Trip Home to Washington!

Aaron and I at the Seattle Temple for the first time since our wedding!

Sorry for not updating the blog for so long! We've been BUSY! We closed on our house on May 8 and moved in (with the help of lots of awesome friends!) on May 13. The next weekend was Memorial weekend and we went down to Marion, IL (near Carbondale) to spend time with some of my extended family. We really enjoyed spending time with Aunt Kym, Uncle Rick, Courtney and her kids, Amber, and Devin. They have a great place right on Egypt Shores Lake. We got to go out on the boat, barbecue, get ice cream at the marina, and have some great conversation. It was a nice weekend! We really enjoyed the break from all the stress of unpacking!

The weekend after that, we flew out to Yelm, WA (courtesy of Mom's wallet, lol) to be there for my dad's promotion ceremony to full bird Colonel! Another huge event was Kyle's endowment that we were able to be there for! We flew out on Friday and got up early Saturday morning to go to the temple with Kyle. It was a really wonderful experience. I was so proud of my little brother! Kyle and my parents right after the session. This picture cracks us up because I couldn't get a picture of Kyle looking straight at me because he kept looking at Aaron!

Everyone who came to Kyle's endowment session: Aaron, Janae, Grammy, Papa, Kyle, Mom, Dad, Gramma, Grandpa.

Gramma took pictures of me and Aaron in front of the temple (with no scaffolding!!) :)

On Sunday I got to go to my old ward and it was really fun to see everyone. And I got to go to Sunday School and Relief Society!!! I'm in Primary back home, so it was fun to actually be able to go to those meetings. I really love Yelm 2nd Ward.
Monday was the day that my dad had his promotion ceremony. My dad has less than 5 life goals, and one of them was to pin on Colonel, so this ceremony really meant a lot to our family. It was very classy and extremely well done. General Hepburn flew out to officiate the ceremony and he was fantastic. He highlighted everyone in the family, including Aaron, and outlined my dad's military career and personal attributes with perfection. I especially appreciated my dad's involvement with the USS Cole bombing being highlighted the way it was. That was one of the things that brought tears to my eyes. The second was when my older brother, Phil, (an ROTC student) came to the front in uniform to salute my dad.

Phil's first salute to my dad

The family got to be involved in the ceremony by pinning on his new ranks. Mom and Gramma pinned on his new eagles and Macy and I changed the ranks on his shirt. Aaron got a great picture of Mom and Gramma pinning on the new ranks!

Gramma and Mom pinning on the new ranks

The ceremony concluded with an amazing and emotional address from my dad. He's always been an amazing speaker, but he was really exceptional with this speech.

"I am an American Airman."

After the ceremony ended, there was a gathering at the Officer's Club, and all of the Andrus kids presented my dad with a shadow box that we'd put together for him. Phil bought sterling silver ranks and I designed a plaque to be displayed underneath them in the shadow box. It read,

"To the man who set us on the path to our dreams,
Congratulations on reaching one of your own."

Anyway, we really had a good time in Washington. Aaron returned to Illinois on Tuesday morning. I was surprised by how emotional I was about him leaving! I thought I'd be fine because I was staying with my family, but I felt like my family was leaving me! He got home safely and returned to work, taking care of the dogs and unpacking. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the time I had in Washington with my family. It was nice to see my grandparents, even though they also had to leave soon after the ceremony was over.

Grammy, me and Papa

I enjoyed spending time with my siblings, especially Kyle who will be leaving on a mission very soon! It was really great to be able to have that time with him before he leaves. He is so dang awesome. All my siblings are. Me and Macy enjoyed a girl day of shopping and had a matching PJ slumber party :) I also spent a day catching up with my best friend, Caylene. It was really nice to have that time to chat with her!!

Caylene and Janae: Best Friends!

For my last night there, my dad gave up flying so he could be home, and we went to Macy's play, got ice cream at Dairy Queen, and then played Settlers of Catan. It was SO much fun!! Overall, I had a great time in Washington! It's nice to be home with Aaron and my dogs again, but I definitely enjoyed my time at the Andrus house :)

Me and Aaron in my parents' family room

Now it's back to everyday life! We're still unpacking and I'm still job hunting. I actually just had a 2nd interview for one job... so we'll see how that goes! Meanwhile it's fun to see our house come together. We're having a house warming party on the 20th and we're looking forward to that. Aaron goes on a business trip next week, so I have to say good-bye to him again... but he's going to have fun at his conference in San Jose! I'm really proud of him for being one of only two people selected to go! Anyway, that's all for now!