A MAJOR Deal!

On February 4 we had Shawn's Major promotion ceremony at UNA. This was such a special day for us to be able to pin him Major at the same place we pinned him as a fresh 2nd LT entering the Army back in August 2002. The day was made complete when COL Atencio arrived home safely and in time from Afghanistan to read Shawn his Oath of Office.  COL Atencio has been such a huge support to us and our family through this journey called Army Life. James has really grown to love him and prayed for him nightly while he was gone. Then when he found out he was home he thanked God every night for his safe return.

Ok..back to Shawn :). We were so excited that our family and friends could share in this special day with us. I was overwhelmed with how many people were in attendance to be honest! It was a special day for all of us for sure. We decided before hand that James would pin the Major rank on him. It was so precious and although James might not understand the significance of it he will one day and I am sure he will be so proud. During the entire ceremony James would not leave Shawn's side. He clung to his leg and just stood there.

Shawn has worked so hard to get to this point. After our struggle with CPT promotion this was such a wonderful blessing to be promoted so quickly to Major. It definitly shows his hard work while he was deployed as well as stateside. To have the lives of hundreds of men on your shoulders has got to be such a overwhelming experience. To lead them into battle, to see them wounded and even lose a comrade is a wonder that they continue to do the job so few can truly do. Shawn is truly an American Hero.  When he found out he was getting promoted he was like a kid on Christmas morning. I have never seen him so happy and so proud.

Army life isn't always easy especially deployments. I dread our next deployment so much especially with 2 boys who adore their daddy. Ethan already yells for Da-da when he isn't around or if he gone for the weekend fishing. James enjoys fishing with Shawn as well. In 4 shorts months we will be preparing to move to Ft. Leavenworth, KS for Shawn's ILE school.  This will probably be one of the toughest moves for me because living near friends and family again has been nice. My best friend recently moved back to the Shoals which has been awesome as well as me growing close to another Army Wife here. The debate of whether I should stay or should I go is definitely weighing on us. I know that I will not have the option of sending James and Ethan to MMO program there which truly will mean full time SAHM. Shawn's school will occupy his time a lot as it did in Ft. Gordon. We love the doctors here as well as James making friends at church and at school. However, I also know that we  need to be together as a family as long as we can before he deploys. Just hard to make that leap from here after coming back "home" for 2 years to Alabama. I know regardless where the Army sends us that we will make any house a home for our family. At the end of the day, that is what is most important!