Proudest Sister Ever!!

Well this weekend was a hard one, but it was one of the proudest weekends of my life. For months me and my sister and our mom Melinda have been working on a surprise going away/birthday party for my brother before he left. We had the party on Saturday night and though my brother was not 100% surprised we all had a great time! It was a great time with lots of family and close friends and a lot of my brother's friends! Thank you to everyone who came out to show their support for my baby brother! It meant more than you know to our family and it was so great to have everyone there.

Sunday was a hard day. Brian and I spent the night at Kim and Guy's on Saturday night after the party and then we all woke up and just hung out for awhile, Aaron entertained us and we just waited for my brother to call and say he was ready for us to come and pick him up to get him ready to go to the recruiting station (in case you are wondering why we didn't spend time with him that morning it was because he was busy getting last minute things done and seeing some of his friends). We went to my dad's and picked him up and me, mom, and Kim took him out to lunch and to run by a few more people's houses to say goodbye. We went out to lunch at Lenny's sub shop and then took him to the recruiting station where my dad, our mom Melinda, and Brian met us (Guy supports Matt 110% but someone had to stay home with Aaron). We all said our goodbyes and gave hugs their in the parking lot and then Matt told us it was time for him to leave, so my mom and Kim left and dad, Melinda, Brian, and I hung around for a bit. We ended up staying for about an hour longer and were able to meet Matt's recruiter and tell him goodbye one more time. As they loaded up in the van that would take them to the hotel in Houston, dad, Melinda, Brian, and I stood by the truck and watched them drive off. It was very hard watching them drive off knowing that we won't get to see Matt again until January 30th but we are so proud of him! I was doing good until Brian and I got in the car to drive home and then I just lost it. I thought that I knew what to expect with having several of my friends go through the same thing, but it's totally different when it's family...especially your baby brother. Matt called me on Sunday from the hotel and it was so good to talk to him and then I was able to talk to him again on Monday while he was at the airport. He got on a plane on Monday around 3 or so and headed to Chicago where he got on another plane bound for San Diego. We expect that he got there sometime during the middle of the night. We were told that one of us would get a phone call from him letting us know that he got there, but we haven't gotten that call yet....still waiting! Enough rambling on, so now I am going to add some pictures from Matt's party and also the message that I received from him on Sunday night....he writes everything like a text message, so that's why it's a little misspelled, but right about now I would take even a text message from him!

HEY I FOUND A COMPUTER ROOM AT THE HOTEL, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR SENDING THOSE FLOWERS FOR ME.
AND I AM GNNA MISS ALL OF U VERY MUCH, IF I HAVE EVER NEEDED ANYTHING ALL IVE HAD TO DO IS TALK TO YOU, AND IT MEANS ALOT.
BUT I WILL C YALL IN JANUARY AND CAN NOT WAIT TO C U.
KEEP AN EYE ON DAD 4 ME, AND MAKE SURE YALL SEND ME LOTS OF PICS OF AARON I HAVE A FEELING HE ISNT GNNA LOOK THE SAME IN 3 MONTHS. WELL TELL MOM DAD MELINDA BRIAN KIM GUY AND AARON I SAID HI AND THAT I LOVE THEM ALL. I CANT WAIT TO C YALL

LOVE
MATT

The awesome cake

The marine bear I made my daddy for his bday

He will miss his Uncle Matt

So Cute!

He's Watching for His Uncle Matt

I Love Him So Much!

We're Lucky Sisters

He Was Tired & Decided To Rest!

Poppy, Matt, Mom, Nana

Jake Dean & Me

Matt & His Brother From Another Mother..Mac

Dad & All Us Kids (the six of us are rarely together at the same time)

All 6 Of Us!

He Was Heavy & Has To Gain 50lbs while he's gone!

Mom & Her Kids & Aaron Baron

Matt & His Buddies

I Hope They Give Him A Bigger Hat In The Marines!

Matt & Chelsea

Thank you all for keeping my baby brother in your prayers! These last few days have been hard, but hopefully they get easier everyday! Only 85 more days til he graduates!