Thursday: Matthew went to school as usual. Mary and I did some last minute errands before Sarah arrived from Holland. The ladies went shopping one last time for things we needed for the trip. I got some sandals, to wear in the warm weather, plus I would have to untie and tie my shoes going through security at the airports. Matthew got home and we were off to the airport, had KFC drive thru for a snack on the way. By the time we parked the van and checked in at the stupid kiosk thing, checked baggage we had only a short time to get through security. I got pretty nervous since it was moving pretty slow. Grand Rapids has a body scanner now, so all of us were scanned prior to boarding. The plane was packed, Mary and Matthew's carry on bags had to be checked at the gate. Our layover was about an hour, which gave us time for dinner. The flight to Charlotte was not as crowded and the flight wasn't as long as I had expected. We did fly through some turbulence requiring everyone to have their seat belts fastened. I had to turn in my cup and napkin at the end of the flight as I was leaving. Next stop was Enterprise Car Rental. They were ready for us and expedited our car rental in record time. Loved the Toyota Corolla we drove. It was another 2.5hours of driving before we reached the base. Jeff was waiting for us and welcomed us to our nice new living quarters on base for the next few days. Earlier, Jeff had welcomed his parents, my mom, Dave and Leslie and Dan to the base and had a nice meal together. It was a busy day filled with travel, excitement and now sleepiness.
Friday: Morning came early, but we were all excited about the day's events, we were all getting up as planned, each one getting ready for the ceremony. Mary was the designated stylist and did a nice job. The Officer's Club was just a block away, so we walked over to get acquainted and review what was going to take place. The ceremony was just exquisite. Highlights were:
- Posting of the Colors by the Honor/Color Guard.
- Singing of the National Anthem by our children. It was so beautiful, they made me so proud. No one expected the three of them to sing in harmony, accapella! Mary said one airman said after the ceremony that when he saw/heard the pitch pipe, he knew it was going to be serious. A two-star general said he would love for them to sing at his retirement. It truly was spectacular.
- Reading of the Orders.
- Colonel Uchida's "This is Your Life" address.
- Presentation of medals and certificates to Jeff, Grace, Sarah, Mary and Matthew.
- Flag Ceremony.
- Presentation of the Shadow Box and Framed Gift from Weather Squadron.
- Jeff's words to the Air Force attendees, co workers and family. (Well Done!).
Had a nice time visiting with the family during the afternoon and enjoyed several games of bowling at the base bowling alley. I bowled really well with the 11 lb house ball. Matthew wanted me to buy it! I sure wish I could have brought it home. We all had fun and Matthew even won a Rams football in a claw machine. He was so happy. We ended our day of celebration at a Hibachi Buffet. It was very good.
Saturday: We drove 2 hours to Myrtle Beach, SC. Sarah and Matthew were overjoyed to have Chik-Fil-A for lunch. The beach was very nice, not too crowded, and we enjoyed jumping and riding the waves once we accustomed ourselves to the cool water temperatures. We all got some sun, even with sunscreen, but no one was so uncomfortable they couldn't enjoy dinner at Olive Garden with Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelm or play 36 holes of mini golf before heading back to the base. We had a lot of fun at the Safari Golf, $5 per person for the whole day. Once around the front and back courses was enough for us! Sarah went a little crazy with her camera and got fun pictures. You'll notice that she shows the peace sign in all her pictures. That is because she was supposed to be in Japan right now, and she knows that they love the hold the peace sign when they get their picture taken. She hopes that she will still have the opportunity to travel to Japan next year with Hope College. Only time will tell. While we were delighted to have Sarah at the retirement, we also felt a little sad that her trip didn't happen this spring.
Sunday: We had to pack up our stuff. Thankfully, Jeff's parents were able to take the large, fragile items home with them and will bring them to us this summer when they visit us in Michigan. We were able to find room for all the certificates and other things collected over the weekend. Marlene and Ernie joined us for worship at the base chapel and then had a good Mexican lunch together. We hoped to try a local Italian restaurant, but many places are closed on Sunday in Sumter, SC. Time flew, and we all went our separate ways.
- Marlene and Ernie drove towards Georgia, eventually attending the graduation of Andy's daughter, Andrea in Alabama.
- Jeff drove to Columbia, SC to fly home with a stop in Atlanta.
- Grace and the kids drove back to Charlotte, NC to fly home with a stop in Detroit. Our plane left nearly 30 minutes late, which shortened our layover in Detroit. We hurried and rode the tram from one end of the terminal to the other to catch our flight on time. Sarah and I even challenged the train and ran on after it said "stop", so we would be on the same train as Mary and Matthew. We got on the plane and was entertained by the flight attendants. One did magic tricks, while the other could have been a stand up comedian. His jokes were corny, but they made everyone laugh! Even when the turbulence got a little scary, he reassured us that everything was ok and it was just like riding in our cars on I-96 with all the pot holes! At the end of our trip, he said to be sure and collect all of our belongings, but be sure to leave our 2nd generation iPads behind! It made for a fun trip, late at night and esp after travelling for a long time.
It's late and I need to get up for work in the morning! Looking forward to a nice day and a fun Memorial Day weekend ahead!
Gracie
*All the pictures have been posted and can be viewed by clicking on the link "Wilhelm Family Photos".*
*We welcome the chance to see the pictures taken by Dave and Leslie and the video of the ceremony taken by Dan. Matthew's video ran out of tape and didn't record the whole thing. :( *
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