Georgia Trip

Our trip to Georgia was a difficult one, but I couldn't have asked for a better passenger. Ian slept on the flights, was happy in the airports, and enjoyed making noises to get as much attention as possible from absolute strangers. Ian went right to Daddy, and it was great to see Phil interacting with Ian again. Phil will be in Iraq soon, and we pray every day for his safe return home. God bless America and all of the troops fighting the War on Terror! All of the soldiers lined up for the Casing Ceremony.

It was interesting to learn that the reason it was called a casing ceremony was because they placed a casing around all of the flags that would accompany the soldiers to Iraq. They will travel like this, and then will be removed once they arrive in Iraq so they can be flown there. Here is a flag getting cased and the 4 flags in the back have already been cased.

Marching out of the field.

Hanging out in his stroller after a long nap during the ceremony. None of the noise kept this tired boy from a much-needed nap (thank goodness!).

Ian looks quite bundled up with DadDad. It wasn't that cold, but the wind was blowing; hence the hat (to keep the sun out of his face) and the hood (to protect his ears).

On both sides of the parade grounds, they had trees lined up in memory of all of the fallen soldiers from that base. It was called Memorial Walk, and it made you catch your breath and be thankful for all that you have and for the freedom these men and women died protecting for every American. There were plaques at the base of each tree with the soldier's information on it and many of the families had placed keepsakes around the tree. I'm sure it was even more inspiring to see at night since every tree had a light.

Wearing Daddy's hat and looking quite stoic.

Precious boy sound asleep in the car after a long day.

I think Phil had just gotten hit in the face from the rattle in Ian's hand. It obviously didn't hurt Ian too much!

It was hard to get a picture where everyone's eyes were open since it was sunny that day.

Three generations of Thomas men.

Geoff, Phil, Ian, and Sherry. This was taken a bit far away, but I was trying to get some background in the photo as well.

The trees are beautiful this time of year in Georgia. Fall is my favorite season, so it was nice to see fall colors everywhere I looked during our trip.