Life as I Know It: Andy's Weekend

Andy leaves March 16th for basic training for 9 weeks and then Officer Candidate School for 12 weeks in Fort Benning, Georgia. I am so, so proud of Andy, and all of his hard work, dedication, and commitment to join the Army. Since he was 18 he talked about joining the military, but decided he would pursue a degree in kineseology first at MSU. After graduating, becoming an Officer Candidate became even more of a passion of his and he aggressively and successfully pursued this career path.

I will miss him so much. Out of my three siblings he has been the one who has stayed close. I made him promise he would write me, and he made me promise I would not send him "those talking cards" because he doesn't want to get beat up. :)

Anyways, this past weekend was a weekend that my family and friends celebrated my brother and all his accomplishments up to this point. We wanted to have a celebration to wish him well on the exciting journey that lies ahead of him. Friday we had a party for him at Piazzanos. We were expecting 40-50 people and over 100 came. This was a testament to Andy and his character. I even saw friends from his elementary years there. Andy, I hope you know you mean a lot to a lot of people.

Here are a few party pics..Of course I did not get nearly as many as I wanted...

Cake!

Mom-Isn't she cute?

An actual picture of Brad and I together!

Katie and Katy!

Allie and Katy

So proud Andy!

Army Boys: Gabe and Andy

"Show me your fierce faces!" Cousins, Ian, Josh, and Andy

Family minus Kristen, Jake, and Cecilia. We missed you guys so much!

Proud Parents

Proud siblings (minus Kristen)

Cousin Love! Jenny and Flor

More Girl Cousin Love

Andy and Friends

And Again...

Allie and Gabe. Aww

For some reason someone yelled "Be a blowfish!" Why was I the only one who listened?

Boomer, Aunt Mada, Jenny, Brad, Brandon, Me

Just hangin' out

Amanda, Allie, and me

Most of Saturday we were Lazy with a capital L. Allie and Andy have February birthdays so they chose Mongolian BBQ as their birthday pick for dinner. We had some yummy stir fry and went back to my parents to watch an army movie.

Sunday it was time for Allie and Gabe to fly back to Maryland. We made sure to give my brother sisterly love and get one more shot of the kids..again minus Kristen, Jake, and Cecilia :(

And AGAIN we missed them lots and lots!