A Memorable Day!!!!

June 11th!!! There are many days that we find exciting, fun, sad, or scary - and we say they we will be a memory forever. Well, I know for a fact, that June 11, 2010 will be a day we will never forget. Jason and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary yesterday - yup, you read correctly - SEVENTEEN years!! Wow! I am married to a man that I am so proud of, to a wonderful father and husband, but most of all, I am married to my best friend and love of my life!

Yesterday also happened to be the day of Jason’s Battalion Change of Command. For those that don’t know, this is the day where one Battalion Commander (the person in charge of a large number of soldiers) relinquishes responsibility to another – Jason, in this case. The ceremony was pretty cool. The best part, for me, was with his soldiers ahead of him, the guide-on (unit flag) was passed from the CSM to the outgoing command, from the outgoing commander to the Brigade Commander, who in turn turns over responsibility to Jason. It gave me goose bumps to watch – though it’s difficult to describe in words. The entire ceremony was recorded, so I am hoping to get a copy of it early this coming week, and I will post it for all to watch.

The ceremony took place in a hangar, where small medical airplanes reside. So, in the background of the ceremony, were medical airplanes – very cool!

After the ceremony, we hosted a reception for all the soldiers, families and guests. We had lots of food, and were able to chat with many as they came to welcome us to the unit, and enjoy a good lunch before heading back to work.

His unit is unique, in that, all of the soldiers and families do not live here in Wiesbaden. They are spread out throughout 4 different posts in Germany, and as if that isn’t challenging enough, some of them are expected to deploy within the next 6 months. This means he’ll have to take of the soldiers deployed, those in different cities in Germany, as well as the families that will be stay in Germany and go back to the States!

After the reception, we came home, cleaned up the platters, then just sat and talked about the day, and what an amazing journey we’ve had together!

I promise I will post the ceremony pictures when I get them, but for now I leave you with a few pictures from the reception that my friend, Jennifer, took for us!

These are the flowers that were given to me as part of the change of command ceremony - absolutely beautiful!