OOPS!

So, it's been a couple weeks since I posted anything! I first want to say Happy Veterans Day! I am so thankful for all the men and women who have served. There are a lot, but to name a few, Harold Martin, Ted Grant, Grant Martin and Bubba West. These 4 men mean a TON to me and I am so thankful that they decided to serve! THANK YOU!!!!

Bubba started class on Monday and will graduate on February 25th! YAY!!! I am so excited that he finally was able to start. We are still waiting for him to get his room, so please keep praying about that. Also please continue to pray for us as we get prepared to move. There is A LOT of stuff we have to get taken care of before we can move. I guess I never realized how much you had to do to move to a new country.

I will do better to keep you informed of what is going on in our lives as we continue on this journey. It's been exciting and I know there is a lot more in store for us!

WoW

What a weekend! I don't think I ever stopped this weekend. It was a great one though!!

I'm official now, I have my dependent id now! It's so pretty, ok it's not that pretty. For those who have not heard, Bubba and I will be moving to Lakenheath, England in April! So exciting! We have a TON to do, and are already in gear. God is so good, and has taken care of everything so far and I know He will continue to provide for our family! Speaking of taking care of us, Bubba will get to start class this coming Wednesday, as in the day after tomorrow! YAY!!! It's very exciting and he is anxious to start. Now all we are waiting for is his room to come available, as soon as that happens things will be even better. Right now he is with two other guys and has nowhere to put his things or even sit to study.

Please continue to pray for Bubba as he starts class, and for both of us as we get ready for the HUGE transition that is about to take place.

PRAYER REQUEST

I talked to Bubba yesterday and he doesn't start actual classes for 2 weeks!! BAH! God is in control and we are praying that God will show Bubba what to do. He has some choices. He can test out of everything that he knows or some of the stuff he knows, or he could just wait. We talked last night about him testing out of some but not all of the stuff. Just pray as we continue to pray that God will show us what he wants us to do.

Air Force BMT Graduation

What a weekend!!! I am SO HAPPY that I got to see and spend time with Bubba. Before I go into what happened this weekend, I want to let you know where Bubba is now. He is in San Angelo for 13 weeks. He is attending the Fire Academy there (yes, he has to go through it again). He does have his phone and will hopefully have a computer in the next couple of weeks. I will keep the blog posted with all that is going on.

NOW... Air Force BMT Graduation Weekend was AWESOME! Not just being able to see Bubba but to see what he has accomplished.
I got up Thursday morning at 3:30am... I was a little excited. I left Luling at 5:30 am and headed to see Bubba. The first event is the Airman's Run. All the Airmen who are graduating run a 1.5 mile run and yell their "jodies" and things of that nature.



After the Airman's Run, is the Airman's Coin Ceremony. During this time the Airmen receive their coins and are no longer considered Airman Basic's. They say the Airman's Creed during this time also.



Bubba graduated with honors! Only about 10% of the class is honors. It's based on your test scores, your PT scores and your MTI (Military Training Instructors) have to nominate you. There were 784 graduates over all and 78 of them made honors! Bubba was one of 2 Airman to graduate with honors in his Squadron (about 100 Airman). He received a coin and a ribbon for his blues for this honor.



After the Honor Ceremony, Bubba got Base Liberty for the rest of the day. It was wonderful walking around base with him.
Friday was the actual graduation ceremony. All 784 graduates marched on the parade field, stood at attention, marched around the field and said their oath. It was a VERY emotional ceremony.


Bubba got to spend the rest of Friday and all day Saturday off Base with us. We took him back to base every night around 10. Sunday I was able to go to church with Bubba. It was an awesome experience seeing Trainee's of all weeks worshiping together was AWESOME!!! We got to spend the rest of the day off base (because he graduated with honors). It was hard to say goodbye again but I will be able to see him in a couple of weeks and can talk to him on the phone everyday!!!

Please continue to pray for Bubba as he starts this new phase of training. I will keep you posted on what he is doing while in fire school.


