Brian left this morning for a week long deployment 
I’ll miss him.
27-May-2007
25-May-2007
Brian has received several awards this week so I thought it proper to inform the world of his accomplishments. 
The first thing came in the mail – his diploma from college!
He worked off and on for seven weeks compiling all the training and
testing he had done since high school and sent it in to be evaluated.
He was told he had three things to do to complete a Bachelors degree so
he studied a week and took two CLEP tests then spent another three or
four intense days of study to complete a course on Biblical geography. He has graduated and his transcript is on the way to get him enrolled at Liberty university where he will pursue a Master’s in Business.
Next came the award ceremony at ALERT.
Wednesday we received certificates for completing a financial course and a Presidential Service award for the volunteer work we’ve done here on campus.
Thursday they handed out awards within the ALERT program and Brian was up for quite a few!
43rd Scripture Memory award (each award for reciting a passage of 50 or more verses)
24th Physical Training Excellence (this is hard to get!)
13th ALERT cadet challenge award
3 ALERT service awards
Giving him a total of 137 awards and making him the most “decorated” ALERT man ever!
Brian is a high achiever and excels in everything he puts his hand to.
I just wanted to say, way to go my man!
23-May-2007
A whole lot has been happening recently so I’ll try to catch up a little.
Monday evening Brian, Lori, Kevin and I went to hear the year end performance of the Longview Area Youth Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Cahill plays viola, Benjamin is the principle second violin and Daniel is the Concertmaster!
(that’s Daniel standing up)
They played a good selection of crowd pleasers, my favorite being Russian and Ludmilla Overture (never heard it before but it was lively). They played a medley of Phantom music while three of the musicians sang; they all did well but the “Phantom” out-shined the other two.
As Concertmaster, Daniel played a solo on his violin which was accompianed by the orchestra.
Daniel played Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major by Mozart – for those who want to know.
I liked this picture of the two brothers.
The evening was wonderful and filled with family fellowship afterwards. I’m glad we were able to be involved in a big part of their life.
20-May-2007
This weekend Brian and I were deployed to a book fair near Jackson MS. We had a wonderful drive, savoring the extra together time, and stayed at a wonderful house out in the country under the hospitality of an ATI mom.
The fair was small but it caused the people attending to be less harried and more willing to stop a moment and talk about the program. I think I recruited at least three girls for STEP next year. It was also a good chance to encourage a Cadet family (Father and son helped run the booth) trying to establish a squad in the Jackson area.
One evening after the book fair, the family invited us over for dinner and on the way to their house the father gave us a tour of downtown Jackson. Among many historic and interesting buildings we saw this:
A Memorial to the Missing.
When this little house is full it will hold 50 million pennies – one
for each baby killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade.
First Baptist
church of Jackson has erected this memorial and it stands right across
the street from the state capitol.
After the tour we enjoyed a wonderful meal and a good visit with the family. In all, we had a good weekend, though we were glad to head for Texas…..and cheaper gas!
19-May-2007
On Thursday, Brian and I took a scenic hike along part of the Natchez Trace.
Our hike destination was a a waterfall at the end of a 2.5 mile trail.
Before starting Brian had to field a few tech support calls while I checked out the maps.
Because I had looked at the map I saw no reason to take one with us and we lost a little time going the wrong way at an unexpected split in the trail.
Brian got hungry along the way and found a great place to eat some Gorp. He also captured this neat shot of me.
We took another pit stop to explore up a creek a bit, taking time to pose for some pictures.
Time was getting short and we had no idea how much farther we would have to go, so when the trail wound close to the road we bailed out and followed it back to our car. We didn’t reach the falls but we had a wonderful time in the woods and the weather was just beautiful! We both enjoyed the time together, talking and just being outside.
