July Jamboree and 10 year Reunion!

The July Jamboree has become one of my favorite summer traditions. Main street is blocked off and their is a huge car show. There are vendors and bands and rides for the kids. All in all it is a total family fun night! So I packed up the car with the kiddos, and headed to main street (with Jer, Michelle and Ava too)! We walked around a bit, checking out the cars, and looking for some cotton candy, Teniah wanted some! We finally found some cotton candy, and KiKi was so funny...she was licking it. She finally ended up just eating it, but I thought it was cute when she was licking it. :0P

Teniah also wanted to go on a ride. She found a ride that is similar to the ferris wheel, but it was enclosed. I thought for sure she would be scared, but she wasn't ... she laughed the whole time!

Can you tell that she had fun!!!

So not only was it the July Jamboree, it was my 10 year high school reunion! I seriously can't believe that it has been that long since high school. It was so great to see everyone that was there. Quite a few of the people there I haven't seen since high school. We ended up just having it at Pizza Factory, which was really fun.

I think that I look pretty much the same as I did in high school!

We're still BEST FRIENDS!!

Jessica, James, Jer and Michelle!

Hang 10!

Some of the gals!! I had so much fun chatting with these girls!

At the Airport!!!!

So, we didn't really know if we would be able to meet up at the

airport or not, but we ended up having flights about 40 minutes apart. Because of that, we were

able to spend the majority of the day together. My girl Carol and I were just checking in her

bags when Robert called me and said he was at the airport! We went to check in his bags.....

and we walked around for a while and ate some lunch. Because so many soldiers go in and out of the Atlanta Airport, they have a USO area for them. They have a place to go and relax, have some free food, and the are always willing to help. (Luckily they had one in Dallas where Robert was flying to, because his connecting flight was cancelled, and the USO helped him find a cheap hotel room, as well as give him some toiletries. In the airport there was this really cool "clock tower"

and the shops and the terminals were surrounding it. Since we hardly had any photos together, we asked one of Robert's platoon buddies to take this photo of us!

Us at the Airport...my favorite picture!

Robert and Persons, his battle buddy

We also ran into his battle buddy, who through this 10 week process, had become good friends with. Since we didn't get a picture of them together on Grad day, we took one then! I hope that they continue their friendship!

Forever Friends, Carol and Me!

While Robert was making friends with Persons, I was making friends with Carol. We met on facebook, through the Fort Benning facebook page. Her husband graduated the same day as Robert, but was in a different company. We talked throughout the whole 10 weeks on facebook and on the phone as well. Whenever either of us had a bad day, we were there for each other. Both of us were traveling alone, and decided that it would be fun to go together. We met in the airport and then drove to graduation. We stayed at the same hotel and all in all had a wonderful

time together!! We've been through so much together, that I am sure that we'll stay good friends!

Jason, Carol, me and Robert

This was just about an hour before I walked onto my plane. I sure love this man!! It meant EVERYTHING to me to see him, even if it was only for a couple of days! It was very hard to hug him, and walk onto my plane and him walk the other direction. I am sure that everyone on that plane thought I was a crazy psycho girl, I think I cried and cried for the first 20 minutes of the flight! :0)

Gold Phase!

Robert's platoon was Honor Platoon. They give out little gold banners for each event/title for each cycle. Robert's platoon won all of the banners but one! Their pole was full of gold banners that they all said they were in GOLD phase!!

This was taken the LAST NIGHT in the barracks!!!!

Graduation

Graduation Day!!!

These signs were posted all over the road, leading us to the graduation fields!

We parked the car and made the long walk to the bleachers. Along the way, we had to take a picture of us with these pretty pink trees! We found a spot to sit way up at the top! Just before the ceremony started, my friends brother in law, who is a Sergeant First Class, was able to get us front row seats, center field! It was awesome!! We were able to see the soldiers perfectly!!

This Army Band played music before the ceremony started, and a few during the ceremony. They did an amazing job and they did a great job marching, and making sure that their lines were straight!

As part of the Ceremony, they had a soldier and weapon display. The had smoke and 'cannons' (or something like them) firing. The soldiers came stalking through the mists. It was really pretty cool display. They told about what each soldiers job was and which weapon they had and the uses for it. It was very interesting!

Then they had the display we were all waiting for. Our soldiers were put through the test as they were to go from parade rest, to attention, to salute, etc. They were perfectly on time, and did a great job! The day was hot, and I wasn't wearing the uniform! The commanding officer gave them 30 seconds to wipe their brows and shake their legs. It was right after that one of the soldiers passed out. It was quite an amazing sight to see. As he started falling, three of the soldiers around him, caught him, and helped him to the ground. A few seconds later, they picked him up and put his arms around their shoulders. He was then moved quickly to the back of the group. A few moments later, he walked off the field. It was really neat to see the camaraderie of the soldiers...but I felt so bad! It was the hottest day that I spent there, it was at least 101 degrees and the humidity was high as well!!! As the last part of the graduation, they did a parade march in front of the bleachers. It worked out so great, because Robert was the closest to the bleachers!! He looked so great!!

