Winging Weekend

This past weekend we celebrated Matt's Winging. He has been working for his Wings for the past two and a half years and now he can finally say that he is "officially" a Navy pilot. It was a long wonderful fantastic fabulous weekend and we had family and friends here to share it with us. Instead of going into all the details, I thought that I would do a picture blog to show all of the Winging weekend moments.

 

On a side note to Matt (when he gets around to reading this blog - which better be soon;)). I could not possibly be more proud of you. You had a dream and you went for it. How many people can really say that. But you can. You did it. I love you.

 

And without further ado, here was our weekend.

Thursday night was the soft patch winging. This is the day when they get the wings for their flight suits. The instructors tell funny stories about the students and then give them their wings. Here we are right after. Finally...wings!

The whole gang

Friday morning Matt scheduled us for a Sim. We were able to simulate flying a helicopter. In this picture, Matt is my co-pilot. Not long after this moment, I crashed.

Before the official winging, some of the students participate in the Blessing of the Wings. Here Matt's Wings are being blessed by the priest.

The picture didn't turn out too well, but this is me pinning Matt with his wings. At this moment I was thinking "Do not drop the wings, do not drop the wings...." And you can't see it in this picture, but Matt is smiling like a four year old on Christmas morning.

YES!!!

The whole class

Matt's buddy, Jason, flew down to be there for the ceremony. It wouldn't have been the same without him. On a side note, this is the helicopter that Matt trained on for the past couple of months.

This is the traditional ceremony after the winging. The wingers give a toast and get a mug with their new helicopter on it. It is now a treasured possession in our house.

Some of my favorite spouses...

I think that this calls for a drink (or two)...

We threw a little party on Saturday night for Matt and a couple of the other wingers. It was the perfect night for burgers, brats, beers, and craw fish. It also gave our families all a chance to meet. Judging from all the pictures, I can safely say it was a success!

Just a little (20 pounds) of craw fish. This was a definite favorite.

This is the moment the buzzer rang on the VT v. Duke game. I think we know who won that one.

The Moms. I think that this is when they were planning their trip to Seattle together.

Congratulations, guys!