Home Sweet Home

I just came to the realization that I've never been away from home this long, ever in my life! I went out of state for college and even moved across country for a couple years but I was still lucky enough to come home on a regular basis. As independent and adventurous as you may be nothing makes you feel better than family sometimes so being away from them for the past six months was really hard. But thankfully my nephew provided us with the perfect excuse to come home, his High School graduation, Congrats TJ!!!

Since this was our first trip back since moving to Texas we tried to cram a lot into our visit! We arrived on Thursday and beelined it to Rio Grande ;) We enjoyed a leisurely lunch with my parents and gave ourselves just enough time to digest before heading off to our other favorite restaurant, Rays the Steaks! Yes we are foodies as you can tell. We met up with Meredith, Bonnie, Erika, and Tim for dinner and a night on the town. We visited some new establishments and some of our old favorites as well, O'Sullivans, and then crashed in Arlington like the good old days. It felt so good to be back in Virginia with our closest friends and family!

Friday was another whirlwind, we were non-stop from sunrise to sunset! The McCalister’s were in town as well visiting family so Shaun and Eric headed out for a round of golf while I met up with some old co-workers and friends. I spent the afternoon with Catherine, Sadie, Elias and her mom hoping that she would go into labor so I could meet baby #3 but no such luck. We had a great afternoon catching up and playing with the kids, it was hard to tear myself away. Later that evening, we headed over to the Bursch's for a cookout and some cornhole. We were so drained by the end of the day but every second was worth it, we really miss days like these living so far away!

If you thought Friday sounded busy just wait for Saturday's rundown, we fit in a graduation and a wedding all in one day! My brother arrived the night before so we probably stayed up later than necessary because the sound of the alarm on Saturday morning wasn't so inviting. But we were off once again as my nephew was about to graduate from high school. And yes this does make me feel old! Graduation started at 9am and the weather mostly cooperated as the rain held out until all the diplomas had been handed out. We had a short downpour that quickly past but no rain was going to dampen our spirits, TJ just graduated and will be heading off to college in two months to play soccer at Bridgewater! We headed out for a celebratory lunch with the festivities continuing throughout the weekend. Then it was off to the church for Katie and Tim's wedding. Luckily it was in Reston so we had just enough time to swing by my parents house to freshen up. The reception was out at the Westfields and we enjoyed an evening celebrating the new Mr. & Mrs. Becker with the Donald’s and crew!

Another day, another party! TJ's graduation brunch was on Sunday morning and the extended family was in attendance. As always, it was great to get everyone together and enjoy each others company and celebrate each others successes! Sunday was dedicated to quality time with the family and then we took TJ golfing on Monday morning to close out our trip. We are so proud of him and can't wait to see what his future has in store!

We wish we made more time to stay and visit with everyone, 5 days just wasn't enough!