amusing!!!!!

But in the end, the cake turned out really, really well!!!  Especially for a first time baker.  The real test would come later that night when we actually ate it. 

Later that evening, Nick took me miniature golfing.  I LOVE mini golf and have been wanting to go since we moved here.  Plus, there isn't a whole lot to do in Pensacola, especially now that it's off season so it was a great choice.  It was also nice to whoop Nick's butt in the first game (second we tied). 

After golf, Nick stopped at the store and we bought a Christmas tree!!!!!  I was so excited!  I LOVE Christmas time and now we could start decorating early with the tree!!!!

Then we headed to dinner and I enjoyed a nice juicy burger that I had been CRAVING!!!!

When we got home, Nick got the laptop ready.  He knew I was sad I wasn't able to be home with my family as well.  He also knew my family always made a cake and sang Happy Birthday to me.  He had text my family earlier and had planned with them to webcam as they sang and I blew out my candles.  HOW SWEET IS HE?!
Unfortunately, Ben and Randy weren't able to connect to the internet to webcam but I got to see my Mother, Father, Sister, and pup Sierra!  They all sang "Happy Birthday" and watched as I made a wish and blew out my candles.

Then Nick and I ate some cake (test passed...it was DELICIOUS) and continued to webcam with my family for about 45 minutes.


It was great.  I love that Nick knows how much my family means to me and incorporated them in my day.


We ended the evening with some cuddling movie time on the couch.

I'm thankful I was able to spend this day with Nick.  In last 5 years, he was only ever with me for one birthday.  So this it the second one we've been together for.  I know in the years to come, I will probably spend many, many more without him.  Because of that, I did and will cherish every second of the ones I get with him.  I Love Nicholas so much and it makes me realize how blessed I am that he tried his hardest to make this day as best as it could be.  Thank you, Babe.

And thank you to my family for webcamming with me.
Thank you, everyone else, for the texts, phone calls, Facebook messages/posts, emails, etc wishing me a Happy Birthday.  I felt very loved today =)

So now, starts my old life as a 27 year old =(

****

To see all the pictures from my birthday, click HERE!

Nick's Solo

My husband is a badass.  He flew a plane all by himself today.  Now, maybe that doesn't seem very cool to you.  Maybe that's not very impressive.  But to me, it is.  Lord knows I couldn't do that!  Especially not after only about 11 hours of flying experience.

Most of you probably know I Love my husband very much...and I'm pretty freaking obsessed with him.  I am so incredibly proud of him and every single day he does something else that fills me with even more pride.  He hasn't had the easiest life, yet despite that, he's turned out pretty damn well.  (better than most if you ask me.)

Nick joined the Navy with a dream.  A dream to fly.  He enlisted knowing he'd having to work hard to achieve this dream, seeing as enlisted service members cannot be pilots.  And today, he's done that.  Yes, we all knew this day would come when he was given the news (after this rollercoaster ) that he was chosen by the Navy to be a pilot his firstie (senior) year at the Academy.  But today, he's gone and done it!!!

I feel very lucky that I was able to experience this huge milestone with him.  Nick asked if I would like to go to the airport and watch.  And while him flying scares me, there's nothing more I would love than to watch it.

That morning, I woke up with a nervous feeling.  While I Love my husband and am confident in his abilities, him flying scares the crap out of me.  I am nervous the entire time he is at work (and now driving to and from work thanks to that stupid street bike.)  I always make him text me when he's safely back on the ground (which he forgets to do most days and I'm left semi-freaking out).  Every day he leaves the house, I tell him to be safe.  It's not like a car.  You crash a car into a pole or another car while learning to drive, you aren't really going fast and (usually) you're fine.  You crash a plane...well you aren't fine.  I KNOW there's always been an instructor in the plane to take over in the instance anything would happen.  But I worry none the less.

But today....there will be NO instructor in that plane.  Nick will be solo....hence why it's called a solo.  It makes me so nervous.  As I said, I am 100% confident in my husband's skills and know he's a certified badass, but I worry.  I can't help it.  [I blame my mother...the Queen of Worriers].

