Daddy's Home for a visit!

Michael was given leave for a week to attend a conference in Austin. He arrived on Sept. 19th and has been able to stay with Emily and me. The first 4 days he was here we only got to see him in the evenings because of the conference. Now he's on a 4 day pass and gets to hang out at home until Tuesday when he has to go back. :( We've enjoyed having him home and it will be hard to see him go. Emily didn't take too long to warm up to him. She was a little apprehensive at the airport but now it's like he never left. She has changed so much since he was here in June so it's been an adjustment for Michael to get use to. She is very independent and strong willed so she's been having to teach daddy how she does things around here! It's been entertaining to watch.

Trip to Cabela's with Grandpa

My dad had a delivery to make near Cabela's so he invited Emily and me to go with him. She had a blast checking out all of the animals.

Skyping with Michael

I haven't written much about Michael since he's been gone mainly because he's an avid facebooker! He gets on facebook daily and occasionally posts pictures of what he's up to. He keeps very busy working 6 days a week for at least 12 hours a day. His only day off is Sunday. He doesn't mind working so much because it helps pass the time. We are able to talk to him daily and most of the time it's on skype. It really helps a lot because it brings him into the room and Emily can interact with him. She loves to skype because she can babble with daddy and play peek a boo. She won't talk to him on the phone but she doesn't hold back on skype. He is living on a base called El Dafur just outside of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He is a little over an hour from Dubai so he's gotten to do some fun touristy things! I posted a map of the middle east because I know most people don't know where the UAE is. He is near the Persian Gulf. My brother is currently in Qatar. Both of them will be coming home in a week. Michael will just get to stay here for a week. He gets to go to an engineering conference in Austin and stay with us. After the conference, he gets a 4 day pass to spend some time with us. We are so excited to be getting some Michael time!!! I know that he can't wait to be here either. We didn't know that we would get to see him twice this year so this extra week is a really exciting and much needed surprise! He will be back in February for about 2.5 weeks. I'm sure that I'll have lots of pics to post next week. Emily is so excited to go to the fair with her daddy!

Self portrait while we were skyping

This is Michael in his room.

Becky & Sony's wedding

Getting wild at the reception!

Emily loved the cake and the candy on the tables
Callie and Em love to feed each other

"Craig, show me your moves!"

Pre-Ceremony Pictures

Having a snack with Grandpa and Craig

Emily with Becky

Mimi giving Becky advice

Becky & Sony's Wedding Rehearsal

On August 21st, Michael's sister Becky got married. Rachel was originally going to be the flower girl so Emily had to take her place. She loved walking down the aisle at the rehearsal but wouldn't do it the day of the wedding. :( She got to be the flower girl with her buddy Craig. The two of them had a blast playing around in the church.