Disclaimer: This is mainly for my record, so I'm going to try to be as detailed as possible. So I'm sorry if thats boring to some of you. Also the humidity was terrible. So don't mind the super pretty hair do's. Also, there is going to be a lot of pictures, not all of them are going to be very exciting though.
The time is finally here!
Jon graduated from Basic Training.
It was the worst best trip of my life...let me explain.
We started our trip on monday by driving down to Vegas after everyone got off work. Our flights were early Tuesday morning so we (me, Taegen, Mark, JaRene, JoLee, Delecta and Lucas) figured driving down monday would make things a little easier on us. Well, here's where the trouble began. We got directions from mapquest, but apparently they were for the wrong hotel. Ours was a couple minutes from the airport, but the one we pulled up to was out in Henderson. He thought this was a little weird, but just figured they lied about the travel time. turns out, Mapquest pulled up the wrong address. By the time we got to the right hotel it was 9pm. Taegen had fallen asleep, but that didn't last long. When we went to check in they didn't have the right paperwork we needed. You see, JaRene's nephew was getting us a deal on the hotel since he works for the hotel chain we were staying at, and since it's a discounted room there is special paperwork from him that we need. Well it was faxed down but apparently they never got it. The paperwork for the hotel SC were supposed to be sent there as well, and that didn't arrive. We eventually got everything squared away but it took over an hour. So by the time we got into our rooms it was 10pm vegas time, 11pm our body time. Taegs was exhausted. We walked into our room and he freaked out. I don't know what it was, but he hated being in it. It took a good 3 days for him to get use to staying in a hotel room. The minute I closed the door he started crying and ran to it wanting out. It was weird.
We woke up early Tuesday morning to make our 9am flight. Everyone else got on a 6am flight so it was just me and Taegs. I didn't get much sleep, I was just a little excited :) So I was pretty exhausted to begin with. We got on the flight and Taegen slept for an hour and a half. Mind you it was a 4 hour flight. He actually did pretty good for the remaining of the flight. The people around us were really good and Taegs had a fun time playing with them. He'd stand on my knees and play peek a boo with the people in front of us. They all loved it. We had a short lay over in Charlotte and then had another 20 minute flight to get to Columbia. He did great on that flight too. We got off the flight and went to the rental car company where I find out the only car they have is a big E-350 Economy van. Ummm no thank you. I called JaRene and asked them to come get me. Turns out they had to rent a car in Atlanta and drive the rest of the way to Columbia so the rental car they had reserved at the airport in columbia was still available. So luckily after a little bit of shuffling around we got it all worked out. We hopped in the car and off to the hotel we went. We got there, check in, then went to eat at the waffle house. Which is great and all, but to me is just another Denny's. I don't quite understand all they hype about it...JaRene! haha.
We woke up super early and headed over to the Army base Ft Jackson. Luckily we left early enough that we didn't hit a ton of traffic.
We got to the field, did a little shopping around at the booths, then parked ourselves in the bleachers and waited for the big event. I can't tell you how excited I was! After an hour the soldiers were bussed over to the field and we saw them all getting off. Of course they were too far away so we couldn't see Jon, but just knowing that he was over there was super exciting.
About an hour later the ceremony began. They had a few people talk about Army related things then the Army theme song came on over the PA system and a whole bunch of smoke bombs went off. After a minute we see the soldiers marching in formation towards us. It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't help but cry. The pictures just don't do it justice. We recorded it and I'm hoping to be able to get a digital copy.
They all stood in formation for a little bit while someone else talked for a little bit, then they finally gave the go ahead for everyone to rush down and find their soldier. They had to stay on the field in formation until their family found them. With all those soldiers you can imagine how many people were there. Once we finally got down to the field, I had a really hard time finding him. Jon had told me before hand where he would be standing, but there was so many people that the rows had long since dissolved. JaRene then yells my name and points me in his direction. When I saw him his eyes were searching the crowd but he wasn't moving. I forgot to ask, but my guess is he heard JaRene yell my name so he was trying to find me. Because when JaRene first spotted him she said he was just standing there not moving or looking around at all. Seeing him for the first time was incredible!!!! He was so handsome in his uniform. We were told we had to keep things "G" rated haha, so we spared everyone the make out session. Finally being in his arms was the best feeling. I'm actually tearing up just thinking about it. Once I gave Taegen to Jon he did not want to go to anyone else. I went to give Jon a hug and Taegen actually pushed me away. Like "no he's mine!" It was pretty funny. Jon loved it. The whole trip Taegen wanted daddy more than anyone and Jon LOVED it. When he left back in July Taegen was going through a mommy phase and wanted only me. So the change just made Jon feel so good. In fact, any time Jon had to leave Taegs would freak out. It made Jon feel so bad yet so good at the same time.
first kiss :)
Look how happy they both are!
us with Jon's parents Mark and JaRene
Jon hugging his mom
and his dad
Taegen was so happy to finally see his daddy!