Anyway, I wake up sick to my stomach with nerves.  I just wanted to leave and get this underway.  But as had been happening the past few days, the weather wasn't the best.  We got a call to be on stand-by.

We finally got the call to head to the airport so off we went.
I tried to hide my nerves the entire time.  [I think I did a good job.]
On the way, I asked Nick if he was nervous.
"No.  I'm excited.  Why would I be nervous?"   (...um because you're about to fly a freaking plane by yourself!!!!)
His response did ease my mind (...but only a little).  Knowing he wasn't nervous let me know that I was okay in being confident in his skills since he wasn't nervous.  Nerves in Nick might indicate he was second guessing his own skills.  And he wasn't at all.

We arrive and Nick was nothing but a huge smile.  It's like his eyes and nose disappeared...his smile consumed his entire face. (and if you know Nick, you know he's not a smiling type of guy).
I met his instructor for the day, Alan, and the owner of the airport, Roger. [I was shocked to know the instructors are not military instructors.  They are just normal flight instructors for anyone who wants to walk in there and learn to fly and get their private pilot's license. (Nick never mentioned this).  This is also a civilian airport (which I did know).  It was a much more relaxed atmosphere than I'm sure it'd be if we were at a base or military airport.]

Nick had to do his pre-flight inspection....making sure everything is good to go on the plane...checking oils, fuel, this gadget, that gadget.  Checking gauges, marking down numbers and readings or something or other (some flight junk I don't understand and don't really need to understand...at least not right now anyway.)  The ENTIRE time Nick walked around the plane doing this, he had this ridiculous smile on his face. 

Then Alan (the instructor) walked out and they got in the plane.
I watched as they taxied down to the end of the runway and stopped.  Insert butterflies in my stomach.
At this point, Roger walked up to me and explained to me what they were doing (checking the engines, spark plugs, etc) to make sure the plane was good to go.  And then they were off! 

 I watched as Nick flew in his traffic pattern (basically a rectangle around the airport....down the runway, up, to the left and back across the runway, around another 180 degrees and then land.  Then taxi back down and take off and do it all again.)  He did this a few times with the instructor in the plane.  All the while, Roger is talking to me letting me know Nick is doing a fantastic job.

He also talked to me about how great of a guy Nick is (as if I didn't know.)  Letting me know Nick shows up every day with a huge smile on his face and it's obvious this is his passion and he's doing what he was meant to do.  That he was born to fly.  He talked about others that had failed their check ride and those are the "kids" who aren't born to do this.  He said those born to fly just excel...at their oral, at their check ride, etc.  "And that's Nick.  Passing it all with flying colors."
He was bragging about Nick's abilities as if it was his own son or grandson.  It made me feel so great.  Then he started bragging about Nick's personality and how he's so genuine and nice and polite.  {The entire time I'm thinking "DUH!  I married the guy!" but it was still so great to hear these things from an older man who had only known Nick for about 3 weeks.}

After one of the landings, the instructor got out. 
And at this point it felt like a pterodactyl was flying around in my stomach.....screw those butterflies, this was serious stuff!!!
He taxied down, radioed in that he was taking off and off he went....down the runway and into the sky.

Take off!

I cannot even begin to explain to you that pride I felt.  I wanted to look around to anyone there, point to the plane and say, "Yep, that's my husband."  But there was only his instructor, his partner (they had a partner through the first hours of flying, who stayed to watch), and Roger...all who knew it was Nick and probably weren't impressed.  But I was.  I couldn't stop smiling.  Couldn't stop taking pictures.  Couldn't stop filming.  I know Nick wanted this documented and I definitely wanted to make sure it was captured as detailed as possible.  You only fly your first solo once!

He's up there, I promise.  Click the picture to enlarge it.

 
And when he landed that first time....WHEW!  It felt like I had been holding my breathe the entire time he was flying that traffic pattern!  I felt like clapping and jumping up and down but I didn't....I wasn't "that" wife.  I just smiled and watched him do it all....two more times.

Coming in for a landing!

Taxiing back around

He flew his Piper Warrior in the same pattern (take off, fly, land) three times.  After the third time he landed, he taxied the plane over to get gas and that completed his solo.  When he was taxiing towards us, I could see the huge grin on his face.  I went over and took some more photos of him and of course I had to get a photo of me with that sexy student naval aviator.

