A New Poet in the Family

This week Joshua participated in an after-school creative writing class designed to help students write something that they can submit to the PTA Reflections Competition. Joshua did not initially want to participate but since I had a meeting to attend at the same time and one of his friends was in the class, he agreed to try it out. Here are the two poems he wrote during the class and he has submitted for the competition.

Oh, My, the Trainer has Died

This dolphin looks like it is going to jump.
And it will land on the ground and go thump.
Then the trainer died.
Then the dolphin cried.
And then a bird said, “coo.”


The Two Rattle Snakes

Once I saw two rattle snakes in the middle of the road
And we could only cross if we got the right code.
When we got 2/4 of the code, then my mom got bitten.
And that’s the part when I started hittin’.
And that was the end of us both.

Text for the Dust Storm pictures

This just in from our lovable Jarhed.

As you can see by these graphic snapshots, I was in a bad dust storm recently. However, this was some weeks ago, and the temperatures have actually moderated a good bit since then, as has the wind and dust--though I expect there to be a relapse into hot and windy weather before it turns fallish for good. My days are hectic here, I'm organizing and supervising projects, doing physical labor (I was out shoveling, sledge-hammering, and otherwise trying to remove some concrete aberrations that are scarring the landscape around the building where I work, call it garrison beautification), and coordinating the activities of a small team that is working to accomplish a specific mission for our staff section. Obviously, my days are much less chair and desk bound nowadays, and though that is good, I must say that it is more frustrating. My days went from being fairly clearly defined and scheduled (generally predictable) to having to deal with people--who of course are not clearly defined, have their own schedule, and are not predictable in the least. I am very busy, actually have less time to myself than I did before (I didn't really think that was possible, but I guess it was), but as always, absence of boredom means time is flying. There's a flu bug going around, but so far I have escaped infection (I can often sense God's hand of protection on me, thanks for your continued prayers for me).

An indicator of the success of the military aspects of our mission in GWOT in this theatre is the apparent and almost dramatic diminishment of this topic in the lead-up to the election. Of course, this is also an indication, perhaps, of the extent of the domestic economic crisis. GWOT, of course, can be blamed for this as well, depending on your view: the international community and some of the domestic crowd do not view the US investment in GWOT to be an investment at all, which has contributed to the decline of the dollar against almost all other currencies, which in turn has contributed to an economic down turn in the US, which has impacted the real estate market, etc. I for one firmly believe our commitment actively counter terrorists wherever they operate, deny them safe-haven and the means to attack us, and to provide war-torn and oppressed people groups with hope, freedom, and choice to be a very positive investment wherever such efforts have been expended. Oorah.

Semper Fi, JarHedJon

A Dust Storm

I was hoping Jon would have time today to send an update, but something must have come up. He did send me these pictures of a recent dust storm. The pictures were taken "between 1500 and 1600, normally the hottest and brightest time of the day. The picture of me was taken from about 8 feet away."

A full Saturday

Saturday turned out to be one of those full, fun days. It started with the annual San Juan Creek Cleanup which is the creek within walking distance of our home. Joshua really wanted to help but we had soccer pictures and a game and would need to leave the clean up at 9:00. So he woke up early and was ready to go by 7:45, so we got to creek cleanup at 8:00. We signed in only to find out we weren't supposed to go into the creek to start picking up trash until 9:00, after the mayor came and spoke, etc. I explained our situation to the organizer and he said Joshua and I could clean up along the edge of the creek. So we picked up trash for about 20 minutes along the path above the creek. Then we went into the creek when we heard the mayor start speaking. We found a car tire half full of water, and managed to drag it to the top of the creek wall just as everyone was heading into the creek at 8:45. Then we tackled the great treasure that Joshua has been begging to remove for weeks -- the Vons shopping cart. A man who was picking up trash gave us a hand and we got it up the steep wall of the creek and rolled it, on two wheels, to the park where we deposited our two bags of trash as well. A good job for one hour of work.

Then we were off to the sports park with hundreds of other little munchkins all dressed in matching soccer uniforms for the annual photos. Joshua's game was 45 minutes later, so I prepared to sit in the shade and enjoy my magazine until I noticed my friend Rosa whose son Jamie is a good friend of Joshua's from school. So I enjoyed a nice long chat with Rosa while her son's game finished up.

Joshua's team was playing a rematch against the team that beat them 3 to 1 last Friday night. The game last Friday night didn't count because it was the second game of the season and the first two games don't count. Yesterday's game was the first game that "counts" this season. The boys were geared up to to play a better game. Plus two of our stronger players who had missed Friday's game were back. Our boys turned out to be the better team on Saturday, winning 6 to 1.

We had about an hour and a half at home to do chores and homework before heading down to Escondido for my niece Emma's 11th birthday party. We had a fun gathering with about 20 family members in attendance. Emma received a brand new sewing machine, which many of us pitched in on and before the evening was over my mom had helped her get it started and Emma was practicing on it. In our family, the desire to sew has definitely skipped a generation. Joshua and Evan are good buddies and played well with Evan's other cousin Eli. In fact they spent hours building a fort out of palm fronds. We headed home at 7:30 pm and of course Joshua was asleep half way home.

It was just one of those great days where you feel like you've accomplished something and enjoyed yourself at the same time.

Jon's visit from the big wigs went well and he should be a little less busy for a few days. I'm hoping he'll be able to write an update that we can share.

Happy Fall,

Sheryl

On the mend

Thank you to those of you who prayed, sent e-mails, brought food and took over my PTA responsibilities.

I was able to get into the doctor on Tuesday. He told me I had "what's going around." My doctor was actually getting over it, and thus the mask he wore. No one is immune from germs. He prescribed some medicine that would help my symptoms and could cause drowsiness. I was hoping it would help me sleep, but last night it worked just the opposite and I was awake tossing and turning for hours. Oh, well, so much for drugs.

The good news came from Joshua's pediatrician who assured us the red in his eye was caused by allergies and not the awful pink eye. He gave us a bottle of sample eye drop that cleared the pink up immediately and helped with the itchiness. So Joshua was back at school yesterday.

I'm trying to take it a little slower. My amazing PTA Team (especially Melissa H. and Rhonda) took charge of the 1st PTA meeting of the year and led like champs. I owe them and all of my PTA Board a huge thanks!

Jon is staying healthy, although sometimes a little short on sleep. He is preparing for important visitors soon and so is busy with various projects as well as plans for the VIPs. Thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers.

Sheryl

First sickness of the season

I have been sick with a sore throat and runny nose since Sunday morning. I kept Joshua home from school today because he complained that his throat hurt bad when he woke up. But most of the day he seemed fine. This evening I notice one of his eyes is looking pink. No discharge, but we'll see in the morning. I have my first PTA General Meeting tomorrow night so I am hoping and praying I'll be able to lead it. Talking hurts so I have 24 hours for my throat to recover. I'd appreciate your prayers.

Sheryl

Update on Donna Moran

I just received this update from my father-in-law on my mother-in-law Donna.

