While We Were Home

After Chris got home we were lucky enough to be able to spend 5 days in Northern Virginia with our family.

It was so nice for the both of us, seeing as that is one of the bad things about living in Florida.

It's not like we can take a weekend trip up to VA to visit friends and family, so when we have the opportunity we relish it.

The day after Chris came home was my brother 21st birthday.

Let me just say, it was an odd feeling seeing my little brother be able to legally order a drink. 

It made me feel old, I always think of him as the little boy tinkering around which tools and taking things apart.

Although, he's far from a little boy, he's grown into quite the handsome man and he makes me so proud to call him my little brother.

For any of you who know my brother and Chris, you know that when they are together they are in their own world.

They have a ball together.

So it was great to see them back together again.

I organized a birthday/coming home surprise dinner for Chris and Joey.

My mom and Fred flew in from Florida.

My aunt and uncle drove up from North Carolina.

My dad and Cindy also joined us.

The only sad part of the evening was that my sister and her boyfriend couldn't be there.

But the look on Chris' face when we walked into the restaurant and he saw everyone there was priceless.

I also threw a little welcome home party for Chris.

It was small and lovely.

I can't thank my dad and Cindy enough for letting us have it at their house and all they did to prepare for the party.

My stepsister and her husband came up from New Jersey to celebrate with us, so that was so much fun.

Also, my sister and her boyfriend flew in from New York to surprise Chris. 

It was so great to see them both.

Words can't explain how much I miss my siblings so any amount of time we get to spend together, I cherish.

The following day was a beautiful spring day in Virginia so we all went to my brothers and his girlfriends house for brunch and just to hang out.

It was a gorgeous day and they live on 100 acres of land so we had some fun hanging out soaking up the sunshine.

They brought out their four wheelers and guns.

I took a ride on the four wheeler with Sammie and shot a gun for the first time.

The boys shot skeet, drank some beers and raced around like madmen on the four wheelers.