Proud To Be An American

All I can say is WOW I am proud to be an American (as I hear that song playing in my head)...I am watching Oprah right now and she is at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C. talking to the servicemen and women who have been injured while serving OUR country! Time after time everyone says the same exact thing...they would do it again in a heartbeat! Seeing these men and women makes me think of my amazing baby brother and best friend who are proudly serving our country! I am about to see Julie on Sunday for the first time since she came home from Iraq last August and I am hoping to hear good news from my baby brother this weekend about him being able to come home for my wedding. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how I felt the first time we saw my brother when he was getting ready to graduate bootcamp. All I can say is thank you to everyone who is serving our country so unselfishly and a big thank you to my baby brother and best friend Julie! I love you both so much and am so proud of you! Julie I can't wait to see you on Sunday and Lil Bubba I sure do hope you make it home and are standing next to Brian and Guy when I walk down the aisle!!

11 Days & Counting

While Brian and I don't feel like that yet....well I don't feel that way, Brian has alot to get done at work before he leaves next Tuesday to start his vacation time, so he may feel like that! We just finished the final touches on our wedding program and all that's left to do is go and buy the gifts for the kids in our wedding, bachelorette party, bridal lunch, rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner, and then we'll be married! I can hardly believe that we're 11 days away! I truly am blessed to be marrying the man of my dreams and can't wait to start this next chapter in our lives! We are very excited to see everyone, for our families to get to spend more time together, and just to enjoy this time in our lives and take it all in. I am excited to see everyone all dressed up, to see Aaron & Bryson in their little suits, and to see Summer in her beautiful dress!! I also can't wait to see what they'll do in the wedding, because as we all know something is bound to happen when you have kids in your wedding.

Please say a prayer for our family, mostly my brother because we are still unsure if he's going to be home for the wedding! He is in the field (i.e. camping) all this week and we're anxiously awaiting to see if he'll get a text message out to us to make his flight arrangements to come home. We will know for sure (well I say for sure, but with the Marines I guess nothing is ever for sure) this weekend if he's going to be able to come home. He's told me that even if he only gets to be here for literally 24 hours he'll be here! Please say a huge prayer that he will have favor with those in charge and will be here standing next to Brian & Guy when I walk down the aisle.

Update on Life

Hello blog world! Things have been good, but crazy around here. We are 15 days away from the wedding and I can't believe it is almost here. It feels like we've been planning forever and now it is finally here! I can't believe that just 2 weeks from today we'll be getting ready for our bridal luncheon and then getting ready for our rehearsal! We've just been working and going to school for me. I am in a Kindergarten class that I really love and am excited about teaching! Please continue to say a prayer of encouragement for my brother! I haven't talked to him since Monday and he should be able to use his phone by this weekend, but I really do hope that his spirits are lifted and also that he got approved to come home for the wedding! Anyways I just wanted to post an update, be sure to watch this blog for the next few weeks as we'll have pictures of all of the events leading up to our wedding.

Prayer Request

I just wanted to ask everyone to please say a prayer of encouragement for my brother whenever you think about it please. He had to report to Camp Pendleton last Tuesday and though we did get to talk to him via text message some last week and then on the phone several times this weekend, it was harder for him to leave this time than it was for him to leave for bootcamp. He just really needs some encouragement right now and needs all the prayers that he can get right now. It breaks my heart to see him so discouraged and homesick and would do whatever I could to make it better, but there's not really much I can do except encourage him and pray for him. Thank you for all of your prayers and words of encouragement while he was in bootcamp, they meant so much! Thank you all for your prayers and I promise that I'll get a better post up soon.

San Diego Trip

I finally have time to blog about our trip to San Diego. I'm sorry I haven't blogged before now (we've been home for 10 days) but Matt was only here for 10 days and we wanted to spend every minute we could with him. We got on a plane on January 28th and headed to San Diego, we got to see Matt for the first time in 86 days the next day!! It was definitely a moment that I'll never forget and am so very proud!! We first saw Matt during what is called the Moto Run, but we couldn't talk to him or hug him, but it sure was good to see him. We took Matt's girlfriend Chelsea and her mom with us as a suprise for Matt & boy was he surprised! So surprised that when he saw Chelsea and my sister during his run he ran into the guy in front of him! Here are some pictures of our trip that I will tell the whole story with.

This is where Matt spent the last 3 months!!
The Moto Run..this was the 1st time we saw Matt!!
Here He Is!!

After we saw Matt complete the Moto Run we still weren't able to see him (it's all about hurry up and wait!) we went into the auditorium at MCRD and were briefed on everything that they had been through in the last 3 months. When we finally did get to see Matt and hug him it was an amazing feeling! We were seated in bleachers during the family day ceremony (the day we first saw Matt) and were on about the 10th row up, but somehow I made it down their in record time and was the first to be able to hug Matt!! What a day that was!!

He Sees Us!!Getting Ready To Be Dismissed For On Base Liberty!!

We Were So Happy To Be All Together Again!!


Matt & MomMatt, Chelsea, DadHis 2nd "real" meal...he had to hurry & eat because he was about to be late.
Friday was graduation day and boy were we glad that it was finally here!! It was definitely one of the most amazing ceremonies that I have ever been too and is definitely something I recommend to everyone!!

Matt's Platoon

There's Matt!!He's Trying Not To Smile Because He Sees Us!!Getting ready to be dismissed for the final time at MCRD!! I am SO proud!!
Kim & Matt
Dad, Matt, Melinda
Mom & Matt Matt & Chelsea
Matt & Rob (they signed together and did pretty much everything in bootcamp together)The guys bags all lined up and ready to go home!!Brian carrying Matt's bag (that bag weighs about 125lbs)

Sunday was a great day...it was the first time that Matt was able to come to church with us since he left!! Everyone was so glad to see him and he looked so handsome in his uniform!! It was amazing how many people came up to him and thanked him for serving. My good friend Rhonda said it best when she started crying when she saw him!!

Matt in his uniform at church!!

I got a text message from Matt around 2:30 this afternoon and he made it to San Diego and was on the bus heading to Camp Pendleton. He will spend 7 1/2 weeks here completing his infantry training. He gets weekends off and was able to take his cell phone with him, so we'll be able to talk to him alot more often than we did when he was in bootcamp. I am a little sad that 10 days are over already, but he will be back for my wedding in a few weeks, so we'll definitely be glad to see him. Also please be praying for us that he will receive Recruiter's Assistance (RA) when he completes infantry school, because that will mean that he will get 30 days leave before he has to go to his next duty station.

In other news we've just been working, going to school, and getting ready for our wedding that is in 24 days!! I can hardly believe that our wedding is almost here!! I love you Brian and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you!!