Air Force CSO Graduation

We were so happy and proud to be part of Tyler's Air Force CSO graduation last Friday in Pensacola, Florida.  He committed himself wholeheartedly to the demanding training required to earn his navigator wings.  Now he will continue his AC-130 training in Arkansas before being stationed in New Mexico in the fall.  We know his career is in the Lord's hands and are thankful for His leading.  

Receiving his wings

Being presented with his certificate of completion

Tyler and Baillie

The whole family

Air Force Assignment

Our son Tyler received his Air Force plane assignment, the AC-130, a heavily armed ground attack aircraft, which is the plane he requested. He is a CSO, combat systems officer, more commonly known as the navigator.  

For those interested, you may read about the AC-130s by clicking here. 

Happy First Anniversary, Ty and Baillie!

Our sweet "American Gothic" couple is celebrating one year of wedded bliss.  

I'm not sure what became of the pitchfork.  ;)

Air Force Flight Training

Tyler recently earned his flight suit and is now in flight training. . .though not as a pilot.  Ty is training as a CSO, a combat systems officer, or as we say "Goose" from the movie "Top Gun."  And he's lovin' it!  He even loves the thrill when the training pilot cuts the engine, stalling the plane, and the plane goes into a spin.  He has come a LONG way from the little boy who had to be dragged onto a roller coaster.  He can thank his mom for that.  ;)

The Kids Come Through!

I am always pleasantly surprised at the thoughtful gifts my children give me.  They seem to find the perfect items, without any prompting from me. . .usually.  I've been known to drop a few hints here and there, and being the bright kids that they are, they are quick to catch them.  But these gifts were of their own doing, and I love them!  

I should have had these dinner napkins twenty years ago!  Instead of verbal reminders of good manners,
let the napkins say it all!  I can't wait to use these on dinner guests. . .all in good fun, of course.  Thanks, Ashlea! 

Bring on the butter!  Knowing I've been a huge Paula Deen fan since our visit to The Lady & Sons (click to link to blog post), what better way to renew my interest in cooking than with a new Paula Deen cookbook?  And throw in a cheese biscuit mix for good measure!  I've already selected a few "must try" recipes. 
Thank you, Tyler and Baillie!

Air Force Commissioning Ceremony

As of last Friday, we are now the proud parents of Air Force 2nd Lieutenant Tyler Davenport.  The ceremony was impressive, but included a little pre-ceremony drama, courtesy of moi. . .which was not impressive to Tyler or Joel.  There's nothing like inadvertently throwing one of Ty's uniform rank bars in the trash to arouse some excitement.  At least I realized what I had done and was able to retrieve the bar.  Joel cleaned it off and wouldn't let me have it again until the ceremony was ready to begin.  My excuse - I was operating on three hours of sleep after the passing of my brother.  Here are a few photos of the ceremony:

Tyler taking his oath

The pinning of the rank bars:  Joel and I pinned bars on his epaulets, while Baillie pinned his cap.
I love the look on Ty's face. . .he's so proud and happy!

His commanding officer instructed Ty to bend his knees to help me with the pinning.

Checking out the bars. . . still there.  ;)

We were so happy that Joel's parents were able to attend. 
Missed having my mom and her husband, but we know they were with us in spirit.

Tough Choice!

I asked Ashlea to send me a photo of Tyler and Baillie that would be suitable for the newspaper, and she sent these two:

I'm leaning toward using the top one.  .  .what do you think?

Actually, I like Tyler better in the top photo and Baillie better in the bottom photo, so do you think I could do some cut and paste?   ;)

The Wedding

Ashlea sent me a small sample of the hundreds of photos she took for Tyler and Baillie's wedding (click on the photos to enlarge):

Beautiful smiles!

I love Baillie's expression and the rolling Flint Hills in the background.

Tender Moment

Joel captured this tender moment of Tyler and Baillie right after the wedding ceremony.  Each time I look at it, I can't help but say, "Ahhhh." 

They're Coming!

I've had a few inquiries as to when I'll be posting wedding pictures.  The answer is as soon as the official photographer (aka Ashlea) sends me a few to post!  I'm trying to be patient, knowing that she took around 1800 photos, and it does take time to mull them over and edit the keepers.  But I did manage to snag this one photo Ashlea took of Tyler and his groomsmen that's. . .uh. . .very special.  : )

Captions, anyone?

Wedding Rehearsal

Last Saturday, our son Tyler married Baillie in a lovely outdoor ceremony in Manhattan, Kansas. Being the mother of the groom was a great way to ease into parental wedding responsibilities. Other than shop for wedding clothes, all I really had to do was organize the rehearsal dinner and be available to help out as needed.  We held the rehearsal dinner at the wedding venue - Prairiewood Retreat Center. For a few short hours, I got to work in my dream kitchen, complete with a professional grade 3-minute cycle dishwasher, which was a huge blessing to my other dishwasher - Joel.  Don't worry; he had fun running the multiple cycles (kinda like a new toy). 

