Just call me "Emo"

Ok, this will be a pretty long post, so take warning! We got back today from South Carolina and while it was a quick trip, we are certainly glad to be back home with our kiddos. Here's an overview of our trip:

On Wednesday afternoon, we headed down to SC, with a connecting flight in Memphis. It was a pretty smooth trip and we had about two hours to kill in Memphis so we had time to relax and have some dinner. I decided that I really don't like their airport because the ticketing area was NOT air-conditioned, and the food wasn't so great at the restaurant we went to. (I did like all the "I love Elvis" stores, however.) We pulled into SC around 10:30pm and took a taxi to our hotel where my mom, brothers and sister-in-law were already in bed sleeping. Oh, to explain the title of this post, my brother decided during the trip that I'm an "Emo"---meaning: a person that can't control their emotions. I will gladly answer to this name after counting how many times I cried in the past two and a half days. First time crying: on the plane to Memphis. Literally, as the plane was taking off, I was bursting into tears. I was so sad to leave my babies at home (even though they were being well taken care of by my in-laws) and I was also so happy to be seeing my sister. It was a happy-sad crying experience, as many women can relate to, I'm sure! :) Back to the crazy schedule! On Thursday, we woke up around 5:30am to get to the Army base by 7:00am. Thursday was "Family Day" and we were allowed to spend the day with Torie at the base (she wasn't allowed to leave but it's like a little town on the base). They had a demonstration starting at 7:30am and let me tell you, it was AWESOME!! All the families of hundreds of soldiers were sitting in the bleachers on a big field. All of a sudden, an Army vehicle drives into the middle of the field and an announcer explains a situation involving "insurgents" (who were the guys driving the vehicle). All of a sudden, 4 Army soldiers dressed in full combat gear run out and throw yellow smoke and lay down with their weapons drawn and then 4 more soldiers run out and point their weapons from another angle. The whole time, smoke is all over the place on the field and the song "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" is playing in the air. Ok, crying fit #2: I start balling out of excitement and also fear because MY SISTER IS NOW A SOLDIER AND TRAINED FOR FULL COMBAT SITUATIONS! Freakin' scary for me!!! The soldiers take down the "insurgents" and do some more cool poses. At this point, I am shaking because I can't wait to see my little sister and I'm wondering where they are going to come out onto the field from. All of a sudden, yellow and purple smoke is all over the place and all the graduating soldiers run out from the woods (which were on the other side of the field from the bleachers). They are shouting as they run and the stands go WILD!!! Everyone has been waiting to see "their soldier" for at least 9 weeks and there they are!! Of course, everyone looked the same, so after they line up and their commander gave a speech, it was a mad-dash to get down on the field and find our girl. We all stood on the bleachers and saw her and we were all screaming and waving our hands. I've never experienced such panicked excitement in all of my life. My brother, Ben, squeezed through the crowd ahead of us, ran onto the field and was standing right next to Torie but didn't know it. The rest of us were on the bleachers, still, screaming at both Torie and Ben that the person they were searching for was right next to them. In true Torie fashion, she looked straight at Ben and just waited for him to realize that she was there. He looked behind her and around her, not even realizing how she had changed. Torie looks FABULOUS!! She is all muscle and she just looks gorgeous. Lots more tears from me when I got to finally hug my baby sister.

Ok, I know that was a lot of detail, but it was such an awesome experience that I just had to tell you. If you know anyone who has graduated from basic training or if you did, isn't is just great? I never thought I would feel such excitement and joy for every thing that I saw at the base. We spent the rest of the morning/afternoon hanging out and seeing the sites. Of course, I forgot my camera in the hotel room that day, so I'll have to steal pictures from Stef when they get back in town. We left Torie around dinner time so she could spend some time packing and relaxing since she was going to leave for Texas on Saturday morning and we knew that Friday would be a busy day. Crying fit #3: playing Pond Scum with my siblings. At one point, I almost peed my pants and believe me, I was crying again because I was laughing so hard! (This is when Jon told me that I'm an "Emo", by the way.)

Friday, we woke up at 5am to get through the gates of the base by 6:30am. We had breakfast on base then went to the graduation. Hooah!! It was wonderful and once again, the waterworks started when the soldiers said their "Soldiers' Creed" and shouted "I am an American Soldier!" Just awesome!! Torie got to go off base after the graduation, so we went to lunch, drove around Columbia, SC, and saw a movie. It was so nice to spend some time with her and see that she hasn't lost her fun spirit. That was the thing I was most worried about, but I can assure you, the true Torie is still in there! :) It was hard to leave her at the end of the day, knowing that it will be months before I see her again. (More tears!!)

Picture Time!

Look at this girl!


Still the Torie we know and love:


Torie marching during graduation:


Torie's Army-issued BCG's (Birth Control Glasses). Wonder why they call them that?? ;)


I think I could stand to do a little "boot camp exercising". :) (Sorry, I didn't have time to get the red-eye out of this picture.)



We came home this afternoon and had a heck of a time at the airport. We took a little plane from SC to Detroit. It was the kind of plane that has two seats on each side and Chris and I were sitting with an aisle in between us. The guy that ended up sitting next to me was VERY stinky and the cabin was super hot because the air-conditioning was broken, which made the stench even worse. (I'm getting a headache just thinking about it!) Once in Detroit, we had to literally RUN OUR BUTTS OFF to get to our connecting flight. Looks like the Detroit airport has good shopping but I'm a little peeved that Northwest made our connecting gates so far apart with so little time to spare, so I really never want to go to that airport again. We were the last ones on our plane and luckily, we were in an empty row (the only one on the plane) so we got to relax a little bit. By that point, all we wanted to do was get home and hug the kids and we were so relieved that we made the connecting flight. (Last crying fit--when I realized on the plane that my time with my sister was really over but we were going to see the kids in just a couple of hours. Emo!!) We got home safe and sound (with yellow chalk all over our black suitcase, but by that point, we could care less!) and it seems as though the kids were pretty well-behaved while we were gone, which is nice. When I asked Caleb if he was a good listener, he said "We went in the stroller to the park but I wanted to walk. I didn't listen to Grandma at the park because I didn't want to go home." Uh-oh! Grandma assured us that he was telling a fib, so I do hope he WAS a good listener the whole time. (Lying about being naughty? Do kids really do this?)

Anyways, if you've made it to the end of this post, sorry that it was so long!! :)