He is Risen -- He is Risen Indeed

It has been a rough week being a single mom with Joshua home from school for nine days, but we made it to the end of the week and now we can celebrate on Resurrection Sunday. God is faithful and is "growing" us through this experience. I am so grateful for my church family and all the support I have received from them. Today Joshua and I will enjoy being with some of the France family.

Blessings,

Sheryl

Easter Egg Hunts

Today Joshua finally got to go on two Easter Egg Hunts. We've been hiding last year's plastic eggs around the house for the past week and finding them -- a fun game -- but getting eggs full of candy is even more fun. This morning Joshua started with an egg hunt at our mobile home park. Due to the rain the hunt was done inside the club house. Thanks to the ladies who put on this special event for the kids in our neighborhood.

Then we headed to our local San Juan park where they were having an Eggstravaganza! That egg hunt was more like an egg gather. A section of the park was roped off and the eggs were strewn around on the grass. On the count of three the kids ran through and had every egg picked up in less than 90 seconds. Joshua enjoyed both and is now sorting his candy and other goodies.

Jon continues to be swamped with work. He was able to call us this morning, since Joshua and I will be attending the 8:00 a.m. service and didn't want to miss his call tomorrow. It is always great to hear his voice. Also, thanks to the gift of a digital camera that Jon received, he has been able to e-mail me a short video clip of himself. Very cool, although it made me cry to see and hear him (in miniature) on my computer screen but not to be able to touch or be with him. But I am very blessed.

Have a glorious Easter,

Sheryl

A rainy day at Legoland

Fortunately the storm didn't arrive in Carlsbad till around noon. Joshua and I had two wonderful hours in a very un-crowded Legoland today. He went on a new ride and some that he'd never done alone before because now he's six and over 48 inches tall. Here are some pictures -- they tell the story. A big thanks to the San Juan Seniors for their generous gift that allowed us to have this wonderful day.

Blessings on this Holy Good Friday.

Sheryl

Spring Break

Joshua and I are having a wonderful spring break this week. We started off with a trip to my uncle's farm in Porterville (Central California). We met up with some cousins on my mom's side of the family and enjoyed the France cousins that visited as well. But Joshua's favorite friend at The Ranch was Joe, the donkey or mule (I don't remember the difference). He spent a lot of time hanging out with Joe. Joshua was so sad that Joe was all by himself in his pen. Joshua also enjoyed the four dogs -- Max, Lady, Lucky and Ruby and the one remaining cat -- Fred.

On Tuesday Joshua and I drove up into the mountains and just above 5,000 feet elevation, we got to snow. We drove up to 6,000 feet and found enough to make snow balls and get totally drenched and cold. But it was great fun to be playing in the snow in California on April 11. We are truly sorry for those of you in Northern California being deluged by the ongoing rain and snow. But we enjoyed the benefits of a late snow fall at Alpine Village.

We will finish off the week with a trip to Legoland, Easter egg hunts, holy week worship services at our church and lunch with family in San Marcos on Sunday. Hope you all can spend time in worship as we celebrate this most holy of weeks.

Sheryl

News from the field

News from Camp Fallujah. If you haven't checked out this web site before, you might find it interesting. http://www.imef-fwd.usmc.mil/imef/imef-public.nsf/sites/imeffwd?OpenDocument This site provides video clips of activities at Camp Fallujah. Recently Senator McCain lead a delegation of senators to Iraq and they visited Marines in the "famous Camp Fallujah chow hall." Check it out. A few weeks ago my sister-in-law saw a report on the Fox News Channel with video tape of the chow hall, so maybe you've already seen it. Since it is such an important location for Jon, thought you'd want to "see it."

Joshua is off school for spring break next week. We have plans to do some fun things, so will keep you all posted.

Sheryl

A Daddy hair cut

Do you know what a "Daddy hair cut" is? Well, if you are Joshua, it is a very short hair cut. Last night he insisted on having his hair cut like "Daddy's." This would not be my first choice, but I won't complain because it makes hair washing a much more pleasant experience because it takes less time. Here he is in all his glory. He got teased a little bit at school, but I was so proud of him because he didn't get mad and just said that it was a hair cut like his dad's. Very cool.

We are enjoying another rainy afternoon in California. I say enjoying because Joshua loves to play in the rain. I let him dance in the rain and splash in the puddles after school today. I even took a short digital video to send to Jon on a CD. I enjoy looking at the rain and listening to the rain from inside a warm house.

Singin' in the Rain in San Juan,

Sheryl

A great weekend

Joshua and I started our weekend Friday night with our traditional pizza and movie night. We watched "Prince of Egypt" and enjoyed our home-baked pizza from Vons.

Saturday turned out to not have as much rain as expected, which was a nice change from our rainy March. I was up early and finally got my desk organized so I can use it for something other than piling papers. My Dad and Mom arrived mid morning and helped me with yard work and in the final steps of removing the wallpaper glue from Joshua's room -- been working on this project for month. Then about 11:00 Ken -- the friend who took Joshua to the Mighty Ducks game -- picked Joshua up for an all-day play-date with his friend Alex. Yippee! I was able to have lunch with some girlfriends and then do some more work at home. I even watch a bit of the George Mason/Florida college basketball play-off game. Jon attended George Mason for a few years and so I was hoping the underdog would squeak out another win.

Today we are expecting a call from Jon before we go to church. Then Joshua's good friend Jake and family will have Joshua over for the afternoon while I attend my first Key Volunteer meeting down on the south end of Camp Pendleton. This evening we'll join our small group for dinner at a local restaurant. All in all -- a great weekend.

I am so blessed to have friends and family who are supporting Joshua and me so well during Jon's deployment.

Sheryl