Flashback Friday...Promotions gone by

Since we are coming up on Cliff's promotion, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the promotions and important events in his career.

This first one rocks! Cliff was a Marine reservist while he was going to college. After he graduated and still couldn't figure out what he wanted to do with that English degree...he decided to come back on active duty with the Marines in the FTS program in 1993. (Which is actually an amazing story worthy of blogging, in and of itself. Maybe someday.)

Once he was selected, part of the process required that he be sworn in again. Rather than sit in traffic to do this at the local recruiting office, we chose a more....casual ceremony.


My grandpa was a retired Naval Officer, and therefore authorized to perform these kind of ceremonies. All it cost us was dinner. I served chicken breasts stuffed with carrots, zucchini and summer squash (julienne cut) and homemade focaccia bread. Yum!



I just love the "This is your brain on New Orleans" t-shirt! It was actually mine, and Cliff was constantly stealing it.


Uncle Dennis and Aunt Sue were actually humming "America the Beautiful" in the background during the whole thing. It really did add an element of class that we were sorely lacking otherwise!


The next one is January 1994, when Cliff was unexpectedly promoted to Staff Sergeant. He was in the below zone, so we were thrilled...but not expecting it.


Seriously, how young are we?! I was pregnant with Patrick. (Trivia: This was my favorite maternity dress.)


This isn't a promotion...this was when he chaired the MC Ball committee in 1995. He just looks so awesome, I had to include it.


I don't even remember what award this was. I know it was on recruiting duty, late 1999ish...and he was also in graduate school. I just love the crowd of people that we are...and Patrick's triumphant pose.

OK...so this event is my fave, Cliff's commissioning, and I have to apologize in advance for the number of pictures here. This is really only a fraction of the pics my dad took, and it was hard to narrow it down. This was the first large event that I planned, and I loved doing it. I could see doing this for a living...on second thought, it probably wouldn't be as fun doing it for strangers.

A non-wrecky cake from the commissary.



This was held at the San Luis Rey Officers' Club on Camp Pendleton in August of 2000. We were fortunate enough to have so many friends and family join us. Part of that was due to a Parks family reunion that culminated with this event. 3 years of sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears...delayed gratification...and it was finally here!



Two of the sweetest parts...my grandpas that were able to participate in the ceremony. My retired Navy Grandpa (who came up from Merida, Mexico for this and the family reunion) was able to administer the oath to Cliff...and my mom's dad (who drove down from Utah just for this) gave the most amazing talk.



Cliff's dad and I put on his shoulder boards.



He looked so hot!



Cliff went from the Marine Corps one day, into the Navy the next...and his Marine command was (of course) also present. His LtCol, who was always so supportive, gave the most touching speech...and presented Cliff with another medal.



The Hinmans were there...as well as the Carmans. (I love the look on Dave's face.) SO many good friends here who had given us moral support through all of this craziness.



I shed some tears over this picture. This is Cliff's friend Dave, who passed away last year (about eight months ago) and Cliff went back to Kansas City to perform his memorial service. They were Marine Corps buddies back from the Joliet days (circa 1993).



Proud, proud boys (Jake was not quite two...so we opted to leave him with a sitter and actually enjoy the event).



Here's my grandpa who spoke...along with my brother Jimmy and sweet little Baylee. She's always been such a cutie pie. (Trivia: Notice the centerpiece in the lower right corner? I made all of them. OK...my dad cut the wood...and helped me tack the pilings together...and secure the lashings...but it was my idea, AND I cut out all those nets!)



Here's Grandpa Parks with Jimmy, Shellie and Baylee (Thomas was probably running around with Troy and Patrick). This was my Grandpa's last hurrah, so to speak. He passed away from a massive heart attack less than two months later. He was so proud of Cliff, and proud of the part he was able to play in this day...and we are SO grateful to have had this bonus time with him.



Here's the whole famn-damily. We are an extremely attractive group, I must say. This is one of those days I will cherish in my memory forever. Rarely do all the stars align like they did here. This one day made all the sacrifices worth it...and yet we've just been continually blessed with more and more experiences to cherish...but this one will always be special.



Here's the traditional silver dollar ceremony...



Yes, this was staged (in that they walked outside together so that Master Guns would be the one to give the first salute, and get Cliff's silver dollar).



Hopefully he didn't spend it all in one place!



Oh my goodness, how I do love a man in a uniform!

Sadly, I did not get to attend or participate in Cliff's promotion to LT. The Commodore decided to frock* him with no notice on Sep. 10, 2001 (bet you can't guess why I'll never forget that date?) and I guess didn't think I'd care about being there. Hmmph!

Looking forward to Monday! Even though I won't get to participate over the miles, I'm so touched by the efforts of his commands here and over there, so that we can at least watch it and feel a part of the ceremony.

