This week Cahl and I were able to go down to Missouri, and see Tristan graduate from Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood. We flew down to St Louis on Monday, and drove the couple of hours down to the base. On the way, we stopped by Mermac Caverns and took a tour. It was just over a mile round trip, and it was so amazing! Once we got down to our hotel in St Robert, we just had dinner and relaxed for the night.
Tuesday morning we headed over to the base mid-morning. We spent a couple of hours exploring and checking out the stores and awesome museum, before it was time to go over and meet Tristan. We got to Baker Theater about an hour ahead of time, and were able to meet the Brigade Master Sergeant. He was super nice, and visited and answered questions with the families, and let us know the rules for our Family Day. Then is was time to see our soldiers, and we could hear them marching for a few blocks before we could see them! It was so moving to see them march in, and stand in formation, and that first hug was awesome! We were able to spend several hours with Tristan, so we had lunch, checked out a neat little store nearby called the Uranus Fudge Factory, then spent some time driving around and checking out the river on base. We dropped him off a little early, so he'd have some time to visit with his friends, and headed back to our hotel for the night.
Wednesday we got up bright and early and headed straight to base for Tristan's graduation. We got there about an hour early, so we got good seats and got to see them practicing their program. After their official graduation, a member of Tristan's platoon proposed to his girlfriend, and they were all involved in a special formation to show their support, which was super sweet. We were able to spend most of the day with Tristan, and we got to meet the missionaries that have been keeping an eye on him and supporting him for the last few months. We did some shopping, had lunch, and picked up one of his friends, who hung out with us for the rest of the day since his parents had to leave early for their drive home. It was nice to walk through the original WWII barracks and Memorial Park on base and take the boys out for a nice dinner. It was hard to say goodbye at the end of the day, but we had such a good visit with him. To say that we are proud of him is an understatement, and we're so happy and excited for him!
