GRADUATION......JOE HAS HIS WINGS!!!!!!

Graduation was last week. It was a very emotional week, plus the pregnancy hormones are in full effect. Joe's mom came from AZ and his dad came from TX. I was in good company because they love Joe and are as proud of him as I am. This past year and half has been very intense and full of stress and studying. You know when something is over people say it is bittersweet because it was hard, but they will miss stuff about it? I have to say that, for me, graduation was not bittersweet at all. I felt very relieved that Joe was finally done. I'm pretty sure most of the crying I did was because I was thinking about everything that we have been through to get to this point, and that it is finally over. Joe EARNED his wings!!!! It's not all smooth sailing from here, but the hell (yeah, I said it) that is UPT is done with. I will say that through this journey we have made a lot of friends that we are going to keep in touch with for years to come. Plus we got to live in the South which I had mixed feeling about to begin with, but I really do love it here and there is lots of stuff I will miss about it. On to a new adventure, right?

The Air Force set up a few activities for the families of the graduates. First we went to the squadron to meet everyone and have breakfast. Then we took a bus to the airfield where they fly their helicopters. We got to see all of the gear they need to fly. Then they took us in a pitch black room to demonstrate the night vision goggles. Very cool, plus we got to see River picking his nose when he thought no one was looking, that is nothing new.

River with the helmet

Ezra trying it with the clear visor.

The fam, doesn't Ezra look happy?

There was also a display of the aircrafts that Joe trained on for us to look at. First the T-6 plane that he flew in Mississippi. Some of his instructors from Miss actually flew the plane over and Joe got to visit with them.

Joe and the boys on the T-6.

So the sad truth is if you see helicopters everyday, and you've already got to play in the one at your dad's work that you are allowed to sit in and push all of the buttons, seeing another one can get pretty boring if you're 7 or 4 years old.
Here we are, in the Huey, trying to get Ezra to smile.

At the graduation ceremony the boys and I got to go on the stage to pin Joe's wings on him, then we posed for pictures taken by a professional.

Here is Joe's page in the program. I was very honored that the boys and I could pin Joes' wings on him. I did feel like it was my right to pin those bad boys on Joe, but when I saw it in writing on the program I was very touched and got emotional about it. Did I say that I am so proud of Joe for working so hard, and that I'm glad it is over?

Later that night we went to dinner with all of the graduates and their families. Once again very boring if you are 7 and 4. Joe was awesome and made up a song that had the boys cracking up.

Isn't this a fun pic?


Up next for the Lasuras. We are having the ultrasound to find out if it's a boy or a girl on the 4th of April. We have to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico by April 15th to start the next phase of helicopter training. We are still waiting for official orders, so we can't really get the ball rolling on our huge list of things to do until we get the orders.

Joe here...Wow. The resemblance is uncanny. I can't believe Joan made me shave it. One weird thing is for the twenty one days I had it no one made eye contact with me. I wonder why.
P.S.(it's Joan) Joe cannot grow hair in the middle of his upper lip, he did not shave it to look that way.