After we said our hellos, we met a few of Jon's friends, specifically Enslow. They became really good friends, in fact Jon actually introduced him to the gospel and actually baptized him! Now that I think about it, I don't think we even got a pic of them together :( After that we all got in the car and headed to his barracks. He had to get a few things before we could start our day. For family day we were allowed to hang out until 2030 (8:30 for all of you not familiar with military time. I'm trying to get use to it, and its fairly difficult), but we had to stay on base the whole time. After graduation the next day he would be granted an off base pass. But for now, we were limited to the activities on base. We went shopping, ate, visited the church house to meet the missionaries, went to the park, hung out at the Solomon center which had games, a bounce house, a rock climbing wall, and tables and chairs to relax.
I tried to capture Jon's facial expression but he turned his head right as I took this pic. He was just grinning from ear to ear watching Taegs jump around.
My soldier, relaxing at the solomon center
eating lunch at the park/pond
yummy peanut butter
I love this picture! We were practically inseparable the whole time
The next day was graduation. He left early again and had 2 hours to kill before everything started. Taegen got pretty restless to say the least. Grandma took him out to play in the dirt for a while. (pics from both family day and graduation day)
We got so many comments on Taegens hair. I guess mohawks on babies is only a western thing. We didn't see anyone else with this hair do, but back here in UT you can't go anywhere without seeing a mohawk on a baby. It was really weird.
The ceremony began with the band marching out playing a few numbers. Then the soldiers marched across the back of the field then forward towards us into formation. A few words were said to honor the POW/MIA soldiers and a few other things, the soldiers then all said "The Soldiers Creed". This too was amazing. They all said yelled it in unison...It was POWERFUL and moving. I hope we got a video of it. I'll be posting some videos after I finish this long post. They then all marched in front of the stands for the "Pass and Review". After that I was able to run to the other side of the field and pick up my soldier to sign him out for the day.
Jon is in the 4th row back, in the middle on the left.
We signed him out then headed off base. Everyone else had to go pack since they were leaving that night. So we went back to our hotel and put Taegs to sleep. We then went to the boot store for Jon to get new better boots and Taegs found this hat. He was actually putting it on his head, leaving it there and walking around even though it was covering his eyes and he couldn't see. He'd then shake his head to get it off. He just wanted to be like daddy :) We then went to eat then we found the Columbia temple. It was small but really pretty. After that everyone else had to leave. Jon said goodbye and we had the rest of the night with just our little family. It was nice to be just us again. We didn't really do much, but it was still nice.
Playing on the steps of the temple in the water
Our little family in front of the Columbia temple
siblings Jon, Jolee and Delecta with Taegs and Lucas
playing in the dirt :)
Jon and his mom JaRene
I had to drop Jon back off at the base by 4am. So we got up and left by 3:15, and good thing we did. I missed the exit and started freaking out because it was dark and I didn't know where I was going. Jon kept me calm and directed me to where we were supposed to be going. Luckily Jon wasn't late. Jon left his bags in the car to ensure that he'd get to see me again. He was told he would be getting a weekend pass to spend with us off base, but nothing was for sure. He told me he'd call me when he was done with everything they were doing so I could go get him. Here's where the trouble began. I dropped him off, hoping this wouldn't be our last goodbye, but not really knowing what was going to happen. He gave me directions to get off base and when I got there the exit was closed. So I had to turn around and find another way out. Once I got off base I got on the freeway going the wrong direction. When I finally got back to the hotel my room key wasn't working. I had to go to the front desk and wait for the night manager to notice me since the doors were locked. He made me a new key and we finally made it to our room. I got a text from Jon saying things were going to take a couple hours and he'd call when they were done. I didn't hear from until 1300 (1pm) when he told me to be on base by 1700 (5pm). He was only being given a couple hours to hang out with us. No weekend pass. I had been crying and stressing out all morning and then he tells me this. I broke down. I thought I would now have to find something for me and Taegen to do by ourselves the next day. I hate being alone in unfamiliar places. This was my worst nightmare coming true. But at least we got to see him one more time. We left at 