Two Weddings and a Friends-Giving

Our (wonderfully) busy life continues! Since my last blog post we have celebrated the marriage of four of our friends ( two couples that is, although one was just a dinner send-off and well wishes from afar) and a Friends-Giving with our military ohana (family). From Jordan's return, to the Marine Corps Ball, as well as the aforementioned recent events, November was quite the month of celebration!

A couple of weekends ago, we shared a last dinner with our new friends, Nick and Evie, before taking them to the airport and sending them off to go home and get married in Texas. Jordan and Nick have become fast friends. Their friendship is definitely the definition of a "bromance," as the two seem to be inseparable and somewhat, and perhaps unhealthily-so, obsessed with eachother. It's amazing to find people that were born and raised thousands of miles apart, in a completely different state with the inherit societal and cultural differences within each respective state, that somehow are so much like oneself. In Nick, born and raised in Texas, Jordan has found a kindred spirit. These pictures from our last dinner together perfectly capture these two in their element:

Yes my eyes were closed, but it was too perfect of a picture of the "Bruise Brothers" to not include

Jordan has met his eating match, they probably even have twin tapeworms!

After sending these two lovebirds (Nick and Evie that is, not Nick and Jordan) off into wedding bliss, the next day we celebrated the marriage of another set of new friends in Hawaii, Nick and Sarah. The wedding was set in beautiful Lanikai. The golf course was nestled in the valley below the majestic Ko'olau Mountains, with the reception area on the opposite side, overlooking the breathtaking and iconic Mokulua Islands (aka the Mokes). Unfortunately, my pictures do not do the beautiful setting justice!

Jordan was in the wedding sword arch and looked handsome in his uniform, while it lasted. Although, it was also refreshing to see him in a suit for a change, and he looked equally handsome if not more at the reception, where we danced the night way.

         

Reception Fun! We had a blast at the wedding. The DJ was great and everyone, young and old, was on the dance floor from start to finish. It reminded us of the great time we had at our own wedding, and how much fun it was to see everyone dancing together. My girlfriend Ashley caught the bouquet, and quite perfectly, her boyfriend caught the garter...2 months later they were engaged!!!!

Photobooth fun at the reception

We celebrated our first official, major holiday away from home but made the most of it by bringing our friends together at our house for our first Hawaiian Friends-Giving. We even cooked our very first turkey as a married couple. I feel like while this is definitely overdue 5+ years into our marriage, it was a fun (and interesting) right of passage. Thankfully it turned out, not only edible, but delicious and moist! Thanks mom for bearing with all the phone calls and texts, we couldn't have done it without you!

Although Jordan is probably going to kill me for posting these pictures, I just had to! They were too funny not to share. I absolutely refused to do the washing, gizzard-searching, neck-finding, portion of the turkey and put Jordan on the task. Well he decided an American-flag bandana needed be worn  for this oh-so-serious, age-old, and truly-American holiday prep-work. I swear, this man cracks me up!

Success!!!!

I much preferred the fun, and less-icky, prep work that goes in to hosting a holiday, like table-scaping and creating a hawaiian "cornucopia."

We had quite the spread, and everyone out-did themselves with all their home-made creations! It was quite interesting to see  all the different and favorite dishes each person contributes from their own family traditions and upbringings, and I think perfectly encompasses what a military Friends-Giving holiday is all about!

The pups were not too happy about being locked out and excluded from the feast! Go figure I have a picture of the dogs (and of course of the table-scape above) but do not have one group picture of the 8 of us!

After dinner, we all took a walk down to the beach to enjoy the sunset and make room for dessert!

Overall, we had a wonderful holiday with our ohana. While the holidays are always the times when I miss our family the absolute most, I am sure I am already beyond redundant in saying, I'm so thankful for the other military families that come together during these times, who we are able to share our life with. It would be easy to let holidays pass without much tradition and celebration when you are so far from family and home; however, I am so thankful that we have this second family in our life to share these experiences with, to create new traditions with, and to mark the holidays with during these years with unforgettable memories together.

Thoroughly exhausted from hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner, we opted for a relaxing Black Friday of puppy-snuggles, coffee, and online shopping from the comfort of our home.