O-H-I-O

We hung our flags (courtesy of Mom) next to the tv to represent.

The party was a blast and better yet Ohio beat Michigan 21-10! We had a full house starting at 7am till 6pm. The day was full of football, food and maybe just a little Wii Raving Rabbids! (I will explain that a little later.)

Our House Divided couple.

Both from Ohio but Sarah is an OSU fan and Carlton is a Michigan fan.

This was taken right after Michigan lost.

It was great to meet and get to know the guys that Gil just spent the last 6 months getting to know and for me it was even better to meet their wives and make some new friends. The McFarlands came over and brought Meka which was a life saver. The dogs were outside all day playing and it was one less thing to worry about. As an added bonus they were exhausted at the end of the day from their 10 hour play date!

Our Arizona fans, Meredith and Pat.

After a rough game to watch yet still a victory for Ohio we flipped

to a few other games but somehow during halftime of one of the games we ended up playing Wii. It was absolutely hilarious!

The beginning of wii halftime.

Don't worry we got plenty of pictures and even a little video.

Since the Ohio game was early in the morning I wasn't able to do the traditional Terry Taco's for the game so we saved those for lunch and the afternoon game. Everybody loved them and even a few wanted the recipe. Don't worry we did feed everyone who showed up for the morning game. We had a pretty nice spread of fruit and yogurt, eggs, potato casserole, scones and G'ma's banana nut bread.

All in all the day was a great success and I hope everyone had as much fun as we did. It was great to meet everyone and thank you for coming!

Fall Events

We have finally picked up the pace a bit and gotten away from ESPN. Now it seems like we are going nonstop.

This past weekend we were very excited to find a patio set on sale. All of our family is coming in for Christmas so we thought it would be nice to have a table and chairs so we can relax outside while grilling. It won't be long until everyone is here (less than a month.)

This Saturday we are hosting a football party. Ohio State vs. Michigan. We have gone so far as to buy jerseys of our favorite teams (me OSU of course and Gil has a Miami Hurricanes jersey.) Unfortunately the game is airing here at 7am but it hasn't deterred anyone from coming which is exciting. Instead of the traditional homemade Terry tacos we will be doing brunch instead and saving the tacos for the afternoon game. We are very excited to have everyone over and watch OSU slaughter Michigan. We do have one Michigan fan coming so it should be interesting!

Lastly, we had an amazing dinner with a college friend of Gil's this past week. Brent who was one of Gil's friends/suit mates freshman year of college lives here and his family invited us out to dinner to celebrate Gil's safe arrival home. We went to Ocean House at the Outrigger Hotel. We had amazing food and great conversation. The restaurant found out we were celebrating and gave us the royal treatment. The manager made sure we were treated well and they were so thankful to Gil for his service. It is nice to know what he does is appreciated. Thank you again to the Kakesako's for a great dinner.

Next up...Football Party!

Boating to the Sand Bar

Today the girls and I rented a boat on base and went out for the day on the water. It was the first time for many of us and boy have we been missing out. It was an absolute blast. We had the boat for 4 hours so we all brought food and drinks and relaxed at the sand bar for the afternoon. Thanks to Meredith W who reminded me of a wonderful drink they serve in Spain, (tinto de verano) I brought some great wine to make them; they are so refreshing. Amy made delicious tuna salad and Natalie brought lemon bars for dessert. The best part about it was it only cost us $7.50 a person. Such a great deal for an afternoon full of fun. I brought my camera today but forgot to take many pictures but here are a few.

This is us at the end of the day on our way back to the docks.

(from front left: Amy, Meredith M., Jenni, Natalie, Meredith W)

Natalie cooling off in the water

Meredith W.

Amy and Jenni. In the back you can see all the other boats and tarps. It was like spring break but in August.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Little Lizabeth's Wedding!

After NC, MA & NH I finally ended up in Alabama for my amazing friend, Elizabeth's wedding. I was there a few days before the wedding so we had time to just hang out and relax.

I finally got to meet lovely little Molly and she was nice enough to help us make Elizabeth's bow bouquet for the rehearsal.
All the events really started on Friday. Elizabeth's grandma's threw an amazing bridal luncheon. It was at the old town jail which was turned into a really great cafe. It was really cute because they left two of the cells so you could still see the past in the present. They went all out with beautiful centerpieces and everything. It was a lot of fun for me because it was the first time that I was meeting many of the ladies. Here is a picture of all the ladies who attended the luncheon.
After the luncheon we headed home to get ready for the rehearsal. There was a little stress due to the grooms men's vests not being on time but while we getting ready for rehearsal they finally arrived. I think the UPS guy was a little scared of us because we ran to the door and he sort of tossed the box at us. I think he was afraid we might jump him. The vests were finally the last piece of the puzzle. After the excitement of the vests we headed to the church for rehearsal, followed by the rehearsal dinner. Everything went smoothly that night and rehearsal dinner was a blast; great food and great conversation. Below is a picture of the bride and groom at rehearsal and of course Elizabeth is in her signature color...purple! Somewhat of a theme for the week.
Finally it was here, wedding day! Elizabeth, her mom, her sister and I woke up early and headed to the site of the reception to set a few things up. Once we were done it was looking pretty good. After the reception site, we stopped for some food on the way to the church to let the florist in. Our stop at Chick-fil-A was quit an adventure. To keep it short that is the only time Elizabeth cried all day. It ended up being pretty funny once we all realized that chicken sandwiches is what pushed her over the edge. Once the florist arrived we were getting really excited because the flowers were so beautiful! We left her mom and sister at the church with the florist and Elizabeth and I headed to the hair salon. After the hair salon everything seemed to fly by. We headed home to pack up the car for the wedding. Below is a picture of me and two of the bridesmaids hanging out before the wedding.

The next 4 hours we hung out, got ready and took pictures. Everyone was so excited once Elizabeth was in her dress. She made such a beautiful bride!

The ceremony went smoothly and before we knew it we were off to the Westin for the reception. The rest of the night was full of good food, lots of dancing and CAKE! Check out their beautiful cakes!
It was so great to not only be there for Elizabeth's wedding but be a part of it. I was so happy to be there and share in the joy of her big day. The very next day I headed back home and Elizabeth and Caleb headed to Sonoma, CA for an amazing honeymoon full of wine and hot air balloon rides!

There are so many more pictures so if you would like to check them out go here: Elizabeth's Wedding