1600 (4pm) to get there on time. Luckily we did because I got lost. I mean WAY lost! I was 4 exits north of where I was supposed to be. And the exit I got off of once I noticed this lead me to another highway instead of just a road where I could get right back on the freeway. I ended up doing this twice! I was crying, Taegen was crying...it was miserable. I ended up finding a cop that gave me good directions to get to the base. We finally made it and went to the park to wait for Jon's call. when he did finally call he told me I needed my DL, car license plate #, registration and insurance papers before I could sign him out. This would have been fine except I had left my proof of Insurance in the hotel. Seriously, I was so pissed. I even thought about grabbing it, but forgot to grab it as i was leaving. We ended up getting things worked out and I was still able to sign him out. But man it was stressful. We were both mad he wasn't getting a weekend pass like he was originally told. He then told me he was getting an on base pass for sat and sun. So from 1200-2000(12-8) on sat and 900-1900 (9-7) on Sunday. the only problem is my plane left at 830 sun morning. So we would only get saturday to spend together. :( At least there was a little bit of good news. There wasn't much to do on base since we had done it all on family day. But just being together was nice. I picked him up again Saturday morning and we hung out all day. We went to the park, the PX, the mini mall, the solomon center, we drove around to kill some time. We did just about everything. I also tried to arrange to get on a later flight so we could at least spend some time together on Sunday. It was going to cost me $450 to switch it unless I missed my flight then did what is called same day confirm. I had to call within 3 hours of the flight I wanted to get on and hope there was a seat available. Anyone who knows me knows I hate not having everything planned out. But it was the only way we could spend another day together. So I missed my flight and ended up making it on the lastest flight which was at 6:30. So we got to hang out from 9-4:30 on sunday as well.
Taegen loves birds. So as soon as he saw all these birds he went running straight to them. Oh course they all flew away. But he just chased them around.
dancing in the car
shopping in the PX
eating lunch...I mean Taegen
Taegen loved this toy at the park. He would get on and rock back and forth. He totally knew what to do.
They were both just standing there looking at the toys, ok Taegen was looking at the toys and Jon was looking at Taegs. But I could help just snapping a pic of father and son.
my sexy soldier!! :)
wearing daddys hat
We said our tearful goodbyes, which was honestly one of the hardest things I've done. We had gotten so use to life without each other that when we were finally together again it was heaven. Leaving was torture. I drove to the airport and find out that my plane has been delayed 30 mins. Ugh! We could have spent that time with Jon. Oh well. The first plane ride was only 40 mins but we had an isle seat so Taegen of course wanted to get down the whole time. Once we landed in Atlanta we had 2 1/2 hours till our plane left. Yup, it didn't leave until 2220 (10:20pm) And Taegen stayed awake the whole time. There was way too many people and things to see for him to actually sleep. Once we got on the plane he eventually fell asleep (we had a window seat this time) but after a while he couldn't get comfortable. He tried changing positions almost every 1/2 hour. Taegen likes to sleep curled up or on his back. Neither of which he could do comfortably while on my lap. The poor lady next to me, she had either Taegens head or feet jabbing into her. I don't think she minded too much though. I'm sure she was just happy that he slept. Needless to say I maybe got a total of 1 hr of sleep during the whole 4 hr plane ride. We landed in vegas at midnight and we took a taxi to get the car and we drove straight home. We didn't get into Stg until 3:30 and I didn't get in bed until 4. Wow what a trip. It was nice to be home, but I sure do wish Jon was home with us. It's been really rough these past few days without him. Luckily I have Taegen here to distract me and keep my mind off things. These next 12 weeks need to fly by. This time though we'll be able to talk every night. Thank heavens. That's going to help tremendously! Here's a pic of Taegen socializing at the airport with some people from France. They just loved him!
All in all the trip was a success. It was just one of those trips that had a whole bunch of unnecessary problems. Nothing major, just really annoying. We're hoping that I'll be able to get a buddy pass and fly out there just me one of these weekends. Jon will be getting off base weekend passes almost every weekend after the first 4 weeks. So hopefully we'll be able to figure something out. Going out there by myself would be so nice.
We miss Jon so much and can't wait until his AIT is over!!
Love you
MUAH!!
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