Welcome Home, Drew!

Drew is finally back in the United States, and I could not be happier! After I arrived in Alaska on a Thursday, Drew finally came in on a Tuesday night. The troops landed at an air force base nearby, and then they were taken to post by bus. I went with one of Drew's friends' wife and dad to meet the boys when they rolled in. There were tons of people and "Welcome Home!" signs everywhere. In fact, the signs are posted all over town! I can't even begin to describe the way I was feeling when the army band started playing as the busses rolled into the building where we were all anxiously anticipating the troops' arrival. They finally got there, and Drew found me very quickly! I don't think I have ever hugged someone so tight in my entire life.

Welcome home, Drew!

We have been having a lot of fun in Fairbanks... including going for a walk on this nature trail...... but we also took a trip down to Anchorage last week. We went down there to purchase a car, which we achieved; and we also found a sofa. We did manage to squeeze in a few fun activities as well!
One fun activity was going to a wildlife conservation center just south of Anchorage. This was the first little friend we encountered.

However, this guy did not like that we encountered our first little friend. This picture was taken right before this elk charged me. Drew literally had to pull me away from taking pictures, in order for me to not get attacked.
This is my favorite new friend... Murphy the Moose! I'm kind of obsessed.
Drew also took me on a date to a nice restaurant in downtown Anchorage. We actually ate at this same restaurant during my trip to Alaska last year. Having had so much fun at the wildlife conservation center (and needing to kill some time while they prepared our new car for us to pick up), we decided to go to the Alaska Zoo!
Our favorite animal exhibit at the zoo was the polar bears.

Well, really, we just liked all the bears (I actually liked everything with fur).

Drew particularly liked the tigers (pictured) and the wolves.
After a fun-filled trip, we went to pick up our brand new used car and headed back up to Fairbanks.
Drew has been back less than two weeks, and we have gotten so much done (setting up our future apartment, visiting churches, buying a car and a couch, etc.) and have loved actually being able to be together. We are both so thankful that he is finally home!!!