A Month to be Thankful

We had a November to remember!  Visitors and vacationing galore.  Grandparents, an aunt, two cousins, an airplane, a great aunt and a great uncle, a Navy game, and fabulous friends.

Kurt and Nina, most often called Memaw and Papa, came to visit over the first weekend of November so that they could meet their second grandson.  Ken was only pseudo aware of the their presence in our home, but Andrew was thrilled to have two more pairs of eyes to follow him.  He would wake up in the morning, come into our room, then get so excited once he remembered that his grandparents were in his house.  Unfortunately for his grandparents, they each had to sleep on a couch!  Snorers are relegated out of Andrew's extra twin bed (my mom also suffered this treatment when she visited for Andrew's second birthday).  We think that they enjoyed the visit despite their sleeping conditions.  I quickly noticed that typical annoying two year old behavior is cute & funny to grandparents.  Andrew may have been getting mixed messages during his time outs.  I was speaking sternly to him, while his Memaw and Papa were giggling.

My sister, Elizabeth, and her two youngest kiddos came out to visit the following weekend.  Elizabeth wins the award for the first sister to visit me in Florida.  Of course, I am fairly certain that Ken was the lure, not me.  Lilly and Andrew quickly became frienemies.  They totally loved each other and wanted to be with one another at all times, but as you can imagine, they always wanted whatever toy that the other had.  All in all, the cousins got along wonderfully.  And, Andrew was thrilled to have little Kolbe here.  He really enjoyed getting to help take care of "Baby Kolbe" and offer him toys.

Lilly girl

Lilly loving Ken

Chocolate milk break at the beach

Fredland family

Uncle Nick and Kolbe

Admiring the ocean

This wave surprised us!

Kolbe just chillin'

Elizabeth and I drinking champagne

Group pic

Waiting for the garbage men on Monday morning
(Elizabeth learned that I had not exaggerated Andrew's excitement)

Many of you may not know what I looked like as a child.  In one word:  CHUBBY!  My sisters and  I were "big girls".  In fact, my pediatrician nicknamed me Wonder Woman Thunder Thighs.  It seems that Lilly has the Riley curse, but we know that she will grow out of it by looking at her siblings and her cousins, who were also rather large!  Anyway, the joke of the weekend became watching Lilly shovel food into her mouth (she uses both hands simultaneously), and all the while, Elizabeth kept calling her, "My BIG girl".  Nick made this slideshow of pics in her honor.

Elizabeth, Lilly, and Kolbe were easy guests, and Elizabeth seemed to really like Jacksonville.  Heck, she made me like this city more!  She had a special weakness for the zoo here.  What can I say, ME TOO!!!

Playing after a delicious zoo cafe lunch

Andrew brushing a goat

Relaxing (with the bribe of fruit snacks)
while we wait for the zoo train

Then, the November finale.  Our family of four took our first vacation to Maryland.  I have been begging Nick to take me to a Navy Football game for awhile now.  This summer, I convinced him that we could take the whole family, see his aunt and uncle, then spend Thanksgiving with the Letcher family.  He rapidly agreed to my plan.

We arrived in Baltimore on Friday, November 19th.  We reunited with the Letcher family, ate a quick lunch at Wendy's (yep, only wholesome, nutritious food for our kids), then the Fredland foursome drove to Annapolis.  We headed straight to Aunt Wendy & Uncle Eric's house, where we stayed for two nights.  Andrew loved meeting his great aunt and his great uncle, and it is appropriate that 'great' is in their title.  They keep all sorts of toy treasures at their home for their grandchildren, so Andrew was in heaven.  Nick and I were thrilled because they cooked us amazing dinners and spent the evenings drinking wine with us.   It was incredible to have some quality time with adults, especially two adults who are spending their retirement traveling and enjoying their marriage and their grandchildren.  I hope Nick and I are so lucky one day.

The Navy vs. Arkansas game was everything that I was imagining.  I realized, though, as I walked into the stadium that I am turning into a bigger dork than I realized.  I began tearing up as I looked around.  It was a combination of things, really.  I am so proud of my husband and the job that he chose to do.  Then, I was overwhelmed by college nostalgia, and I was doubly overwhelmed by the Navy students who are choosing to serve their country.  How can you not be proud of college students who love their country?  The game was great.  Mostly because Navy dominated.  I was freezing, which was rather pathetic because it wasn't very cold.  I am a Texan through and through.  I am not sure how I will ever live in a cold climate, but if the Navy sends us, I will have to figure it out!!  Snow is completely foreign to me!

