Top Gun Graduation

Chris graduated from Top Gun this past Friday so I went to Fallon, NV for his graduation. His Dad and Uncle Larry drove up with me, and his Mom flew in for the occasion as well. Thanks to the most awesome friends a girl could have, I was able to leave the kids behind as there weren't many activities well-suited for little ones. The kids stayed with my neighbor across the street (for 4 days, all 3 of them!) and had a blast. I called one day to talk to them and when I asked Clara what she was doing she told me she was playing Izabella's DS. Then proceeded to say, "Hang on a second, I don't want to mess up my game, and then I can talk." ...Sometimes it's nice to be missed! Actually, it was great to have the ability to leave my kids with friends and not have to worry about them. Even more so, to know that they were having so much fun, they barely missed me...such a gift!

Anyway, we drove up Wednesday to Fallon. We had to take the long way around upon hearing that roads through the mountains were closed due to snow. The 'long way' meant that our 6 hour trip was increased to 9 hours. (So glad I was able to leave the kids home!) Wednesday night we went to a friends' house who just recently moved to Fallon. We were stationed in both Pensacola and Virginia Beach with the Gorski's. It was great to have a chance to catch up again.

Thursday we sat through a lecture at the Weapon School given by Ret. Commander Willie Driscoll. We were not allowed to bring cell phones and cameras into the building the first day, so I have no pics. Thursday evening we headed to the Officer's Club for Chris' patching and some social time. The Patching was a private Patching, open only to people who already wear a Weapons' School patch. Since I don't wear one personally, I was not able to go in and take pics of that either. Instead, Chris' Mom, Dad, Uncle and I kept busy playing bar games...

First, I challenged Virginia to a couple games of shuffleboard. (I love playing shuffleboard, which is not to say say I'm good at it!)

Then Uncle Larry and Virginia played a game of pool. (The term 'played' used loosely here!)

Virginia's up for a shot

Larry and Virginia

Like the blind leading the blind :)

Chris' Top Gun mug

Chris and his classmates eventually emerged with their new Top Gun patches

I'm so proud of all that he's accomplished

The Stein men: Uncle Larry, Chris, John (Chris' Dad)

Great old friends. Me and Allison Gorski. As I said before, we were stationed in Pensacola and Virginia with the Gorski's. They have a golden retriever about the same age as Clemson and Allison and I were pregnant at the same time. Jonathan and her son, Hayden, are about 3 months apart. She was pregnant with #2 in this picture and ready to pop at anytime! It was great to be able to catch up with old friends, and to be able to share one more milestone with them as well.

Chris and his pilot 'Schwarma'

Chris and 'Schwarma' with 'Ponyboy'

A toast to Top Gun Class 11-01

More celebrating...we even got John to play a little pool!

More old friends: Ian Gorski, Chris and Joel Jacobs.

Joel and his wife, Ashley, were also stationed with us in Pensacola and in Virginia. He flew into Fallon from Virginia just for the patching.

Friday morning we woke up to snow on our minivan.

Uncle Larry taking pics of the snow

Chris' car in the snow

Thankfully Chris had an ice scraper for Uncle Larry to get the snow off the minivan, so we could get back over to the Weapons School for Chris' Graduation.

Chris before graduation

Everyone in their places

RADM Miller - Naval Strike Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) Commander

Chris receiving his certificate in recognition of completing the Top Gun course

At the end of the ceremony, the Weapons School instructors lined up to shake hands of each of the graduates

Top Gun Class 11-01

Chris, 'Gunner' and 'Schwarma'

'McFly' and his proud wife (me)

Chris and his mom

Chris with his Dad and Uncle Larry

Chris with his certificate and class picture

Me and Chris

Chris with his mom and dad

All of us

Outside the Weapons School

One last pic in the snow

Just across the street from the Weapons School is a MiG Park, where there are various aircraft set on display. Here are some pics we took on our way out.

E-2C Hawkeye

FA-18C Hornet

F-4 Phantom

Mig-29 Fulcrum

A-6 Intruder

F-14 Tomcat

SH-60

After the festivities on Friday, we headed to Reno, so that Virginia could catch her plane the next morning. This was the view from our hotel room.

and another view.

We stayed in a casino hotel ('When in Reno...'), so we didn't have to go back out into the nasty cold weather. Dinner and entertainment were all on the ground floor!

The awesome big chair in the lobby of the hotel

After dinner we met up with 'Gunner' at the Dueling Piano bar. They called Chris and 'Gunner' up on the stage to celebrate their graduation with the 'Chicken Dance'!

Chris free stylin'

Chris and 'Gunner' each had to pull up another person to join in dancing the chicken dance

Chris with two of his classmates, 'Gunner' and 'Keebler'

After dropping Virginia off at the airport Saturday morning, we headed home. We didn't want to go the long way around. Luckily we had chains, otherwise we never would've been allowed to go straight through.

Chris loved putting the chains on the van (hee hee)

Beautiful snow on the way home

So Pretty

The snow wasn't really that deep, but the snow plow had pushed it off to the side of the road to almost cover the street signs!

It was a great weekend. I'm so proud of Chris and all that he's accomplished. I was so happy that we had decided to leave the kids behind with our friends. They had a blast, and would not have had anywhere near as much fun had they come to Fallon. Likewise, Chris and I were able to relax and enjoy ourselves without a thought about cranky kids, picky eaters, bathroom breaks or bed times. We are so thankful for all that we've been blessed with this year.