Trips and Family Time!

Ok, I'm a newbie with this whole blogging thing, so it has taken me a while to do this 2nd blog of mine.....well, almost 11 weeks! I thought I had better try it again. :)

Lots has happened since Justin arrived home! He made his grand entrance back to Ft. Stewart, Georgia on July 12th. I was sooo happy to have him back in my arms again! We quickly began our adventures soon after that. On July 26th, we flew to Maui....it was truly a breathtaking paradise! We relaxed on the beach, hiked through bamboo forests to see beautiful waterfalls, enjoyed a helicopter tour of the island, went to a Luau, went parasailing, and even flew over to the island of Oahu for a day to see Pearl Harbor.

Soon after arriving home, we traveled down to Disney World with my college roomie LeAnn and her hubby Chris. We had a great time enjoying 4 of the parks there.....Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, and Epcot. It was extremely hot (since it was the month of August), but we truly enjoyed our time together. We ended our trip with a day on Clearwater Beach just relaxing and taking in the sand and sun. Justin and Chris even found some sand dollars out in the ocean!

After Disney, we came home and Justin's parents and sister were here in Georgia a few days later to visit us. We took them down to St. Pete Beach, Florida for 2 nights and then spent 2 more nights at our house here in Georgia. It was great to spend time with them, especially since Justin hadn't seen his family since his arrival home to the U.S.! I am truly blessed to have in-laws that I love! We had a great time with them and were sad to see them leave.

When Justin's family flew home, we also flew to Indiana the same day. We enjoyed a week in Scottsburg visiting friends and family, and we even purchased a new car....well, a new car to us. We bought a 2008 Ford Escape. We just love it! We're excited to have a small SUV with 4 wheel drive and 4 doors! So much easier to get in and out of.

We drove our new SUV back to Georgia and even brought our dog Chase with us this time.

A few days later, Justin's identical twin brother, Joel, and his wife and 3 girls came to Georgia to visit us. We had a GREAT time with them! We loved spending time with our little nieces: Faith - 4; Audra - 3; and Gabi - 1. We took them swimming in the neighborhood pool, to the beach for some fun and family picture time, and even to Ft. Stewart to show them where Uncle Justin works. They are truly little sweeties. We just love them! I even showed them how to make yummy homemade ice cream with just a zip loc baggie, a few ingredients, and some ice! :)

After all our fun, it was time for Justin to head back to work. It was a sad day, but we truly enjoyed his 4 weeks off. We are so thankful we had that time to have some fun and
re-connect. We are truly blessed and thank God for everything he has given us!