Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Welcome Home, Former President Bush!

Last night, my parents witnessed history. From a long day filled with many different history-making events, I'm sure this is not the one you will remember. However, VERY neat nonetheless.

My parents were among the select few who were able to greet former President (FP) George W. Bush, as he traveled home on his final flight aboard Air Force One. He arrived in Waco, Texas (my hometown) around 8pm last night...exhausted, I'm sure, from all of yesterday's festivities. These are a few of my dad's pics from the memorable occasion.

When you click on this picture, you can see FP Bush & Laura addressing the crowd to the right.


My mom standing in front of Air Force One, at Waco's tiny little airport


It was always so neat to go home to visit when the "Prez was in town". You would hear fighter jets and helicopters flying over head...very cool. The Bush family ranch in Crawford, TX is about 30 minutes away from my house.

FP Bush and Laura happy to be home.


FP Bush stopping to shake hands and even kiss cheeks!


Welcome home, Bush family! Happy to have you!

post signature

91 comments:

Michele said...

Really Cool! Wish I could have been there for that!

Kristin said...

Thanks for sharing this! I really respected him as president!

Katie said...

What a neat experience! Thanks for sharing! Bush must be ecstatic to be back home again.

Charity Donovan said...

That's awesome Suz! How very cool for your parents & your home town!

jenny winstead said...

i will surely miss him as president...

Jenny said...

that is soooo cool! i wish i could have been that close to see them arrive! i'll miss them in washington...here they were only 2 hours away from me. :0)

Wade's World said...

I'm so jealous. I would have loved to see that. I love W! You need to drop by and read my farewell thoughts on Bush.

http://tinyurl.com/7ktha5

Have a great day!

kristinkfitness said...

That is soooo neat! I just love him!!

Rachel said...

That would have been neat to see! Our friend is one of the pilots for AirForce One and has lots of neat stories about FP Bush.

Amber D. said...

Cool pics, thanks for sharing.

TheBMillers said...

Pretty neat to see the other side of what all went on yesterday. I'm sure he is JUST as happy to be home!!!

Barbi

Stephanie said...

What a neat experience!
Great pics! Thanks for sharing!
Welcome back to Texas Bush Family!!

JAMIE'S CREW said...

Thanks for blogging that! How neat!

lauren said...

How neat that they got to go! I just love them both sooo much and am already missing them! I heard him flying over my house last night on his way out to the ranch. Such a great man!

Kevin and Christen said...

He will be missed! Wonderful man, amazing family, respectable president....what a great memory for your parents.

Jenny said...

So fun!
Glad he is back where he belongs with the people who love him :)

Anonymous said...

We were fortunate to have a great man like W to keep us, our babies, and our grand-babies SAFE for the past 7 years. I pray that God will allow our new president to do that also. Even though it was a cold night, it was neat to be there. The Bushes are full of class and grace!
Papa H for my Steece's Pieces...

Kim H. said...

That is very cool! I'm so grateful that he's from Texas and got to come home to such a great reception. :-) I will miss him terribly as president.

Tiffany Yates said...

That is so exciting! How neat that they live so close and were able to experience something like this :) Thanks for sharing with us!

Cara said...

How neat!! I've seen Air Force One twice over the past few weeks, flying out of military bases near my house. Hearing the jets and helicopters is an everyday occurrence around here (especially when my hubby flies low over the house just to give me a heart attack, which hasn't happened lately since he is deployed...I kind of miss it now that I think about it! Ha!), but seeing Air Force One is always a treat!

Glad he is back in Texas now. I felt awful for him yesterday when people at the inauguration were booing him. Some people just have no class...

Anonymous said...

Very cool! Mind if I link this post to a private mommy board I am on...we were just talking about what FP Bush was going to be doing last night and today!

Haffner's World said...

How awesome! As I was watching all the history being made yesterday the thing that brought a tear to my eye was watching him get on to the helicopter and leave DC...I will truly miss him as our president! Welcome home Bush family!

Cori said...

That is so cool! Thanks for sharing those.

Angela said...

That is so neat!! That is exactly where I would have wanted to be yesterday...NOT in D.C.

Michelle said...

Thanks for sharing! I love that couple for all they have done for our country! It was wonderful to know that we had a God fearing, prayerful, Bible reading person leading our country. I hope the best for them in the future! I actually thought of you and your family when they said he landed at the Waco airport...So cool!

