The Great Frederick Fair

In true Ladner fashion, we were home from our "Hurrication" for two whole days before we hit the road again!  This time we headed to Frederick, MD for the "Great Frederick Fair."  Our friends Pelican 212 were performing at the fair with Darcy Lynne, so we had to go see them!   We also found out that Saturday night performers were Matthew West and Jordan Feliz and HAD to get tickets to those performances. too.  (Jordan Feliz is Andrew's favorite and Matthew West is one of mine!). 

With I-95 traffic we made it JUST in time to say hello to the band before the show.  The girls had to love on August.

 Kids enjoyed the show!

 It was another great performance! We had just enough time to go backstage after the show to say goodbye while they packed up.  They had to head out that night to get to their next show.  

 On Saturday, the kids enjoyed some rides at the fair. Andrew even rode the mechanical bull!

 This was one of the largest fairs I think I have ever been to.  It truly is an agricultural fair.  There were barns and barns FULL of livestock.  It was incredible.  We saw LOTS of farm animals, but the piglets were by far my favorite!

 The Starship 3000 ended up being Andrew's favorite ride.  I lost count of how many times he rode this thing!

Matthew West!!!! 

 Kids loved singing along to all the songs.

 Jordan Feliz!!

We had a blast at the Great Frederick Fair!  And even though our friends won't be back for the 2019 season, we might just have to go to back anyway!  (I hear Mercy Me will be there!)

Happy Homecoming!

Ok, I know I have been a slacker on posting the homecoming pictures, but frankly, I've had better things to do!  We've been enjoying our family time so much that blogging about it was the last thing on my mind.  So, without torturing you with any more wait time,  here is our homecoming:  (Special thanks to my friend Krista for taking pictures for me!)

The guys were supposed to arrive at the Hangar at 5:30 am, but after a couple of small delays, we were told they would arrive at 8.  I hate delays, but at least we got to sleep a little longer!  Of course I was up at 5:30, too excited to sleep anymore.  I was going for a 1940's look for the homecoming and even decided to hot roll my hair. (I should've know with the humidity and the wind that this wasn't the best idea, but hey...what can ya do?)  At least my dress didn't fly over my head!

The guys landed at the air force base and rode busses over to our base.  We were all standing around talking and didn't even see the buses pull up.  They parked on the back side of the hangar and walked around the building.  We knew they had arrived when we heard screaming from the front.  Andrew and I waited as patiently as we could for the guys to unload in a single file line.  

Andrew and his "Welcome home Daddy" sign

 Scanning the uniforms for my marine

 My red high heels (Erin picked them out)

I see Daddy!

 Here he comes!

 First kiss in 7 months!

 Best.Feeling.E.V.E.R!

 Showing Daddy his sign

 Big hug for Daddy

 Another hug for Mommy

 Cammo boots and red heels

 First family shot

 He just kept loving on Daddy!  He was so excited!

 Andrew in the middle

 Another group shot

 One happy little boy!

 We are so glad to have Drew home safe and sound!  Thank you all for your prayers while he was away. We're enjoying our last few weeks in Hawaii reunited as a family.  Stay tuned for more of our post-homecoming adventures.  

Happy Homecoming!

Hooray!! Drew's home! Thank you guys for all your prayers over the past 8 months. They were well worth it because Drew and his squadron made it home safely on October 25. Andrew and I got back to Hawaii the day before, so it was perfect timing.

It was so good to see Drew and he was SO excited to see Andrew. I've attached a few pictures of their reunion. You can easily see how happy Drew is to see his little man. Andrew took to him almost immediately and they've been inseparable ever since. One of Andrew's favorite words now is "da-da." I am so glad the transition was a smooth one for both of them.