What you've all been waiting for!

First of all, I can't believe it's been three weeks since I updated this blog. My apologies!

Okay, now for the main event - what transpired this last weekend.
It started with me leaving for Austin on Thursday, and my kids staying with my parents. They were to drive down and meet me Friday morning for the ceremony; I was going to do some shopping in Austin and then meet up with Erich for a condensed version of Family Night at the academy and dinner afterwards.
That all went as planned, and we had a wonderful evening. I got to meet several more of his instructors, who were very nice (and I have a hard time imagining them yelling at the recruits the way Erich described) and welcoming.

Friday was when it got really fun, though. I got there early, but about half the families were already there. We stood in the lobby of this huuuuuge church (Shoreline Christian Center - it has a STARBUCKS in the lobby, and that's all I'm going to say about THAT) for 45 minutes until they opened the doors and let us into the auditorium. At one point before they opened the doors, the recruits all came marching out in neat rows - they'd been in practicing more of the marching and various things they were going to do. They looked rather startled to see us all massed in front of them, but kept in step despite the cheering and yelling that each family did as their particular recruit went by. (I was by myself, so no, I didn't bother yelling for Erich - he couldn't hear me anyway.)

Mum and Dad got there 5 minutes before the ceremony and we got all settled in, each with a child on our lap. I had managed to get seats directly across the aisle from where Erich was going to be sitting, so had an excellent vantage point for taking pictures of him, although not as good for getting pictures of what was happening on the stage, which looked like this:

They had two huge projector screens with the DPS logo displayed until the start of the proceedings.

From my seat, watching the west half of the auditorium getting themselves seated. The empty row right in front was earmarked for the recruits.

C Class and D Class waiting at the entrance of the auditorium to march down the aisles and take their seats. A very impressive happening that I didn't take a picture of, because according to Erich, over-zealous family members have gotten pictures of their recruits marching in, and the resulting flashes have blinded the poor recruits and caused them to stumble and sometimes even fall. Ack! So I was good and didn't use my camera for that part. Wouldn't want to be responsible for an 80 recruit pile-up, after all.

Standing at attention (can you spot Erich?) after filing in, ready to be seated.


And sitting down waiting for proceedings to get underway. I love the rows of hats.

Here's Erich ready to march up and receive his commission. I love this picture - it's one of the best I got, and it was completely on the fly. I got it literally over my right shoulder with my left hand while catching Sophie with the other hand as she hurled herself towards the floor yet again (poor kid was bored out of her little blond head, but really was very good and didn't make a lot of noise).

Receiving his commission. The cowboy hat in the foreground is the next recruit on the steps, waiting his turn.

Shaking Governor Perry's hand after receiving his commission.


And marching back to his seat. Another picture I love. I have such a handsome, ship-shape, squared away husband!

This is Nick Castle, the president of Erich's class (D) and the one who was neck-and-neck with him all through the academy for first place academically. Erich beat him out just barely at the very end. Castle is a great guy and I'm sorry he and his wife are going to east Texas because I'd like to get to know them better. (He's on the far left.)

These are Erich's instructors. From the smiles on their faces, you wouldn't believe them capable of dressing down recruits at the tops of their lungs, would you? The guy on the front row, far right, is Sergeant Tullos - he is absolutely hilarious. Very dry sense of humor, subtle wit, and had me rolling every time he opened his mouth. Sergeant Garza is next to him, back row right is Corporal Cauley (very nice guy, said some really great things about Erich to me, and sorry that you can't actually SEE him here), and Corporal Johnson.
This is Mickley, a fellow recruit of Erich's that I really like. His wife and I have been emailing, and he's really funny. There's a picture of him and Erich back from the academy Family Day if you feel like going through the archives. Again, sorry this one's so hard to see!

Governor Rick Perry addressing the masses. If lightning won't strike me for saying so, the man talked for waaaay too long, and committed the unpardonable (in my book) sin of not even being a very good speaker. Forget the kids - I was squirming in my seat!

(Yawn.)

Travis, Erich's friend and carpool buddy through the early months of academy. (Another) really great guy!

Deet and my mother (my FIL right beside her) during the ceremony. I made Deet a miniature trooper's uniform, and he got SO many compliments on it! I couldn't quite match the color, but I got as close as I could. It even has miniature trooper patches on the shoulders, and a tiny badge!


Erich's not proud of his son or anything.


Erich, his dad Franke and Deet. Three generations! We were all so glad Franke came down for the ceremony - it meant a lot to Erich to have him there.

This is Erich and his bunkmate and one of his closest friends, Nixon. (Sorry, in most cases I only KNOW their last names!) This guy is who I heard the most about, and according to him, it went the other way too. Not sure if I should be worried or not... (but he's [yet another] really nice guy)

And my beloved holding his new credentials and bursting with pride. I love this picture.

No pictures of the girls because they were so busy running around and I had my hands full of babies, but I do have some of them in their dresses at the farm. Gabby had blue, Zoe had lavender, and Sophie had a pink dress - all with an identical green sash. Each had subtle differences, but all were flowy and the girls loved them. This is their very favorite Uncle Gabe, my closest sibling in age and my best friend growing up. Oh, and that's Gunnar, our beautiful (but rather dim) German Shepherd.



Well, I think that's all I've got! I wish I had more pictures, but I had my hands so full of babies and other stuff that I just couldn't get as many as I'd wanted. I think I captured the highlights, though, and I'm really happy with how the day went. After the ceremony, Erich, his dad, my dad, Gabby and I all went out to eat while my mother took the other three kids home. (She deserves a medal, by the way - not only for taking such wonderful care of my offspring, but also for not once complaining about all the extra work I caused her.)

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! :o)