Afterwards, we went into the office and there is apparently a tradition of cutting off their (under)shirt, decorating it, and hanging it up in the office.  So Alan, (Nick's instructor), cut his shirt, he wrote his name, his rank, a few sayings, and a thanks on the shirt.  Then Roger helped him hang the shirt.  And that was it.

Nick was all smiles...all for about an hour after he flew.  I have never seen him so happy.  Not even on our engagement or wedding day.  Sure, I'm a little lot jealous that I can't bring that joy to his face but I'm happy something does.  (....and I'm happy it's a something and not a someone lol).  I can live with being second to flying.  I mean, I might as well get used to it since the Navy demands that I do come after flying. 

Seeing Nick so happy just makes me happy.  But isn't that what love and marriage are all about?  Feeling someone else's happiness as if it were your own??  This is all I wanted for him.  When service selection came about, Nick asked my opinion...what community did I want him/us to put first.  I didn't want to answer.  While I did have my wants (and non-wants) I didn't want to give my input.  I wanted the decision to be 100% his.  I explained that I wanted him to choose the career path that would ultimately bring him the most joy...that I needed and wanted him to be happy.  That he needed to pursue HIS dreams.  He needed to achieve his happiness.  I mean, if he's not happy in his job, that will spill over into our marriage and family life and make that miserable. (Applying that psych degree there with the spill-over effect).  I knew I would be incredibly proud of him no matter what he chose.  He's freely defending our country and signing over his life to it for me, my family and friends, and millions of people I've never and will never meet.  He's chosen a life of protecting and fighting for me and our country.  How could you NOT be proud?? 
And I promised him that no matter what he chose, I would always stand by his side and support him 110%.  Always.  We're in this together.  All I wanted, was for him to choose his happiness.
And he's done just that.  He is pursuing his happiness...his dreams...his passions.

I cannot begin to describe the pride I felt when watching him.  When he landed, I couldn't stop smiling just looking at his face.  Knowing that he's one step closer to his dream.  Knowing that I was able to witness it.  Not all military wives get to experience some of these milestones in their husband's careers.  I recognize that and am thankful that I was able to share this with Nick. 

{I wish there was more I could do to tell him this all.  To show him.  But what??}

I had planned to have a cake made (angel food cake...his fav) and airplane shaped rice krispie treats (his other fav).  I was going to make them and have them hidden and bring them out when we got home from flying.  But with the weather, his check ride was pushed back a day.  Then his solo was canceled one day.  It all kept changing due to rain, wind, and fog.  I wasn't sure when he'd fly and I didn't want to the goodies to go bad. 
We got home and shortly after, Nick ran to the store.  While he was gone, I was able to make his cake but I had to scrap the airplanes...which I was super sad about.
None the less, when he came home and saw the cake he was excited =) 

I know a cake and a sweet little letter about my Love and pride in him aren't enough.  But nothing would ever be enough to tell my best friend just how incredibly happy he makes me...how proud he makes me...and how madly In Love with him I am. 

****

So yep....after just 11 hours of flying a plane and taking some tests over flight "stuff", he flew a plane all by himself.  He's a certified badass now.  Which makes me a proud badass' wife. 

....although now my "badass" aviator is all pouty because he begins API (the second phase of flight training) which is all academic and he won't be flying again for at least 6 weeks.

****

To see all of the pictures of his solo, click HERE!

Girls Weekend

I have two of the best friends a girl could ask for. 
For many reasons.  But the one I'm writing about right now, is because they both flew down to Pensacola to visit me.

A weekend with Jessie and Jen is just what I needed.

The girls arrived late Wednesday night.  That night we just hung out in my living room, drinking wine, and talking.  Two things we do best =)  We stayed up pretty late just chatting and I went to bed happy, yet upset.  I was sad because I wish I was able to do this more often.  I love these girls to death and it kills me I can't have this whenever I want.  But I decided to focus on the fact that I have them in my life.  I get to see them when I return and they come visit me. And I had them now.  I was going to focus on that.  (I had plenty of time to be sad once they left, right?)

