It was in the mail today. I was so thankful to hear from him. He is in ship 12 div 034 and is set to graduate January 7th 2011. That day cannot get here soon enough but I am so thankful I received a the first letter today. He said it wasn't bad there, but he did miss home and his mama's cooking. He also mentioned that he misses his sister bugging him everyday. I can tell a difference in him jsut through the words that he wrote on the paper. I am so proud of him. I am so thankful I offered my…

Hi all,

Im so happy to be a part of this site. My son graduated bc on november 12 and is in groton connecticut for a school now. Does anyone know when he gets shipped to his next school do they ship his stuff with him. Xmas is coming and do not want to overload him with items. What to do

Hi all. I am so excited to be a part of this group. Our son joined the Navy July 13 and is leaving for Boot January 4th. He has been training all summer and has lost 30 pounds. We couldn't be more proud of him, and know that he will have an amazing life. I'm just so sad for the day we say good bye. Any advise on how to prepare myself and still be strong for our daughter saying goodbye to her brother? I look forward to all your feed back and Thank you in advance!

AJVNavyMom :)

I started connecting songs with people and happenings years ago. These are a few I've associated with my "sand sailor" since we first learned of his impending arrival 21 years ago tomorrow. (side note; I've never attached a file, sure hope this works!!!) lol

Songs.docx

Happy Birthday to the center of my universe, my…

As soon as he would hear the beginning notes- up he would jump and check out that smile!!

On Friday nights my house has always been packed with laughter, jokes and fun times, the boys always had friends over, and I was expecting last night to be a real stinger. His friend Gavin must have been feeling the same and said Mom can I come hang out for a bit, it wasn't quite the same without him but great to have his friend there to ease some of the emotions. Kudo's to Matt for choosing great friends.

I am at work today, just got a call that the box has arrived. Silly ole me has huge tears in my eyes, I can't wait to get home, open it up and smell my son in the clothing that is folded up in that box.

This is something I read and I want to share with you;)

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitud on life.

Attitud, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money,

than circunstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think

or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

It will make or breack a company....church....a home.

The remarkable thing is we all have…

This picture brings tears to my eyes, it is of my oldest son Stephen- while he was serving in Iraq, over the wall of fallen soldiers there. There are so many that we can no longer express our appreciation to.

The Air Force Featured my son 2 years ago with an article and this picture.…

November 8, 2010, I was privileged to go on my third Honor Flight out of the Davenport, IA/Moline, IL area. The weekend before the Davenport Legion hosted a brunch for us "guardians" to meet our WWII veterans we'd be accompanying. I was assigned three veterans--delightful men who were excited to go (they're all excited!). I also was asked to be a bus captain--just a field trip with older kids!

On Sunday night, Hy-Vee grocery stores hosted a…