Joe's Graduation // Part One

As those of you who read my blog undoubtedly know -- this past weekend, Joe graduated from ALERT!! He is now officially an "ALERT man" - and we couldn't be more proud of him. =)

Mom, Dad, and I (Hannah) traveled down to Texas for the graduation. Sadly, Joe didn't get to come home with us - the paramedics have a few weeks of school after the actual graduation. So you can keep him in your prayers - he has a few classes, tests, clinicals, and whatnot to keep up with before he's DONE done done. =)

Hope you enjoy Part One of this "series" (if you will) - there were too many pictures to put on one post! haha! Check out my blog if you want to see some more from the weekend... but even over there I'm not done yet. =)

Much love!
Hannah (for all the Ps)

The crack of dawn, literally. Even with these advanced modes of transportation... it still takes a LONG time!! =)

But soon we were seeing miles upon miles of gorrrrrrrrrrgeous Texas scenery!

The day after we arrived, it was graduation time.

We were blessed with a few student speakers... (this is Cody)

The men's wonderful singing...

The admiring crowd.

more singing...

Dad - the guest speaker

Annnnnddd - finally!! - Joe received his diploma...

And his pin. ALERT man at last!!

It's hard to believe that my bro is a legit paramedic. Technically now, I guess he can save your life. Pretty darn cool. =)

Don't worry. He doesn't usually look so severe. This is just the "tough guy" act. =)

Praying with the Dads.

Unit 40 (well, SOME of it...)

Joe, Keane, and Evan

"He's one of us, now..."

Allllll the flags from past ALERT units...

And Joe adds his signature to the Unit 40 flag. It wasn't exactly complete without it. =)

Hmmm. Who are these good-looking people, anyway?

You'll just have to come back for Part Two to find out! =)

ERT Arkansas Rappelling Expedition

Okay, the second-to-last installment of Joe's ALERT Pictures!! (Whew, aren't you glad? This has been dragging on forever...) I know. Well, what are you going to do? He had thousands of pictures to sift through!! (okay, seriously... not thousands...)

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But these pics are from the AK Rappelling Trip towards the end of ERT. Arkansas is beautiful country, and I do think the men had a wonderful time. =) At least, that's what the report is. ;) So enjoy the pics... and have a blessed Sunday!!

Don't ask me to do the part of the man on the stretcher... I seriously don't think I could hold still quite long enough. =)

Getting ready!!

Joe and his buddy.

Joe! (no kidding...)

The lovely... um... lovely.... valley of which I forget the name...

Well, that's all for now folks. Until next time!!!

☺

ERT Miami Dive Trip

And I just realized that I posted all of these in reverse order... oh, well... just forget it... anyway...

These are the pictures from the ALERT ERT dive trip to Miami, FL! Unfortunately, I think this was back in August... so these are a little late. But I hope you enjoy the pics all the same! It'll give you an idea of what Joe was doing down there.

He didn't get to dive too much on this trip because of the staph infection he had on his knee. But he did get to dive for few days towards the end of the trip, which he really enjoyed!!

My Aunt and Uncle, who live about an hour north of Miami (I think..) drove down one Saturday and took Joe sightseeing! I believe this is Miami beach... "no kidding," right? What else would it be? :D
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Strolling along...

This lovely sunset picture ought to be at the END of this post.. oh, well, it doesn't really matter, does it?

The canal they dove in.. THANKFULLY, they saw no gators. :-) (thanks, God!!!)
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Dive buddies!

One, two, three...

Go! Or... shall we say... Gone!

Here's some advice... don't mess around with him!! Looks fierce.

A Floridian horse. Hmmm, that's one thing you don't ever think about very much. Horses in Florida? Well, I guess they have them! Wonder if they like the heat...
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Palms... aren't they graceful? That's why I like palm trees.

For the interest of all you history bugs out there... =) This was on this airplane below. Cool, isn't it? To add to it's coolness, it was dedicated on March 4, 1994... exactly one year after I was born!!

Isn't it a neat plane? I'd like to fly one! Unfortunately, besides the fact that I'm not totally serious... my eyesight isn't good enough... oh, well. I'd rather be a music teacher, anyway! :)

Practice in the pool.

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Along for the ride...

You don't see this too often! Nope, only in FL.

I wish I could recall the name of the boat... anyway... here's Joe by the boat that I can't recall the name of. =)

And that's all for now, ya'all!! I'm sorry they're so sadly overdue... :( I'll try to put up the rest of the ALERT pics soon, and we'll be all done with that! =) Ready to move on...