Graduation Day!!!

[Fort Leonard Wood, MO] Yesterday was another great day. We stayed at the hotel for the most part in the morning. I took a drive on post (at FLW) for a bit in the morning and watched platoons being "scolded" (to put it lightly) by drill sgts. Also watched a cattle truck pull up to a barracks building and saw a group of soldiers get out carrying what looked like about 40 pounds of stuff each. Looked like they had been on an FTX.

We picked Lindsay up at noon. She was feeling sore and tired. Someone in 4th platoon had gotten caught using a cell phone that night and they took the whole company out into the cold in their PT's (pajamas) and made them stand out there for 40 minutes. Lindsay was not a happy camper.

We went to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch where we got to hear more stories from Basic Training. After lunch, we came back to the hotel where Lindsay came up to our room. We went through some of the 20 pounds of mail she got from you all. The amount of mail she got was amazing. We really appreciate every single person who took the time to write her.

After eating pretty much everything in our room, Lindsay changed into her civilian clothes and fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

When she woke up, we went out to eat at Ryan's Steak House. We had another great dinner and more time with Lindsay. We had just a short amount of time after that to come back to the hotel. Lindsay wanted a massage, so Karen spent a few minutes doing that. After that, we took Lindsay back for her LAST NIGHT IN THE BARRACKS. She took all her belongings that will be going to D.C. with her (including her fife). She also took our digital camera into the barracks last night. She wanted to take a bunch of pictures of her friends. We'll see how that went.

It's about 7am right now. We're leaving in 15 minutes to go to post. She graduates in just about an hour. Directly afterwards, she gets on a bus and goes to the St. Louis airport to fly to Ft. Myer.

This last few days has been great, but has gone way too fast.

Finally...

[Fort Leonard Wood, MO] The drive down was uneventful. We left at 6:30am Tuesday morning and got to Fort Leonard Wood at 6:15pm. We spent the evening driving around (mostly at Walmart getting Lindsay some snacks).

Yesterday was the day though. We attended the family briefing given by Captain Flores. He gave us all the information we needed for the next few days. Also, we saw a slide show of photos of Lindsay's company. After the briefing, we all walked across the street to the A company barracks where our troops were waiting in formation for us. Lindsay was in the front row and was having trouble keeping from smiling when she saw us.

After lots of hugging and tears, we toured her barracks. We saw her bunk, her locker and the room she has spent the last 10 weeks in. Not many creature comforts there.

We got to take her off post, so (naturally) we ended up at Cracker Barrel where we all had a great meal with Lindsay. She had lots of amazing stories to tell us. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and we all just relaxed for a few hours. Lindsay made a couple of phone calls to friends and spent the rest of the time visiting with us.

Later that evening, we went to the Warriors Banquet. This was a very nice event. The food was great and the speech by the commander was really good. I guess the females in Lindsay's company did so well in grenade tossing that they are considering raising the standard. The commanders made the night a "no make way/at ease" night, but the new soldiers could not bring themselves to be that relaxed around the drill sgts. Every time one would walk by Lindsay would immediately go against the wall and put her hands behind her back. This was quite entertaining to watch the whole night. We got to meet one of her drill sgts. who called her his "lean, mean, killing machine." He also said that he knows that Lindsay will be an excellent addition to her group, but "if the going gets rough, you know you can do what you gotta do, right?" Lindsay said "yes, drill sgt."

We dropped her off at her barracks shortly before 8pm. She was sad to be going back, but she knew she had one more day left. Her company was doing a company graduation run this morning (at 4:30am) and it snowed about 3" overnight.

It's about 9:15am (MO time) and we all just finished breakfast. We get to pick Lindsay up at 12pm. We have her until 8pm again today. Graduation is Friday morning.

That's about it for now. More details and photos to follow. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Ten long weeks...

We leave in the morning for Ft. Leonard Wood! This is what we've been waiting so long for. September 28th seems so long ago. Speaking of "waiting so long," we've had a few discussions lately about how fast/slow the last 10 weeks have gone. Seems like for our family, it has been about the longest 10 weeks in history. Most other people say it went really quick. Either way, it's time to go to Missouri and hug my baby girl. I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight...

On a related note, I talked with Melissa yesterday. She asked for our thoughts and prayers this week. She is appearing before the promotion board of the Old Guard today. This will be her third attempt at E-7. She has been in since '98. She should know something tomorrow. Good luck Melissa!!! May the third time be your charm.

Phone call!!!

Lindsay called this evening. She sounds very excited and relieved. She has completed all of her training and has only a few more days before she ships out to Ft. Myer. She has lots of amazing stories to tell us. Can't wait!

Lindsay is doing fine...

Just got off the phone w/Melissa (and Kara!). Kara is now at Ft. Myer and moving into her room. She said that she got to talk briefly with Lindsay this morning and she is feeling better and can't wait to get out of there. Sounds like Kara and Lindsay will be neighbors. They will have private rooms a couple doors down from each other.

I am ready to go. I can't wait for Tuesday to get here so we can get down there. Only a couple weeks until we get her home for Christmas!

No word, but we're going!

Last time we heard anything from Lindsay was on Thanksgiving (the 24th). She had a few challenges left to overcome at that point and we're hoping that everything went well. We'll be leaving Tuesday morning for Missouri. Calendar of events is as follows:

Tuesday, December 6:
6am Leave Canton
7-8pm - Arrive at St. Robert, MO Baymont Inn

Wednesday, December 7:
11am-12pm - Family brief
12pm-6pm - Family PASS (on post)
6pm-8pm - Warrior Banquet

Thursday, December 8:
12pm-8pm - Family PASS (off post)

Friday, December 9:
8am-9am - GRADUATION CEREMONY
10am - Soldier Shipping (Lindsay leaves for Ft. Myer, VA)
Remainder of day - Drive home!

Stay tuned for news and photos from Ft. Leonard Wood!

p.s. Congratulations to Kara (Lindsay's friend and fellow Old Guard recruit) who graduates tomorrow morning!