Callie & Gerod said...

I am originally from Midland, TX... where FP Bush was born and raised. He was there yesterday, but I am in Oklahoma now, so I didnt get to see him. What a wonderful experience for your parents. I will truly miss him as the leader of our great nation.

Terri said...

That is awesome! The pictures are great!

Anonymous said...

cool! my parents were there too :)

E. Sloane Cannon said...

I'm glad to have Bush back in Texas! How neat that your parents got to see that! Maybe once the Bush family moves to the Preston Hollow area we might run into them every now and then, how cool would that be?! :-)

Honeycutt Family said...

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that you can keep 'em Texas!

The Roaming Southerner said...

So neat, and I am def. going to miss him

Susan said...

I wish I could have been there, too! I am so proud of our FP and will miss him as our leader!

Grandma Honey said...

Bush was such a great president, despite what the media tried to portray. He kept us safe and made decisions that weren't always popular at times but he listened to his conscience through prayer. How is it that your parents got selected to be there for his homecoming? How exciting for them.

Leah said...

What an awesome privilege!! I respected him so much and pray that their time home now is happy.

Anonymous said...

Suz, you don't know me, but I love to look at your blog. I am a Christian mom of 2 and I live in Nebraska.

I just wanted to thank you for posting this. I'm sooooo tired of the Bush-haters and how mean people are towards him. Even if people didn't agree with his decisions, they didn't have to be so hateful! I think Bush is a good Christian man who made decisions he thought were best for our country.

So, anyway, thank you!

Fulton Quads said...

Suz~
I agree with the last comment. I am a Christian & I believe he is too! I would NEVER have wanted to be our President when 9/11 happened & I think he did a pretty good job with what he had. People need to move on & start working on our future & stop reliving the past. He did what he did & he stands behind his decisions. Can most other politicians say that? I too would have LOVED to have been there in TX when Air Force One touched down just to Thank him for serving us. I just hope he can now get some rest! Thanks for posting it! Take Care!

love, Cathy & the quads

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU SUZ! I am so excited and touched that you included THIS part of history on your site.

While, he isn't who I voted for, I do pray for President Obama and his administration and will support them. BUT yesterday, watching FP Bush and Laura board the helicopter and then AFO to leave the capital and go home to Texas I cried and cried. The bashing that he endured was just relentless. One of my bogger buddy friends said it best when she said "I hope President Bush doesn't feel like the last 8 years of his life have been a failure. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to feel that way." THANK YOU TEXAS for welcoming him back and with open arms. He did his best and truly I believe did a great job- let's face it he is not the ONLY one making decisions in the capitol!

I would expect nothing less from the residents of Texas to welcome him and Laura with open arms. You are all the BEST!

Lots of love!!!

Elizabeth J. Williams said...

Suzanne,

Thanks for posting this. I knew he was coming to Crawford but I assumed he'd do the usual TSTC airport thing. That's very cool he landed at the Waco airport. Wish I still lived there for moments like those. I went to the Waco Trib and saw the pics of Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo and Colt McCoy. Way cool for whoever coordinated all of that...pretty amazing. Here's the link for whoever wants it:
http://www.wacotrib.com/photos/mediahub/01202009_bushreturns/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=141462
Pic #32 is my favorite of 'the TX gang' :)

Love ya Dubya--welcome HOME!
Thanks again for the post!

Elizabeth Williams
www.wacowilliamsfamily.blogspot.com
www.thecoastwilliams.blogspot.com

Brittany Wardlow said...

how cool! i love mrs. bush;)

debi9kids said...

These are fantastic shots! I so wish I lived somewhere good and conservative like Texas :)
I loved Pres. Bush and Laura Bush and am very sad to see them go.

Elasha said...

That is really cool. I know my parents would have LOVED to be there, that is neat that your parents got to witness that!

I'm glad that they are back in Texas, and I'm sure they are too!!!

Laurie said...

Wonderful post! I am a long time reader and first time poster. I am glad that Texas was happy to see him come home. I was so shocked to hear that the massive crowd booed him and Laura when their names were called before Barack Obamas for the swearing in. He deserves respect just like now Obama does in my opinion. Come visit my blog sometime!

