Honeymoon, Holidays, and Happiness

So needless to say we haven't posted in a while.....sorry!! We have been sooo busy!!

I am sad to say that my Uncle Kent passed away at the end of November.  He was a truly inspirational man.  He was paralyzed and fighting throat cancer.  We can take some comfort knowing he is no longer in any pain.  He fought a long hard battle, and now he may RIP! The funeral was beautiful.  My Dad flew out to be with family, and as happy as I was to see him so close to the holidays, I wish it could have been under better circumstances.  I was so happy he could be here with my Grams, as she was so upset, which is to be expected of any parent that loses their child.  The Marines were also preset at the funeral, and they presented my Grams with a beautiful flag in honor of Uncle Kent.  Once a Marine, Always a Marine! RIP Uncle Kent, always in our hearts!!

The weekend following the funeral we picked up my FIL from the airport to come house sit for us while we went on our "delayed honeymoon," as we like to call it.  And can I just say how amazing it is that we have such a great Dad to come out and house and dog sit for us while we took off, truly blessed.  So the trip was absolutely perfect!! No other words to describe it!  We were immediately given pink wrist bands, different from everyone else's.  This was so that everyone that we came into contact with knew we were honeymooners and they treated us like royalty!! We had 24 hour room service, breakfast in bed, fully stocked bar in our bedroom, HUGE jacuzzi, private candle lit dinners, the list goes on and on and on.....

Two of our favorite days were our couples spa day and when we swam with the Dolphins.  The spa day worked out great as it fell on the only rainy day.  This spa was amazing, it was super high-end and the nicest spa I'd ever been too.  For the first hour we prepped ourselves.  We took warm massaging showers before heading to the sauna.  Then we went to three different Jacuzzis.  The first was hot, the second was a cold waterfall that we went under to prep for the third.  The third was really HOTT and super relaxing! Then we headed to massaging chairs and got foot massages in the water massagers as we sat and relaxed.  Then we headed to our two hour couples aromatherapy couples massage.  HEAVENLY is the only word I can come up with.  Bruce fell asleep twice, haha :) This was followed by an hour facial, also heavenly. Then we had a mani pedi, followed by a beautiful view, fresh fruit water, and fresh fruit to recoup.  The most relaxed either of us has ever been, we felt drunk but had no adult beverages.....weird!

Swimming with the Dolphins is something I have always wanted to do.  So this day was so exciting for me! We got to swim, kiss, and pet them! They are truly majestic beings! We will never forget that amazing day!

Most of the time we just relaxed in the sun all day.  When the sun finally went down we would head for our room to take a siesta in our hammock.  We would then wake and get ready for our fine dining five course dinners, that were always delicious! The resort would usually have a very cool show which we would attend at night.  We immediately turned off our phones the second we boarded the plane and left them off the entire time.  We didn't bring any electronics except for my kindle and being cut off from the real world was great and freeing! Spending quality time together is a top priority for us before starting a family and we are so glad we were able to go.  Another trip is already in the works!!  But everything comes to an end, and back to reality it was.  But it was so nice to get home and see Dad Brown and Pudge.

December 23rd marked four glorious years together.  We celebrated by going to a beautiful fine dining little restaurant, it was sooooo delicious!

The holidays were a little bittersweet! We miss family so so so much, but also love the quiet time.  We were able to spend Christmas Eve together and Christmas morning before Bruce headed to work for 2.  Christmas Eve we made our big meal and finally broke out our wedding china.  It was the first time we have used our beautiful set, and I was scared! :) We don't have a china cabinet yet, so they are usually packed safe and sound in their boxes.  I think they will be making an appearance only for Christmas dinner. But they sure were beautiful!  Then we pulled out our spare bedroom mattress and camped out in the living room watching movies.  We fell asleep next to our beautifully lit tree and woke up delighted, this may become a new tradition in our house!

We woke up pretty early this morning.  We had 8:30 mass and I wanted to bake the cinnamon roll casserole I had prepped the night before.  We then opened what Santa had brought, and we must have been super super good this year.  We are truly blessed, not many people can say they have four sets of AMAZING parents.  Bruce got lots of Wings apparel, which he loved! We got a really cool old fashioned theater popcorn popper and about a years supply of popcorn and theater grease and butter to cook it, so neat and we can't wait to try it out.  We also got lots of money and gift cards, homemade hats and mittens which are sooo awesome, and so much more.  We got to Skype with family and friends, and that made the lonely holiday a bit easier to bear!  But the biggest surprise was the MacBook Pro.  This has been a dream computer of mine for quite some time, but we could never quite come up with the money to cover the expensive tab, there was always something else more important to spend the money on.  So when I opened this gift, tears fell down my cheeks.  Not only because it's amazing, but because of the thoughtful and selfless act behind the gift.  My MIL truly thinks of me as her daughter and that feeling is indescribable.

Merry Christmas! We hope you all had an AMAZING day filled with love and happiness.

We love and miss you all so much! And I will upload pictures of everything tomorrow!! :)
Love,
Nic, Bruce, and Pudge xoxox