We made it!

Hello all! After a very busy weekend I am happy to report we are back in the US! It is so great to be back. Our last week in Sicily was very busy. We had our final "Express" shipment, house cleaning and inspection. All went great and was very easy. We then headed to the Navy Lodge for our last 2 days. Jacob headed to preschool one last time on Thursday morning. He was thrilled to see his friends one last time and spend the morning out of the "ho n' tell" as he called it. (Yes, we laugh everytime he tries to say hotel). I got a much needed hair cut and highlights that day and then we ended the evening at an Italian Restaurant across the street with friends.

Friday morning bright and early we made our way to the base airport and had a great flight. We could not have asked for better behavior out of Jacob. He slept most of the way and when awake, he watched a movie, played a match card game, and chit chatted. When we landed in Nofolk we got our rental car and made our way to Norfolk Internationl Airport to drop Tim off for his flight to Atlanta. I was a little nervous driving at first since I haven't driving in US traffic in 2 years. It was so nice to finally be on the road with drivers that obey the road rules. I got over my nervousness fast. After dropping off Tim, Jacob and I made our way to our old neighborhood. I was surprised how I remembered how to get everywere after 3 years. It all came back to me. The old house looked good. Jacob could have cared less . He only lived there for his first 6 months. After that, we made our way to our former Sigonella neighbors and good friends house, The Cummings. It was so great to see them and Jacob and their daughter, Faith, quickly got playing. They hadn't seen each other in 6 months but you would have never known.
We really enjoyed their hospitality.

Saturday came too fast. Jacob, amazingly hit the pillow at 9pm Friday and woke around 6am Saturday. I, unfortunately, only slept 4 hours. In the afternoon we headed back to Norfolk Airport and returned the car and got on our flight to Atlanta. That 2.5 hour flight was nothing compared to the day before. Once again, Jacob slept the whole flight! We easily found Tim waiting for us, picked up the rest of the luggage and hopped on the road toward NC. Our drive to NC was very easy. Light traffic in Atlanta (if you've ever been there, you know their 6 lane highway can be a nightmare). We got to my parents after 4.5 hours on the road around 1am. We were greeted by very happy parents/grandparents and a very happy Star (pug). Star and Jacob bacame instant friends. They've been chasing each other around and wearing each other out. Jacob is loving his time with grandma and grandpa and follows them around. He's not happy when they go to work though.

Sunday brought us some very rainy weather. I got about 6 hours of sleep. We returned the rental car since our Camry has been here for the last 3 years. So nice to have that back and not have to buy another car right away. Our Sentra should get here around mid-June. We had a very lazy day, took a nap, played with Star, watched American TV.

Today we are off to shop! I've been very good and showed great restraint so far. I haven't been to a Starbucks or any stores since we landed. Didn't want to get to crazy right away. Jacob earned his Toys R Us trip so we are doing that today and then Chili's for dinner!!!

As for our house, we signed the contract 2 weeks ago and everything is good. We head to Alabama the end of the month and close on May 27th. I am so excited to get there and start moving in. We won't officially move in until July though.

Thanks for all the well wishes on Facebook!