Aloha!

     Wow, it's been a while, it's crazy how life gets and time just slips by! We've had a busy month, with some traveling and celebrations as well. In April, Caitlin graduated from THE University of Michigan with a degree in Business Psychology, Communications, and a minor in German! She did a lot in four years, plus she was a Delta Gamma, ran Dance Marathon, and did a ton of other stuff. It was a short weekend, but we were all there to see her graduate, even Daniel got to go, which was a first and Caitlin loved it.
     May we hung out, took a trip to San Francisco for the weekend, and had our fifth anniversary! I can't believe it's already been five years, it's gone so quickly and we've lived in four different cities! When you look at it, it's definitely crazy! Our anniversary was wonderful though. We got a babysitter (quite possibly the best gift ever), went to dinner at the Chart house and overlooked Monterey Bay, then went to see the Movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." Okay, so we love British movies because of the hilarious humor that the actors exude, but this was a first for us. We were the youngest couple there! The mean age was about 60 years old?! We were cracking up seeing all these couples come in and not seeing anyone young. I felt a little sorry for some of them because the movie was so packed some couple had to sit in the front row... can you imagine trying to watch a movie at that age and have to sit with your head craned back the whole time? Oh, it made our night complete. Daniel got me the diamond earrings I had shamelessly been asking for for a couple years, which made me cry, and though I didn't buy him anything, I told him he could pick out something he wanted in the music department. He decided to get a pedal that he gets to assemble himself. In order for me to have a present for Daniel, I have to start early, meaning about a month before so I can scour the internet and shops and figure out what to get. Daniel usually buys what he wants, so if I don't get to it early, it's gone and I don't have anything for him.

 And that brings us to today! Grace and I are finally back in Hawaii, visiting Alecia, the wusband and the kiddos. I haven't been back since I left and knowing that it was only one ocean away was an easy decision to make as we thought about the summer. Things have changed, like everything in life, but so much more is the same. It still feels like home here, still seems like my house is right down Nimitz and when we're done hanging out at Alecia's we'll just scoot home. But, alas, it's not... it's an ocean away. The beaches are the same, the days are the same, beautiful and hot! We've had a good week, and it's been fun to introduce Grace to Hawaii, the beach, the area, everything. We had a little bit of a hard first beach day... she was very excited about getting in the water, and ran in too fast, slipped forward, and did a header into the water! She survived and I got there in time, though she had her face in the water for longer that she wanted! It wasn't the best mommy moment, but again, she survived. Since then she's been a little weary of the water, so we've been working on it all week.
 We've been shopping a little bit this week, and we made it to Mac Grill, which is a wusband tradition. The girls were great and we had a good lunch together. A stop at Janie and Jack, plus White House, Black Market made the shopping trip lots of fun.
  Last night Alecia and I went to her Final Fling dinner at Gordon Biersch. It's the party before a boat comes home from deployment so everyone is super excited and chatty as they can see the end of usually a very LONG deployment! We got to eat with some of the wardroom ladies at our end of the table, and I got to know a couple of the ladies better. It was a great night, especially just getting away from the kiddos and having an evening to ourselves among others! It made me miss being on a boat actually. There is such a bond that forms when you're all in the same situation; when you all know what each other are going through. That's not the case on shore duty, or even at school where Daniel is now. It's the reason why I personally had hoped that Daniel would want to resign; I enjoy the lifestyle, even though it comes with a great deal of sacrifice and separation. Hopefully our next tour will be similar.

     Today we are lounging, watching movies, and letting the girls play. Grace woke up at 0430 this morning and stayed awake! I am not cut out for getting up that early! I think Daniel would even cringe at that wake-up time. We head home tomorrow, just in time for Daniel to start finals. Hopefully we have a smooth flight and Grace naps... good-night I hope Grace naps!

     Here are some pictures from the week. Enjoy!

Beach time at Ko'Olina

Playing with the water snake in the backyard

Macaroni Grill! Grace photo bombed Maecy

Enjoying some playtime together

A special treat! We got to hang out one morning with Kyle who was also in town! 

Grace checking out the horses around the barn while Auntie Alecia took her riding lesson, Grace has gotten very interested in horses lately! 

Silliness and playing in the dirt

Sweet Girl

Ciao!