Thursday, July 7, 2011

Friends and Freedom


We spent the Fourth of July weekend with some of our dearest and oldest friends,
Geno and Cara, and their two beautiful children.  The four of us met while serving in the
Navy together, sailing the seven seas and navigating our way through our early
twenties.  Shawn and Geno are like brothers, their friendship began from the moment
they met and they have remained best friends from across many miles and life stages.
We introduced he and Cara when she was in town on business and the rest is history.
We have seen each other through younger days, laughter and tears, heart ache and
life changing moments.  It's weekends such as these, sitting on the back porch reminiscing
and appreciating where we have been, that make us feel so much closer.
From being young couples in love, no responsibilities, not a care in the world...
 
To witnessing one another make the biggest, most important commitments
of our lives...
And now spending weekends together making Play-doh animals and shooting
off fireworks in the backyard...
We spent the long holiday weekend catching up on old times, sharing stories and
swapping tips, and enjoying our children, all the while shaking our heads in disbelief at how
far we've all come.  We swam, created sidewalk chalk art, made it through a few melt
downs, ate snow cones, and even convinced the daddies to build us a fire so that we
could make s'mores, despite the blistering heat.  
And then, after the kids were completely exhausted and tucked safely in their beds, we
sat on the back porch and talked until 2 in the morning, then grabbed a couple of sparklers
and danced across the back yard.  
It was an absolutely amazing weekend and I can not think of a better way to have
celebrated our freedom than with the people we worked alongside with to obtain it.  One
of the most rewarding gifts we earned by serving in the military was the lifelong
friendships we formed, the comraderie.  And now, we get to enjoy the gift that is each
other with our offspring, and what could really be better than that?

8 comments:

Caitlin said...

Looks like a lovely holiday weekend <3

Randalin @ Harvesting Kale said...

I just love that series of pictures of you and your friends. It's so exciting when you have close friends to grow with your family!

deanna@delirious-rhapsody said...

i didn't know you had been in the navy. i love the photos. you look beautiful. :) (i'm feeding owsley as i type, and accidentally spelled 'beautifuk.') hah!

Sara said...

It's great to have friends you can grow with through the years. :) I didn't know you were in the navy either. Love learning these little bits and pieces! :)

Little Gray Pixel said...

I love the juxtaposition of the first three photographs. It's like the four of you have lived parallel lives. Nice to have friends like that who shadow you every step of the way!

Amy Nielson said...

that is so cool! we have a couple friends like that too. so awesome when you can share all those years & changes together.

Kim Airhart said...

Love the pictures. I love your dress in the first picture. So cute!

Moments and Impressions said...

Wh at a wonder way to spend the holiday! Great friend like this are few and far between. How wonderful is that last photo... with all the kiddos.