"Again, thanks for your prayers. Although Donna is still very tired she continues to heal rapidly. The partial plate is working though she can't really put any bite pressure on it as yet. The Navy blue, purple, gold and pea green colors have faded significantly since yesterday. Still applying intermittent cold packs and topical salve to the bruises. Both seem to be helping. Oh, got word from Medicare yesterday afternoon. The definitely will not cover anything in any way that involves oral surgery and teeth...sigh."

Thank you all for keeping Donna in your prayers.

Sheryl

Assembly of a Table

While Jon was home, we tried to find a bar table that would go with the three bar stools we had. I finally found what we wanted online, but of course it came today, long after Jon had left. But with Joshua's help I am proud to report that I assembled it and it works great. I even got out Jon's power drill, found the correct attachment and got the screws in all the way. What a feeling of accomplishment. Of course Joshua had to take poor Bristles outside so he wouldn't have a panic attack.

You may notice in the picture another table in the kitchen. My work table has been in the kitchen almost the entire time Jon has been deployed because Joshua and I love puzzles and we usually have one that we are working on. The current one is too large to transfer to any other surface, so we'll just have two tables for a while.

Sheryl

Flat and Sandy

A little news about Jon's new post along with a picture of the flat, sandy landscape.

"I'm trying to get on a schedule at my new location that will permit me to get up early enough in the morning to run (days are around 118 degrees now, so it is too hot to run after about 0630, peaks by 1500, and is usually above 90 degrees even an hour after the sun goes down). There is a Episcopal/Lutheran Eucharist Sunday at the chapel near me at 0900 tomorrow, I should be able to make that. I hope I'm not gaining weight, the food is good here at the MOACH (mother of all chow halls, this building is about the square footage of two football fields)."

Sheryl

Soccer Begins

Today was Joshua's first AYSO soccer game with this year's team, the Blue Smashing Warriors. There were a number of changes from last year's U8 (under 8 years old) to this year's U9 (under 9 years old), not the least of which is the much larger field. But our team has been prepared well by volunteer coaches and so they played quite well in their first game. They did win (2-1), but the first few games of the season don't "count." But that is another change -- this year the games will count and there will be play offs at the end of the season (if our team can find another volunteer referee). Jon is a trained AYSO referee but unfortunately his commanding officer doesn't seem to think Jon should be sent home early to fill our need for another volunteer ref. Go figure!

Soccer Mom, Sheryl

Prayer Request for my Mother-in-Law

I received news from my father-in-law on Thursday that my mother-in-law Donna had experienced a bad fall.

"Donna tripped on a curb around 12:00 noon today. She hit the ground face first. I got her up and off to the emergency room for 3 1/2 hrs. Then to the dentist's office. Upshot is that she will have oral surgery tomorrow. In addition, her lower lip and left hand where scraped and bruised quite badly. They are suspicious of a fracture in the facial bone as there is air in the sinuses. Won't know until the oral surgeon checks that out. Meantime, she is on pain pills and antibiotics and a liquid diet."

Then came the update today:

"We got home from the oral surgeon. At this point Donna is sleeping albeit with much soreness and pain as well as substantial swelling across her face. The oral surgeon found that in addition to four broken teeth that her upper jaw bone was also broken.
He was able to get the teeth out and the jaw bone together and positioned correctly. However it will be about 2 weeks before any chance of getting a temporary bridge. She is not able to talk at this point and her diet for 24 hours is restricted to ice cream & such. We would appreciate your continued prayers for her rapid recovery and healing as she is planning on meeting with her former high school student for their 50th class reunion -- in TWO WEEKS."

I echo my father-in-law's request for prayer. Thank you for joining us in praying for Donna's healing and recovery.

Sheryl

First Day of Third Grade

Joshua started 3rd grade on Tuesday, September 2. His teacher is Sra. Garcia-Serrato and we have heard wonderful things about her from the parents whose children had her last year. Joshua is the class helper this week and so spent a good portion of his day handing out papers that needed to go home and be read and signed by the parents (my homework). He even had homework, although not much. He needed to read 30 minutes in a Spanish chapter book and then do an activity with his family and write a paragraph about it in Spanish. I thought that was a pretty creative idea. We had a new puzzle, so Joshua insisted that I help him get it started since it was his homework. This year he will stay with Sra. Garcia-Serrato all day. In the past the 2-way immersion students went to a different teacher for 20 - 50 minutes a day for English class, but in third grade they will spend the morning studying in Spanish (reading, writing and math) and spend the afternoon studying in English (social studies and science). We continue to be thrilled with the 2-way immersion program and the way Joshua is excelling in all subjects as he has been learning them in Spanish. Now of course he is very excited that he will get to read in English.

My PTA work started weeks ago with planning for the new year, but my first official board meeting is Wednesday, so I am off and running. I appreciate that my busy schedule will help the next 6 months move by a little quicker.

Blessings to you all.

Sheryl

Jon's move

Just got this update from Jon regarding his move.

"Well, I'm here safely, it was quite a trip (more exhausting than I thought it would be), but things are going well. I had a long day (was at work before 0900), and then rode to the landing zone (LZ) for the chopper ride at 2330. We waited for a little less than the expected 2 hours, and were in the terminal at our destination by 0330 or so. The thing that made it exhausting (besides the late hour) was lugging my sea bag and carry on, wearing my full body armor, across about 100 yards of heavy gravel to get on the bird, and the same thing getting off the bird -- and it was still over 90 degrees. Needless to say, I was dripping sweat the whole way (as was everybody), and the sweat that gets trapped by your clothes under the body armor does not have a chance to evaporate, so it can get pretty miserable. I was in bed by 0430, the containerized housing units (CHU) are fairly decent (I'm in my own CHU for now, though it is a two man CHU, and I'm slated for a room mate when everyone else gets here. Also, I'm not in my "final" CHU, as there is some shuffling of personnel going on; I should be moved to my final CHU sometime in early October).

I woke up around 1130 after I crashed (slept, no aerial mishap), and I had a BAD head ache, so I took some aspirin and went back to bed for an hour. I got up at 1230, and it was a little better, but didn't truly fade away until a couple hours later after some food, some more hydration, and some caffeine. I rearranged my room, I think my head might have been downhill (I don't think my CHU is exactly level), so hopefully I won't wake up with a head ache tomorrow. I fixed it so I can do my sit ups and exercises in my room, that's a good thing (the mechanism will be portable to my new room when I move). I feel fine now, but am taking extra care to stay hydrated."

Thank you for your continued prayers. Today was Joshua's first day of school, so I'll post something about that tomorrow.

Sheryl

An update from the front

Hope you had a relaxing Labor Day. I did! My extended family has been having a Labor Day BBQ together in Southern California for about 21 years with very few skipped years. Joshua and I enjoyed the pool, great company and delicious food at my cousin's home in North San Diego County. But Jon did not have the day off. He sent this information a couple days ago.

"Sheryl was forwarded a couple news article from one of my unit's Key Volunteers (Sheryl can tell you more about Key Volunteers than I can). Penned by Robert Burns and Jonathan Steele in two separate articles, the following paragraph is representative of the success that deployed service members and civilians have achieved in GWOT...

