Final Birthday Celebration

Sunday I enjoyed a delicious tea at the Tea House in San Juan Capistrano with my mom, sister and college friend Lauri. Here we are after a very filling meal. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely time watching the leaves fall as we lounged on the patio sipping tea and munching many tasty treats.

So many people have helped me celebrate my 45th birthday. Thank you to all of you. Here's to 45 more years.

Sheryl

Another Birthday Celebration

Tonight I enjoyed another birthday celebration. Cathy, Karen, Shirley, Jill and I have been celebrating our birthdays together four times a year for almost four years. It was wonderful to gather tonight at PF Changs and share some great food, excellent conversation and fun gifts.

I am so blessed to have friends who have been in my life for many years and to have so many new friends that the Lord has brought into my life since our move to Southern Orange County.

Sheryl

Thanks for the Memories

Jon has been so blessed this week by gifts and memories. Read on...

"The San Juan Seniors are REALLY taking care of me!! Two days ago I received a great package of goodies, extra crunchy peanut butter, jerky, candy, pretzels, cans of cashews, popcorn, and candy. I immediately ate the whole bag of pretzel-peanut-butter sandwiches—they were so good I couldn’t help myself. THEN, yesterday, I received another package from the San Juan Seniors!! This box had lots MORE stuff in it, in addition to three things that I’ve never had (over here), that I’m looking forward to immensely: Googly Eye Gummy Bears, Cheeze-IT twister crackers, and Nacho Cheese dip. Wow. I am so blessed, and quite overwhelmed. I am very thankful, and very encouraged.

Twenty one years ago I graduated from Marine Security Guard School in class 5-85, one of the largest classes in MSG School history (164 graduates). Over the eight weeks of the school, I survived on potatoes that I bought at Food4Less, which I stored (against regulation) in my room one night. There was a ‘hygiene’ inspection the next day, my potatoes were found, and I ‘fessed up publicly to being the culprit. No big deal. Well, a couple days ago I’m walking past the G4 shop here when a Marine stops me and asks me if I was in MSG School class 5-85. Surprised, I acknowledge that I was, and then he says, “I knew it, you’re the Potato Man.” I couldn’t believe it, more than twenty years have gone by and I’m still notorious! Over the years, I’ve run into six or seven Marines from my MSG School class, and they all remember the incident clearly. It turns out there is another Marine here in the G3 that was also in our class, we’ll have to all go to the DFAC for some potatoes in memory of those days."

Sheryl

Final Celebration Today

Enjoyed an entertaining birthday dinner at Ichibiri -- a Japanese restaurant in San Clemente. The food was prepared in front of us and the boys -- Joshua and his friends Bradley and Justin -- were thrilled. Jilinda and I were even able to carry on a conversation during most of the meal. What a blessing to have such quality friends and to enjoy good food together.

Thanks to all of you who have helped to make my 45th birthday so special. And I still have a couple more celebrations later this week. I usually try to celebrate all month. :)

Sheryl

Mid-life

Today I turn 45 and I figure that's probably about the middle of my life. Both of my grandmothers lived about 90 years, so I'm half way there.

My celebration actually started Sunday evening when our small group had birthday cake after our dinner. Thanks, Cyndi, for the birthday "sand" castle -- very creative.

This morning the first e-mail I opened included a video from Jon singing "Happy Birthday." The second e-mail included a video of Jon's brass quartet playing "Happy Birthday" to me. It was very touching to have those four guys playing for me and wishing me a special day.

Joshua didn't have a card for me, but when I asked about a gift, he ran to his room and found a couple melted bead designs that he made over the weekend and presented them as my present. I suggested that since it was my birthday we could walk to school together. That is my favorite things to do with Joshua in the morning. He didn't complain, rushed to get ready so we could be out the door by 7:15. It was a beautiful California-autumn morning and we had a wonderful conversation as we held hands on our 25 minute walk to school. That has to be one of the best birthday presents ever.

I got my jog/walk done on the way home and after getting cleaned up met Claire, Nanci and Cyndi for breakfast at Roma's House in San Juan Capistrano -- a quaint little restaurant right next to the train tracks in the old part of town. It was a wonderful way to start my day.

This afternoon I am hosting an after-school play date for Joshua's class. We'll just hang out at the playground on campus. It is a great opportunity for the parents to get to know each other a little bit while the kids play.

