For Leanne!

My friend Leanne called yesterday and said that she had been waiting patiently for pictures from my trip to San Diego. I am sorry for the delay!! It seems like forever since my trip, but I will try to recall some of the details.

Nina and I flew out of New Bern on Thursday morning at 5:30am, which meant we had to be there at 4:30 am, which meant we had to leave Otway at 3:30 am, which meant that Nina had to leave Cedar Island at 2:45 am! We had an early start on the day, to say the least. Our flight from New Bern to Charlotte was a quick one, but our plane was quite small, and our seats were beside the propellers, so it was a loud hour! We had a short layover in Charlotte - just enough time to eat breakfast, and then we headed for Pheonix. We got there just in time for another breakfast, and then flew our final hour to San Diego. It was only 11:30 pacific time when we arrived, so we still had a long day ahead of us. We shuttled to our hotel, and got a sandwich at the hotel restaurant - the best $15 BLT I've ever had - and met up with Kelly for a little while. We said hello to the crew from Cedar Island, and then headed to our room and took a much needed nap.

Thursday evening was the rehearsal. Kelly picked us up at the hotel and we made our way to the Naval Base at San Diego Harbor. It was such a beautiful evening and although we were a little chilly, we had a great time.

The rehearsal dinner was at a lovely house that Kelly's mom had rented for the week. We were so tired by the time the dinner started, but enjoyed visiting with all of our friends who were in town for the wedding. I was thrilled to see my good friend Michael Paul Goodwin, who is stationed in Alaska right now. He was preparing for a deployment to Iraq, so we were so happy to get to visit before he left. We also visited with Corey Patton, who I haven't seen in at least 10 years. He is all grown up and quite a sophisticated fellow! We always knew that Corey would grow up to be a wonderful man! We had a great time with Aunt Fran and her family. I felt very safe during my trip knowing that Uncle Paul was there to take care of me if I needed anything. *** As a side note, Fran is my Aunt Drexell's sister, which means that she is not "legally" my aunt, but that doesn't really matter. She and her sweet husband, Paul have always treated me like their own!***

So, Friday was the big day. We got up early and watched some cartoons with Courtney and her son Garret and Adron's little one Samantha. They headed out for a day at the harbor and Courtney, Nina and I walked a couple of blocks to get a fast food breakfast. Kelly picked us up around 10 am, and we went back to the "big house" and started preparations for the ceremony. Kelly had done an awesome job of organizing everything herself, but that also meant that she had lots to do on the day of the ceremony. So, we spent the day taking care of details and then headed back over the to Harbor to do pictures and prepare for the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful and simple and perfect and just like Kelly!

We danced the night away at the receptionl. Samantha was my dance partner for most of the evening. She was a real trooper and lasted almost all night. The picture of her sleeping was taken at about 11:30 pm when she could take it no more.

Our flight on Saturday morning left at 7:00 am which meant we had another very early morning! Our flights all ran on time, but it was a long day. We had a 3 hour layover in Charlotte, so we at dinner at Chili's and rested for a while.

We arrived home around midnight, very tired, and very happy to be home!