I had to throw this picture in. It's of my grandfathers (retired Air Force), Bubba and Grant (Army)

There are more pictures on my facebook from this weekend!

3 More DAYS!

We are FINALLY to the week of graduation!!! I can't wait to go see Bubba. Here is a list of the things they will be doing this week. We will get to see Bubba on Thursday - Sunday. He will load up on a bus and head to San Angelo on Monday for 13 weeks of Fire Academy. During that time we will find out where he will be stationed! I will keep you posted and pictures will be up sometime next week from this weekend!! YAY!!!!

Eighth Week of Training
Written Test
Airmanship and Core Values Briefing
Technical School Briefing
Haircuts
Airman's Run
Airman’s Coin Ceremony
Retreat
Honor Graduate Ceremony
Parade/Graduation
Open House
Town Pass

10 MORE DAYS!!!

YAY!!! Only 10 more days til I get to see Bubba! I got to talk to him yesterday and he told me about the BEAST. They slept in tents, ate MRE's and did field training. He sounded more excited that it was over than he was that he had to go through it. We are getting everything in line to head to San Antonio to see him graduate! Here is the list for this week. Please continue to pray from him and his flight as they finish up. They have a lot of classroom work this week. Also, please keep Landon in your prayers, he is in his second week of Army Basic Training.

Seventh Week of Training
Final Physical Fitness Evaluation
Combat Stress Recovery
Financial Management
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
Career Progression & Quality Force
Joint Ethics
Military Citizenship
Air Force History
Air Force Organization
Healthy Lifestyles & Alcohol Drug Awareness Prev. & Treatment Training
Environmental Awareness
M9 Weapon Live Fire

10 MORE DAYS!!!!

2 1/2 MORE WEEKS

Not that I am EXTREMELY excited to see Bubba in 2 1/2 weeks or anything but we are getting close! This week is they will be doing field training called the BEAST, which stands for Basic Expeditionary Airmen Skills Training. Don't know what all is done during this week, but I do know that they are in the field all week. They "left" Sunday (10/4) and will be back Friday or Saturday. Please Pray for Bubba and his flight as they get closer and closer to graduation and seeing their families.

Sixth Week of Training
Basic Expeditionary Airmen Skills Training (BEAST) Exercise
Deployment Briefing
Equipment Issue
Camp Set/Up
Field Training Exercises

Also, please pray for Landon Cheatham. He is a friend of ours who left for Army Basic Training today. He will be at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

25 days and Counting!!!

I was able to talk to Bubba this weekend and he is excited that time is flying by. He informed me that he had bronchitis but is feeling much much better. He made it through the Chemical, Biological, Nuclear Defense Training. He said "Oh it wasn't that bad" LOL... I would have probably cried!

This week looks to be a VERY busy week for him. Please keep him and his flight in your prayers as they are finishing up the last couple weeks of BMT! I know they will be excited to be finished and see their families. I know that I am excited to see Bubba.

Here is a list of things they will be doing this week so that you can pray for specifics.

Fifth Week of Training
CPR Familiarization
Build TEMPER Tents
M16 Weapon Live Fire
Warrior Role
Joint Warfare
Public Relations and Media
Basic Leadership
Security Programs
Mental Preparation for Combat
Basic Situational Awareness
Pugil Stick Fighting
Introduction to the Code of Conduct
AEF Predeployment Preparation
AEF Assignment Notification

25 MORE DAYS!!! YAY!

Prayer Request for Bubba

Hey All, so it has been a while since I have updated you but I heard from Bubba again. I actually got a phone call from him. He said things are going well but they are dealing with a lot of sickness. He has been feeling a little under the weather and is working on staying well.

He said the next couple of weeks are going to be full of exercises and hands-on training. I wanted to let you know what he will be doing so you can pray specifically for him.

