Today's The Day!!!!

Well today is finally the day....in less than 12 hours we'll be on a plane to San Diego and we'll be seeing Matt for the first time in 86 days tomorrow!! For now I have to go to class (yes one last class before we leave for a few days), pick up dad, pick up Brian and then we'll meet Melinda at the airport and be on our way!! I can hardly believe that today is here and I'm so excited to see my brother in the morning!! I'll definitely have pictures to post when we get back.

Wedding Shower

Brian and I had a wonderful weekend and were truly blessed by our friends and family. I had my wedding shower this weekend and we were truly blessed with beautiful gifts. We received nearly all of our dishes and alot of other items for our kitchen. Here is a picture of what our plates look like:

We want to say a huge thank you to all of our family and friends for coming out and showing your love to us on Saturday! We really appreciate it and all that you do for us all year long!

We had a great day yesterday. We went to church with dad and Melinda and then out to lunch with them and Kim and Aaron. While we were in church I kept sitting there thinking WOW next time we're in church (we fly home Sunday afternoon so we will miss church next Sunday) Matt will be there with us!! I can hardly believe that day after tomorrow we'll be on a plane to San Diego!! We are all very excited and can't wait to see Matt!! Matt we're so proud of you and we hope that you know that!! Dad got a letter from Matt tonight and he's officially a U.S. Marine (well he's official in the DI's eyes)...technically he'll be "official" on Friday!!

**I will post pics of the shower, but they're on my grandparent's camera.

The Newest Marine..

I am very proud to introduce the newest memeber of the Marine Corps family...my baby brother!! He completed The Crucible today around noon our time!! This was a very grueling 54 hour test of mental and physical strength, where the guys put together everything that they have learned for the past 11 weeks. I am so very proud of him and can't wait to see him!! It is so hard to believe that in just 6 days we'll be on a plane to San Diego and that by this time next week we will be seeing him for the first time in 86 days!! Thank you all for your prayers for Matt, they are appreciated more than you'll ever know!!

This will be a busy weekend for us. My sister is throwing a wedding shower for me on Saturday and we're very happy to have Brian's parent's coming into town for it. Brian will get the chance to hang out with his dad while we're having the shower and his mom will get to meet my family and friends, and then hopefully our families will be able to meet for dinner. That and we'll be getting ready to leave on Wednesday!!

**I'm trying to get a picture put up of Matt in his uniform, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get his picture off of his platoon video.

Letter To My Baby Brother

Dear Lil Bubba,

Today is Wednesday, January 21st and just ONE week from now we will be at the airport waiting to board a plane to come and see you FINALLY!! I feel like we have waited forever for this day, as I'm sure you feel like you've waited forever too. I just want you and everyone else to know how very proud I am of you! You are doing something that you really want to do and something that not alot of people could handle. You are in the second day of The Crucible and in less than 24 hours you will finally be a Marine, though you've been a Marine to me this whole time. I am sure you've been through some things that none of us can even imagine, and I admire you for that. Dad told me last night that if he could do The Crucible for you, he would. I was watching a video online earlier of recruits receiving their Medal, Anchor, and Globe emblems and I was filled with unbelievable pride in what you are doing. I know it will be an amazing feeling when tomorrow you finally receive that and are called a Marine for the first time by your DI's. I do have to admit that the day we dropped you off at the recruiting station I felt like my heart was broken into a million pieces, after we watched ya'll load up and leave for Houston, however with each letter and each phone call dad has received it get's put back together knowing that you're almost finished with this crazy ride called bootcamp. I just want you to know how proud of you that I am, and that I can't wait to see you in just 8 days!!

Love,
Your VERY proud big sis!!

**Please continue to say a prayer for Matt as he finishes up The Crucible tomorrow and pray for us to have safe flights (mom and Kim are leaving on an earlier flight & dad, melinda, brian, and I are leaving on a later flight).

Single Digits, The Crucible, & 6 Months

We are now in the single digits...just 9 more days until we are on a plane to San Diego!! We are so excited and can't wait to finally see my baby brother!! We were able to see him this weekend via his platoon video for the first time since we dropped him off at the recruiting station on November 2nd!! He definitely look so grown up and handsome in his uniform.

Please say a prayer for him tomorrow (Tuesday). He will begin what is called The Crucible tomorrow which is an incredibly grueling 54 hour mental, physical test of strength, endurance and everything that they have learned in the last 11 weeks. At the end of the 54 hours they will have what is called a Warrior's Breakfast and this is where they will be called Marines for the very first time since they arrived at bootcamp!! Lil Bubba we are so proud of you and can't wait to see you in just 10 days!!

Also Saturday was exactly 6 months since my dad's surgery and he is doing GREAT! The doctors exact words are that he looks healthy and happy! We are so thankful for God watching over my dad.

Also I have a wonderful fiancee who on his day off of work today (while I was working) went and bought me my IPOD touch today!! I don't know if it was because he was tired of me saying that I wanted one before we went to San Diego or because he loves me, but I choose to believe it was a little of both! He even downloaded all of the songs that are in our music library on it for me!! Now we just need to pack and we're all ready to go!!

School, Haircuts, Phone Calls

Well I went back to school this week and so far it hasn't been too bad & it hasn't even been that overwhelming. Hopefully it will stay that way!! I honestly think that I have been blessed with great professors this semester.



Our sweet Aaron baron got his first hair cut yesterday!! I have 2 pictures on my phone, but can't figure out how to e-mail them off of my phone, but I'll get a picture up soon. He looks SO cute but he definitely doesn't look like a baby anymore. He literally looks like a 2 year old!! His Uncle Matt will be so shocked when he comes home to see how much our sweet little nephew has grown...Matt's afraid that Aaron won't remember him when he comes home, but I told him that I know he will because everytime we show Aaron a picture of Matt he just smiles and gives the picture kisses.



Speaking of Matt....my dad heard from him on Tuesday night for about a minute and a half. He was calling to get our flight number so that he could go make his travel plans to fly home with us and he told my dad that he starts the Crucible on Tuesday.



In other news everything is going great, we are just busy getting last minute wedding plans taken care of. Brian got a confirmation e-mail that some of the things we ordered online were shipped today, so we're right on our way to walking down the aisle on March 7th! We leave for San Diego in just 13 days and we all can't wait...by this time in 2 weeks we will have seen my brother for the first time in 86 days!! Also Rhonda and I are meeting tomorrow to order Summer's dress for my wedding. She will be the most beautiful flower girl ever and I couldn't imagine my wedding without her.

My Amazing Fiancee

I have to brag about my amazing fiacee for a minute. Brian is truly the man of my dreams and I can't wait to marry him in just 52 days!! He works so hard so that I can finish school and can cut my hours back at work, he cooks dinner on the nights that I have to work late (and even on the nights that I don't work late sometime), he helps me around the house (now if I could just teach him to iron his dress shirts...haha), but most of all he loves me for me. He understands that I get stressed about things that sometimes don't matter, even though at the time I think they do, he took time off from work to be apart of my brother's graduation and is excited about going, he is excited for me when I get a letter from my brother, and understands my need to talk to my dad everyday. I love him because he makes me smile and laugh and because he takes good care of me. He would do anything to make me happy and always tries to give me what I want...though I'm still waiting on my IPOD touch (hint hint).

Brian, I love you more than you'll know and I can't wait to marry you and see where this crazy journey called life takes us. Thank you for all that you do for me and for loving me the way you do!