Mon said...

Oh that is so cool, i absolutely love special occasions, and id especiall love this one !! But, is it still called Air Force One? They said on CNN that it's the same plane but since he's not a pres anymore it's not called Air Force one for his particular flight

The Carlsons said...

very cool!

-fellow quad mom of GGGG and a 4.5yo boy

Cindy said...

How Awesome!!! Such a neat opportunity to get so close!
I cried when I saw them board the helicopter to leave the white house. I think they were unfairly bashed but handled it with grace. I have especially always loved Laura. Such a lady!

Kai & Kohl Katz said...

VERY COOL!! I love that you shared this and these pictures are amazing!
The Katz Family
Florida

Williams' bunch said...

That is so neat! I love the pictures...I thought about you and wondered how close things were when I was reading a story about him today and his return to TX! I wish I could've been there to see, too.

asplashofsunshine said...

Hopefully everyone was cordial to him. I'm not one of his biggest fans, but he always deserves respect. What a moment in history to have captured.

Michelle said...

I don't care what some people say I respect FP Bush!! He was a mighty man of God.

Mrs. H said...

How awesome that you have these pictures! We just love FP Bush and think alot of him...I pray he goes to Crawford and can finally relax! Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to show my hubby these!

Miche said...

Great post! It brings tears to my eyes just like it did yesterday to see him depart DC. History will show that he was in fact a great leader to this nation and not the demon the media made him out to be. We love you George W!!

Andria said...

Neat! How awesome is that?!

Elizabeth said...

I'm a lurker..don't know you but came by your site through another friend! Thanks for posting this! I love it...Bet he's glad to be home.

Molly said...

Wow, that's so cool, what a warm welcome he received back in Texas. Thanks so much for sharing that, I wondered what they were up to throughout the day as he was officially no longer the president and heading back home (sniff, sniff)! He was a great President, for sure!! He'll be missed!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this!! I am very sad to see the Bushes go, having had a lot of respect for them both.

Tracie said...

So glad to see so many positive comments regarding FP Bush. I have four brothers in the US Army and always felt confident with him as our Commander in Chief. God bless him and all he's done to keep our country safe since 9/11. I wish I could claim him! I'm from Arkansas and, well, you know who I get to claim. :D How exciting for your parents to have been there.

Anonymous said...

It's good to see him out of the white house finally!
I pray that Obama can truly be the leader of change for our country. It's definitely hard times and we are in dire need of a good leader.

Absolutely love your blog! Thanks so much for sharing!

Unknown said...

Wow - I think that is wonderful and so well deserved. I would much rather have been there instead of DC had I had my choice of either place (not that I went anywhere - lol).
Makes me miss Texas even more than I already do.

Thanks for posting this - very cool indeed!

JO

www.teensandtriplets.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

How cool. I love George W!!! He is definitely someone that you Texans should clam as your own!

rebecca said...

That is so awesome! I just love them and I was so teary eyed when I saw them departing from Washington. He is such a man of God and Mrs. Bush is such a classy lady.
The media should be ashamed of how poorly they presented him!
Your parents sure got to witness an awesome part of history! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Suz! Love your blog! I've been following for a while, and love seeing the progress the quads are making. We're working on our blog as well (my daughter just turned 1!), and I'm wondering if you can give me some posting advice?!?! I'm able to upload pics, but when I publish the post you can't click on the images to enlarge them. Any suggestions? Email addison.zimny@gmail.com. Thanks!!

mommyoflove3 said...

I don't think I have commented before on your blog but you have 4 of the cutest kiddos ever! I really enjoy your stories. I am also glad you shared this post about President and Mrs. Bush because I was so deeply saddened by their treatment in recent months and at the inauguration yesterday. He deserves far more respect than he gets!

Candace said...

It was great that you posted this. But I am glad to see him gone. I am hoping Obama can the leader of change and get our country back on track. I feel the last 8 years have gotten worse and I am very happy to have a new president. I really wanted to go D.C to watch history happen.

Unknown said...

Very Cool!

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you are happy to have them back! Being from AR I could not have said the same thing if the one we sent to the White House had come back! Thanks for sharing the pics!! Very cool!

-ds

carisa said...

I'm sad he didn't get more respect. He will be missed for keeping our country so safe over the last 8 years.