"Fewer Marines needed...
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine commandant said Wednesday that forces can be reduced, as the military moves to hand over control of the region. Conway said Marines told him, "There aren't a whole heck of a lot of bad guys there left to fight." Driving through once-dangerous cities, he said, "Our vehicles seemed to go largely unnoticed as there was much construction and rebuilding taking place." Toward the end of 2006, the Arabs who were leading the insurgency decided to join hands with U.S. forces to jointly fight the extremists, and violence levels plunged. The father of a family who drove through said: "It is safe. I had no fear about bringing my wife and children."

To say things have changed dramatically since I first deployed here in early 2006 would be the epitome of understatement. It will doubtless take decades for the full nature of the changes that have been wrought, with impact across the globe, due to the vision and initial guidance of our politicians, the determined and adapting leadership of our military, and the steadfast and brilliant execution by all those "in the field"--some in uniform and some not, but all warriors, none the less--for the greater good.

Semper Fi,
Jon G."

Address change

When Jon returned to his base, his move was delayed a bit. However, it looks like plans are moving forward. As you may remember, he wasn't sure what would happen with his mail. Below is the result of his meeting with the postal service. We'll see if it works. This will be the address for letters and packages. For Motomail go ahead and use the same old address (you won't find 'AAAB' as an option in the address book) and we'll see if they forward it or not. As a side note, Cory, he did get your card, and had a good chuckle. Thanks!

"Following coordination with various authorities, I've been informed that my mail should be good to go -- the following address is supposed to work, albeit with possible delays:

I MEF G2 (AAAB)
Unit 42540
FPO AP 96426-2540

Just a reminder, now is NOT the season for chocolate or anything that melts. It is always the season for ground coffee (Freedom Press grind is preferred). Thanks for your continued prayers and support!!!

Semper Fi,
Jon G."

Moving In Day

Today my cousin Kimberly, her husband Nate and their 9 month old daughter Natalie arrived after a long week of traveling from Minnesota to La Jolla, California. We had about 2 dozen family members there preparing their home for them, unloading their truck and welcoming them to the neighborhood. Nate is in a Masters program at University of California in San Diego (UCSD) and they have married student housing. Their upstairs apartment is a reasonable size with a great view of grass and gardens from their porch. They are about 15 minutes from Kimberly's brother Ethan who lives in San Diego. Others in our "clan" are 30, 45, 60 minutes and more away, so it was wonderful to gather together to help them get settled into their new home. We'll all be seeing each other again on Monday for our traditional family BBQ at another cousin's home.

Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Sheryl

Address update from the Jarhed

Just got this from Jon. As soon as I have his new address, I'll post it on the blog then everyone can flood him with mail in honor of Veteran's Day on November 11 or the Marine Corps birthday on November 10.

"Things are going well, I'm plugged back into work, but mightily refreshed after my two weeks R&R (the vacation made a huge difference, and projects that were overwhelming me when I left appear almost trivial now -- though I'm sure there is a diminishing law of returns on my new energy level). I will be working at a different base in the near future, it is a very secure and established work environment, but I've been informed I will be unable to receive mail there until after 1 November. I would ask that you refrain from mailing me anything until after that date -- once a piece of mail gets thrown in the "undeliverable" stack, who knows whether it will ever get to me, and in the meantime it will doubtless clutter up someone's work space. Thanks.

I know there is a constant desire to know how things are going over here, and what the indicators might be that we are achieving success. I experienced an event today which was to me about the strongest indicator that I could have imagined that our mission here is close to accomplished--random periodic urinalysis tests have been implemented for service members here, and mandatory urinalysis tests are required upon return from R&R. This is about as clear a signal as you could wish for heralding the cessation of combat operations (kind of like the number of late night pizza orders at the Pentagon signaled the kick-of of Operation Desert Storm).

Thanks for your prayers and support, and I'll keep you posted."

Interesting Travel Conditions

Jon has arrived safely back at his home base and is still expecting to move to a new base shortly. He sent this description of the second to last leg of his trip back.

"The flight in was typical, the C-130 stretched cloth rack seats were as uncomfortable as usual, but this time around, I had my poncho/bleacher seat combo on hand as a seat cushion, so it was bearable (I had it on the way out, as well, which is how my buns survived the four hour convoy on bench seats in the back of a seven ton). Interesting this trip was the air turbulence, which had us jinking around quite a lot, and at the end, we were in a pretty steep turn when we hit some turbulence which seemed to put us into an even steeper turn, I think that's the most G's I've ever experienced in an aircraft. For what seemed like about ten to fifteen seconds, I could not lean forward, my back was pressed back into the seat (my back was facing the starboard side of the aircraft) by the G's. One guy (fortunately at the other end of the aircraft) threw up (the turbulence was at the end of the trip), but the smell never reached me (and the upchuck never made it rolling up and down the floor as far as my pack). As is typical in these flights, I was fervently praying that I would not be the one to get sick, and that God would bring us safely in. It's actually been a long time since they lost a C-130, but statistics don't provide much comfort when YOU are the one on the aircraft. It's pretty hazy here, but we may get out of here tonight back to home base, but we don't know yet. I just got out of breakfast, scrambled eggs, hash browns, a large biscuit, cup of coffee, and a large glass of mango juice. Not bad for being back in a combat zone."

Shortly after posting the paragraphs above, I got another short message from Jon with a current update.

"Got up this morning and did my stretching and exercises, and then went for a three mile run. It hurt a little, but I took it easy, and there are some stiff parts now, about an hour and a half after the run, but hopefully nothing that I can't overcome. It is a real blessing to have had that extra day in Kuwait to catch up on sleep, and to already feel "acclimatized" to the time zone on my first day back at work. Speaking of acclimatized, it is a little hotter here than when I left, about three to five degrees a day hotter, but that's a small enough gap to assimilate. It was about 80, I'm guessing, when I was running this morning at 0545, which I can handle. I had a Motomail from Joe waiting for me, that was very encouraging that he thought to do that, send a Motomail to be here when I got here... I also got a Motomail from Lina, sent before she left for her trip to Canada to play piano at a friend's wedding (a friend she met at Sakeji)."

Thank you for your prayers and notes to Jon. Please remember that he is moving shortly, so please hold all mail (Motomail included) until I send his new address.

This is Joshua's last week before school starts so we are going to have some play dates with friends and do a few fun things before the school routine begins.

Sheryl

Delayed in Kuwait

I received two short e-mails from Jon this morning. He is delayed in Kuwait for now and not sure when he'll restart his journey back to work. He wrote, "Waiting around with nothing to do is further demoralizing to folks already demoralized by having to come back after only 15 days R&R..."

All for now.

Sheryl

Jon is safely to the next step of his jouney back

Jon called this morning to let us know that he arrived safely in Kuwait around 2000 today. He is looking forward to a good night's sleep before muster in the morning when he'll find out when they head to the next step of their destination. He was encouraged by a group of girl scouts who served goodies and greeted all of the Marines who were in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport preparing to head "back to work" yesterday. He said that all along this return journey many people shook their hands and thanked them for their service.

Thanks for your continued prayers for his safety as he heads back.