This list is what he will be doing this week.
Fourth Week of Training
Haircuts
2nd Uniform Issue
BMT Obstacle Course
Chemical, Biological, Nuclear Defense Training
Improvised Explosive Device Familiarization
AntiTerrorism
Training
Dress and Appearance II
Weapons Evaluation

As you read this you may be wondering exactly what that is... They will be doing the gas chamber and exercises like that.

Thank you for all of the support you have given us while he is away at BMT.

FINALLY... letters from BUBBA!!!

Yeah! I finally received some letters from Bubba. I was so excited when I checked the mail! Things were tough at first, but they are looking up. Bubba definitely doesn't like people to get in his face and yell... hahaha. He started out at as a fire monitor or "garbage man" which he said was way better than some of the other jobs. Later in the week he got "promoted" to an Element leader. There are 4 Element leaders and 1 Dorm Chief. He is "in charge" of 13 other guys. He said the guys in his flight are finally getting the hang of it and have started working together. From the first letter in the envelope to the last his tone got more and more happy. He looks forward to Sundays because they don't have TI's yelling at them all day. He also said the food is pretty decent and that it isn't as bad as most people make it out to be. His letters were mostly about his days getting up at 445 and going to bed anywhere between 2100 and 2300. He has been doing lots of running and marching, but said for the most part he really likes it.

I hope to hear from him soon and will keep you all informed on what is going on in the lives of us Wests!

Scentsy

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Address

I got to talk to Bubba for about 30 seconds, long enough for him to give me his address... If you want it email me or facebook me.

No big packages and No food, things like that, stick to letters.

And he's off

The last couple of weeks have been very challenging here in the West household. With graduation and preparing for Bubba to leave we were either running errands, having parties or just tired. It was an interesting two weeks but Bubba is finally off. I took him to San Marcos yesterday and he took a bus to San Antonio. We met up for dinner with my brother, Grant, and his friend, Landon. This morning he got up at 4 am and headed to MEPS for processing again. He went through his physical. He swore in around 10 am. And last I heard was still waiting to leave. His recruiter told us he would leave MEPS around 4 pm and head on to Lackland AFB where he will be for the next 8 weeks. It was hard to say goodbye but we made it through. He said he was really nervous when I talked to him earlier today... I wonder why? LOL. In the next couple of days he will finish being processed and given clothes. Actual training will start next week. They will start some PT this week, but not much. I should be receiving a phone call on Sunday with his mailing information. If you would like to mail him a letter you can email me or facebook me and I will get it to you. This is going to be a challenging 8 weeks for both of us, but I am super excited to see what God has in store for our family!
As soon as I hear something more I will post again! Thanks for all of the prayers and support!

Happy Birthday

Wanted to also tell Bubba HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! He is 21 today! YAY!!!

It's getting closer

So, as you know I will be graduating NEXT WEEK!!! YAY! I am ooberly excited and can't wait to walk across the stage and get my diploma. The last 5 1/2 years have been challenging, and I have learned a LOT, not just in the way of college stuff, but life in general! God has blessed me with a loving family and friends who have given me so much support to finish my degree. I am so excited that they will be there to share this awesome moment with me.

As Bubba and I are excited about my graduation and accomplishments we are also getting things in order for him to leave on August 24. It is going to be tough for both of us, considering we have hardly ever been apart. We know that God is going to do great things and are looking forward to what he has planned.

Please pray for us as we continue to get ready for him to leave, that God will comfort both of us as he is gone.

WELCOME

Hey everyone!! We would like to thank you for checking out our blog! This will be a great way for you to keep up what is going on in our lives for the next couple of years as we live the military life. I will keep you updated on Bubba while he is in Basic, along with what is happening with me. After Basic, we will keep you updated on our lives wherever we may be stationed!

So, to start off... Bubba leaves for Air Force Basic Training in 4 weeks. We are both getting more nervous everyday, but we know that God is in control and everything will go smoothly. I graduate in 3 weeks! Yay and will hopefully be employed by the time school starts! That's about all there is for now, so keep checking back for new updates!!