My Brother & the United States Navy

About 3 weeks ago, we headed up to Salt Lake City's Military Entrance Processing Station to see Andrew be sworn in to the Navy. We arrived at 8:30 and then waited around for a while in true government fashion. While we were waiting we chatted with Andrew and my parents. Annie was entertained by Andrew's friend Mindy and cartoons on a big screen TV. And thanks to Annie's dollar store princesses, Andrew was able to get in touch with his sensitive side before facing the rigors of boot camp.

We followed the recruits back to a small room where they held the ceremony. We were the only family there. Other recruits had come from farther away, so their families couldn't come. One very young-looking recruit asked one of the workers to take pictures for his mom. She was a very energetic picture-taker, and she kept referring to him as "baby boy." He was a loyal son to suffer through that.

Here's Andrew during the actual swearing in.

It was short and sweet. Then we got the crazy lady to take pictures of our family. She did a good job.

We're proud of Andrew. Joining the Armed Forces is a truly brave thing to do. I'm so grateful for people who are willing to do so. Andrew is surviving boot camp so far and got put in charge of singing the cadence. He'll be great at that.