Thursday we just hung around the house and made "Julius on a stick."  Julius had left Pensacola just a a couple weeks prior to go to primary in Corpus Christi and was upset he wouldn't be here when the girls were visiting.  He wrote on my wall, telling us to have fun, and asked us to pose in some pictures, with him missing, as if he were here.  I had an idea to do one better.  I printed off a few pictures of Julius and Mod Podged them to some sturdy cardboard.  We planned to take him with us and pose with him so that he can be a part of our weekend.

That evening we went to play BINGO.  It's apparently a very popular game here in Florida.  We have a giant stand alone building right across from our neighborhood.  Jenny & Matt came along and we had a lot of fun.  For just $20 we got a whole package of games.  They lasted us from about 6:30pm to 10:45pm.  I didn't win anything but Jen and Matt both won!  I really want to go back.  Although, I could totally do without the smoke.  I felt like we were playing BINGO in the middle of a smokestack!

Friday I took the girls to this quiet little beach.  It's one of my favorite spots.  It rarely has more than 10 people there and it's pretty long so you can always be far from others.  It's just a nice quiet spot.  We packed up some lunch and blankets (and Julius) and headed out.  We just sat there, eating lunch, talking, and then taking some pictures.  Taking pictures....it's what we do best =)

When we returned home, we headed out to NAS Pensacola to watch the night air show.  It's the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation PLUS the Homecoming of the Blue Angels (this base is their "home" and they come home every November at the end of their performance season) so they were having what turned out to be a pretty sweet air show.  They had a super hornet that flew close to dusk so you could see it's after-burner and it was so awesome!  Then they had an airplane with large sparklers off it's wings as well as shooting out from the plane.  Next was a pretty lengthy fireworks show, followed by this awesome wall of fire!
The only downfall of this night was the cold.  It was so freaking cold!

We left the base and headed out to eat.  We ended up at this hole in the wall restaurant by our house, Oval Office.  While it was a bit redneck (true to our city) it proved true to the statement that those hole in the wall places have great food!  We each got something different and we loved it all!  Nick and I will definitely be going back.

Saturday we headed back out to NAS Pensacola for the day show. We walked around and looked at the planes, took some pictures, and watched the Blue Angels.  It was pretty awesome.

Fat Albert

Blue Angels

Blue Angels

MH-53 - The helicopter squadron Nick was with that has him interested in helos

T-6 - the plane Nick will fly in Primary

Then we headed home, hung out for a while, got ready, and us girls headed out!

Julius told us to visit Flounders.  What he failed to mention was that it is DEAD in the off season.  We were all of maybe 10 people there.  (Although it does look like it'd be fun in the summer.)  Then we headed off to Seville Quarters, per our waiters recommendation.  Seville has a few different bars in it.  We sat in the piano bar for a little while and then headed into the club area.  The girls LOVE to dance.  I don't dance but I sit at a table and just people watch.  They come back occasionally and sit with me.  Might sound boring for me but it's not.  I love that they are having fun and I'd rather be out with them, than not.  This is how college was and those were some of the best years of my life!  Plus, who doesn't love to people watch in a club?  Both guys and girls are so drunk.  Guys trying to act cool and spit game at girls far out of their league.  Girls so sloppy they are falling all over, looking like idiots.  And the dancing...oh the dancing.  I will not claim to be a good dancer but oh boy, these people and their dance moves.  Club people watching is fun.  Plus it's a self-esteem booster for me!

Sunday was just another lounge day.  We took the girls by the Corry Station NEX for them to see what one is like (just a store and grocery store) and then we were off to the airport =(

Goodbyes.  My life is full of them.

But I was thankful for this weekend.  Thankful I have friends who will come visit me.  It was nice to forget that homesickness feeling in my stomach for a few days.  Nice to feel AT home.  These girls are home.  I feel at home, no matter where it is, when they are with me. I might be 26 years old but I will never not need my best friends from home. I could not ask for better best friends.  Jessie and Jen, thank you, so much, for coming to visit me!  I LOVE YOU!!!

To view all the photos from our weekend, click HERE!