Sheryl

Out with the Old and In with the New

The title for this blog was not my idea but suggested by my husband to report on his departure and the arrival of the newest member of our family. Yep, we have acquired our first guinea pig. Joshua has begged for a dog or a cat and finally a guinea pig for years. In our small mobile home where animals must be kept in doors, Jon and I did not feel comfortable with either a dog or a cat, but gave in on a guinea pig. With all of our traveling this summer, we put off getting the little creature until the end of the summer when we didn't have any more traveling scheduled. So yesterday we took a trip to Pet Smart and invested in "Bristles" (named for the stiff hair on his head). Animal and humans are all doing well so far in our co-habitation.

So that was "In with the New" and here is the "Out with the Old" part of the story. This morning we were up and out of the house a little after 0500. We had checked Jon in and had his boarding pass last night so we didn't need to get to the airport too early. As it turned out, since he was traveling in uniform, the Orange County airport TSA officials had him go through the "Employee" security gate so he didn't have to wait in line at all. Of course a pilot and a couple flight attendants had to wait for him to get his boots off since he still had the same screening to go through. But he got through security by 6:00 and headed to his gate where his flight was to depart at 6:45.

There were some tears but I was so tired, I drove home in a fog and went back to bed and was able to sleep for 2 hours. Joshua couldn't sleep and so played with his Legos until I woke up. Then we headed to the beach with good friends from school. We were there about 5 hours and expect to sleep well tonight. It was a gorgeous day and Joshua and I both enjoyed time in the waves. Jon was able to call from the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport before he caught his connecting flight. He hadn't slept on the first leg of his flight due to a bit too much caffeine. Hopefully he will sleep well on other portions of his travel. He isn't sure how long it will be before he can call again.

When he arrives back at the base where he was before, he will only be there a short time before moving to a new base. Once I get his address at the new base, I will post it on the blog, but in the mean time, please do not send him any letters, packages or motomails.

Thank you for your prayers and encouraging e-mails. We are glad to be counting down the final 6 months of our family's separation, but it is not easy. And of course we still have an unsure future when Jon returns next year. We really appreciate your continued prayers.

Sheryl

A very happy birthday

Jon had a great birthday celebration on Sunday. He saw and was able to talk to many people at church and was introduced during the service, which was thoughtful of Pastor Jim. When we got home, he was able to talk on the phone with everyone in his family. We had a small birthday dinner for him with our friends Brad, Jilinda and their kids. It was perfect weather so we enjoyed our porch and a delicious meal, if I do say so myself.

Monday we were running errands at Camp Pendleton and around town before taking Joshua to his first AYSO soccer practice. Fortunately Jon got to meet the coach and the boys Joshua will be playing with. Looks like it will be a fun season for Joshua with a great coach and new friends on his team.

Sheryl

Happy Birthday, Jon

Today my wonderful husband celebrates his birthday. I thought you might enjoy seeing what he looked like many, many, many years ago. I think this was the one time he managed to pin his twin brother Matt.



The second picture was taken last year in a shared brotherly moment while they enjoyed something on TV.

Happy Birthday to both Jon and Matt.

Sheryl

Jon's Perspective

I asked Jon to write a little something about his experience of this R&R. Here it is along with some pictures from our evening at the Wild Animal Park on Wednesday. We came home late last night after spending a few hours on the USS Midway and then then the evening at the San Diego Zoo.

Well, my R&R is now over half over, and I'm having a very relaxing time with Sheryl and Joshua. They have been (so far) tolerant of my need to claw my way out of exhaustion and burn out--I've been getting more than ten hours of sleep a night that I've been back, and feeling more and more human every day. However, knowing that the nature of my job will be more physical when I get back, and also knowing that summer time temperatures will be peaking (115 to 120 F by 1500 each day), my tendency is to continue to take it easy, which I think is a little frustrating for them...

My experiences while deployed tend to be catalogued as monochromatic, and my activities and conduct--though always in the context of the pressure cooker of a combat zone--are generally predictable. Consequently, the fundamental activities of life require no decision making: where to eat; when to get up; what to do with leisure time (there is none); laundry, essential purchases, banking (disbursing office), shopping (PX), and other weekly/periodic chores; what to wear...

However, upon arrival here with my family, my experiences are characterized by variety to the extreme, and every activity involves choice and decision. So, for those out there thinking that R&R must naturally be a blissful and relaxing experience (and many of us in the military actually have that expectation), it is actually more stressful than the experience of a staff officer in a combat zone due to the exponential increase in the number of choices requiring decisions (and these decisions must be made quickly, as we are not a culture that values delayed gratification and validates patience and contemplation).

Add to this, of course, the difficulty of picking up where relationships were "left off" six months ago, and further dynamic pressure is bountifully applied to the stress sandwich (OK, I admit there are a lot of mixed metaphors here). However, despite all this, and due to your prayers and support and God's grace, we are enjoying each other and having a positive experiencee. As you can tell from Sheryl's blog entries, we are doing things as a family that we have found to be enjoyable activity in the past, and we are building on those memories with new experience.

I am doing my best to spend as little time on email, etc., as possible, so would appreciate your patience with a lessened amount of communication with you all--I'm trying to put Joshua and Sheryl first. However, please know that I value and treasure your support, your prayers, and am NOT consciously neglecting you--just very consciously focusing on Sheryl, Joshua, and my own needs (perhaps a little selfish, I hope you understand).

Semper Fi, Jarhedjon

Balboa Park

Tuesday we spent the morning in San Diego's Balboa Park. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a few museums, a picnic in the park and then Joshua was loaned a piece of cardboard for a thrilling slide down a grassy hill. In the late afternoon we drove to Escondido where my brother and sister-in-law watched Joshua for an overnight. Jon and I enjoyed dinner at Macaroni Grill (thanks to our friends Jeff and Shirley who introduced us to this great restaurant many years ago). We'll be picking Joshua up this afternoon and then heading to the Wild Animal Park for the evening. Having a great time. Sheryl for J & J

Sea World

I do not often find myself in debt to an international corporation that produces alcohol, but yesterday our family enjoyed nearly 12 hours of fun in the sun thanks to Anheuser-Busch. There "Here's to the Heros" program allows active duty military and up to three dependents to spend one day per year at one of their parks for FREE. That was a savings of over $150 for us. We did give back a bit by paying for parking and a few goodies while we were there, but we are very grateful for the free passes to one of Joshua's favorite parks.

We saw half a dozen shows, got soaked by the dolphins, were thrilled by the orcas, awed by the Cirque de la Mer performers, saw all manner of sea life, touched rays and sea stars and just enjoyed being together as a family.

Sheryl for J & J

Enjoying the beach

I am sitting in the Navy Lodge at North Island Navy Base on Coronado Island in San Diego. It is a beautiful place here in Southern California and we are grateful to enjoy it as a family during our 2 weeks of R&R. We have a little kitchenette in our room so are able to fix some of our own meals. We look forward to enjoying many tourist activities here in San Diego.



We arrived Saturday evening after spending the day at the San Onofre beach up near San Clemente celebrating my brother Steve and sister-in-law Sandi's 40th birthdays. My parents got to the beach early and found the last cabana that was not reserved for the morning. Jon got to meet Sean Portacio for the first time. Joshua and his cousins Evan and Emma dug a huge hole and spent hours in the water. We all enjoyed being together as a family including my cousin Ethan who battled traffic to drive up from San Diego to join us.



