Marine Commissioning

On May 15th my brother was commissioned a U.S. Marine. We attended an impressive ceremony where we heard from high ranking officials in four branches of the military Navy, Air Force, Army, and the Marines. Even though Chad has been on this path for a long time, understanding their etiquette and procedures is foreign to me. I have become more familiar with it each passing year as he has been in school and gone through training. The commissioning ceremony makes all his hard work official and to me that is exactly how it felt. It was real, he is officially a Marine. As his sister, I was proud, excited, and scared for him all at the same time.

We had great seats for the ceremony. I was glad Josh could see everything. Later he wrote in his journal about the experience and drew a picture of Uncle Chad.

On the far right is Aubrey and then the rest of the Surganovich crew. Aubrey's family came a little later and was able to be there to see Chad. 

The cadets (all classes at the school) are required to stay and attend all events even though their finals are over. These are just a few. 

The Keydets is their cheering section for sports events. 

Chad won't tell you his accomplishments. Sometimes after the fact he would mention things like, "oh yea Ash did I tell you I'm Commander at the school?" or "Did I mention a Congressman took me to a breakfast this morning?" or "Oh yea hey, I was selected to re-write the entire program for cadets at VMI?" Many times it would be weeks or months before he let on that he had achieved an advancement. 

After the large ceremony we moved outside for the last portion of the ceremony.

Aubrey is a great support to Chad. I am so impressed at how she has retained SO much information about everything from VMI's rules to the Marine's details. I'd ask her about something and she could explain to me in detail what was taking place. At times it almost sounds like another language to me, but to her, she understands it completely!

Josh and Parker were excited to see Uncle Chad up close in his uniform. 

Chad's friend, David Worley, commissioned him. He worked with Chad on his mission. He made a special trip to be there to assist Chad. 

We had to wait awhile until it was Chad's turn. The kids played outside the barracks. Miss Emmi even made a new friend, Penelope. She is Aubrey's niece. 

When it was Chad's turn, David gave an oath that Chad repeated. After that my parents and Aubrey pinned his bars on his shoulders.

This was man who gave the oath to the Marines. Look at all his bars and medals!

A great day for two of the special ladies in Chad's life. 

After Chad gave his signature, he was official. 

This is the record of his commissioning. One of the speakers suggested that all should display it proudly as a reminder of the promises they made to their country.

Once he walked away from this table he was an officer. That was when the saluting began! People were saluting him left and right.

Here is Chad's new family. The Hughes love and support him. He is blessed to have them.

I know how I feel about Chad, so I am sure my parents are feeling pretty impressed by their son. He has always been so grateful for all they do and have provided for him. Now it has all paid off. Plus, he is the last of the kids... so their has to be some relief!

This cracked me up. In this picture here is Chad with all his manly, military friends.

In this pictures... still Chad and his manly friends, but my brother is in caught in the picture carrying his wife's purse.  Real manly Jared!

All the siblings together.

I try to pick the best picture of the majority. Well, Parker always happens to be the one not looking. At least he's in the picture. 

 

This was a day I will always remember. 

Chad and Aubrey

We had a marathon of life changing events for my brother Chad, but the highlight was seeing him marry his sweet Aubrey in the Washington D.C. temple. Our whole family met her for the first the week they got married. I had talked with her on the phone quite a bit before and we text from time to time. It was a treat to meet and hug my new sister in person. I have always looked forward to the day that I got to meet Chad's wife, I knew she would be something special.

The night before the wedding all of the families stayed in the same hotel. We had a family dinner at a restaurant within walking distance and then a few of us hit the hot tub later that evening.

Chad has had a few girlfriends, but I had never met any of them. They were all back east. So, this is actually the first girl I've ever seen him with. I thought it might be kind of weird to see him all lovey with a girl, but surprisingly it wasn't at all. They seemed "meant to be." 

The server tried his best, but it was a little blurry. For the record, everyone was there.

The next morning we went to the temple for the sealing.

This sealing was very special because it was my last sibling to be married, so my side of the family is now complete and we were all together in the temple.

I made the kids matching accessories. Then about a couple days before we left, Dave bought the boys new white dress shirts that came with a tie the perfect color for the wedding. The only fabric I could find in the right color was kind of girly. So, I gave the boys a choice between the masculine store bought ties or my ties, that matched their little sister. Well, they choose my ties. They wanted to match Emmi more than they cared about the fabric (that made me happy).

That Emmi girl just has the sweetest face and cheeks. It was cute to watch Chad's school buddies ooh and aah over her. Her new buddy Mike held her quite a few times. 

I almost think this picture could be in black and white. Chad in his uniform and Aubrey's beautiful gown with a lace veil. Just beautiful. I love this moment, when the bride and groom emerge from the temple. Everyone is cheering and celebrating the excitement of this special event.

I like this picture of Aubrey. She is beaming.

These are all Dave's snapshots. He did such a nice job getting pictures. 

These are Aubrey's parents Cindy and Jeff Hughes. I can't say enough nice things about them and their family. They are so kind and welcoming. We felt at home with them from the moment we met them. You wouldn't know it, but Jeff is currently battling stage 3 lung cancer. Before the wedding he finished his last round of radiation and the Monday after the wedding, he had his last chemotherapy treatment. They have faith in the many blessing he has been given that he will be healed. We pray for them often.

