The Latest

What a week it has been... Last Wednesday, my sister-in-law, Andrea, came down to stay with me so that we could drive together to Columbia for the graduation (her husband was graduating, too). Beau's mom and dad would be driving down to Columbia from Maryland. When Andrea got here from Atlanta, the weather was terrible; the kids were tired and it was getting dark. So, I made a quick phone call to confirm that our reservation would still be available, and we decided to stay for the night and leave first thing Thursday morning.


We left early Thursday and had beautiful weather. We made it to our seats and then heard, "Boom, boom, boom!" On the field there were many different colored smoke bombs going off in front of the line of trees in the distance. A huge cloud of smoke billowed across the field and then all of the soldiers appeared through the haze. A very dramatic entrance- I would have enjoyed it more except that the boom scared Gwen and she was huddled against my chest. She quickly recovered, however, and we were able to listen to the introduction for family day.

Once the instructions were given about what the soldiers were and weren't allowed to do, we were able to meet up with one another. Of course, everyone rushed the field, all looking for their own family members, so it took a long time for me to actually get down from the bleacher seat that I had with Gwen. As I got to the front railing, my phone rang. The caller ID said that it was Beau's mom, so I quickly answered hoping she had found Beau (since I couldn't find him in the see of green uniforms I was looking at). It was Beau and he was standing just below me on the the field! I handed Gwen off to him and made it down the stairs as quickly as I could. Gwen had no problem going to her Daddy and promptly laid her head down on his shoulder.

Once we finally met up, we took a few pictures and then found Elliot and his family. The guys were only given an on base pass, so we had to compete with everyone else for lunch. We ended up waiting two hours for Burger King- yum. At that point, I didn't care what we ate, as long as we ate. Thank goodness I had snacks for Gwen.

Elliot, Dad Person and Beau in front of the Maryland flag

The boys

After lunch we went to check into our hotel on base- I had been anxious about it and wanted to do it earlier, but we weren't able to. Well, we got to the desk and they said the reservation had been cancelled. I was so upset. I "politely yelled" at the desk clerk asking her why it was cancelled when I had spoken with someone the night before who had told me our reservation would be held. Of course she said that there was no note in our file and that there was nothing she could do since they weren't a regular hotel chain. After saying a few more words about the fact that we would have driven our three cranky little kids through the downpour if we'd known that we were going to lose our room, it was clear that were weren't getting anywhere. We ended up going to the Travel Agency on post to try to make other arrangements. I was still so upset that I decided to take a walk with Gwen and I let Beau and Andrea handle the details. They eventually emerged with a hotel room off base for the first night and an on base apartment for the second night. I had been told of course, that the on base apartment had been booked solid when I tried to reserve it two weeks before, but I digress...

Beau's lovely bottom bunk

Elliot, Scott, Brock and Andrea

We finally got everything sorted out and took a tour of the barracks with Beau and Elliot. Afterwards we went to a social at the church building on base. The missionary couple in Beau and Elliot's branch wanted to meet their family. They were very nice and were sad to see them leave. Later we grabbed some food and then Elliot and Beau had to be back in their rooms by 8pm. As we drove back through the base after dropping off the boys, I was able to listen as the different companies sounded off outside their rooms. Their chanting echoed off of the brick buildings and sounded like one voice- it was a very proud and patriotic moment for me as I listened.

The next morning we made it to the graduation field just in time. The companies marched in a parade around the field behind the amazing band. After all of the awards were given for each company, we were finally able to meet our soldiers on the field. Once again, it was mass hysteria- I really wish they would have just kept everyone in their companies so we could find them more easily. After wandering and wandering, Beau borrowed someone's cell phone and I was able to find him. We took some more pictures and met everyone for lunch. Mom and Paul were able to come which was a nice surprise for Beau.

After lunch, Beau was free to go, but Elliot had to return by 8pm. We found our apartment and got settled in so the kids could take their naps.


We found out Saturday morning that Beau didn't have to check in at Fort Bragg until Sunday around 11:30am, so that gave us more time to visit with everyone. Eventually we drove up to Fayetteville to stay with our sister-in-law Jeanette, while Elliot and Andrea stayed in Columbia (Elliot's AIT is at Fort Jackson, SC). I brought Easter baskets for Gwen and Beau, so Beau was good enough to humor me. :)

Sunday we were able to go to Sacrament with Jeanette and then Beau had to report to the Fort. I left after dropping Beau off on base and headed out on the road. Gwen did well for a little one who wasn't feeling well, and I was home by about 4:30pm. Beau was able to call last Sunday and Monday, but won't be able to call again until this Sunday. After that he should be able to keep his cell phone with him and have free time in the afternoons. Since they don't have an LDS chapel on the base, Beau will be able to go to church with Jeanette every Sunday while he's there. Eventually he'll get a pass that will allow him to leave base during the weekend as long as he stays in Fayetteville.

Gwen has just shoved as many jelly beans as possible into her mouth...

At some point I'll be visiting Beau again while he's at AIT, but for now I'm just going to try to get back into a routine with Gwen. As soon as I have an address for Beau I'll let you know- he would still love to receieve letters and he may be able to receive phone calls after awhile. I'll keep you posted.