I have found a wireless connection here at the lodge, so hope to keep you posted on our week of activities via the blog.

Sheryl

John Wayne Airport Tour

Yesterday we joined school friends for a tour of John Wayne Airport in Orange County. One of our friend's aunt works PR for the airport and so arranged the tour. For these well-traveled kids, there wasn't too much new, but they loved climbing in the sheriff's car which helps the officers keep the traffic moving and the "bad guys" under control at the airport.

After the tour there was a birthday bowling party for one of the boys and our friends took Joshua and gave Jon and I a couple hours to have lunch together. We enjoyed lunch at Waters, a restaurant we used to visit often for anniversaries. It was great to sit and talk for two hours over a delicious lunch. Then we picked up Joshua and headed to Newport Beach to hang out at Fashion Island -- a cool outdoor mall that we enjoy visiting but where we don't do much shopping. Well, we did leave a lot of cash at the Barnes & Noble. :)

Sheryl

Lots of Fun

This morning Jon and Joshua enjoyed one of their traditions from when Jon is at home and had breakfast at Ruby's (a 50s style diner). They shared the decadent cinnamon roll french toast, eggs, bacon and milk shakes. Yep, that's the kind of meal my son gets when he goes out with his father. :)

I used the time to attend the women's Bible study at our church where a friend was sharing her story. It was a great morning for all of us.

This afternoon we started a Monopoly game that will probably last for a couple days. Joshua and I were off to a great start, having won the "Free Parking" jack pot. Jon was so cash poor that Joshua gave him charity to keep him in the game.

This evening we enjoyed the movie "Kung Fu Panda."

More fun planned for tomorrow.

Sheryl

Having Fun

Fortunately Jon was able to get a fair bit of sleep during his three days of traveling home, so he hit the ground running. Monday afternoon we made up our own Frisbee Golf course in a park near our house and walked about a quarter of a mile one way and then back. When we got home we enjoyed some time in the pool before heading out for dinner. We all slept well last night.

Today Joshua and I already had tickets to Summer Sounds at the Hollywood Bowl, a kids program with crafts and a concert. Joshua's friend Dalton and his brothers, sisters and mom, Mandy, were going to be there, so Jon joined us and fortunately Mandy had an extra ticket for the concert. We enjoyed a tail-gate picnic lunch in the beautifully shady parking lot after the concert and then headed to the La Brea Tar Pits, which were only about 6 miles away. Did you know that La Brea means 'the tar' in Spanish, so I just said, that we went to 'the the tar tar pits' -- a common mistake for us Anglos. :) Joshua enjoyed showing Jon around the museum and tar pits, since we were just there a couple weeks ago. It is amazing to see how many thousands of fossils they have found in all the pits.

Afterwards we decided to head for the Spaghetti Factory in Newport Beach, which was on our way home. Jon and I used to eat there a lot when we lived in Tustin and hadn't been in ages. We arrived right at opening and so got in without a wait, enjoyed a delicious meal for one of the best prices in town and then drove to Balboa where we took the short (5 minutes) ferry to the Balboa Island and then the bridge back to Pacific Coast Highway and a beautiful drive home.

At the moment Jon is teaching Joshua how to carve using the new Swiss Army knife he got him yesterday. They are starting with bars of soap, so it will be interesting to see what they create.

Yes, we are doing a lot, but it is so fun to be together as a family and a number of the things we are doing this week were planned months ago when I didn't think Jon would be home yet.

Thanks for the many e-mails of welcome.

Sheryl for the Jarhed and Joshua

He's Home

Almost home

For those of you who haven't heard, Jon's return for his 2 weeks of R&R was moved up by a week. Last week I discovered that he might be arriving Tuesday evening the 5th instead of Sunday the 10th. This weekend I received e-mails indicating that he might arrive today (Monday). His final e-mail yesterday morning indicated that he would arrive in Dallas around 8:00 am Central Time and probably wouldn't get into Orange County till around 2:00 pm our time. Joshua and I were up at with my family at my uncle's ranch this weekend (4 hours drive away) for a memorial service for my uncle Bob Weaver and we were thinking of staying until this morning, but decided we'd head home last night and be here, just in case...

Sure enough, Jon called at 6:30 this morning to let me know that they had gotten him on an earlier flight and he'll be arriving at 9:50 this morning at Orange County. I'm so glad we came home last night and will be at the airport to greet him. Thank you all for your prayers for his safe return.

We'll be home most of this week, heading to San Diego next week. We'll get to celebrate Jon's birthday on the 17th and then he'll be heading back for the final 6 months of his deployment.

All for now.

Sheryl

Getting caught up again

Joshua and I are fine. Since returning from vacation and camp, Joshua has participated in a week-long Spanish Tae Kwon Do Camp where only Spanish was spoken by teacher and students. Hopefully it will be enough to keep him bilingual until school starts up again. We have also been on some "field trips" to the San Diego Zoo, the beach, the Hollywood Bowl and the Natural History Museum in LA.

I have been back to work on PTA planning for the new year culminating in a 2-hour meeting today with about 24 board members. We still have work to do, but it looks like we have a basic plan for the new year and a budget that we might be able to afford. :)

Last week I shared "my story" as a 40 minute talk to a group of women at my church. It was quite a challenging experience to go through the process of preparing for the talk and after writing for weeks, I have to admit I didn't have any desire to "blog." Sorry about that for those of you wondering what happened to us.

I am trying to get all of the PTA planning done in the next week before Jon arrives home for R&R. Yes, he will be here soon, sorry can't tell you when. Once he is here we'll post something on the blog. I do have reservations for us to spend 5 nights in the Navy Lodge on North Island, which is located on Coronado Island in the San Diego harbour. It is a beautiful place and will be a great way for our family to get away and reconnect a bit. We plan to spend our days being tourists at Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, Balboa Park and who knows what else. We will also be home for a little over a week and may see some friends and family during that time.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. When Jon heads back, we'll have reached the half-way mark of the deployment.

Sheryl

We're Home

Joshua and I arrived home this evening to some friends who were fixing the ceiling fan Jon had installed only to discover that Jon had done it right (he thought he had done something wrong) we just have to use a remote to make the fan work and not a wall switch. Very cool now that summer has arrived. Thanks, Victor and Karen!

Our drive home from Porterville included a stop in LA at the La Brea Tar Pits. In all my years living in the LA area I have never been to the Tar Pits but my friend Valerie mentioned it while I was in Durango and today I realized that Joshua and I would be driving through LA on our way home and there was no rush so we decided to stop. We got in for free due to our military dependents status, which was nice, but the cost was not bad for others who are interested. We spent more than 2 hours in the museum and walking around the grounds looking at the pits and lake of tar. Very weird to think of the thousands of animals that were trapped and fossilized in those pits 12,000 to 40,000 years ago.

