Scenes from our weekend...

Happy Veteran's Day to Will (Daddy!). We are so thankful for your service and everything you do for our family.  Can you believe that was almost a year ago...

We have been loving our long weekend! Although the Hawaii rainy season is here... I am LOVING the 68 degrees; we have finally brought out the fleeces, long sleeves, and even some pants. During the rainy season, Oahu has patches of clouds, sun, and rain.... since we live up in the mountains, during the "winter" months, most of our days are filled with some rain.

We decided to head to the Honolulu for a some temporary sun. And to see the new Lion Cubs!

Will and I also went on our first date in months.... thanks to this man.... We went to our favorite Thai Place in Haleiwa; during pregnancy I love spicy food; however, I asked for the most spicy at a pretty authentic Thai restaurant. Guess what? Lesson learned. That is a seriously extreme level of spicy and too much for me! Harper was so excited to have Uncle Greg all to herself; she kept saying "Byebye Mommy and Daddy" just so we would leave! We can't thank him enough for spending the night with our little lady.

and I am struggling with Maternity Fashion. Yes, I had clothes that I saved from Harpy girl but these all just seem so worn. I have been trying to pick up a few updates here and there.... but it is challenging for a short woman like me! All of the maternity dresses hit me like half way down my calf- aka not flattering. Problems, I know :) I have been out of my normal shorts, jeans, etc for a while but my "normal" dresses and shirts are getting too tight and frankly unflattering. Maxi dresses seem to still work! Anyway, I don't want to invest a ton in a temporary problem. Thankfully I found some adorable jeans in the Target Maternity Section. I have never bought jeans there but they are sooo cute and sooo comfy. The shirt is from Pea and the Pod... we don't have one on Oahu but thankfully they do in Charleston and Will's mom was sweet enough to send it! I have been wearing it every week!

xoxo,
allie

Brigade Ball 2013

So this Thursday we went to another military ball to celebrate the end of a deployment...The military loves to celebrate the end of deployments and hey, why not? I would say that is celebration worthy. For those of you who don't know military lingo (Ha, I barely know it!) the general "order" in a brigade (at least for us currently) is Brigade-->Battalion-->Company.  Earlier this month we went to a battalion ball... and just last week we went to brigade. The brigade is a much larger pool of people and consequently a much larger ball. Make sense? Probably not but anyway the event was held at the Marriott at KoOlina. We are SO lucky to have so many fabulous options for balls here in Hawaii... I am pretty sure Fort Rucker Alabama didn't have quite as many huge, fancy resorts readily available (even though we adore Fort Rucker for many other reasons). Anyway.. the Marriott was beautiful and the ballroom huge with plenty of room and a fabulously up-kept Hawaiian landscape.  Overall a wonderful experience (minus the 90.00 dollar price tag per a person.. yes we have to pay attend) but I am glad we went and had an opportunity to see all of our friends!

They recognized all of the volunteers from the past year. It was a very sweet gesture but I am never a fan of public recognition. I am much happier at my seat but it was very nice to see all of the hardworking volunteers get awards, etc!

Our ball season has come to an end for a while!

and don't worry, this little lady was happy at home with a babysitter.

Overall we had a great weekend, I'll post more on that later! Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!!

xoxo,

allie

3-25 Welcome Home Ball

Last Thursday we had our Welcome Home Ball for Will's Battalion. Military balls are typically black tie and it is not uncommon to have them before or after deployments (or so I am told!). I love any good excuse to get dressed up and spend the night down in Waikiki with Will. Ha, we rarely go down to Honolulu at night so this was the perfect occasion. This ball, 3-25 AVN, was held at the military hotel, The Hale Koa, on the ocean in Honolulu. It is a great venue and offers affordable prices on this pricey island!

We had an amazing night dancing away. Of course I didn't capture very many pictures but here are "pictures of our picture". I know, a lame version. They had a silly photo booth which was actually really fun; I love the idea of having them at a wedding!

And don't worry, this lady was in great hands with Uncle Greg; he was so kind and watched H was us. Thanks Uncle Greg!!!

I have more updates from the week for another time!

xoxo,

allie

Redeployment Ceremony

Last Thursday Will's brigade had their redeployment ceremony; this ceremony marks the end of a year long deployment and is the official beginning of block leave. Block leave is an Army wide tradition were soldiers usually receive about a month of leave before deployments and afterwards (or extensive training). It is the perfect opportunity for single soldiers to go back to the mainland and see their family; luckily Will's parents (and Momo/ Doug) are coming here! We are so excited to show them the island. Will, Harps, and I also have some island hopping adventures planned.... Can't wait. The ceremony was perfect... short and beautiful weather. The MWR (which stands for Morale Welfare and Recreation) had a party afterwards with bounce houses, food, etc.. perfect for all the kids!

