Our Amazing Summer in Virginia

My goodness, it is so nice to be back home in Utah! We had an amazing trip this summer but I realized that being away from your own home and your friends for 2 1/2 months is a bit long. I did enjoying being with my family and old friends back in Virginia. We had many great experiences while we were home. My dad works as a Civilian on Fort Lee. We were able to take him to and from work most days so that Noah and I could have a car during the day to do whatever we wanted. While we were on post we did some exploring since our life is going to ARMY really soon. Noah really liked looking at all the tanks and trucks around base.

Another great perk of being home this summer was to meet my sweet new niece Addison (Addie) for the 1st time. Noah and I feel in love with her right away. Chris' sister had Addie in April and they live in Arkansas so it was nice to have her in Virginia for a week while her husband, Nick, was on a Mission Trip for their church in Africa.

Noah did so good with her. He is going to make a great big brother one day! He loved holding her and letting her grab on to his finger. He thought it was funny that she didn't want to let go.
And you know I had to get my hands on her since I am in love with babies and then it is even better when they are family. I just love little Addie so much and was very grateful that we were able to spend some time with them.
This is a picture of the Fort Lee Military Branch. My dad is the Branch President of this branch. The branch is for soldiers who are in training for several weeks. We were able to go since my dad is the President plus they needed someone to play the piano for them for the Sunday services. I actually enjoyed playing for them. I just love soldiers especially since my wonderful husband is one too. I loved the branch. Each Sunday was so uplifting and gave me exactly what I needed to get through the next week. Those soldiers have such a sweet spirit about them which was really nice.
Noah and I got Kings Dominion season passes while we were home so we could ride roller coasters and enjoy the waterpark. IT WAS AWESOME! Noah is such a dare devil. He likes to ride all the rides (even the ones that I wouldn't). This one is the drop tower. It goes up over 272 feet and hangs at the top then it drops at 75 miles per hour down to the bottom. I was not about to get on that ride.

Emily and her kids also had Kings Dominion passes so we went together and had a blast. Emily is my Virginia Best Friend. I loved spending so much time with her this summer. All the days at the pool and the girls nights out were awesome. Em is great and I really enjoyed all the fun trips we took.

Here are all Noah's cousins on my side of the family. Bentley (the little man on Noah's lap) is going to have a little brother in December. We had fun at the pool with all the kids. Brayden and Lexi started going off the diving boards this summer and Emma loved jumping into the pool all by herself. They love the water which is great cause we Brandeberry's are water kids.
While we were at Topsail Beach this summer (which is in North Carolina), we got to visit the Turtle Rescue Hospital. It is amazing how many volunteers they have and the wonderful work they do for the turtles.

Noah and Brayden had so much fun together this summer. They are so cute. I just love them.
We went with my brother Jared to have lunch with Brayden one day. Brayden was so excited to see us show up at school. He only knew Jared was coming. It was nice to have lunch with him.
The nasty jellyfish we saw at the beach. Each night I walked on the beach and this was what Brayden and Noah found one night on our walk.

I LOVE THE BEACH!!!!!!!! (Just in case you didn't know)

Noah found a dead crab on the beach. He was in good shape so we let him keep it for a little bit. He was keeping on the front porch of our beach house until the porch started to stink. It was pretty cool looking.
We had a ton of fun this summer. I enjoyed being back in Virginia but am very happy to be back in Utah. The beach was by far my favorite part of our vacation. I ate my guts out with Mexican food since it is very different than the Mexican we have here in Utah. I was grateful for the time we had with our families and wish we could have done more but it is always nice to get back home and back to reality. We are starting our final year here at BYU and I am ready to get it started and see what the future holds for our family this upcoming year!