He's Home...

Well we had another awesome homecoming day...it's always a bit stressful in the morning trying to get ready and keep tabs on when the plane is landing but it's always exciting nonetheless!

Riley had her last Daddy kiss...

and she had another AWESOME picture for her Daddy!

Riley amazes me everyday but something I found truly incredible was her memory of her feelings the last time Jason came home from his deployment in July. She remembered drawing a picture for him, saying "I drew a picture for you Daddy", and then being shy. She wanted to draw him another picture but she said "I'm not going to be shy this time."

We headed up to base...

and waited in the DV lounge to hear that the plane had landed! She was so excited and asking everyone else if their Daddy was coming home!

She was also super excited to show off her picture. It actually got a little tear in it on the way to base and I assured her it would be ok so she kept telling everyone "my picture tore but my Daddy will still love it"

The plane is here!

Some super excited girls ready to be in Jason's arms!

Serious...calm...excited...ready to see her Daddy!

It always seems like an eternity from when the plane lands until they actually start offloading...so she snuggled with me!

There he is...woohoo!

My favorite picture of all time...the excitement in her face as she runs to her Daddy is priceless!

Back in his arms!

Fun time chatting as a family!

All together again!

Hand in hand...time to head home!

Had to get a smooch pic of Mommy and Daddy...Riley thought it was funny!

We had to wait awhile for all of Jason's luggage to be offloaded but he had a special present for Riley so it was time to show her!

The guys in his sheet metal shop made Riley these awesome dog tags...Jason designed them and they have her name, date of birth, a special message from Mommy and Daddy, Tinkerbell, a KC-10 airplane, and a Gig'Em Aggies picture...they are perfect and a gift I know she will treasure her entire life.

She was so full of joy and love that day and gave me one of the biggest kisses!

So happy to be a family again...and hopefully have Jason home for a long time!

Another deployment comes to an end...

Well here we are...the night before yet another homecoming.

Another deployment down. Another amazing homecoming to look forward to.

Here's a few pics from Jason's deployment...

He actually went off base more this time than before!

He visited the Shangri La resort to eat at their buffet and enjoy the pool!

He did some shopping!

He celebrated Christmas...

and even got a visit from Santa!

He also went to Ferrari World and rode the world's fastest roller coaster!

He also worked out like a mad man as he has been doing the Insanity workout!

Obviously he also worked really hard and made some great friendships...but these two girls are so ready for him to be home!!!

Girls Weekend Extravaganza!!!

So this past weekend was a full blown girl's weekend and it was AWESOME!!! I am so privileged so have some fabulous friends...we pray for each other, laugh with each other, live life with each other, and have lots of fun! One of our former Bible Babes, Erin, who moved away to Jersey came back in town and we lived it up while she was here!

The fun started Friday when we went to lunch in Napa and then headed to a few wineries to drink some vino!

Here we are after lunch...yummy fish tacos!

We started at St Supery where several of us are members...we chatted and chatted as we tasted and we pretty much had the place to ourselves!

Pattie, Me, Hannah, Erin

Nicki (and Will), Me, and Becky

We got behind the tasting bar for a group pic!

I love this little guy...I think he loves me too!

Then it was time for some bubbly at Mumm...Hannah catches hers as it overflows!!!

Cheers!

Nicki and I each had a flight of several champagnes...these were our glasses...it looks much worse than it was!

Me, Nicki, and Erin

We had a great day!!!

Saturday Tommy was nice enough to watch Riley and Braden for the day and all of us girls headed to San Francisco for some serious shopping!!!

It's never wise to shop on an empty stomach so we started out eating on the very top floor of Macy's at The Cheesecake Factory!

They have an awesome outside balcony so we checked out the views! We were literally standing behind the "Macy's" letters...fun!

Patti, Me (and Sunny), Jennie, and Becky

I'm such a city girl...I just love the hustle and bustle...and all the buildings!

Nicki got a fun drink at lunch...it was like a dessert!

Group shot!

We saw the Weinermobile on the streets of San Fran!

Becky, Me, Patti, and Jennie - headed to H&M

Nicki and I were having fun doing an impromptu photo shoot inside H&M until the "bouncer" caught us and told us no pictures in the store...oops!

We headed to Forever 21 next...three stories...pure craziness!

Our last stop was the Uggs store...thanks to DiDi for getting me hooked on these boots...I treated myself to another pair!

It was a full day and we hit quite a bit of traffic on the way home...super big thanks to Tommy for taking the kiddos all day...I think Riley tried to go drama on him a few times but I told him to tell her "no drama" and he said it worked...gotta love girls!

The fun wasn't over yet!

Sunday night was our Sex in the City 2 watch party...but we also threw in a surprise celebration for Ashley's 30th!

I think she was surprised!

Hannah, our bartender and chef, made Appletinis with caramel sauce...so good!

Riley with the birthday girl!

Love these girls!

Happy Birthday Ashley...complete with 30 candles!

Hannah didn't disappoint with her homemade gelato and hazelnut ice cream!

The party was fun and all the kiddos had lots of fun playing as well! Amazingly we were able to get Oliver, Blake, and Riley to sleep and then it was time to start the movie! I almost made it the whole way through...Erin caught me snoozing at the very end...I'm so lame!

Whew...so much fun in just a few days!!! We all agreed we could do that once a month!

It was a great way to spend our last weekend with Jason gone and now we look forward to our sweet time together as a family!