Memorial Day Weekend

Three day weekends are always wonderful because we get an extra day with Jason.  It was even better this past weekend because the weather was perfect! We had another jam packed weekend that started Friday night with us cooking food for a BBQ the next day to celebrate Jason's mom's birthday.  We made a phenomenal potato salad as well as a delicious homemade chocolate cake all from scratch. That's right I made it all by myself and it was DELICIOUS! :) Saturday we celebrated my mother-in-laws birthday with about 20 family members and some delicious crabs and food. It was so great to see everyone and they all loved seeing Jack and how big he has gotten.

Jessica and I

CRABS

Eating Crabs

My brother-in-law Jeff and sister-in-law Charlotte

My other brother-in-law Ryan and the birthday girl :)

Opening Gifts

He loved playing with the envelopes

My sister-in-law Debbie and niece Courtney

Sunday was a busy day too.  It started with us going to Carmax to get an estimate of what the Lexus was worth.  We didn't plan on walking out with a new car but, we did.  We have been looking at the Ford Edge for a while.  It is more practical for us with a baby and plans to have more kids than the Lexus was. The shocker is what the car looks like.  My husband went to Virginia Tech and is a die hard fan so it was only fitting that we buy an orange car right? Yes, that's right we bought an orange edge and...I LOVE IT!

On Memorial Day we wanted to do something special to remember the troops who have given their lives for us.  We decided to take a trip to Arlington National Cemetery. My grandfather and grandmother and buried there so I have been there quite a few times however, Jason has never been.  We went with my dad who is a veteran and my brother.  I don't think I was prepared for how emotional it was going to be.  After we went to my grandparents grave site and saw the tomb of the unknown soldier we drove over to the section of the cemetery where the Iraqi Freedom soldiers are buried and it was heartbreaking.  Nothing can prepare you for that site. There were parents who lost their children sitting in chairs just staring at their child's grave site and some graves had photos of the soldier taped to the back of the grave.  Seeing this made everything so real.  Most of the men and women who passed away are my peers, people who were born the same year as me and now they are gone.  You hear about the loss of soldiers on the news but when you see the number of tomb stones lined up its unbelievable. Needless to say it was an emotional day.  Thank you to all of those who serve our country and defend our freedom every day. 

My Grandfather

Jack at my grandmother's site

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier