The long awaited day of Thursday, June 27, 2013 has finally come and sadly gone! Wednesday, Wyatt and I loaded up the car with Grandpa and drove a little over six hours to Lawton, Oklahoma. We arrived at the hotel shortly after 8:00 pm, met up with GiGi, Nanny, and Aunt Carol, and went to eat a quick dinner at Whataburger.
Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to go to Family Day at the Sheridan Theater on the Fort Sill Base. We watched demonstrations of some of the training Kayla endured for the past 10 weeks and we saw some of the weapons she carried and learned to discharge. It was very interesting. After the presentation was over we went outside to find the entire Battery in formation on the side of the building. We waited for what seemed like forever before the drill sergeants allowed the "privates" to "fall out." We quickly found Kayla and we were so happy to finally see her. 10 weeks is a long time! She looked great! Kayla was looking forward to a Chick-Fil-A meal so we had lunch there and enjoyed some time in the swimming pool and at the mall.
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| Checking out the hotel room! |
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| Wyatt snoozing early Thursday morning! |
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| Waiting in line to go in the theater. |
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| Waiting in line. |
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| The Battery in formation! |
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| PFC Milam |
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| The whole gang! |
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Wyatt checking out Aunt Kayla...it took him
a minute to figure out who she was. I think it was the hat. |
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| Army Bible |
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| Cute picture! Proud mom! |
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| Wyatt wearing dog tags! |
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| Kayla was ready for a Dr. Pepper! |
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| PFC Milam |
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| Proud Dad! |
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| Sisters! |
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| I've missed her so much! |
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| Chick-Fil-A!!! |
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| Swimming with Grandpa! |
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| Hanging out by the pool! |
We got to hang out with Kayla all day and when we took her back to her bay at 8:00 pm we got to see her home for the past 10 weeks and we got to see her drill sergeants and watch her platoon in formation. I found all of this so interesting.
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Kayla's bunk is on bottom and Wyatt is
checking out her wall locker! |
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| A view of the whole room! |
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| Kayla and her friend, Molly. |
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| Where Kayla has spent the past 10 weeks! |
Friday morning we woke up bright and early again to go back to Sheridan Theater for graduation. I was so very proud of Kayla as she walked across the stage and stated her rank, name and hometown to the theater. As the soldiers exited the theater we got to watch as they marched in Cadence.
"Everywhere I go, there's a drill sergeant there..."
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| The sign at our hotel. |
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If you look closely you can see our crew waiting to
go inside for the graduation. |
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They had to sit at attention and could not move. It
was a little awkward walking in front of them to take
a photo. |
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| Kayla stating her rank, name and hometown. |
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Shaking hands as she walked
across the stage. |
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| Shaking hands again. |
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Kayla in formation after graduation. She is directly in the
middle of the picture in the back row. |
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| Drill Sergeant Osuna |
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| Formation on the drill pad back at the bay. |
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| Group photo of the 3rd Platoon |
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Kayla and Molly with Drill Sergeant Osuna. I think he
was Kayla's favorite drill sergeant. |
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| Kayla with Drill Sergeant McAlester. |
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Kayla with mom and Nanny showing off their
new Army shirts! |
Friday we got to hang out with Kayla again after graduation. We had lunch at Olive Garden where Wyatt accidentally got tomato sauce on Kayla's white shirt. This was bad because Kayla was not allowed to change out of this shirt and was not allowed to get it dirty. In fact, she had to stay in this uniform both days we were with her. So, we went to the hotel after we finished eating and cleaned her shirt with a bleach cleaner and a bleach pen. The stain came out and all was well again.
After lunch we went to Hog Pin Bowling. Kayla won, as usual! After 10 weeks she still had it! Wyatt was too funny. He would pick out a ball, point to it, and then lead the way back to the stand and direct where to sit the ball. Then, he would push it and clap for himself. If his ball went into the gutter he would say, "uh oh!" He was too cute! He also learned to salute on this trip. GiGi taught him while we were waiting on Kayla one day.
We, once again, had to take Kayla back to the bay by 8:00 pm. We listened and watched as they received instructions on how to finish packing and cleaning and then they were released to say their final goodbyes. It was a bittersweet time. I am so incredibly proud of Kayla, but I am definitely going to miss her for the next 26 weeks while she completes AIT in Arizona. The good news is that she will have her phone while she's in Arizona so we can talk to her regularly. When she got to Arizona she was asked by her sergeant if she would like to go to Airborne school. She was so excited about this because it was part of her initial plan to go but it got taken away when her MOS changed.
I had a great two days seeing Kayla in her new role and learning all about the Army. It was a very inspiring time. We laughed at some of the crazy stories she shared about other members of her platoon and enjoyed hearing about all of the things she learned. She will probably get to come home at Christmas so that was very exciting news to hear...I can't wait!
A few photos Kayla had from some of the training events she endured:
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Kayla's reaction after coming
out of the gas chamber! |
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| Climbing over a wall! |
"You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:3-4
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