Catching Up - Reunions with Family

 Unfortunately, since James had to start work immediately after we left Korea, we weren't able to take any time off to go visit family after our move. Thankfully, some of our family were able to come to us!

First, we got to see my brother Nate and his band, Judah & the Lion, when they played a concert up in Columbia. They even gave us a shout-out which was pretty fun. It was strange being the "old adults" on a college campus, but hey - we enjoyed ourselves!

Next, Grandma Nancy came to visit! Originally she had planned to be here to help us with Kaden while we unpacked all of our stuff... But our shipment of household goods took too long to arrive. So she camped out with us in the empty house for about a week and helped me keep our very active toddler entertained! We played on several playgrounds, went for long walks, read a lot of books, and visited the Swan Lake Iris Gardens and the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia!

At the zoo.

Looking at the elephants.

Kaden LOVES feeding the giraffes. The photo below is one of my favorites ever. Pure joy!

Shortly thereafter, I flew up to Louisville with Kaden to reunite with my side of the family. We stayed at my grandparent's house for a couple of days and caught up with my parents, brother, and cousins. Then my parents drove with us down to Sumter and stayed with us a few days. On the way, we stopped for a night in Nashville to see Nate and the guys perform on a radio broadcast! Kaden loved staying up late and going to the concert. While here in SC, we also visited the zoo and made a circuit of the local sights. It was great having them around to spend time with Kaden! I also enjoyed showing my dad around our new house, since he helped us out a lot with the home buying process.

Pizza with Nate before his big show!

These guys all love our little man so much. It makes my heart happy.

playing in the back yard

On their way into the zoo

In mid-June, we had an opportunity to drive up to Charlotte to see Judah & the Lion perform in a festival. It was extremely hot and humid out, but Kaden still danced along to the music in our tiny patch of shade and loved every minute of attention from his Uncle Nate!

The festival was in an extreme sport-lover's paradise called the U.S. National Whitewater Center

 Finally, we had the special treat of Aunt Claire (our sister-in-law) and cousin Alice visiting! This was the first time getting the cousins together. Alice loved spending time with Kaden. Initially he loved having her around to play with. But after a while, I think he got tired of having another little person invading his space. It was a good learning experience for all. Regardless of how Kaden reacted, we loved getting to know our beautiful little niece! I wish we lived closer!

Catching Up - The Gamblers Return!

 When we moved to Shaw AFB here in South Carolina, we joined the 77th Fighter Squadron, also known as the Gamblers. It was kind of a challenging time to join a squadron, because the guys were on their way back from a very rough deployment to the middle east. In December, they lost a well-loved pilot in an accidental crash. As a result, everyone really banded together and became very close - which made us feel a bit like outsiders. But we did our best to show our support for the squadron as they prepared to welcome the guys home, and jumped on any opportunity to celebrate with the Gamblers family thereafter.

One great way we have of supporting people during a deployment return is by taking pictures! So James and I offered our services, free of charge, to our new friends as the jets returned. So exciting!

The baby above was born while daddy was deployed. Such a sweet first meeting!

A toast - it's OVER!

Kaden dressed up in his Gamblers patches to show his support

Here they come!

 It was particularly great being there in support of friends we knew in Misawa. I love serving my friends with sweet memories captured on (digital) film!

After the guys enjoyed 2 weeks of vacation, we all got together for a formal dining out at The Blue Marlin in Columbia to celebrate a job well done. The ladies looked stunning and James enjoyed actually getting to talk to some of his new wingmen. We ended up sitting at a table with a couple who have become some of our closest friends in the squadron - the Hickles. Unfortunately, none or our stuff had come yet, so we had to borrow dressy clothes from friends. But hey, I think we still looked pretty great, regardless! It was an unusual, but sweet introduction to our new squadron.

More fun reunions with friends from the Fiends!

We are glad to be Gamblers! Double Down!

Catching Up - Moving to America!

 Our actual trip back to America was pretty rough. Poor Kaden had a really, really bad upper respiratory infection which meant he was uncomfortable, feverish, and coughed multiple times a minute, making sleeping on the plane nearly impossible. Thankfully, the bus ride up to the airport went fairly smoothly and we were able to keep him entertained by riding the moving walk ways over and over until it was time to take off. It was an exhausting 24 hours of travel from Korea to Dallas, and then on to Columbia, SC. But I can tell you that first breath of cool, fresh American air when we exited the airport was almost worth it after months of breathing nothing but Asian pollution.

All packed and ready to get on the bus

On the airplane. Farewell, Korea!

Poor sick baby FINALLY fell asleep for a little while on daddy's chest

 One of the first things we did after arriving was enjoy some of our favorite American restaurants. Panera Bread, Chick Fil A and Chipotle were at the top of that list. Yum!

Kaden's cold made it more difficult than usual for this little guy to get over his jet lag... Poor thing!

Very soon after arriving in Sumter, we closed on our first house! It's crazy to think that we are now homeowners! But we love our brand new house and its water view. It's got 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a 2 car garage, and a nice, open-concept living space at the back of the house which has been great for entertaining new friends. Kaden's favorite thing about our house is definitely watching all of the geese and other critters that live on the water. We are very, very blessed.

 Even though we packed out of our house in Korea 6 weeks before moving, it still took FOREVER for that shipment of household goods to arrive in South Carolina. So we spent over a month camping out in our empty house, eating on a card table with folding chairs, sleeping on air mattresses, and cooking with borrowed pots and pans. Kaden didn't seem to mind living in an empty house at all. He loved playing in the empty cabinets, zooming around the empty living room on his tricycle, and jumping on the air mattresses. He is so resilient!

 Over all, I think Kaden adjusted pretty quickly to life in America. He loves how much time we're able to spend outside in the fresh air, and took full advantage of every summertime treat he could get his hands on!

My favorite part of moving to South Carolina was reuniting with good friends from past assignments, including these lovely ladies from Osan! The Cienskis soon joined us as well, which meant the triad will have an opportunity to grow up together for another three years! It didn't take long for us to start planning another joint birthday party for our little best friends. Life in America is sweet indeed.