This evening will be topped off by dinner with friends, the den Dulks. Enjoying a wonderful celebration of my 45 years of life. I am truly blessed.

Sheryl

Good Friends

My good friend Melissa and her husband Jim (also known as Coach Jim on the soccer field) are keeping Joshua for me this weekend so I can participate in our Y Malawi quarterly meetings. For more information on Y Malawi: http://www.yafrica.net/sites/ymalawi/Homepage.

Here is Joshua (in the shadows) heading off to his soccer game with his friend Noah and my friend Melissa. What a blessing to have friends who help me out with Joshua so I can still participate in various activities. There have been so many friends and family who have stepped in this year to help me as a single mom. THANK YOU ALL!

Sheryl

My bilingual son

I have been a bit slow in posting to the blog recently, but I have to brag a bit about my bilingual son. Last Friday Joshua was preparing to do a book report in class. He had made a model of a horse (cabillo) out of Styrofoam (what a mess) and was going to show it to his class along with the book he had read. Of course the whole presentation needed to be in Spanish. Before we left for school I asked if he would practice his presentation since I wouldn't be able to see it and I wanted to video tape it so Jon could see it. Amazing! Joshua spoke for over 3 minutes in Spanish. He talked about the book and then went into detail about how he made his cabillo. I couldn't understand all of it, because his Spanish has surpassed mine, but I got bits and pieces. It was so awesome to hear Joshua speak so calmly and clearly in another language. And on top of that, he wasn't nervous about getting in front of the other 18 students in his class and his teacher to do his book report. Very cool!

I have the video on my computer, so if you ever want to hear and see Joshua's report on the book "Tres Amigos" (one of the amigos was a cabillo), just stop by the house.

Proud Mama, Sheryl

Connections

Here's an update from Jon.

"I have been blessed and encouraged mightily by a few connections that have taken place in the last month. First, I discovered that a Marine that was the only other PFC with me in Supply School at Camp Johnson, NC (every one else in the class was a private) in 1982 was now on his way to the very same base where I’m serving for a six month tour. I had not seen him since then, did not even know he was still in the Corps, but discovered (in a very roundabout way) that he was still in the Corps, found out his email, and connected with him here a couple days after his feet hit the deck. Andy and I have had the chance to eat a couple of meals together at the chowhall (taxpayer’s treat, thank you very much, y’all), and it has been fun remembering those old times and catching up on the 24 or so intervening years.

Ruth, a classmate of mine from RVA (a missionary school in Kenya where I attended in grade 10) told me of a Marine Lieutenant who was the grandson of the man who was the principal of RVA while I was there (whose uncle was in my sister Linda’s class) who was on his way to this country for a second tour. Some Marines came into my shop prior to heading out to the FOB, and they were from the same unit as Ryan—so they passed on the word to him, and I was able to meet him. We talked for about 20 minutes—and I’ve already sent him a motomail that he should receive shortly after he reaches his bivouac.

I was finally able to connect with Cameron, the grandson of one of folks who support Sheryl and I from the San Juan Seniors—unfortunately, only by email. He was out here for a short time, but I did not have his email address, and the unit he supports is a little distance from where I am. When I finally got his email, he had already been sent back to the States due to an injury. However, it is very cool that I was finally able to touch base with him.

I’ve been getting motomails from lots of folks, Ruth, John, Greg, and others. Thanks so much. Sonny & Sandy (your new picture with both of you is cute J), Helen, and Dad, thanks for posting to Sheryl’s blog. Judy, thanks for your faithful snail mail cards, they are so great! I received some items from the San Juan Seniors, including some hand-knitted caps for wear under our helmets (it gets cold over here in a couple of months), THANKS SO MUCH."

I am very grateful for all of you who are encouraging Jon. We were able to talk on the phone on Sunday morning and I can tell that your notes, cards, packages, motomails, etc. are a blessing to him. Thanks.

Sheryl

Thanks for goodies

Jon sent this note over the weekend, but I didn't get around to posting it till now.

"I got a package from Scott and Renee [France], it was GREAT! A whole large package of double filled peanut butter Oreo cookies, two books that look like great recreational reading, a 1lb pound bag of peanut butter M&Ms, some Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, a Butterfinger bar, two containers of fru-fru instant specialty coffee, and some Planter’s cashews. This just totally rocks, especially as I’m struggling with the mid-deployment I’ve-still-got-a-long-way-to-go feeling blues."