Here's to many more to come, right?

*Frocking: A commander has the option to "pin on" a new rank to a service member immediately. The pay does not start until the official promotion date...but (s)he would be able to exercise the responsibilities/privileges of the new rank beginning at the time of the frocking.

Beautiful...and Charitable!!

Aren't they a beautiful couple?

I have to tell you a little story about these two. Well, I guess it's really about me...never mind, I'll just tell it! A little background first...in the military, a LOT of times when there is a holiday, they will throw in an extra day off, combined with the weekend, and call it a 96 (meaning 96 hours of liberty-or time off). So if the holiday was on a Thursday, they'd throw in Friday, too. If it's on a Monday, they might also give off Friday or Tuesday, too. (Thinking this sounds like a pretty sweet deal, in addition to the 30 days of paid vacation a year they already get? Let me know and I'll hook you up with your local recruiting office!) In reality, they can't begin to make up for the long hours and time spent away from family during deployments, but it's a nice little token that says, "We care."

Anyway, where was I? So, on most of these bonus holidays, the children are still in school (much to their dismay) so it's a nice little "date day" for mom and dad. So this past Memorial Day weekend there was a 96, as Tuesday was another day off. I didn't really remember this until after I got the kids out the door and got myself ready for the day. I started thinking it might be nice to go to lunch with someone in the neighborhood...and then I remembered...the husbands were home...which made me feel a little sorry for myself because obviously, mine is not. Well, I brushed it off and just went about my day. I talked to Susan right before lunch time and the thought crossed my mind that maybe hers was working. I casually asked, "So, what are you guys up to today?" Her response answered my question...he was home, too.

I left the house to run some errands, and that sashimi salad at Gen was just calling my name. It was about 2 PM, so I knew the lunch crowd would be gone and I'd be less conspicuous on my own, so I decided to go it alone. Yes! There was only one other couple in there. I placed my order and cracked open my intro to Japanese book and settled in to enjoy my own company. Suddenly, I see this beautiful blonde head peek around the corner at me. It's Molly, with husband in tow.

"We saw your car in the parking lot. Can we join you?"

I assured them they didn't have to do that, I knew that these bonus, kid-free days were few and far between (I know I sure covet them) but they insisted on having lunch with me. Now I realize that it's very possible there's more to the story...maybe they were just being gracious and quick-thinking...but I don't care, I'll take the charity!

It was a very nice lunch, with very nice friends. The only thing that would have been better would have been spending it with my best friend...but since he was gone (and certainly not enjoying a 96 himself) I was so grateful for the thoughtfulness of Cliff's boss and his beautiful wife. They were fabulous company!

Marine JROTC Banquet

Knowing that our flight would be landing just after Patrick's JROTC awards banquet kicked off, I had to do some planning ahead to make the logistics work. Between Melene and I, we managed to come up with a scheme.

The airport is about an hour from our house, and Camp Kinzer (where the banquet was held) is in between. SO, we talked Melene's husband, Bill, into taking all four of the kids down to Kinzer so that we could tag-team. He was there for the dinner portion, and then I arrived just when the award portion was starting...so I came in, took his seat, and he left to take Melene and Amy home. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Here's the funny part...when I walked into the room, who should I see sitting at the table but my friends Julia and Ed. That's not funny? It is when you consider that Julia had been staying at my house at night with the kids. When I left instructions that Bill would be picking up the kids to take them to an awards ceremony, she assumed it had something to do with church. I made this arrangement with Bill not wanting to inconvenience Julia and Ed (who were already so awesome to be watching my kids). It never occurred to me that they might be going to the same banquet. Turns out, Ed was an honored guest because of his volunteer work with the cadets, so they could have just taken our kids, too. I don't know who is more blonde, me or Julia!



When the kids were getting dressed in their Sunday best, Patrick said, "Just think of this as church...only instead of going to worship God, you're going to worship me."



Charlie Company accepts their certificates for completing the year, and for "Best in Drill". Way to go Charlie Company!



I got to present Patrick with his promotion certificate to Cadet PFC. Congratulations Patrick!



I just keep getting shorter, don't I?



Mingling afterward. It was so cute to watch Jake watching Patrick.

Congratulations to Patrick on a terrific start in Marine JROTC!

Girls Gone Wild...Tokyo Edition

I had the opportunity this weekend to go to Tokyo with some friends from church to spend some time at the temple. It was an incredible trip, and I was proud of all of us for just 'going for it' and not putting it off for another time.


Here are my travel companions, Melene and Amy


Here's our first view of the Tokyo temple as we walked up the hill Thursday night.



