Cinderella at the White House

My handsome husband waiting outside security

 We arrived to find a gaggle of people waiting outside the gate.
Since we have been out of the country so much lately we wished we had a directory or that people were wearing nametags-let's just say we were the most ordinary folks there.
As the  gate opened we began going through a series of security checks and lo and behold our names were on the list.

We were in!

Momma and Poppa Brye at the White House

As we entered there were a number of military aides directing us. Of course I had to talk with them and show pictures of our military kids. As the evening went on we found at least 8 or 9 who knew our older sons-it was so much fun.

The first hour was a cocktail hour. Waiters passed around appetizers and glasses of wine. We headed into a small room and who did we discover-Eric's Commandant from his Plebe year: General John Allen-four stars and all. He is now in charge of Afghanistan and boy did we have a lot to talk about! It was wonderful. How could it get any better than that?

Next we went upstairs to the State Dining Room. The theme was an English Garden and lucite columns were filled with flowers throughout the room. Since the dinner was quite large-340 people-the dinner itself was held in a big tent on the South Lawn. We met more of Jordan's Coastie friends who introduced us to SFC Leroy Petry and his wife. He is an Army Ranger who was awarded the Medal of Honor for courageous acts in Afghanistan. What a privilege to meet them both.

As we meandered around the room Courtney spied someone he really wanted to meet: Rory McElroy the number one golfer in the world. So very nice and I cannot get over the fact that he is only 22 years old!While we were talking to him another couple wanted to meet his as well. Senator and Mrs Lugar from Indiana were big fans and now we are big fans of them. We had a lovely time chatting with them-nothing like Midwesterners. As Mrs. Lugar"just call me Char " said, "Don't worry about not knowing anyone -we hardly know anyone either. "

As we were engrossed in our conversation it took one of Jordan's friends who was an aide to tell us it was time to go through the receiving line to meet the President. Here we go...