Three months of counting down to this day!!!!

December 29th 2008: these were the exact footsteps that Bryan stood on when he came aboard MCRD Parris Island for the first time. The picture below looks slightly different then the scene that unfolded that night when he flew off the bus as a civilian about to endure 3 of the hardest months of his life! But he did it and 13 weeks later we are all very proud to call him a Marine!




Three months later, he finally graduated - unfortunately they had to do it in the all-weather building instead of on the parade deck because there were supposed to be storms, not to mention the sand fleas were horrible that day. But it was still a nice ceremony and something to be proud of!

Celest Lynne wearing her daddys cover!

Ski was a very proud big brother - welcoming his brother into the corps. This was a priceless moment to see them both in their uniforms shaking hands.

Here they were 12 years earlier when Ski was only a Pvt who had just graduated from boot camp! It's come full circle!

The three Marines (hey - once a Marine always a Marine!)

A very proud father!

And also a very proud mother!

Kathy and Pork with the boys!

We stayed at Darlene and Clydes house while we were in Beaufort. Can I just say again how lucky we are to know them! She is one of the sweetest most wonderful woman you will ever meet! Thanks D for everything! The food and hospitality and company were amazing!

We've been trying to get a "creative" pregnancy pic of the two of us for a while now - we LOVE this one!

We do serious pretty good too!

We also took this opportunity to take a nice family picture.

Look how adorable the kids are! Although I almost lost my mind in the process of trying to get this "nice" picture because Matthew wouldn't cooperate.

Celest Lynne and Noel standing on the footprints her daddy stood on when he got to the island all those months ago!

D and Clyde - she is responsible for the feast you see below!

You'll never go hungry at Darlene's and if you do, it's your own fault!!!!

Noel made sure Bryan knew how proud we all were of him! What a great wife!

Below are just some random pictures of his "congratulations" party!!!

Now we all back to reality. Bryan has a few more days of leave before he has to check in at MCT. We are all just hanging out and relaxing waiting for the baby to get here! Again Bryan I can't tell you how proud we all are that you achieved such a great accomplishment! I never had any doubts that you wouldn't make it! Enjoy your time with Noel and Celest! Pretty soon you will have them with you again permanently! Good luck and Semper Fi!