Ryan and Russ taking the oath.
Pinning the double bars on.
"Are they even?" I take my bar-pinning job very seriously!
Me and my Skip sporting those shiny double bars!
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After a marine gets promoted, it's customary to have a "wet down." Basically, that means that his unit goes out to party and drinks are on the promoted marine. Since Russ and Ryan got promoted together, they decided to throw a backyard barbeque with lots of food, drinks, and Rockband! We got a tent for the Shinn's backyard and decorated with Christmas lights, Asian lanterns, and tikki torches. We had chips, dip, stuffed jalapenos, wings, burgers, brats, pasta salad, cake, beer, and my homemade sangria. Everyone had such a blast! We had so much fun, I forgot to take my camera out and take pictures! Oops!
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The next day, June 6th, was Ryan's 28th birthday! I had an awesome day of sightseeing planned, but since we were wiped out after the wet down, we spent half of the day watching Season 7 of 24 and lounging on the couch, before taking a brief trip to Naha. That night, however, I made reservations at one of the best restaurants on the island - Sam's by the Sea. Sam's was AMAZING! Located by the Nakagusuku Bay, Sam's specializes in steak and seafood. We got free shrimp cocktails to start, followed by cheese tempura, curry soup, salad, and bread. Then came the main course. I got a seafood medley steamed with wine, lemon, and butter in parchment. Ryan got the surf and turf specialty - a huge lobster with a crab stuffing and a filet mignon wrapped in bacon. He was in heaven! I'm shocked he was able to nearly finish it!
Ryan with his surf and turf and Orion.
Enjoying my shrimp cocktail in a cup that emitted fog!
Sam's entrance has tikki torches and giant tikki statues!
When we got home, we had Ryan's family's traditional angel food cake with chocolate icing. Though I didn't have Ryan's mom's chocolate sauce recipe, I did my best and it turned out well!
Ryan's favorite part of the night was opening his presents. I got him the new Reacher novel, Ipod speakers for his office, Call of Duty 5 for Wii along with the Wii crossbow. He loved it all!
Call of Duty 5 takes place on Okinawa!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!