See my happy face!  I'm not usually that happy in my own kitchen.
Okay, I know I should be thankful I don't have to haul water and cook over a campfire. ; )

We ordered purple and white centerpieces and I made the place cards.

After dinner, Joel shared some words of wisdom with Tyler and Baillie.

We're a hugging kind of family. 

What's missing?  Pictures of the food! We had Coco Bolos cater the meal: salad, herb-crusted pork loin, Baton Rouge chicken (the sauce contained shrimp and lobster), roasted red potatoes, grilled mixed vegetables, and rolls.  All I had to make was the dessert - a blueberry angel food cake.  It was all very delicious! 

Engagement Party

Even though Tyler has been away from home for over two years now, our church family still wanted to honor him and his bride-to-be with an engagement party.  Our friends Mike and Roxie hosted the event at their lovely home.  After desserts were served, Mike shared some words of wisdom on marriage with Tyler and Baillie. What's an engagement party without a trivia game focused on the prospective bride and groom?  And what did we learn?  Baillie talks a lot, and Tyler listens (by their own admission).  The party was such fun, and I know Tyler and Baillie were overwhelmed by our church's outpouring of love and support. 

The centerpiece made from towels

The dessert table:  petit fours, cherry cheesecake, brownie bites, and chocolate stout cake

The happy couple

Mike speaking to Tyler and Baillie

Rhonda conducting the trivia game (props included)

Opening cards and gifts

Meanwhile back in Kansas...

Just after Joel and I checked in to the Boyne Highlands Resort on Saturday, Tyler called with some distressing news. He and Baillie had just been in a four-car accident on I-70 west of Kansas City.  He assured me that they were both okay, just shaken.  Apparently, the driver of one car was going too fast as he was trying to merge to one lane in a construction zone, nicked one car which sent him airborne.  His car flipped over and landed on top of Baillie's car (and the car behind), breaking the rear window and crushing the back end, as you can see in the photo. Most likely, a few feet would have resulted in physical damage to Tyler and Baillie. As far as they know, the driver survived the crash.  

So many emotions erupted. . .the initial shock of hearing the words, "Baillie and I have just been in an accident," the easing of the shock provided by the following words, "we're okay," the helplessness of being over one thousand miles away, the uncertainty of sketchy information, and the thankfulness for cell phones to bridge the distance between our loved ones and us.  But the one thing that was over-riding all these emotions was the knowledge that our Lord God was in control of the circumstance at hand.  Though we don't understand all the reasons why, we are certain that this accident passed through God's hands for their good and His glory.  I'm thankful for the opportunity we had to pray with Tyler to that end across the miles.  I'm thankful that our Heavenly Father's protective hand was upon them.  And I'm thankful that in situations such as these, He is glorified through the praises of His children.  


P. S.  And as a mom, I'm thankful that Baillie's mom was able to be there for them.  I'm still human, after all.  ;)

Out-Takes

Rumor has it that Ashlea took over one thousand pictures of Tyler and Baillie during the engagement photo shoot last month.  Thankfully, she whittled the number down to a reasonable few hundred photos.  Tyler doth protest too much, me thinks, about having his picture taken, because the camera sure seems to bring out the "ham."  Okay, maybe it's because he's in love.  Anyway, here are a few of the out-takes...the ones that most assuredly will not be used for engagement announcements.  But they might just find their way into a scrapbook!  :)   

Notice the Kansas scenery in the background - far from barren and flat!

Love, True Love

Tyler and Baillie asked Ashlea to be the photographer for their wedding, and Ashlea offered to do their engagement photos as well.  Here are a few blog-approved pictures...the not-so-mushy ones. ; )  Great job, Ashlea!  

That's Our Boy!

"In March, 13 K-State students were chosen from a highly competitive national-level selection board to attend rated aviation training in the U.S. Air Force after graduation.  The students are cadets in the university's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps who will earn commissions as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force before entering formal flight training in 2012. The four rated aviation duty specialties are pilot, combat systems operator, air battle manager and remotely piloted aircraft operator.  Kathryn Blair, Air Force ROTC cadet and junior in geography, gave a rundown on the positions.

"The pilots will fly the aircraft, the combat systems officers will control the electronic, navigation and weapons systems and the air battle managers will command and control the air battle," Blair said.  The 13 cadets were selected for one of these career designations following two and a half years of leadership training, which included standardized testing, undergraduate and military studies, academic and physical evaluations, field training and a battery of psychomotor skills tests."

Continue article here.  Tyler is in the middle of the picture, back row. 

The Tree

It's become a tradition in recent years that Tyler helps me with the Christmas tree because we usually do it on a Saturday while Joel is working. He surprised me this year and extended his involvement beyond setting up the tree and helping with the lights. I don't know if that was necessarily a good thing though...he was quick to critique my placement of the ornaments and even had the audacity to move a few. Speaking of ornaments, I guess the theme of our tree would be hodge-podge, or eclectic if you like a superior-sounding word. And every year my Three Stooges ornaments are front and center. Here are some pictures of the ornaments and of my little helper elf. ;)