This evening we got the car unloaded, started a load of laundry and got unpacked only to discover that something is wrong with the washing machine. We had a flood in the utility room about 20 minutes into the washing cycle. UGH! After taking 30 minutes to clean up the mess it was 9:00 pm so I got Joshua to bed and sent Jon an e-mail asking for advice. I will plan to call the plumber in the morning. What a bummer. There is never a good time for an appliance to go out but with all our dirty clothes from the trip and having been gone for 2 weeks it would have been nice if it didn't go out tonight. Oh, well, an opportunity to trust the Lord to get us through this little inconvenience without my usual anxious fretting.

I'll try to post more tomorrow or later in the week about my time in the Bay Area with my aunt and cousin as well as an update from Joshua about his two great weeks at camp.

Sheryl

Almost half way there

This just in from Jon. FYI from me -- I made it to San Francisco via Denver and Las Vegas, but made it none the less. I'm having a great time with Judy and Tim (aunt and cousin respectively) and will be heading to pick up Joshua early Friday morning. Then we'll be headed home. Okay, now on to Jon's message...

I am nearing the theoretical (military plans are always subject to change due to emerging circumstances, which is why many Marines have modified their famous motto to "Semper Gumby") half-way point in my thirteen month deployment, and though this is really more of a shifting line in the sand (as opposed to writing on the wall in a Biblical sense) and for most folks in my unit may not herald any changes, the next couple of months WILL result in some changes for ME.

The first thing is that I qualify for and have accepted a fifteen day rest and recuperation (R&R) period (chargeable as leave, or if applicable, PDMRA--which acronym I can explain more fully if anyone is interested) that I will be able to spend with my family shortly (needless to say, I'm looking forward to this).

The second thing is that I will be posted to a different base when I return from R&R, that will mess up my mailing address--my parent command and it's mailing address and post office will not change it's location, so any mail I receive will go to one location, but I'll go to another, and this area does not have a robust mail-forwarding service... As a result (and I never thought I'd ever say this...), please STOP SENDING ME MAIL, Motomail, letters or packages, starting immediately, until I can coordinate with the command mail section at my new location how I can receive mail without it stacking up somewhere and/or being destroyed as "undeliverable." Though this second event is some distance in the future, I'd like to implement this change early enough to prevent any piece of mail from ending up in a "black hole."

Otherwise, things are generally going as well as can be expected; however, some things are much better than can be expected--a recent performance evaluation I received from my chain of command was the most superlative evaluation of my career. I know that of my own strength and will, my accomplishments are wood, hay, and trash--but because of God's mercy and grace, and your prayers and support, His endstate will prevail (as we so often pray, "His Kingdom come!").

Semper Fi, JarHedJon

PS: If you're bored and have nothing to do, try diagramming the first sentence/paragraph of this post. Absent the parenthetical inclusions, it should not be that difficult...

July 4th Celebration in Durango

What a party! Valerie, Bill, Alexa and I had quite a time in Durango last night. After the 20 minute Durango parade, we headed to the stage where we enjoyed an energetic and quite talented country band. They played plenty of country music but also some rock-n-roll -- great songs to dance to. The four of us stomped our feet, clapped our hands and watched for a while. Then Bill took Valerie out on the "floor" (we were in the middle of Main Street) followed by a whirl with Alexa. When a rousing rock-n-roll song started Bill, Valerie and I all danced together, until Jim, a friendly older gentleman stepped in and offered to make it a foursome and off I went with him. He was a fairly good dancer and I am not, but we had a great time. We danced about 4 or 5 songs and I was twirled around until my head spun. It was great fun and good exercise.

A little before 8:00 pm we took a break from dancing and picked up the biggest slices of pizza I've ever had and drank 3 or 4 glasses of water before settling on a bench to watch the folks gather for the fireworks display. We joined the throng standing in the middle of the road to see 30 minutes of fireworks. It was spectacular and just kept going and going.

I have to say that I slept well last night. What a great way to celebrate our country's birth. I only wish Jon and I could have been the ones whirling around in the throng.

I did check on Joshua via pictures from the camp web site and it looks like they all got to enjoy some sparklers after dark. I'm sure he's having a great time.

Sheryl

4th of July

I hope many of you are enjoying a restful time with family and friends on this 4th of July -- US Independence Day. But not everyone has that opportunity today. Jon writes, "Well, I'm doing OK, I made it up in time for a 0830 show time to work, only to find out that the CG [Commanding General] had declared the 4th a light day and folks didn't have to be in until noon... By the time I found that out, it was already 0940 and the meeting was in swing (albeit with only 50% attendance--I wasn't the only one who didn't get the word). I went out with another Marine to take care of some more outside more physical stuff, so that's got my adrenaline going--I'll be OK, I think. I'm going to treat myself to a cheeseburger and fries, I think, at the chow hall tonight, I usually stick with the "good" main line chow, but to celebrate the 4th, a burger sounds like it'd be a good thing."

Although in another note Jon commented, "As long as people know that ALL Marines weren't given a half day, just the staff and HQ Marines -- everyone else was still on post."

I'm enjoying the day with my good friends and based on the pictures I have seen of Joshua he is having a blast at camp.

Sheryl

News from the Marine

This just in from Jon,

"Obviously, we are currently experiencing beautiful, clear weather right now -- this picture was taken this morning. OK, so it's a little bit hotter than most people like (about 105 when the picture was taken, by noon it will be around 115), but once acclimatized, pretty nice.

Work is keeping me more than busy, but I suppose I'm keeping my chin above water (being amphibious, I figured a hydrological analogy was appropriate), as no one is suggesting early rotation back to the States (more's the pity) due to sub-standard performance or anything (not a good reason to head back, but it has occurred to me a time or two :)

I'm really enjoying participation in a Bible discussion group that meets twice a week. We've been working our way through the early chapters of Matthew, specifically the Sermon on the Mount, and it has been challenging to consider living out the radical social and cultural paradigms represented by the Beatitudes, etc.

Thanks for your prayers and support. As I get closer to a short R&R period, please pray that I'll cover all the bases in preparation for the period I'll be gone. Thanks.

Semper Fi,
Jon G."

Silverton

Today Valerie and I drove to Silverton, a small tourist town set at 9,000 feet between 13,000 foot peaks. You can learn about the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad by going to http://www.durangotrain.com/. Maybe when our whole family comes back to visit, we'll take the train to Silverton.

Today Valerie and I enjoyed great conversation while we made the drive, had lunch, walked around the stores and then headed home. In the middle of our strolling my cell phone rang and it was Jon. He had gotten e-mails from me earlier in the day indicating that I was not feeling well (I'm fine now) and he decided to call instead of sending another e-mail. It was great to talk to him, but a bit strange to sit on a bench with tourists strolling by. Oh, well, it was the thought and the connection that counts. He will try to write something tomorrow that I can share with you all.

Sheryl

Camp and My Vacation

Joshua was very excited to be at camp especially after his friend Jake arrived. Here are the boys with their counselor "Chip." The camp staff have already started posting pictures on their secure web site so I was able to see half-a-dozen shots of Joshua having a great time (of course they might not post pictures of him looking miserable). :)

I'm doing alright. After leaving Joshua at Bass Lake and heading to the Bay Area on Sunday I spent some time thinking about this next step of independence in Joshua's life. Being a mother is all about loving, caring, protecting, teaching your child to leave you. What a tough job we have. But what an honor and privilege to be able to be a part of this young man's life.