Our flight got in quite late, so we arrived after the normal operating hours of the temple annex (where our sleeping accommodations were) but we called ahead, and a very nice gentleman waited up for us and let us in. Here we are, ready for bed, and feeling thirsty and adventurous! We bought about 6 drinks to try from the vending machines. (Yes, they even have them on temple grounds...they really are everywhere!) This turned out to be a good plan since we poured half of them down the sink. One of them tastes like tea made from unsweetened wheat puffs. I kid you not! I think if I knew how to read Kanji, I would have found it listed on the ingredients (puffed wheat extract). There was another version that was at least sweetened, so it was more like elixir of Honey Smacks.


Here we are stepping out of our rental car after spending all day at the temple on Friday.



Loved this shot...told Amy to make sure to get the bikes.


Here's where we went to dinner. The Concierge at the New Sanno* gave us several restaurant recommendations that all sounded great, but we were really favoring Thai, so "Bangkok Kitchen" it was!


The hike down was kind of cool...


I cannot believe I forgot to take pictures of the food! We were that hungry, and it tasted that good! We ordered and shared 4 dishes and 3 desserts between the 3 of us. It was all spectacular! This was the only pic I took inside.


Heading back to the temple to sleep after a fun night on the town.


Saturday morning, we decided to go to the Ginza district (Tokyo's Fifth Ave.). Here we are headed down to the subway.


This was almost too exhilarating for me...but I am kind of easily impressed.


The fashion in Japan is just too much!


Randomness on the subway...


Here we are at Ginza. It was mind blowing!


Isn't this cop in the box cute? I was getting some serious, "do not mess with me" vibes from her, though.


More Ginza...


Here we are on the top floor of a shi-shi-poo-poo boutique where Amy was dropping some serious change on a green leather purse that felt like butter. I seriously wanted to take a bite out of it. Isn't Melene cute on the lip sofa?



More Ginza (and no, that's not the green purse Amy bought, she collects them)...


Has anyone else seen this shirt? I wasn't sure whether it was some more Engrish, or there is something to it of which I'm unaware.


And here we are back at the airport Saturday afternoon. Here's a group of kiddos headed on a school trip to Okinawa. Notice the masks? They were everywhere in Tokyo. We approached a man for help, and as we did, he hastily reached for his mask. Wouldn't want those Amerikajin to get their swine flu germs on him! Just for that, I wanted to be extra breathy..."Koh-NEEE-cheee-WAAAAHHH!"


And here's our ride back to reality. It was a super quick trip, but SO worth it. These ladies were so laid-back and agreeable. We had lots in common, even though we are all in different stages in our lives...Amy's the young, single gal, Melene's a grandma (albeit a young, hot grandma) and I'm somewhere in between. It reminded me that you can never predict who your friends are going to be, or what awesomeness you might cheat yourself out of if you strive for a homogeneous circle of friends. Next, Melene wants to take us to Korea. She lived there for several years and knows her way around. I guess there's better shopping there, too. There's also a temple, so I think that's a pretty fair trade, huh? A little temple work here, some shopping and dining out there? I know, I know...Carrie Stuart...once again proving the human mind has an infinite capacity for rationalization!

*New Sanno: An awesome, first-rate, luxury hotel for military families in downtown Tokyo (like the Hale Koa in Hawaii). It's also right down the hill from the temple. Although we slept at the temple annex (because the New Sanno was booked), we ate, shopped and used the concierge at the New Sanno. I can't wait to take my kids there for vacation this summer!

Flashback Friday...Fathers and Sons

This is such a fun tradition that we have in our Church. Every May, fathers and sons (basically all males) get together for a campout to commemorate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. I especially love this time, since I have 3 boys...and have an excuse to indulge in some girlie time with my only daughter while Dad and sons have some male bonding time. This is a flashback to 10 years ago. (Jake was still nursing, so he got to hang with the girls. Lucky guy!)



Happy Dad, pitching the tent



Happy boys in wide open spaces.
(This campout was held at Lake O'Neil campground on Camp Pendleton.)



There is a funny story that goes along with this porta-potty. Patrick was potty trained...but still trying to master his timing in out of the ordinary situations (like camping). It was a good thing Mom packed extras, because even though this was only an overnight campout...let's just say the story involves Dad running, carrying Patrick like a football...but still having to leave a pair of Thomas the Tank engine undies down in the depths of this thing. Bummer.



Troy observing the 5 second rule. This cool dude is Brother Erekson. He was our neighbor, and is an awesome guy.



And look who it is...Brother Kretschmer and Jorden! This was before Ty and Ry, obviously.

Even though Cliff wasn't there this year, Brother Coulter took our boys up to Okuma for the festivities...and word has it, he knows how to camp! The boys gave reports of steak and bottomless rootbeer. Breakfast the next day was followed by jet-skis and fun on the beach. Cliff can't wait to join them next year!