Anonymous said...

Very neat!

sbharris said...

I have never commented before, but I am a friend of Charla's from Uvalde! I love reading about the quads! Love your post! My husband helped plan the party so we were all there too! My 3 month old was with my husband greeting President and Mrs. Bush when they landed. It was pretty neat! I was definitely a proud mommy, wife, and American that night. we are posting pictures soon on our blog. sbharris.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing so much through your blog! Your kids are so cute and adorable!

Anonymous said...

It's nice to see someone from our generation show support to the former president. Sometimes I feel alone. Thank you!!

donatelli98 said...

Thank you for posting this - such a nice tribute and kudos to the people of Waco for welcoming W and Laura back with open arms - they so deserve it! They left with such class and dignity, something to be proud of! We will miss you!

kristy said...

thanks for posting...I don't think people realize how much he has done for us...They are truly a class act!

Taryn Windheim said...

Hi Suz,

I always check out your page but never post any comments, but I wanted to thank you for sharing these pictures.

No matter what people thought of Bush's politics, he is a class act and a gentleman.

Thanks again for posting such great pictures!

jenn said...

how cool! thanks for showing us the "other side" of things! all we saw all day were events in washington with pres obama (which were cool)...it was nice to see fp bush and what he did. i was sad when he and mrs bush waved goodbye and boarded that helicoptor. i can only imagine what they were feeling...saddness, relief, ready to get back to "normal" life in texas!

Les and Kimberly said...

This was a great blog! I am glad to have them home and just pray that our new President will let his conscience and prayers guide him too. Welcome home FP Bush - we love you!! :)

Amy said...

THANK YOU for acknowledging, welcoming and RESPECTING President Bush!!! I get so tired of listening to people disrespect him and act so tacky!

Amy said...

THANK YOU for welcoming, RESPECTING and acknowledging him!!! I get so tired of people disrespecting him and treating him so terribly.

Melodie said...

Not that I wanted him to leave the White House, but that would have been a much more exciting event to witness than anything that went on in DC on Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

I love these pictures and I'm so glad FP Bush got the welcome home he deserved. I felt so bad for how the crowd treated him in DC on Tuesday.
We're proud to have him back in Texas where he belongs!
Cathy in Frisco

Susan - said...

I bet they will remember this event. How cool that your parents got to do this.

You popped up in my "People You May Know" on Facebook. Funny, because I feel as if I know you, but we've never met. I think we have friends in common. I have been following your blog since before the babies were born.

Jill said...

Thanks for this post. It's nice to see that someone else doesn't loathe the former President. I feel so bad for him and Laura.

Anonymous said...

Another thank you for letting us see the "good side" of the day!!! Having to see what went on in Washington was just so sad. Time will show what the real truths are, and our wonderful President Bush can always hold his head high!! Much love to him!

Susan said...

You have the best blog readers!! I really thought I'd open the comments to find a bunch of Bush haters. Guess that's what happens when you move to the Northeast and are surrounded by them. Glad to see that's not the case here! What a fun night for your parents!

Stacey said...

will miss his love for our Lord and the way he stands behind his decisions. I wish he was still the one leading us.

Stacey said...

will miss his love for our Lord and the way he stands behind his decisions. I wish he was still the one leading us.

Anonymous said...

I came to say what Amy said.
I'm not overly political but I hated how everyone was so mean to him.

the tichenor family said...

what an amazing moment to get to witness! glad to have the bush family back in texas...

love your blog, you have the cutest kiddo's!!

Melanie said...

Great pictures!!!! THanks SO much for sharing. Glad to see a positive post on FP Bush!!!! He'll be missed!

Michael and Hannah said...

Very neat! Yay for some Bush respect!

Joey and Niki said...

Living in NYC, I was so greatful to have him as President. I wish him the best, he really is a great man who loves God. One day people will see that. Thanks so much for posting such a great experience.

Niki

JJ said...

What an amazing thing for your parents to be a part of. I'm happy to see a warm welcome for our former president-he and Mrs. Bush deserve it!!! I know he must be so happy to be home!!

Natalie said...

that is so exciting that your parents got to be there!!!

i just wanted to say hi from a fellow texas blogger. i just found your blog when i clicked through the blogher ad to your review blog. so, nice to meet you.

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