Obviously he enjoys all the goodies everyone is sending him. Please pray for healing for a "tweaked" muscle on his right side. It has kept him from his morning sit-ups and may keep him from running. With all the goodies people are sending him, he definitely needs to keep up his exercise routine. :) Thanks.

Joshua and I got to enjoy another fun day at Legoland, thanks to the San Juan Seniors who continue to demonstrate their "adoption" of us in generous ways. Joshua didn't have school on Monday so we took his friend Jack with us and met up with a school friend. All three boys played well together for about 5 hours. I think the two moms were much more worn out than the kids.

Sheryl

Quintet Update

Just got an e-mail from Jon with an update on the quintet that he plays in. Thought y'all might be interested.

"Last week, I found out one of the new officers in my shop plays the trumpet. Our 1^st trumpet is away on a trip, so I talked the new guy into coming over and picking up 2^nd trumpet. We found a new guy to play tuba who is fast getting up to speed, so the gap in the quintet is the Freedom (French) Horn. So I started playing Freedom Horn (I had been playing 2^nd Trumpet since we got a good tuba player a while ago), and the Chaplain (trombone player) says I’ve picked it up extremely quickly, and have filled a gap that has been in the quintet (we’ve been a quartet, in essence) four a number of months when our old Freedom Horn player rotated back to the States. When the 1^st trumpet gets back, we’ll have a full quintet for the first time in four months! I’m looking forward to that, it should be fun."

Sheryl

Routine

Joshua and I have settled into the fall routine. School, Tae Kwon Do, Wednesday night church, Friday night soccer practice, Saturday soccer games, Sunday church with homework and lots of play-time sprinkled in. Jon has also gotten back into a routine. Here's his report.

"The discouraging thing about getting back in country is how quickly routine becomes drudgery. This is probably partly due to the fact that my daily work load consistently exceeds my ability to accomplish it; the performance of all daily activity takes place in a setting already extremely familiar to me, or perhaps the starkly monotonous surroundings provide very little in the way of variety; there is little or no interaction with people outside of mission accomplishment; there is little to no awareness of what day of the week it is—every day is a Monday.

The encouraging thing about being back in country is a constant awareness of God’s blessing. Support and encouragement from many people in such a variety of different ways: snail mail, emails, packages, prayers. The predictable nature of each day makes the mental preparation necessary for the next 24 hours a much more sane process. The work load waiting to be done and the lack of diversionary activity both work together to increase productivity. The food is great, I can take a hot shower daily, the laundry is free, my quarters are climate controlled, I’m sleeping well, and I’m actually PTing [working out] more consistently than in the first six months.

I’m sure it seems less than meaningful for those praying for me to keep praying the same prayers, over and over, for going on seven months now. I want to thank you for those prayers, they make such a difference.

(Posted for Jarhedjon by Sheryl)"

We all appreciate your prayers.

Sheryl

First Art Competition

The San Juan Elementary PTA is sponsoring the Reflections Creative Arts Competition. Joshua entered a piece of art work today. One of the moms at our school is a former art teacher and she has been giving after-school art workshops. She also started a class after-school that Joshua was able to get into. He is very excited about doing any kind of art.

The theme for the competition is "My Favorite Place." It only took Joshua a few seconds to figure out that his favorite place is Yosemite. His painting, done in water colors and glitter glue, is of a water fall and the fire falls that used to occur over Curry Village. It was so fun to watch him come up with the idea, try a number of different media and then do his final version. I think he did 6 practice drawings or paintings.

Thanks to my mom for posting a comment to Jon on this blog site. Jon is still able to read the blog and the comments, so if you used to post comments to him, please do so now on my site. He won't be able to post a comment back to you, but I'm sure he'll reference the comments from time to time in his notes to me. I know Jon would really appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.

Sheryl

Thanks from Jon and Back-to-School Night

Jon sends a note of thanks:

“I’d like to thank Marlaine, Joan, Sandy, Jeanne, Arline, Kareline, and Linda of the Military Prayer Group at a church in Patchogue, NY for your prayers, your encouragement, and support. The Scripture verses you sent me were very uplifting. I am so encouraged that folks are praying for me, people that I have never met, even, adding to the blessings I experience daily in what could otherwise be a very unpleasant situation. I do not take such things lightly or for granted. Perhaps, when this tour is over, I’ll get a chance to meet each of you and thank you in person.

