UPT--Update!

Though routes and plans changed a million times (sorry Aunt Jill!), Eric's cross country was a success. He visited several different cities--Tucson, Phoenix, Albuquerque--and got 4 great days of flying in. Now, after one more ride and an instrument check flight, Eric will be in his final block of Phase 2 training-formation! Yep, by next week he'll be flying about 6-10 feet away from another airplane for 16 different flights, doing all the things he's learned thus far--including aerobatics! He's really excited to see what formation is like, but even more excited to get through this last bit of training before tracking to T-38s or T-1s on April 1st! Time is flying down here (no pun intended!), which is a great thing because this program can get quite stressful at times. Because of uncharacteristically bad weather in Del Rio lately, Eric's class (and all others) have fallen a bit behind schedule, so they've been having to fly regularly on Saturdays and will continue to until Track--or so we're told. As you can imagine, after 12 hour days, and studying on top of that, adding a day to the already strenuous work week makes for one exhausted boy! I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work; the stamina and focus required to even get by here is commendable, and Eric is doing FAR better than just "getting by". The stress level is high lately, so your prayers that he will continue to be his dedicated, positive self are appreciated! We're confident that regardless of where he ends up for Phase 3, God's got a great future in store for his career.

As we head into a new month, some exciting things are planned. My friend and college roommate, Ashley, is coming to visit for a weekend. We're really excited that she can be here on a drop weekend so she'll get the full Laughlin experience. What's even better-we know the people who are graduating that weekend (it's always more exciting when you know the class). I also plan to show her around San Antonio and the Riverwalk on a day trip. Eric and I have also set a few goals for ourselves, and to celebrate achieving them we're hoping to plan a weekend in Fredricksburg, TX, a romantic little German town south of San Antonio. What a welcome break that will be!!

Have a wonderful week!
xoxo