USNA Class of 2002 and USNA Class of 2030!

Feeding a member of the Class of 2032

Andrew LOVED screaming, "Go Navy!"

I seriously acted like I was near frostbite.

Before we headed out of Annapolis on Sunday morning, we stopped off at Jen & Ryan O'Connell's home.  We finally got to meet their gorgeous daughter, Mackenzie, who is 15 months old.  Andrew quickly made himself at home in their home, and the four adults got to catch up on our lives.  Needless to say, our lives are much different than when we four were together in Corpus Christi and in Hawaii.  Our conversations are now completely dominated by our family life!  I love our friendship with Ryan and Jen, and I pray that we don't have to be apart two and a half years again.

Then we drove to Pax River and arrived at the Letcher casa, where we were greeted by the Letchers and the Harringtons.  We had a great (but quick) visit with Laura and Dave Harrington, and their sons Daniel and Graham on Sunday afternoon.

The Fredlands and the Letchers share a special connection.  Not only do Nick and I share a great friendship with Matt and Vanessa thanks to the guys being stationed in Hawaii at VP-9 together, but Andrew and Gwynne are friend twins.  What are friend twins?  Without telling Andrew's entire birth story, here is a quick re-cap:  Both Nick and Matt were deployed while I was pregnant with Andrew and while Vanessa was pregnant with Gwynne.  When I went into labor, Vanessa drove me to the hospital.  As I was getting admitted, Vanessa's water broke.  She delivered Gwynne 22 minutes before I delivered Andrew on Friday, October 31, 2008.  Friend twins!  So, we felt a bit like we were visiting family while we were at the Letcher's home.

We all had a blast while Vanessa, who is now VERY pregnant with her third child, cooked and took care of us.  In fact, she made dinner for a VP-9 mini reunion on the Monday evening of our visit.  We were able to see the Hinkles and their sweet daughter Kathleen (who was born 1 week after Ken), the Dittmars, and the Rondeaus.  It was wonderful to be with so many friends, but I wish the dinner had not been continually interrupted by the whining of my "delightful" 2 year old son.

Crazy boys

Aunt Vanessa with Ken

Pilot Jack with Sidekick Gwynne

Looking at airplanes at the
Patuxent River Naval Air Museum

Airplane Andrew

The Letcher Family

Jack wants to fly, "the one with two holes in the back."
I'm pretty sure that is an F-18.

Andrew and Gwynne, the friend twins

Pretty Girl Gwynnie

The rest of the week we relaxed, watched the kiddos play, planned Thanksgiving, and otherwise enjoyed one another.  Nick, Andrew, Ken, and I snuck in a quick visit to see our friends, Jill and Erin Kellogg on Tuesday.  We met their sweet daughter Lucy, and Erin joined us for dinner the next night because Jill and Lucy had already left town for Thanksgiving.

Me, Andrew, Lucy, Jill holding Ken,
and Jill's sister, Leslie, holding her daughter, Magnolia

Thanksgiving day was fabulous...and delicious.  Abe Soliz, another former VP-9er, came in from D.C. with his girlfriend.  The men grilled the turkey, while the ladies took care of the dressing and the potatoes.  Plus, Vanessa helped Jack, Gwynne, and Andrew make sugar cookies.  The highlight of the day for Andrew:  visiting the construction worksite in the neighborhood twice.  Highlight for me: beating the boys in Scene It Squabble.  Nick's highlight: learning to brine the turkey and hearing the rave reviews of the turkey during dinner!!

The lunch table after enjoying the construction site.

Jack!

Nick caressing a turkey booty

Gwynne taking care of the extra icing

Nick, Matt, & Abe

Check out the excavator shirt

Vanessa helping Andrew
cut out the sugar cookies

They sat for this picture because I used fruit snacks as bribery!

My youngest, sleeping turkey

I love Vanessa!

Our two turkeys

Getting tickled before bedtime

Chillin' with Uncle Matt

We were sad to leave (although Vanessa and Matt were probably ready)!  Back at home, Nick and I were reminded of the many blessings that we have.  The month of November was particularly special for us, but more and more I realize that each day that I spend with my family is a tremendous gift from God.