(There are pictures of my parents with Chad and Aubrey, but they're not flattering to everyone in the picture. So I promised not to post. I will put one up from the photographer.)

Here are the groomsmen and bridesmaids. 

Chris on Chad's left is Aubrey's brother. He was responsible for setting them up. 

The Washington D.C. temple is the largest in the church. It had 16 sealing rooms and 7 floors. If you want to learn more about what happens in the temple you can click here

The photographer was taking pictures of Aubrey with her sisters when I heard Aubrey shout out, "Okay, now Surganovich sisters!" It was very thoughtful for her to think to include us.

We took a picture with all our spouse/siblings, but then took one of just us. Maybe I'll have to get a picture of us when we were younger to put next to it. 

The guys decided to pick Chad up and without any planning, Aubrey ran in to steal a kiss. Pretty cute. 

They wanted a picture with the kids. Emmi was very content in Chad's hands. The boys are looking forward to some future horseback rides with their new aunt. She is an equestrian.

 

This was their first dance together at the reception. They wanted to make an entrance so they came right as the party started and hit the dance floor. 

The cake didn't turn out according to plan, but ended up looking good enough. I'd say it was the only hitch in the whole week and the Hughes didn't let it get them down! 

After planning and helping at weddings, I've become a "how to cut the cake explainer." Then usually followed by the cake cutter. Dave caught me doing the explaining part.

Out of all the weddings I've done, this is the first where the bride and groom cut the cake with a saber (a sword that is part of Chad's uniform)! Way better than a cake serving set. 

 

I had no doubts that Chad would be kind to his bride. 

(I'm old school, I prefer no cake smashing)

I think this is cute of my mom playing with Emmi. 

I liked this picture of Aubrey and her dad having fun dancing. Jeff had some moves on the dance floor!

There's no picture of the two riding into the sunset because they were doing laundry! Isn't that hilarious. Right before the reception was over Aubrey said, "We'll be right back. We need to do some laundry and pack for the honeymoon." They snuck back out and hugged the last of the guests, then packed. 

I guess instead here's our picture at the temple. It was a beautiful day and just thinking about Aubrey and Chad together puts a smile on my face. I can't wait to spend more time with them. 

Washington DC

During our visit to the east coast, we were able to spend one day in Washington D.C. Since the traffic and parking is terrible in D.C., we realized our best way to get in was on the Metro. Thanks to my husband who plans and maps our destinations out so nicely, we had a stress free ride into the city.

The boys loved riding on the "train." Josh insisted on standing the whole time and holding onto the pole.

It was a treat to site see with my brother Jared and sister in-law, Samantha. We don't get to spend time together like this very often, so it was fun to be together all day. 

This is how Emmi rides the Metro, fast asleep.

We knew our time was limited, so we went straight to the big ticket things to see.

Josh's #1 place to go was the White House. This is the front of it but, initially saw the backside of it first (thinking it was the front). The backside was a little disappointing. It looked so small. Later as we headed to see some other monuments we looked behind us and sure enough, there was the front. We missed it. So our last stop was to the front of the White House. We were all surprised how the White House is tucked in between so many other buildings.

Here is the backside, quite a difference.

As we turned the corner from the White House the Washington Monument was right behind it.

Josh said it was pretty heavy, but he managed.

While we stopped to look at a map this butterfly flew past me and landed right on Dave's shoulder. It hung out there long enough for me to take a couple pictures. I don't know if that means something, but the boys were impressed.

We started walking along the Patomac River to what we thought was the Lincoln Memorial. Once we got a clear view we realized it was the Jefferson Memorial. Sorry Jefferson, Lincoln was higher up on our to-see list, plus the walk was too far.

It is beautiful though.

I hate to say anything is disappointing, but the Reflecting pool was drained. Disappointing.

We stopped for a much need walking break. Thankfully there was a nice park on the way to the Lincoln Memorial with ice cream.

Emmi enjoyed her first ice cream sandwich. She actually stuck her tongue out and licked the ice cream. This was a first. She also has four teeth now so she surprised me by taking some bites! This picture cracks me up, just look at Emmi and Josh's faces. 

Talk about NOT disappointing! The Lincoln Memorial was incredible. As a child, Lincoln was my favorite president to read about (which I think isn't very unusual). I always dreamed of seeing the memorial in person. I was amazed by the stone work and quotes along the walls. When Josh and I met up in front of Lincoln he looked at me with such excitement and said, "MOM! This is SO cool!" It was one of those moments where I knew he was appreciating something as much as I was. What a neat experience, I love when I get to see my children make a memory.

It was pretty crowded, but we squeezed in for a picture.

As for Parker and Emmi's memory... well maybe we'll have to make a trip back in 6-7 years. 

Sam loved seeing D.C.. She was great taking pictures for us while our hands were full fulfilling needs. She is a kid at heart, so her, Josh, and Parker made sure to pick up a couple of souvenirs (hence Parker's angry bird hat earlier in the photos). After this picture we headed back to the Metro. We were meeting up with the families for a "rehearsal" dinner. 

 

When we got off the Metro we took this escalator to the parking garage. See those two lights, that was the top! Notice how small the people are. It was the longest and tallest escalator any of us had ever seen. 

We can't wait to go back to Washington D.C. and see all the museums. It was a beautiful place to be.