Monday, September 21, 2009

Matthew's graduation and our trip to Ft. Knox Kentucky

I would be lying if I said we had a wonderful trip. The only good part of the trip was that I got to see my Son. The military personnel of Ft. Knox have a long way to go to even come close to being a little nice....that's enough about that. Let's just sum it up with there were good parts to the trip and bad parts and right now I am going to focus on the GOOD....
I want to thank all of you who kept us in your prayers, I did just fine on the planes and actually kind of liked it :) I know I would not have been able to do it without the support of your prayers, my husband and of course the continuing peace from the Lord. I knew that if I wanted to see my son that I had to get on that plane and I DID IT !!! I even surprised myself that I didn't have a major malfunction right there in the airport.

We got into Louisville at about 11:20AM Wednesday morning, and after picking up our rental care we were on our way to our hotel.
The lobby area of the Hyatt Regency downtown Louisville~(looking down from our floor)


Our hotel room~
The bed area~



Some views from our room~
Day view~




Night view of a different building~






We took a short nap and then went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants~ Cracker Barrel~


Me inside the Cracker Barrel just to prove that I did go to Louisville I had my picture taken with the plates and things that said Louisville on them :) ~



We don't have those out here in the west so when I have the opportunity to eat there I do. Wonderful service and food.

Thursday morning we headed toward Ft. Knox~




The main visitor entrance~




Then we preceded over to Brooks field for the graduation ceremony~

Some pictures of the graduation~

The entire Charlie company, all 4 platoons~



Matthew is in 1st Platoon ~front row 3rd from the left


Marching in formation coming onto the field~




Parade rest~


Standing at attention~




Taking the oath~




Saluting the colors~


The Color guard~



Marching off the field~




After the graduation they went back to their barracks and changed, then finally after 120 days of not seeing him I got to get a big hug from my Son~


We did some running around on base getting some things done that he needed to do. He got a cell phone so now I can text him and he can call me whenever they allow him the use of it. They let him text a lot more than call which is fine with me...now my phone is like my lifeline to him so I carry it real close by wherever I go.
We also visited the George S. Patton Museum and I took a few pictures with Matthew standing by some of the tanks~





All too soon our time with him came to an end and I had to give him back to the military, it was so hard and I have to be honest I didn't cry when I gave him that last hug but on the way to the airport and in the plane was a different story, every minute in the plane was a minute further away from my baby, he may be a grown man and a soldier but he will always be my baby!!


Here is his new barracks for the next 15 weeks while he is there for AIT~




This is the last picture before he headed inside and we left for the airport~





While we were there we (Roger and I ) did get to see the Louisville Zoo~

Some pictures of our visit~
Me in front of the Louisville Zoo sign~




The Lion~





The Rhino, boy are these things HUGE~





A couple of pictures of the gorillas~

These pictures were kind of hard to take as they were inside behind glass, but I got what I could. My favorite is of the Silver backs face even though it's kind of blurry he was looking right at me and I just loved that look...


















We also were able to stop off at Churchill Downs, what a beautiful place~



Then we were back in the air headed back home, what awesome majestic views the Lord provided for our trip back to California~


Clouds under the wing of the airplane~




Once again I want to send out a big THANK YOU to all my wonderful friends out there who kept us in your thoughts and prayers!!

6 comments:

  1. I am so glad you were able to see your son. I couldn't imagine letting go and allowing him to join the military. That could not have been easy. But thanks for supporting him in allowing him to keep our families safe. You, your son, and your family have my upmost respect. May God bless you all.

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  2. Awesome! Your pictures are wonderful... glad you had a safe trip. I know your heart had to be bursting with pride when you saw your son.

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  3. Dear Joann, My heart hurt for you as I read about your reunion with your son and then having to leave him again. I remember only too well the pain of leaving my son with the military. But, you did well and I'm glad you got some sightseeing in. Hey, I have that same green shirt you're wearing in the pic! :-) Glad you made it home safely.

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  4. Joann, I am so glad that you got to spend some time with your son. I know it was hard to leave him again. Glad you made it home safe and sound. Winona

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  5. Joann, I'm so glad you got to spend time with your son! It's great that you can focus on the good stuff. :) Glad you're home safe!

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  6. Beautiful pictures, Joann! I'm so glad to see that Matthew is doing well!

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Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving a comment, I truly thank you for your visit. Blessings,Joann