Major Daddy

 The day has finally come!!! After waiting almost a year (Feb 12) from when we found out Jack made the promotion list, it's finally promotion day and I/we couldn't be happier! Both sets of parents made the trek to see this grand occasion. Ok, maybe not "grand" but exciting none the less.

Rewind a bit:
Back in the day....ohhhh let's just say about 8 years and some change ago Jack and I started dating. He was just a newly promoted 1LT when we first met. Not long after meeting, I knew I wasn't going to let him get away so I started learning about the "Army" and with that came figuring out the ranks. I remember meeting Field Grade Officers (MAJ, LTC, COL) and their families and thinking "Those folks are old AND they have kids too." At this point, Jack was telling me that he was just going to do 8 years and then he'd be getting out of the Army. That sounded ok with me and that meant we'd never be those old folks. Well, obviously y'all know that the story he had to "rope" me in wasn't true and here we are almost 10 years marked off, almost 1/2 way to retirement. And yes, I did say "we" because this is a team effort darn it!! :)

So here we go, 1 FEB 1100 has finally arrived! It's promotion time! We have been telling Katelyn all week long what is about to happen and that Daddy is getting promoted. Jack wanted her to pin him so he has been talking quite a bit about it. Jack told her that he wouldn't be a Captain anymore but would now be a Major. So she took to calling him "Major Daddy." I thought it was pretty cute!

This is the foyer of the building where Jack works and under the flags was where the promotion occurred. Those are Engineer flags for those that are wondering.

Last time to see those "Railroad Tracks."

Before the promotion; she's just taking it all in.

Grandparents are great to have around. There is always someone who is willing to hold the little guy.

 

 The promotion ceremony. LTC Huszar speaking some great words about Jack before putting on the gold oak leaf.

LTC Huszar holding Katelyn so she could pin Jack. She was pretty shy when he picked her up. They tried together to pull off the Captain rank but it wasn't coming and even Huszar had trouble getting it off. Then Katelyn put the new piece of velcro on and tradition is that you punch that person over the new rank. LTC Huszar was trying to convince Katelyn to punch Daddy in the chest but she wasn't having it. She just shook her head when he told her to do it, so instead,  she just gave him a big hug. It was pretty cute and I'm glad that he had her participate.  

 

 AND then, Jack pulled a fast one of me! He had been in touch with one of our past Battalion Commander's wife and had me awarded the Essayons Award. Apparently Jack wanted to get me this award when we were at Ft. Stewart but there wasn't the right person to sign off on it. An Engineer Colonel has to sign off and there were none of those at our post. So he's been waiting. Since moving here, he was able to have the right person sign off on it and decided to wait until the promotion to have it presented to me. I knew nothing about this, so it was a huge surprise when LTC Huszar said that they weren't quite done after pinning Jack and that there was something Jack had for me.

The Essayons Award is "to honor spouses who have voluntarily made significant contributions to the morale, welfare, and spirit of engineer units and organizations." In order to receive the award you have to meet a few different criteria (1) The nominee should be a spouse who has voluntarily provided significant contributions and support to the Engineer Corps, engineer units, engineer families, and/or multiple communities. (2) Most importantly, the spouse must possess qualities that set the individual apart from other Engineer Corps spouses or their peers.

It is quite an honor that the Army Engineer branch thinks I've meet the above criteria and am worthy of this award.

 

Receiving the medal

 

While Jack was saying a few words, LTC Huszar took Will and was showing him a few things.

The receiving line. Lots of congratulations and such.

LTC Huszar and Will

 And after the promotion we went lunch.

 
And Will was quite the fan of dill pickles. Boy was I surprised!

And now.... we are THAT old family with kids! I'm so glad that he roped me in and we've been able to spend the last 8 years (6.5 in the Army's eyes) doing the Army thing. There have been many times that I've wished he would have stuck to his story of 8 and out but now there's no turning back.  

We've definitely been through a lot as a family: 2 deployments  (+ 1 before I came along), 3 out of state moves, more nights apart than any married couple would ever want and now we're dragging 2 beautiful kids on this wild ride. Through all of this, I can't say I'd have it any other way! I'm so glad I "Signed" up for this wild ride and glad that it is with the love of my life! I am so proud of you Babe and am glad that we are that OLD family.....one Old, Happy, Major family :) 

Here's just a peek of the last 3 promotions.....someone has a few more gray hairs now :)

So now, we do Major "ly" things for the next several years until the next big day arrives and then that means we're ANCIENT!