So, without further ado...

If you've been reading for a while now, you probably know that Nathan has been enlisted in the Air National Guard for going on 10 years (someday, I'll tell you the story about how we became a military family in the first place...but this is not the time or place).  To keep it simple, I'll just tell you that he's in Security Forces (which is more-or-less the AF equivalent to an MP).  Anyway, a little less than 2 years ago, Nathan began the paperwork to receive his commission in the Air Force (as a member of the ANG).  It was a long & winding process, full of waivers and waiting.  There was a period of time that we really didn't think everything was going to fall into place and he would just serve out his time enlisted (which, really, despite all the frustrations he had to endure, would've been a fine plan...because he has definitely loved being in the SFS field).  As a sidenote, as an officer, he plans to remain in the field...just doing work that is a little different.

Anyway, fast forward through all the hang ups to this past December.  One morning early in the month, Nathan received an email, saying that he had finally been accepted into AMS (officer school) and that his report date would be January 10; not much time to prepare!  But we made it through the holidays with flying colors.  January hit us and we were still scrambling to get all of his uniforms together (usually a person has a little more time to prepare)...but it all came together and the 10th of January came and Nathan said "goodbye" and was gone for 6 weeks.  

He would be in some pretty intense training - and didn't have time for much, other than concentrating on schoolwork.  He persevered, though, and pushed all the way through to the very end of the training.  And you can refer to this post to see how we fared at home (if you'd rather not refer, I'll tell you - we did famously with a few big speed bumps).

In all, we did really well...but boy, were we glad when February 18 rolled around.  Nathan was set to graduate on the 20th - but we left on the 18th to meet my MIL in Birmingham and travel with her to the graduation activities (which were in Knoxville) that began on the 19th.

We almost had weather setbacks, but we ended up making it just fine - we (me, MIL, & Iliya) stopped and stayed the night with, and ultimately picked up, N's aunt (in Huntsville) on the way through to Knoxville.  And the 4 of us headed north earrrrly on Thursday morning.

We arrived in time to eat lunch with Nathan in the chow hall dining facility and take tours of the other facilities.  They also hosted an Open House program to inform family about the history of the school, as well as to show some pictures of time spent there.  It was all very nice.  Then it was time to attend the awards ceremony banquet - at which young children were not permitted.  So it was my & Nathan's first "date" in 6 weeks.  Iliya stayed at the hotel with N's family while Nathan and I went to the "grown up party."

And I suppose I would be incredibly remiss if I didn't mention Nathan & Iliya's reunion!  N and I have gone through several separation/reunions...so this was "old hat" to us (though separations are never easy and reunions are always absolutely wonderful!).  But this was the first time that Iliya had been away from his daddy for more than 2-3 days.  And I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves...though we can truly say that the boy was glued to his father & didn't want to let him out of his sight.  

In fact, as we left for the awards ceremony, Iliya was saying, "I wanna see my daddy!  I wanna go to grownup party, too!"  But he had a great night without us - and thoroughly enjoyed seeing Nathan during all the commissioning activities on Friday (though he really couldn't understand why he had to just LOOK at his daddy, and couldn't run over to sit with him during the graduation...or run up on stage to help him ring the bell...or tear out across the parade field to be with him).  It was really quite sweet.  And Iliya has been a different child ever since.  So happy - and he has finally come (mostly) un-glued to Nathan - it seems that he has figured out that Nathan is actually HOME.  

But I digress...

In addition to my MIL & Nathan's aunt...Nathan's dad flew in from a business trip... my parents, aunt & grandmother came up...my SIL & her family attended...as did 4 of N's friends/co-workers from the ANG base in Birmingham.  We had a crowd, and it was crazy trying to coordinate and let everyone know what was going on...but again, we made it!

I will end by apologizing for my lack of eloquence in this blog post.  This could be one of the more memorable posts in this blog, and I've really done a less than stellar job of making it all coherent (though if it IS coherent, then I'm doing pretty well, I'd say, at this point).

I'd like to share some photographs with you.  There are quite a few, and I apologize.  Many of you won't care to sit through all of them, but I just couldn't figure out which to cull and which to keep.  So...in true Melissa fashion, I just kept them all.  :)