Me and my handsome Soldier!!

The rest of the day included more relaxing!! We did go swimming for a little while, but it was still so hot, (and we had no sunscreen!) that we didn't stay out for very long! We watched another movie, and ate some more ice cream! We ate dinner at Fuddruckers, a really good burger place. When I had to drop Robert off at the barracks that night, I hung around there for a while, I talked with a few of the guys in Robert's platoon. They all had such a respect for him, as the platoon leader. It was cool to see. I stayed for a while once they had to be back. They did role call and such, it was interesting to see.

We had such a great time together, that we didn't want to see it end. I was really glad that the days went slowly!! At least I felt like I had a LONG good visit with my husband!

Family Day!

Family Day with Robert

I made it to the barracks about a half hour or so before the ceremony was to start. I found some of my favorite facebook friends and sat by them on the bleacher waiting for the soldiers to come out. They marched out in their class A uniforms, singing some cadence. And this is Robert's Platoon! The Spartans...Because they always line everyone up by height, Robert is always in the back...and you can't really see him! The commander gave a little history about the beret and then all of the soldiers bent down and rose (at the same time, which was really impressive!) with them on their heads. They also sang the Army Song, which was pretty cool when sung by about 240 new soldiers! After which they released the soldiers to their families for the day.

I have to share this picture of Robert's bunk mate ... meeting his son for the first time. Every time we saw him, he was holding his son. I also talked quite a bit with his wife, and I got to hold the little guy! Such a cute little baby, with a HEAD FULL of dark hair!

Perez and Baby Zach

The Gravel PIT

So before we left for "the real world" I wanted to see the gravel pit. So Robert took me there, and it was here that him and his platoon were "smoked" (punished, put in pain, etc.) 31 times in 10 weeks. I walked through it in my flip flops and sunk down. I can't imagine trying to RUN through it with drill sergeants yelling at you along the way!

We spent the rest of the day eating, shopping and TOTALLY RELAXING!! I'm glad that I thought about bringing Robert some "civvies" (normal clothes!) because I swear that was his favorite thing! Once he got those clothes on, he didn't want to go anywhere (because he'd have to change!). I honestly can't believe how much he slimmed down, because he ate like a HORSE!! Seemed like we were always eating! But I told him that he could have whatever he wanted, ended up being: Ihop omelet with pancakes, pizza and brownie, Baskin Robbins ice cream, and subway!

My Soldier!

I wanted to get a picture of Robert in his uniform before he left. I can't tell you how good he looked in it! He isn't suppose to really smile in uniform (just one of those crazy Army rules! The other one I didn't like was no PDA! How was I suppose to keep my hand out of his after 10 weeks!!!!) But he also had to leave to go back to the barracks, and I know he didn't want to and was kinda sad and tired too! But I wouldn't trade anything for that day!! It was the best day that I had in quite some time!

Me and My Soldier!

Here he is a little more happy!!

There was a beautiful sunset behind us, that the camera just couldn't capture.

The Time is NEAR!!!!!!!

I can't believe that the days I have been waiting for all summer are going to be here TOMORROW!!!!!!!! I am currently in Las Vegas, staying with my awesome cousins!!!!!! They are waking up extra early for me tomorrow to drive me to the airport!! I can't wait to be able to see and touch, and hug and kiss my husband!! These last 10 weeks have gone by quickly, but our journey isn't over yet! But I'm grateful for the 2 days that we get to spend together!!

These last 2 weeks for Robert have been hell for him. He went on his field training for a week. He was made platoon leader the day of his last big mission. He did so well at his mission, that the Drill Sergeant was so impressed that he introduced him to the company commander and then bragged about him to the commander. He is in charge of 55 guys and he has had a hard time getting them motivated to clean this week! I did get a phone call on Sunday, when none of the other platoon gals got one. Because the DS knew that Robert had been working so hard and accomplished the things that needed to get done. He let Robert go to the rec center, where he spent his time on the phone with me, eating Subway and checking his email!

Today I also got 2 phone calls from him, which is always nice! This time the WHOLE platoon got to call! So that's nice. It was kinda weird to say see you in a couple days. But it is here!!

I'll post some pictures from my visit when I can!

Week 6 Update

So I know I haven't been too good at updating Robert's weekly events lately, but here's the latest update! He is just finishing up week 6. This last week he has shot .50 calibers, thrown live hand grenades, and navigated the live ammo buddy course.

He is doing really well and excited for the last three weeks which end in a visit from ME!! haha

I was LUCKY to find 3 pictures of him this week ... they were doing some shooting. He looks really good and I'm SOOOOO glad to have a picture of his handsome face!

Monday they start their last field training. It is a week long course where they are out in the woods and using all the skills that they have learned so far. Robert mentioned in his last letter that before this training, he was rumored to be made the platoon leader. He is nervous about it, but said he'd step up if asked.

In this one, he is in the very back and you can just barely see his head!