But I am not just sitting around meditating on motherhood. I enjoyed a Robert Ludlum book on tape for 3 hours of the drive to Foster City where I spent the night with my aunt Judy and cousin Tim. Monday morning I flew from San Fransisco to Denver and then on to Durango, Colorado, where I am enjoying a fabulous time with my dear friends Bill, Valerie and Alexa. Here they are last night at Bill's birthday dinner celebration. I lived in community with Bill and Valerie for four years just prior to marrying Jon so we have a lot of history and they are very special folks. It doesn't hurt that they live in a beautiful part of this country. Here is one view from their porch.

Hope you are having a wonderful summer wherever you are.

Sheryl

God's Word

This morning I received a message from Jon about his Sunday morning worship service. It was from Psalm 13 and he said, "It was a very needful word." I would like to share that psalm with you and encourage you to continue to lift Jon up in your prayers. He is very tired.

Psalm 13
O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my hear every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
Don't let my enemies gloat saying, "We have defeated him!"
Don't let them rejoice at my downfall.

But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.

I was blessed by a passage shared by a good friend who writes a devotional blog. The verses that ministered to me are
Psalm 37:4-7a
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

I am taking my son to camp for the first time and to say the least I am feeling some anxiety, but I am confident that the Lord has called Joshua and me to this experience and so I am trusting Him to give me my heart's desires while I wait patiently. What a blessing to be reminded that God's Word speaks to us every day wherever we are in our journey. I pray that you will hear God's Word today and find the comfort, challenge or whatever it is you need for your journey.

Blessings,

Sheryl

Farewell for a while to the Trout Slayer

A lot has happened in Joshua and my lives since I last posted news about us, but that will have to wait. This post is to honor the memory of a special man -- my Uncle Bob, the Trout Slayer. After months of battling pain and the complications that multiple myeloma brought to his body, the Lord called Bob by name and welcomed him home on June 23, 2008.

I have found some comfort in the CD "Gloria: The sacred music of John Rutter." The words to this beautiful hymn seem appropriate at this time for someone who explored, cared for and truly loved the earth God created for us.

For the Beauty of the Earth
F.S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917, slightly altered

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies;

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light;

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild;

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

Grateful to have known Bob Weaver a bit during his life.

Sheryl

News from Jarhedjon

Got this note from Jon today. Many people have asked about the temperature over there and this will give you a good idea of the heat.

"I'm doing OK, yesterday was a much more physical day than usual, I was out moving a bunch of stuff around inside a container in 114 degree heat (inside the container it was considerably hotter). I no kidding had to be careful what I touched, I was moving a bunch of black plastic Pelican cases around (there were over 80 cases that had to be organized and stacked, about 50 pounds each), and moving the cases that had been outside were so hot that I would burn my hand after more than 3 seconds exposure/touch. Where I normally consume one container of water a day (about a liter... OK, that's not counting coffee :), I consumed three liters in less than two hours, plus a 40 oz Gatorade--and I wasn't even wearing body armor... Semper Fi, Jon"

Sheryl

News from Jon

Just got this news from Jon.

I was able to connect with Agur here last week. He's a Marine friend from my church back in California. He was out here on a short visit with his command, and he called me up to meet with him for evening chow one night, but I missed him. However, his departure was delayed, affording us the opportunity to meet for lunch, that was very cool. There is very little likelihood that we will be able to see each other later in the year while he is deployed here, as we will be serving on different bases, but it certainly was an encouragement to see him, if only for a brief time.

The temperatures here have been fluctuating between 100 and 110 during the day, and one of the contributing factors is the dust. The dust actually plays a part in reducing the rays that reach the earth, making it cooler. There is a lot more dust than I remember experiencing back in 2006, partly due no doubt to the reduced rainfall over the last couple of years. There's plenty of water here, though getting it to where it's needed in usable form is another matter...

My job seems to be transitioning from planning to execution, though I still spend a lot of time in meetings. I would not have anticipated that I would prefer the meetings to the activity, but in reality, the meetings were predictable -- and in many ways easier than executing ad-hoc tasks that don't hit the radar screen with much advance warning. I expect work to increase in speed and tempo over the next three weeks, but then I expect it to slow down a little for the period following that.

Thanks for the Moto Mails, cards, letters, and prayers. Morale is pretty high (mine is, anyway, I suppose it's not fair to speak for all deployed service and support personnel), and I feel cared for and protected.

Well, I'd better get back to work. Semper Fi, Jarhedjon

A fabulous weekend

The weekend started Friday afternoon for both Joshua and me. I dropped him off at his cousin Evan's Rock Climbing Birthday Party. Joshua had a great time and then joined a few other boys in a slumber party (why do we call it that?) with Evan. My sister-in-law said that most of the boys finally fell asleep around 11:00 pm but were still all up at 5:30 Saturday morning. Yikes!

Meanwhile, I was able to enjoy a farewell party for my friend Brenda Friday night. I slept in till 7:00 on Saturday and enjoyed the morning getting chores done before heading to the San Diego County Fair at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I have never been to this event, although many times I have been stuck in traffic on the 5 freeway due to activities at the sight. Evan's sisters, Elena and Emma, were performing with their church youth choir at the fair Saturday afternoon, so we all met up at the stage where they performed. The kids did a great job. Then my brother's family headed for home while Joshua and I stayed to enjoy the delicious but expensive food and a few attractions. I didn't see many animals, but there were lots of food booths, side shows and carnival rides. Joshua wasn't too interested in the rides, but then a lady offered us 20 unused coupons and so I got Joshua onto the Ferris wheel and a rickety ski-lift type ride that took us over the entire fair grounds -- what was I thinking? We left around 6:00 and about 15 minutes down the road Joshua was out.

On Sunday Joshua was able to talk to Jon before we headed for church to wish him a happy father's day. We sent Jon some cards, but didn't get them in the mail in time for him to get them on Sunday. After church we were invited to join some friends down at Baby's Beach in Dana Point. Our friend, Jim, recently acquired a small sail boat and he took the kids out in the harbor. His wife, Kellie, and I took it out by ourselves and didn't tip over, which was an accomplishment since we didn't know what we were doing. It was a beautiful day and a great way to end the perfect weekend.

After today only 2 more days of school, so there is excitement at our house.

Sheryl

A new hair cut

Yesterday afternoon Joshua insisted on having me cut his hair. It had gotten really long and he did not like having to wash and brush it. But I did not know how short he wanted it. I cut those long lovely curls off and then he said, "Okay, mom, you need to finish cutting it." Really? "Yes, Mom, I've told you a hundred times, I want my hair like Dad's." Well, his hair is now shorter than his dad's.

Sheryl

Happy 16th

As I type this it is already past midnight on June 13 where my husband is, so it is our 16th anniversary. I don't have an electronic picture from our wedding, but this shot was taken not long after that big day 16 years ago. What do you think -- have we changed? :) Just like everyone who gets married and makes vows, we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Marriage is hard work and we didn't realize how hard it would be on that beautiful June day. Now we know and the amazing thing is that even with all the hard things we've gone through these past 16 years, we'd make the same vows all over again even knowing what we know now. Here we are on January 18, 2008, at the crack of dawn before Jon left for his deployment. This wonderful, off kilter picture was taken by our son. Ah, life is so good.

