Thursday, August 31, 2006

Home after a long day of travel

Just a short note to let y'all know that Joshua and I arrived home earlier than expected -- 9:30 p.m. into San Juan Capistrano train station. We left Yosemite at 10:00 a.m. this morning, so it was a long day. We started with the Yosemite Shuttle for 30 minutes then a small bus for 2 hours and 15 minutes to Merced. Then we boarded Amtrak for a 3 hour train trip to Bakersfield. From there we got on a big bus with little leg room for a 2 hour ride to LA Union Station. Had an hour+ wait there and ended with an hour and half train trip home. Thanks to Pam and Cory for leaving our car in the train parking lot so I could drive the final leg of the journey. Ah, I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. Now if only the sensation of being on a train would stop.

Pictures and stories from our trip will follow.

Sheryl

Friday, August 25, 2006

Many Awesome Adventures

Joshua and I are having a great time. We left the San Juan train station at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday (Thanks, Debbie, for the ride to the train station) and arrived in San Jose around 9:00 p.m. It was a long day, but such a fun trip. The commuter train to LA seemed to fly. It was fun to go through many stations that we have visited before -- Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange, Fullerton.

We had an easy connection at LA Union. Our Starlight Train was waiting for us. We were given seat assignments and had a great time getting settled in to our seats, which were huge. Joshua listened to a Harry Potter CD while I wrote Jon a long letter and read some magazines. We spent hours staring out at the ocean between Oxnard and San Luis Obispo -- gorgeous. We took many tours of the rest of the train. He even had an over-priced dinner in the dining car, but that was fun too.

Our two days in the Bay Area were just as exciting. We visited a children's museum just across the Golden Gate in a fort at the foot of the bridge on the Marine County side. We had visited this place before and once again Joshua spent hours building, creating and playing. Today we took a long drive out to the Jelly Belly Factory -- very fun and worth the drive. The weather was a nice a cool in the Bay Area.

Tonight (Friday) we caught the train out of Emeryville (near Oakland) a little after 7:00 p.m. and arrived in Sacramento a little after 9:00. We will be visiting Jon's Aunt Lori for two days. Here we will warm up with 90 degree weather, but Lori has a pool and we have fun activities planned for our time here as well.

We head to Yosemite on Monday for 3 days, so I won't be posting again till we get home. Thanks for your prayers during our little adventure. It is good to be away from home and the many reminders of Jon.

All for now.

Sheryl

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Finally a call

After waiting all day, I finally got a call from Jon around 10:30 Tuesday night. He was still in our hemisphere but headed east. In about 17 hours he will arrive in the time zone that is 11 hours ahead of ours. From there it will still probably be a few days before he reaches his final destination.

Jon was upgraded to first class on the flight from Orange County to Dallas, which was a huge blessing because he was able to stretch out. He slept the whole way. The flight attendant told him at the end of the flight that she was all ready to pamper him, but he just fell asleep. Well, that is what he needed after getting up at 3:30 this morning.

Please pray for Jon as he returns to a difficult place with tons of work waiting for him. We both agree that this separation feels much worse than the first time. Thanks to all of you who are praying and sending encouraging e-mails. You can start sending those Motomails, letters and packages to Jon again. Thanks.

His address is:
CWO4 (until September 1) then he will be CWO5 Moran, J.G.
I MEF (G2)
UIC 42540
FPO AP 96426-2540

Sheryl

And He's Off

Joshua and I got Jon to the airport at 5:30 this morning. We went in and hung out with him while he checked in. Then it was time for good bye. This time seemed much more difficult and emotional for me. I guess it's because I know what I'm getting into. :( A couple people greeted Jon in the airport and thanked him for his service. We saw Jon escorted to the front of the security line and then we left. Jon is flying to Dallas this morning, but he won't know the rest of his flight schedule until he gets there. Hopefully I'll get a call later today.

Joshua and I have a busy day ourselves and then we are off on our own adventure tomorrow morning. Thanks for your prayers.

Sheryl

Monday, August 21, 2006

Final Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend. After church on Sunday the three of us drove down to the San Diego Zoo. We enjoyed visiting our favorite animals on a beautiful afternoon and evening. We gave Jon a birthday present of matching shirts of his choice. He loves for all of us to wear matching clothes so we spent the day being triplets.

