I want to note from the start that I did not break any copyright laws ...I took that picture, it's not profes- sionally done.
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Johnny's graduation week was awesome!!! The kids LOVED the plane ride (Alex wants to go aGIN!!) and for the most part, all were well behaved. Sleeping quarters were interesting and "fun". And we were so very blessed to have so much family there to surround Johnny with love. Including Johnny, there were 24 folks there to share his success!! I'm so very grateful and appreciative of all the love and support from the amazing family that God has given us!! Thanks sooooo much to Diane and Kevin, Sam, Mary Caye, Tom and Denise, Bob, Pat, Cindy, Tamra, David, Chris, Junnie and Kazuko, Jackie, Gail and Lincoln, and of course Bill, Faith, Theresa Lin, Abby, and Alex!!!
So let's see... what did we do? We arrived on Saturday and Johnny dutifully picked us up from the airport. We rented a car instead of a van, hoping to share Johnny's hotrod on occasion. He gave us the grand tour of the US Air Force Academy campus (after lunch of course... because somebody was hungry for Chinese food). We checked in and had a fairly quiet evening of a light dinner and the indoor swimming pool. On Saturday night, Tamra arrived and we all camped out together. Gail and Lincoln also arrived on Saturday, and were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary as well. :o)
On Sunday, we met Gail and Lincoln for church and then we all went to Johnny's sponsor parents' home for an Open House. Hector and Maria are wonderful folks and we're so very thankful for the support they gave to Johnny and many, many other cadets! There we also met up with Chris, Junnie and Kazuko. There was wonderful food there and lots of other cadets and their families to fellowship with. Later that evening we also got some more time at the indoor pool, which of course, the kids loved.
Monday morning was the Memorial Day parade at the Academy and it helped set the mood for the week. Thank You God for our nation's soldiers... past, present, and future!! Monday also brought the rest of the folks into town and many stopped by our hotel lobby "for coffee" while we made dinner plans. We met with the Galante contingent in Pueblo at the illustrious Cracker Barrel that evening for dinner, while Cindy took in a Choir performance at the Academy and David did what all young men his age love to do... sleep.
Tuesday morning was the Graduation parade at the Academy and it was awesome!! The weather was damp and downright cold, but the cadets and the planes were amazing!! The graduating cadets separated from each of the squadrons in the V-formation - symbolizing the way they entered their squadrons just 4 years ago - and came and stood across the field from them. Bill in his amazing way of knowing just where to be had us all sitting exactly where Johnny's squad of graduating cadets would be standing, so we had a blast trying to figure out which one was Johnny (their backs were to us, but very close to us). We had it narrowed down to 2 and Lincoln was right - he had a better vantage point. :o) Someone asked Tamra which rear she recognized and she properly said she didn't know. See why I love this girl!?! Because 2009 is the 51st graduating class, one of the planes that did a flyover was a P-51, also of special significance to this year's graduating class because of _____ (will have Bill fill in the blank later:).
Tuesday afternoon, we so wanted to go to Focus on the Family to see Whit's End, but we needed naps so much more. We all had lunch together and we Benton's went back for naps... after of course, the requisite trip to WalMart. Everyone slept, and I got some wonderful reading in and also got a load of laundry done, thinking we were all running out of long pants (thankfully, the weather was nice the rest of the week, but we didn't know that then). The reason we needed naps is because Johnny's Commissioning Ceremony was late Tuesday night (10 pm - don't ask). So after naps, it was baths and supper in our room - and the lobby had great snacks too - and then getting all gussied up for the ceremony. The ceremony was a pretty formal deal, at which each of the 24 graduating cadets in Johnny's squad (Cadet Squadron 18 - Night Riders) became officers. They each were given the Oath of Office and then had special folks change their shoulder bars to 2nd Lieutenant bars. Johnny chose Bill and Sam, and of course, I cried. How dashing he is in uniform, btw! Each cadet was done separately - thankfully each squad had it's own ceremony - and since it didn't start until 10pm, you can imagine we were all squirming in our seats (or sleeping) by the time the last few cadets were done.
And of course, the big day on Wednesday brought beautiful weather and all 23 of us in the stands at Falcon Stadium. You can actually see Johnny in the hat toss picture above (if you zoom enough - on the aisle, 7th row back, right hand in the air). That picture is only half of the 1046 graduating cadets, btw. The day was wonderful, the speaker (VP Biden) was interesting, if a bit long, and the pomp of it all was great... and the air show afterwards was AMAZING!!! You can't see it in the picture, but just as soon as they threw their caps in the air, 5 LOUD jets screemed overhead, nearly knocking us all over! Each of the cadets had tucked $20.09 (2009) in an envelope in their caps and kids, ages 7-10 were invited onto the field to retrieve one afterwards. Theresa was the only one who fit into the age category, so I was sure there was no way she would go down alone, but she did!! $20 bucks is a lot to an 8 year old... pretty motivating, I guess. Johnny came up to the stands after a bit and the air show suddenly became a little less interesting. :o) Gosh, we're so stinkin' proud of that boy... and did I mention how dashing he is in uniform? We all got a little sunburned (sunny day, up in the nosebleeds, and in the Colorado mountains too)... especially given the length of the day. Ha!... at 1046 cadets, just calling each name out for the diploma... at about 5 seconds per name... that's 12 per minute and 720 per hour... so it was an hour and a half of just that. Then add in the speech(es) and music and such. EVERYONE clapped when the last of the squadrons stood and proceeded to the stage! No one minded once the air show started tho.
By the time we were done, and given that we had reservations for dinner at the Flying W Ranch, we decided to have dessert first and a bunch of us went to a local Baskin Robins for "lunch". The Flying W Ranch was where all the DC area cadets and families went that first year during Parents Weekend, so Johnny thought it would be fun to do again as an exit strategy too. It was a fun evening and a great close to a week of excitement and wonder.
Most folks left for home the next day (Thurs). Our flight was fairly early because we wanted to land early (school), but some folks got to do some sight seeing before heading out. I was still pining for Whit's End, but at some point reality (maturity?) set in and decided it just wasn't worth rushing. Johnny and Tamra stayed because Johnny was in his room mate's wedding (Nate, the best room mate ever!... just ask him:). Johnny took Tamra to the airport and got a 2 hour headstart racing her home in his car. Tho I think even after security and such, she likely caught up and passed him without too much trouble. He thankfully had a travelmate, Steve - and Kevin's GPS - and made it home (at least to Baltimore) on Monday night.
He's got 60 days leave and he's spent a lot of time in Baltimore, but we're thoroughly enjoying having him home too!! He and Tamra were both here :o) over the weekend and they went reception hall shopping and such. Haha... I get to go with her on Friday night for her last dress fitting!!! He's off to NC for yet another cadet wedding this weekend - it must be the thing to do after graduation (not to mention Adam&Terah's on Sat), but we expect him home soon.
Alright - that's enuf already!! Got some other exciting news to post, but you're just gonna have to wait... I'm off to Faith's 8th grade Graduation now!!! Haha!! ;o)
Let's Roll!!