I send all my love to my husband, Jon.

Sheryl

Joshua's first Bible

This past Sunday Joshua, along with all of the 2nd graders at our church, received a New Living Translation Bible. Joshua has had many Bible story books in his 8 1/2 years of life, but this is his first actual Bible. He had been looking forward to this day for weeks, but I never realized how excited he was to get his own Bible until after he got it.

Parents and Sunday School teachers had an opportunity to sign our child's Bible after the service. Joshua decided he wanted a number of people to sign his Bible. He proceeded to ask the pastor of our Hispanic Ministry and another Spanish-speaking church leader to sign it in Spanish. When I signed his Bible I listed some of my favorite verses and he immediately started looking them up. When he was done he kept asking for more.

Sunday evening after putting him to bed, he called me in about 20 minutes later and I found him in the dark with his flashlight reading his Bible. Talk about making a mom happy. :) But he did need to put it away and go to sleep.

All week it has been the same. Jon e-mailed a list of his favorite verses yesterday and Joshua has been looking them up. If you would like to e-mail or write to Joshua and send passages of Scripture that are meaningful to you, I know he will be thrilled to look them up in his Bible. He and I are having a great time talking about the various verses after he reads them.

It has reminded me of the great gift I have in owning many copies of the Bible in my own language. I hope you are also inspired to read your Bible every day.

Blessings,

Sheryl

25th Anniversary

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in the 25th anniversary celebration of our good friends Jeff and Shirley. Many friends and family came from across the US to celebrate this huge milestone with them. Jon and I have had the honor of knowing Jeff and Shirley for about 15 years, so it was great to be with them. The only disappointment for all of us was that Jon could not share in the day. Here is a picture of a group of us who were part of the "Young Married Couples" Sunday School class at Trinity Pres. many, many years ago. :) It was great to see old friends and enjoy dinner at Orange Hill Restaurant.

Sheryl

Twin Day and a Thank you

Today was Twin Day at Joshua's school. The kids could dress up in matching clothes. Of course our kids dress up as twins every day because we have a school uniform, but I guess that doesn't count. Joshua was actually a member of triplets. He, Max and Maxi were even invited to stroll across the stage at the morning assembly.

Then I was invited up to receive flowers as a thank you for being PTA President. I was able to say a few words and remind everyone that I could NOT have done it without the 30 PTA Board Members who work with me. I wish I could say, "Yeah the year is almost over," but I agreed to do it again next year, so we're already planning meetings for the summer. What was I thinking? :) Actually next year should be much easier since I'll have a little better grasp of what I'm supposed to be doing.

Jon is back to doing his job on his own -- can't remember if I reported that or not. Please continue to pray that he will stay healthy with the extra work load. Thanks.

Sheryl

A fun weekend

Joshua and I had a great weekend. Saturday our church supported a clean up day at Las Palmas Elementary School in San Clemente. The school is sort of a sister school to Joshua's (San Juan Elementary). Las Palmas was the first school in the district to have the Two-Way Immersion Program, which our school has only had for 4 years. The program started at Las Palmas 14 years ago. Many of our church friends send their children to Las Palmas, so we were glad to go and help. Well, I was glad and I thought it would be a good experience for Joshua. The first hour he kept getting bored and wanting to change jobs (we were cleaning up garbage from under the porches in front of the portable buildings). But then a friend arrived and someone gave him a pick to dig up dirt and two hours later I couldn't get him to leave.

We headed home and stopped off at a Marine Corps fundraising car wash in San Juan to get the Escape cleaned. This is the second time we have allowed these Marines to wash the car. Jon was always the one to wash our vehicles, so I am happy to let other Marines help me out while he's gone. :)

When we got home we did some chores around the house, Joshua did his reading homework (he's required to read 45 minutes a day, seven days a week) and then headed to the pool. A great way to wind down from a busy day. We ended the day playing a new board game. I won't go into the details but after playing this game almost a dozen times we suddenly realized that we had been playing half of the game wrong. Joshua and I were rolling on the floor laughing at our/my mistake. I had read the directions and still missed a big part of the rules.

Glad we were able to have some fun this weekend since this coming week is full of meetings for me and of course school is not over for Joshua yet. He has 2 1/2 weeks to go.

Please continue to pray for Jon. He seems to have gotten over the cold he was fighting, but now the Marine he had been working with has had to leave and Jon is back to working on his own. Pretty soon he'll be training the replacement for the Marine who left and that of course takes more time then just doing the job himself. We are starting to count the days till Jon can come home for 2 weeks this summer.

Thanks for your prayers and encouraging notes to Jon. He is so grateful to get Motomail or regular mail -- whatever works for you.

Sheryl

Memorial Day

I must say that most of my life Memorial Day has just been another holiday -- day off from school or work -- to enjoy with family and friends. Now that Jon is in his second deployment, I view the day a little differently. When our pastor prayed for the military personnel and families yesterday, I knew who he was talking about. Fortunately we do not need to "memorialize Jon" since he is still very much alive, but just under the surface of my independent, calm exterior is the fear of potential danger and loss. I am very fortunate that I can send and receive e-mails from Jon almost every day. And this was the news today -- nothing too dramatic or exciting.

"Well, I left myself plenty of time to sleep last night, but didn't sleep that well, though I'm doing OK for now. It's really frustrating how when I sometimes wake up at night and can't go back to sleep, restless tossing and turning, and then, in the morning when my alarm goes off, I fall asleep over and over and over again between hitting my snooze every four minutes. I guess this is another Murphy's law, the chance of falling asleep is inversely proportionate to the interval before you will have to wake up... Health wise, I'm out of the runny nose phase, now it's all in my head, no cough as yet, I think the headaches I've been having the last two days are sinus related, but none of it is bad enough to slow me down at work, so that is all a real answer to prayer."

Thank you for keeping Jon in your prayers.

Sheryl

We meet Sean

We were able to talk to Jon this morning. He and Joshua had their regular Sunday morning phone conversation and Joshua got to fill his dad in on the party and all his gifts. Then we headed to church.

After church Joshua and I headed down to San Marcos (north San Diego County) to meet Sean Daniel Portacio. He slept most of the time we were there, but he did need a diaper change so we got to hear the cute little squeaks he makes when disturbed from his hours of rest. Joshua was excited to be the first cousin to meet Sean and did a great job of holding him.

Sean hasn't figured out that he's supposed to sleep when its dark out and stay awake when its light, but that will come -- eventually. In the mean time, Sonny and Sandy are starting to get used to the mind-numbing sensation that comes from lack of sleep, but they love it.

After our visit with Sean, Sandy and Sonny, we headed off to do some shopping with the gift cards Joshua received at his birthday party. He was able to purchase a huge Indiana Jones Lego set as well as an Exo-Force Lego set that he has been saving up for. We also stopped at the Mall where I was able to use some gift certificates I have had since my birthday in the fall.

It was a long day, but as Joshua said, "Wow, another great day!" :)

Sheryl