After an evening at a San Diego hotel we spent Monday morning touring the USS Midway. Joshua toured the ship months ago with some Dads and kids from our church, but Jon and I had never toured the ship. It was fun to see it together and to have Joshua lead us through various parts of the ship he remembered from his previous visit.

Now we need to pack and say our final farewells. All for a while.

Sheryl

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Sensational San Juan Seniors

Friday Joshua, Jon and I were invited to join the San Juan Seniors for a their Luau. We have been so honored to be adopted by this generous group and it was wonderful for Jon to meet them. We enjoyed our time eating a delicious lunch, listening to Hawaiian music performed by a San Clemente Seniors group and chatting with our new friends. Here we are with some of the 100 in attendance. What a blessing these folks are to all of us.

This weekend Jon, Joshua and I will be headed to San Diego to enjoy the Zoo, spend the night in a hotel and then maybe tour a ship or visit the Wild Animal Park. We'll get home in time Monday to pack and then Jon will be off on Tuesday morning at the crack of dawn.

Sheryl

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Happy Birthday, Jon


Today is Jon's 45th birthday. He beat me to this age by 2 months. We have enjoyed celebrating his birthday ever since he got home. Last Saturday my family came over for a little party. Last night we enjoyed dinner with good friends (see picture) to celebrate Jon again. Tonight Jon and I will have dinner out with a special date night.

We're getting prepared for Jon's departure which will be early Tuesday morning the 22nd. Thanks for praying for us.

Sheryl

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Having Fun


As you can imagine, we are having a lot of fun together as a family. Monday we found a great trail in Laguna Niguel that goes down about 800 feet from a bluff with million dollar homes on it to South Laguna, which is on the beach. It was a steep hike, but fun to be together. Here we are at the top of the bluff, before the hike. We were much hotter and a bit scraped up afterwards, but still smiling. Tuesday Jon had some business to do at Camp Pendelton so Joshua and I enjoyed the beach just off the Oceanside Harbor. Today we head up to Porterville and my uncle's farm for a few days in the country.

All for now.

Sheryl for J & J

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Almost home

I posted on Jon's blog that he called Friday night and I have his flight information. He'll have to hang out in Dallas for a number of hours, but he has a number of things he has to do to re-enter the country, so the time may get used up. Can hardly wait to see him Sunday afternoon.

Sheryl

Thursday, August 03, 2006

R&R getting closer

Jon and I have sent our last e-mails until we see each other. I am anticipating a phone call Friday evening to let me know when he will arrive home. Not sure if he will be traveling military transport or commercial airlines but tomorrow night I should know more.

Joshua and I have been having fun this week to keep us from sitting around counting down the minutes. We had a pool playdate with school friends -- it was great to be with Noah and Alex, their sisters Lucy, Ruby and Audrey as well as their great moms -- Melissa and Rhonda. It reminded me of what a fun time Joshua and I both have during the school year.

Tuesday Joshua and I spent most of the day doing a 550 piece puzzle. Then in the middle of the afternoon when we needed a break we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo. It was the perfect time to go down there without getting stuck in traffic. The zoo is open till 9:00 p.m. in the summer and it is always fun to see the big cats awake and prowling.

Today Joshua and I both had our first experience at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. We went to see it at The Pond in Anaheim. We parked at the train station, to save $12, but discovered that there wasn't an easy way to The Pond even though we could see it from the train station. Then we found "the hole in the fence." Yep, we climbed through and hiked the 1/4 mile to the stadium where I broke down and spent $9 on a bag of cotton candy and a clown hat. Crazy! But Joshua and I enjoyed the show immensely.

Tomorrow we'll probably get together with some friends. Saturday Joshua will be taking a train trip to LA with another friend from school -- Alex and his dad Mr. Ken. They went to the Mighty Duck's game back in March and this should be a fun excursion. I have plans to meet friends for breakfast and get my nails done. I'll need to do laundry and clean the house at some point as well.

Hopefully Sunday will be our reunion day. We'll see and we'll keep you posted. Can you tell that I am grinning from ear to ear? :)

Sheryl