At 7:30am on Thursday morning we are all sitting around waiting for the briefing to start that will tell us all about what BMT or Basic Military Training is all about, what it's like, and what is expected of us while we are there. And yes I was up and ready on time even though I am a well-known night owl:)!!
Thursday afternoon we are sitting outside on very cold bleachers with the wind blowing and it's raining. We are waiting for the coin ceremony to start. We have not seen Jonathan at all at this point. So we can't wait for it to get started.
This is Jonathan's flight. He was in the band playing the trumpet. He plays very well and we were thrilled to hear he joined the band. He was able to play along with the band of course all the patriotic music for the coin ceremony. It made all of us very teary eyed!
This was the first time we got to actually hug and talk to Jonathan. You could tell he was so proud to have all of us there to see him go through the graduation. It was a real honor. We were all just so proud and felt so boastful of him as we watched him.
Checking out Jonathan's coin he just recieved was pretty neat. Phillip has a ton of coins and so now my own brother will be collecting them as well. They are a huge thing in the military. And if one of the guys asks everyone if they have their coin on them and someone doesn't that person owes everyone a drink. Phillip always gave cokes. Jonathan asked me if I had mine and I did, but it was in my truck so I owed him an ice cream cause that's what we were wanting at the time:)! I think I still owe him that ice cream though now that I think about it!
We all went to the base buffet for lunch after the coin ceremony. I actually fell asleep sitting there after my tummy was full! The waitress came by to take my tray and I was dead asleep. It was just a little embarrasing! Fortunately, everyone said I didn't snore:)!! The food was good and filling!We went bowling several times throughout our time in TX. It was one of the only things to do when we were stuck on base with Jonathan. He is stealing my food in the first picture:)!! Actually I had bought enough for everyone to snack on while they played. The snack bar in the bowling ally was my favorite as far as food goes. They made good food and made it fresh when you ordered it. They had the best corndog, YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!! No one was allowed to touch that:)!
Jonathan had to march in formation with as many comrades that were around in order to get back to his dorm. They could not just walk, no no no! They always had to march. Doesn't he look so sharp!
Let me make one thing clear before I go on, that IS NOT dandriff on my jacket that is RAIN!! Yes it was raining everyday we were there. I was bundled up as much as I could be. I had been so sick throughout the week and I was freezing. The temp was at 38 degrees. And this was the day for the graduation. It was Friday and we drove on base, but then had to ride a bus that transported us to the dorms for the ceremony. They usually do them on the parade grounds, but with the rain that wasn't possible. It was still held outside, but under a metal roof that was attached to the dorms. Each flight had their own ceremony at their dorms because of the weather. So it made it a lot more intimate than what Phillip's was 8 years ago. 
It was finally time for the graduation. After the bus ride and sitting in a classroom for a very long time it had seemed like forever that we had waited for it to begin. Boy was it worth the wait though. It was an incredible show of patriotism.
Jonathan is swearing in for the military here. What an awesome feeling inside when sitting through this part. They also sung the Air Force song for us as well. That was really impressive.
After the ceremony we were all invited to go up to Jonathan's dorm and check it out. I have never seen him have anything so clean for as long as I have known him:)!! Michael even tried to do the quarter drop on the bed to see if it bounced. It didn't do that big of a bounce, but it was cool to watch. Jonathan's drawer space and closet space was emaculant! He had done a good job.
Okay here is Jonathan wearing his "BCGs" which stands for Birth Control Glasses. If you wear glasses this is what you get in basic. Trust me there is no attraction at all when wearing these! I think we should put this on Jonathan's groom's cake when he gets married, hehehe!! 
Phillip called me while we were looking at Jonathan's dorm and so he got a chance to talk to Jonathan. We all thought we would never get them off the phone. They talked forever. Phillip was so disappointed he wasn't able to go. He was on TDY and missed it. But I think Jonathan was able to update him on just about everything with that phone call:)!!Here's Meme at her favorite part of the whole trip, the Alamo! She really loved this place. She got a lot out of it and I think even bought a video of it. I didn't think we would get her out of there!
This is part of the Riverwalk. Rox and Jonathan took a good picture here. I liked the whole thing except for the "walk" part, hehehe:)!! I was exhausted from being sick so the walking was not helping! It was still really neat to see though. Below is a picture of Michael and Jonathan. Jonathan is trying so hard to be serious and Michael is having fun!! They crack me up! This was at the Riverwalk as well.
We all went to Chili's in the mall for supper. It was the first off base resteraunt that Jonathan had been too. He seemed to have really enjoyed it. The mall is right on the Riverwalk so we could look out at it when around windows. This was the night that if Jonathan signed up to go to the local Hockey game he could stay out longer. So of course he signed up for it. Their original curfew was at 7:30pm, but if they went to the game they could stay out til it was over. The game was really interesting. I had never been to one before and so it was a real eye opener. They beat the snot out of each other literally! We all enjoyed a very yummy Mrs. Fields ice cream while watching too:)!! We all enjoyed it and the game ended around 10 or so.
For Saturday Jonathan and Michael wanted to go to the resteraunt that Bobby Flay (however spelled) had a throw down with the "Puffy Tacos" for lunch. They had pictures all over the place of this guy. So we went and had our puffy tacos and boy I was not ready for TexMex food. I am use to my Floridian Mex food:)!! I didn't eat hardly any of mine. But it was worth going just to say we were there. Then everyone, but me went to the Gueniss Book of World Records while Meme toured the Alamo again since it was across the street. I just sat outside and relaxed while everyone did their touring. I was still not feeling the best and was ready to just enjoy the scenery. After that we got on a computer to watch Jonathan's DVD they made for his 8 weeks of training. It was very interesting especially when we saw him:)!! Later on we played some more bowling and eventually it was time for Jonathan to go back to his dorm. It was a nice day, but couldn't do a whole lot because of the weather. Jonathan wanted to go to Six Flags, but 38 degrees and raining there was no way.
On Sunday we all went to church with Jonathan on base. The service was really good and so was the praise/worship. We really enjoyed it. and man if you could see how many guys went up to the alter when the call was made you would be amazed. There had to be at least 50 military people up there. It made me tear up. The chaplain was a female and she just did an excellent job. She used the Anapolis movie for part of her illustration. Anyway these pictures are of all of us when the service was over.
This was our last meal together at the food court in the BX on base. We all had Subway and I just thought this was the cutest picture of Meme with the boys. 
This is where the trip ended. Everyone saying their goodbyes. Isn't this a sweet picture of Rox and Jonathan hugging goodbye!
