Joel's Promotion

Renee and I were able to attend Wpns Battalion formation at Quantico on December 3rd and witness Joel getting promoted to Staff Sergeant! Joel and the two men on the left of him were promoted to that rank, and another 8 or so men to Sergeant. The Colonel (the battalion commander) who performed the promotions had nothing but GOOD things to say about Joel and the terrific job he does for the Marines! Great job and congratulations Joel! (And thank you for your service!)

(This first one is a video. Click on the arrow to watch it.)

Here are some other pictures from that morning. You can click on the photos to see them larger, then click the "back arrow" to return to this page.


Renee and Joel on the way to formation.

Marines begin gathering on the shooting range for formation.


The Colonel giving the men instructions.

Starting the ceremony.


Joel getting his new rank insignia pinned on.


The battalion congratulating the promotees.

Reveille

Here is an interesting article about the USMC enlisted rank and insignia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine_Corps_enlisted_rank_insignia

and another about how the Marine Corp awards promotions:
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/marinepromotions/a/marineprom.htm

It's much more difficult to get promoted in the Marines than I ever imagined!

Orientation and College Life

I guess we are officially "Tiger" fans now in addition to Bulldogs. (It has been a long time coming and Jim - an Aggie - will still resist. LOL) Andrew and I spent Thursday and Friday in Baton Rouge at Freshman Orientation. I find orientations to be boring and tiring, yet I enjoyed this as much as when I took Ryan to LATECH for his 3 years ago. I always find it nice to be on a college campus. And I especially like getting a feel for the place where our son will be spending the next 4 or more years of his life. Walking around campus also made me feel that I wished I had experienced college life, and appreciate even more that my children have been able to have that experience.

LSU, like TECH, is beautiful but very different than Tech. Tech is more of a pretty country setting while LSU is like the south with many large old Live Oak trees around the campus. I was able to take some tours of dorms but we are still in suspense of where Andrew will be assigned. He is 16th the waiting list for Broussard Hall, which is an Information Technology Residential College for freshman only. If he can't get in Broussard, he is hoping for the Pentagon area. We are really hoping for the IT College though - it would be a great experience and and asset to his major - Mass Communications with a focus on Advertising. He decided to minor in photography, which is actually fine arts.

Friday afternoon we went to the Manship School of Mass Communication where he registered for his classes and they talked to the parents about the MC program. The historic Journalism Building is just beautiful! He is excited and happy about his choice and acceptance to LSU.

Ryan is moving out of Neilson this coming year -yea! It took a year on the wait list, but he and his current roommate Keith, and two other friends from Tech, are moving into the campus apartments into a 4-room suite. I'm trying to encourage him to learn how to cook a little this summer, but he's not very interested. LOL He will have a smaller (and thankfully cheaper) meal plan so he'd better learn how to make at least a few things for himself. :)

"Sweet" Surprises

Yesterday was June 25th. I was sitting at the computer and suddenly my friend Madolyn was standing next to me with 1/2 of a cake and wishing me a "Happy Half-Birthday!" What a huge surprise, and what a sweetheart for giving me such a treat! She had even called Jim to ask what kind of cake I liked, so I got a chocolate with chocolate mint icing. Yum!

It all came about because a few days earlier I was working at her house hanging wallpaper, and it was their daughter's "Half-Birthday." We talked about it and I found out they celebrate hers becuase she was born very close to Christmas. I mentioned that I really should celebrate my half-birthday becuase I was born on Christmas Day, and my anniversary is only 5 days before. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Madolyn would surprise me with my own 1/2- birthday cake just a few days later. I didn't even realize it WAS my 1/2 birthday. Thank you Lord for dear, sweet friends who bring you sweet surprises when you least expect it. What a day-brightener! :)

Andrew's Day to Shine

Today was one of those special days when a parent feels a great pride in their child's accomplishments. We have had those days with each one of our kids! Today was Andrew's turn.

His AP Government class at Grace King HS won the Louisiana State Championship of the "We The People" competition, and represented the state at the national finals in April Washington DC. Today the class and the LA leaders in the "We The People" program were recognized by the LA State Legislature in Baton Rouge. Only two other kids from the class were able to make it so it was them and the three moms. We were met in the rotunda by a "Program Coordinator." There was a lot of waiting around, but then we were brought into the State Senate Chamber where we waited some more. The afternoon session started and they were eventually brought out and recognized. Then we left the Senate went across to the House of Representatives Chamber where they were again recognized.

Andrew shook hands with a lot of "important" LA politicians and I think the whole experience made him feel proud. They were supposed to take photos with the Speaker of the House and then go on a tour of the Governor's mansion, but it was already 4:00 and no one wanted to stay any longer, including Andrew. We took a quick ride up to the tower for the view and headed home. He almost immediately took off for Shreveport with a friend to visit their friend Noah, who moved up there after school ended. (In fact, Noah was on Andrew's team that won the National Unit Award. So was the one girl that showed up today.)

We are always thankful to the Lord for His blessing us with of our six children, but on days like this we are especially thankful that they are kids being recognized by the State Legislature, missionaries, doctors, or Marines, and NOT kids in jail, or on drug, or bums, or criminals. :)
(Sorry, I don't really have the knack yet for laying out these photos. I can't seem to get them to go where I want them, or figured out how to label them. LOL)

Here We Go Again!

I think I'll need a JUG of Xanax to get me through the next few months! I'm teaching yet another teen to drive - Emily, the youngest. Wow, it's hard. I let her drive 3 times today and I about put a hole in the floor of the passenger side. She's not bad but just totally inexperienced so I can't let up my diligent monitoring for even one second, and that's VERY stressful. No kid of mine ever put his/her foot on the break fast enough for me. LOL Well, everybody pray for me to get through this one more time! Thanks.

Nina's New Place

Well, I guess I've jumped on the "blog bandwagon!" At least I'm going to try it. I'm not sure if I'll have all that much to talk about, at least nothing exciting for the most part. LOL It will most likely be about our day to day family life and what is going here on in New Orleans. It will be mainly so our adult kids and friends will know what we are up to here.

I love reading my daughter Renee and other young women's blogs, and hearing about all the little things that go on in their day to day lives that I wouldn't otherwise know about. So here I am! I hope to find some interesting things to talk about. :)