(Harps was not happy at this point!)

xoxo,
allie

Greg Redeployment and A Visitor

This past week was, yet again, another busy week in the Caff household. I went to six redeployment ceremonies total... Will was the first and Greg was the last! In between were people from our company and some close friends. There are fewer events in this world that will bring a bigger smile to your face... A seven year old running to their dad with a big homemade sign (after a year apart) is priceless... as well as a dad meeting their son for the first time... Anyway, we were so thrilled to welcome home Uncle Greg after his year long deployment in Afghanistan. He was busy flying the Kiowa over there.. thankfully he and Will were stationed at the same post, Kandahar, and consequently they could occasionally grab dinner together. That deployment marks quite a history for those two... West Point (track team together) to Fort Rucker flight school to Hawaii Wheeler Army Airfield to KAF Afghanistan together. It was an early ceremony at 4:30 am but Harps was still happy to greet! Greg also had some of our other friends Steve and Ingrid/ Kimi and Andy there to greet him as well.

 (this sign was super cute.. until coffee spilled down it!)

We also were lucky enough to have one of our friends High School (crazy to think that was years ago!!) visit! Steve was on the Big Island for a family vacation and hoped over to visit us for a couple of hours. We were SO happy to see him and felt very fortunate he took time out of his trip to visit!

Thanks Steve for coming to visit! We had a great time.

And Harps this weekend...

xoxo,
allie

Will's Redeployment Ceremony

Here are some photos from two weeks ago when Will came home! It was on December 23rd at 2:30 am but I think the pictures paint a better scene of what the night was like... (at least for those who don't regularly attend redeployment ceremonies!) Anyway, I think we all look a bit tired but it was a great ceremony and loved that my co-frg leader was able to capture these moments.

Here are all of the buses coming in... After the soldiers arrive they have to go through more in-processing (aka turning in their weapons ,etc). This takes about an hour, so all of the families are patiently waiting behind the other side of the netting... nerve-wracking yet exciting.

Watching the buses come in.. with a very tired tot.

I loved this little helicopter outfit.. it was so fitting for the occasion! 

They have a big screen behind the scenes so all of the families can watch all of the soldiers come in! We saw Will... it was very exciting.. and I loved his smile! One of my favorite parts of redeployment ceremonies is watching the preschool and elementary school kids; they are so genuinely thrilled to see their dads (or moms!) and run at full speed towards them... seriously so adorable and heartwarming. Anyway, over the last couple of weeks and (so far) six ceremonies, I love watching those kids get SO excited when they see their dad on the jumbo screen. Adorable.

Marching in...

Daddy brought Harps an Elmo to try and ease the transition (the back story is she was a bit scared on
 R and R) but the redeployment ceremony was perfect. She knew right a who Dada was and has transitioned exceptionally well ever since.

We are so thrilled Daddy is back!

xoxo,

allie

bake sale

Today our FRG had a redeployment bake sale outside of the PX... the combination of delicious baked goods, the word redeployment, and some stellar saleswomen brought in over 500.00 dollars. I was honestly shocked but so thrilled. Who knew cookies, banana bread, and brownies would raise so much money?  We are two months (ish) away from redeployment and spirits are starting to rise... Since all of the soldiers are coming back around the Christmas time frame, we will be very busy creating some "Christmas cheer" in the single soldier barracks. Exciting, exciting.

and of course the little lady girl. Busy all the time.

Every night we have been going to the playground for an hour... Harps adores that hour. She runs, climbs, explores, and slides the whole time. We are so lucky to be outside in October enjoying the warm 70 degrees.

xoxo,
allie

(over) Half Way Celebration!

Today Harps and I spent the day at the beach celebrating (with our brigade) that we are over half way through the deployment.  Rear D (the men and women who help back in Hawaii) did a great job planning the event with tons of bounce houses, kid games, bbq food, etc. The setting and weather was unreal.

Harps and I spent most of the time chatting with families in our company but we also did a "shout out" video to Will and enjoyed some wonderful beach/play ground time. We were lucky enough to go with one of my best friends on the island, Margaret, who was beyond helpful with the little lady and the best of company. Her husband is also in Afghanistan with Will so it was perfect to go together. These pictures perfectly capture the beauty of Hawaii... how could you not love a day like this? (the only thing that was missing was Will and all of the other soldiers... but we are over half way and R and R is less than a month away!)

xoxo,

allie