Bill's Fini Flight

Bill's last flight at Shaw

Bill had his last flight at Shaw today and had initially thought that he didn't want to make a big deal about it. He just felt like it wouldn't be the same without all his bro's there and just being attached to a different squadron. We were talking last night and it came up that this might be the only time we would be able to be there for one of his Viper fini flights and I told him again, that if he wanted us there we would be there. This morning on his way out the door he told me that he thought he may want to order pizzas and have us come up if we could. Of course we could! So we scrambled to get things in order and do a few extras. After I picked Kaity up from school (and tracked down a picture), I started the process. Knowing how much it would mean to him if the rest of the squadron could be there, I decided to print a picture of the guys that was recently taken in Iraq. It turned into me getting it blown up, mounted, and laminated. It wasn't the same, but it was still fun.

Kelso's crew and the Shooters celebrating the fini.

We brought the guys to the fini, had them hanging out while we were eating pizza, and had them drinking at the bar.
One of the funniest things is that we were actually ready, out the door, German Chocolate cake (Bill's fav) made, cookies made, and pizzas picked up, and at the squadron EARLY. By 20 minutes. Bill landed 45 minutes early. I know! Not quite what we had envisioned (like the deployment reunion, which I will blog before he leaves again), but they wouldn't let him shut down his jet before we all got out there, so we missed the taxi, but that's okay, it worked out.

Bill's legs are taped so he can't run away. If our squadron would have been here, he would have also been taped to the ladder in the background. He was glad he didn't have to go through that, but it would have been worth it to have his bro's there.

We have some cute pictures of Kaity hosing Bill down at his fini flight at Laughlin when she was 15 months old and thought Ryan would be all over it, especially with his love of inappropriate uses of water, but he just stood back, took it all in, and let Kaity do all the work.

Not only did she hose her daddy, but she also sprayed some innocent bystanders. Ooops! Bill was very thankful that we made a big deal out of it and also that we thought to include his bro's the only way that we could.

Us with the VERY MISSED Shooter guys (and out of town gals). Thanks for the ride! We will miss you dearly friends.