Ian's 2nd Birthday

11/16 is Ian's birthday. But we were on the road. And we won't be able to celebrate for him at all. I was thinking we will celebrate later on when Pat can come home. But Susan and Doug did something.

Susan and Doug bought a cake for Ian the night before when we stayed in their house. And also prepared a gift for Ian. Thank you for being thoughtful and prepared all these for Ian. Ian loves the cake and the truck he got. He also loves seeing and playing with his cousins.

We left their house at 6:00 am Monday morning. after 8 hours driving, we got to Biloxi about 2:00pm. There were 6 missionaries came over to help us unload the stuffs. And they live across the street from our apartment complex. That's so great!!! Thanks for those elders. So we didn't have to unload everything by ourselves. After that, we went to a chinese buffet for dinner whih is 2 blocks away from our apartment. Then we called it a day.

Although I still have lots of boxes everywhere, it feel so great to finally sleep in my own bed.

The last day---11/15 Sunday

Today is the last day in Lackland AFB. Pat is going to ship out after midnight. And we are going to go to Houston for the night.

Pat only has base liberty today which means we are going to stay on base the whole day. That would be a problem because there aren't many things you can do on base. But anyway, we are going to stay with him until he goes back to the dorm at 6:00pm. Pat has church service at 7:00 am and he is going to give a talk. So Nancy and I decided to go to church with him which means we need to get up at 5:30 am in order to be there on time. It takes 30 minutes to go to base from our hotel.

We were there on time. To my surprise is there are around 100 people today at the church. That's a lot. We went to the chapel on base in El Paso. There is only one soldier there for the church service. It's amazing to see all the LDS airman there. It's even amazing to see those female airman. I have high respect for them. It's interesting how your perspective changed so much in just a couple month.

Pat had a nice talk on family. We both realized how much we took each other for granted before this. And how important we are for each other. That is a good thing to know.

We hung out at the BX and park for a long time until Pat is tired and decided to go back to the dorm earlier. So we left and got on the road and hope that everything is going to be well in Biloxii, Mississippi. Our future is await us.

My little airman

Ian and Pat played at the park.

His official airman picture. I love it.

Sea world and dinner with everyone---11/14 Saturday

Best day ever!

Today,Pat has town pass from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

We went to pick him up at 9:00am. We went to food court for breakfast. He went for Cinnabon and I got to to go Starbucks. Then we went to BX to look for a luggage for him.

Our plan for today is to go to Sea World with families and go back to hotel for some rest in the afternoon. Then have dinner when Charles' family get in.

We had fun in Sea World. I mean, Ian had a lot of fun. We went to the Shamu show and Ian was totally amazed by it. He can't even move his eyes away from the show. This Saturday is also the military appreciation day in Sea World. So we got package with tickets and all you can eat BBQ lunch. It was great!!! All you see is the airman and their families eating lunch together.

After lunch, we went back to hotel, watched some TV, just enjoyed our time together. Poor Pat had to wear his "blues" all the times. So he can't get really comfy. Charles' family came and we all went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. Then we drove him back to base at 7:45pm. It was a great day.

The Graduation---11/13 Friday

Today is even exiting day because Pat has "town pass" which allows him to get off base.

Today's schedule is:

9:00 am----Graduation Parade
10:15 am---Dormitory open house
12:00 pm---Town Pass
8:00 pm----Airman back to the dorm

We arrived at the parade ground at 8:15 am in order to get a parking spot. Fortunately, we got a parking spot and a good spot for the parade. When we got there this morning, it was very foggy. So the Airman got to wear their formal wear for the parade. I love it. Pat looked so sharp in his formal wear.

The airman are released for base liberty immediately following the graduation parade. And Pat rode with us back to his dorm and we got to see his dorm.

At 12:00 pm, he is released for town pass until 8:00 pm. We went back to the hotel and hung out for a while. Then we went to Riverwalk and The Alamo with the rest of the families.

There are so many rules. He needs to wear the hat outside and take it off inside. You must be taking it off or putting it on as you walk through the door. The car counts inside. He can't wear sunglass. (We don't know why. But I think if they wear sunglasses nobody is going to recognize them. They already look all the same with the hat, the hairstyle and the uniform. Seriously, it's really hard to recognize who is who without looking at them real close.) His jacket can only unzip down to the center. The hat is tipped slightly to the right. He can't walk and talk on the phone.

It's a wonderful day for us. And tomorrow is going to be even better because he will have town pass for the whole day!!

These couple months were a real challenge for our family. Not only to Pat, but Ian and I. But when we saw him at the graduation, everything is so worthy. All the suffering, the time we separated, all the hustle were paid off when I saw him with his airman attire. I know this is the right thing to do for him and for our family.

He's changed a lot since he left for BMT. I'm very proud of my husband chose to serve his country. I know he can do it. I know he will do great. I love my Airman!

See! How we take this picture? Because we can't get too close!!

Coin Ceremony---11/12 Thursday

His brother flight---we thought that's his flight

The short hug right after the Coin Ceremony

Take a walk in the park

My airman and his little one

Ian had a lot of fun looking at all the airplanes at the park

After a day's driving, we arrived San Antonio on Wednesday night. We stayed in Fairfield Inn. We had a very nice room. Thanks for Charles.

Today's Schedule is :

7:00 am---Briefing
8:00 am---Airman's Run
9:00 am---Briefing
11:00am---Coin Ceremony/Retreat
12:00 pm--Base liberty (he is free to go anywhere on base, but not off base)
8:00 pm---Airman back to their dorm

The Briefing is at 7:00 am and the airman's run is at 8:00 am. We really want to go to the airman's run. But we didn't. We are so tired that we can't get up at 5:30am this morning. So we decided to go for the 9:00 am briefing and the the Coin Ceremony at 11:00. I felt so bad that I didn'tmake it to the Airman's run. But we really need some sleep.

The briefing is to tell us what you can do and what you can't do on base. Like you can't talk on the phone while you're driving. Always follow the speed limit and use the turning signal and etc.

Then is the Coin Ceremony. The Coin Ceremony is where you will be presented with the Air Force Airman's Coin. After this event, you'll no longer be called a "trainee." You've earned the right to be called "Airman." And you are officially one of the United States Air Force.

They had given us a map of where each flight would be positioned. So we hurried to find a good spot for us to see him. But you know what, we remember his flight number wrong. We thought it's 735 instead of 736. So we got there and watched the wrong flight the whole time. No wonder we can't find him. Larry and I tried to indentify which one is him. We had defferent opinions. But turn out we were both wrong. Hahaha!!!

After the coin ceremony, we went to lunch. He said he needs real food. So wen went to a BBQ place on base. Then we went to a park for a while. Larry tooked Ian so we can enjoy some times together. It's good to see him. But so hard to not hold his hand. Yes, while he has his uniform on, you are not suppose to touch him. So we only get a hug after the coin ceremony. There is no holding hands nor kiss. Then we went to BX to kill some time while Ian took his nap in the car with grandma and grandpa.

We dropped him at the mini mall near his dorm at 7:30pm. It's an exhausted but happy day. And tomorrow is going to be better because he has town pass all day which allows him to get off base.Yay! Can't wait!!

I'm proud of you, my Airman!