I received a snail mail card from Judy—very encouraging, thank you so much, it is great to hear from you. Letters addressed to me with ANY rank in front of the name will get here just fine, even no rank or “Mr.”, all the guys in the mail section know who I am. I appreciate the moto mails I’ve received, as well—thanks, all of you, for taking the time to engage in what you know is one way communication.

Semper Fi (posted on behalf of JarHedJon by Sheryl)”

Last night was Back-to-School Night at Joshua's school. First grade is definitely going to be different from Kindergarten. The students are now required to speak Spanish in class. Mrs. Hamidi told us last night that when the children speak to her in English she tells them in Spanish that she doesn't understand. Of course the kids are too smart for that and they respond with, "Yes, you do." I signed up to be Room Mom and then this morning recruited a bilingual Mom to be Co-Room Mom with me. It is so great to be at San Juan Elementary with the opportunity to interact with people who speak Spanish as well as parents of other ethnic backgrounds.

That's the latest for the "home front."

Sheryl

Still under an avalanch

Jon and I were able to talk on the phone last night for a while, but I had a bad headache and so it wasn't our best conversation. Fortunately I am feeling much better this morning. I think I must have gotten dehydrated, but after a good night's sleep I am feeling fine.

This morning Jon wrote, "[I am] still practically avalanched with work, but I feel positive about being able to eventually get to where I need to be on it. The projects that I’ve been sidetracked on have gone well, too, which has certainly helped me maintain a positive attitude."

Thanks for remembering us.

Sheryl

An Invigorating Saturday

Saturdays in the fall at our house involve a soccer game and whatever else we think of. Joshua is enjoying playing goalie one quarter on his AYSO soccer team. He had a few great saves today and has an excellent kick to clear the ball down the field.

After our game we joined about 50 people who were volunteering for California Coastal Cleanup Day, working to clear garbage from our local San Juan Creek. We only worked about an hour and a half, but found plenty of junk. I thought the most interesting thing we found was the rusted bed springs. Joshua thought the 10 foot-long plastic pipe full of sand was the most interesting. He recruited half a dozen teenagers who were just finishing their work to help us lug the heavy pole back to the park, where the garbage was being collected. Joshua and I talked about the reason we were doing this project -- to follow God's instructions to care for His creation. To top it off, we had fun together, were served hot dogs for lunch and got free T-shirts.

After finishing our Monopoly game, building a fort, and doing a bunch of laundry Joshua and I road our bikes into town to experience the Peoples Festival and Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day Celebration. We enjoyed the native dances and songs, some delicious tacos and Joshua loved the bubble gum sno-cone.

What a day! Hope your Saturday was enjoyable.

Please remember Jon. He is swamped with work and barely has time to send me short e-mails. Tomorrow will be exactly 7 months since Jon left. That means we're close to being able to say "5 months till Jon comes home." Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

Sheryl

Updates

The second week of school has gone well and Joshua and I are both adjusting to the fall routine. Please keep Jon in your prayers. He and I tried to IM (instant message) the other day and Jon discovered that there wasn't enough bandwidth on his end, so that was disappointing. Here's a note he sent today.

"I’m way behind in my work, as I’m trying to do two jobs this month vice just the one (which was overwhelming enough as it was). The situation that I recently asked prayer for has been generally resolved in a positive way—thank you so much for your prayers. There is always the possibility that though all the ships are back with the flotilla, one of them had a time bomb placed on board that could go off anytime in the future. We’ve done all we can reasonably do to uncover a bomb or minimize its impact—but time and the flotilla must go on. Some continued prayer that the flotilla arrives at its destination safely would be much appreciated (though the destination port is a long way off).

Situation Report: The geese are doing well, the chow is still awesome, there is still not enough time in the day, and every day of the week is a Monday. This is a classic example of the old Air Force acronym, SNAFU (situation normal, all fouled up). If I told you I’d keep you posted if anything changes, you’d never hear from me again…

Semper Fi from JarHedJon (posted by Sheryl)"

Thanks for remembering all of us.

Sheryl

Floating down the Merced River

Just got a bunch of pictures from the friends we ran into at Yosemite. They took pictures of Joshua and me floating down the Merced River. Here's a cute one of Joshua.

Sheryl

Final Trip Pictures

After a week of work I finally have figured out how to post pictures to this blog again. They are "upgrading" the system, but of course that means that somethings don't work quite right for a while. So now I can post a few pictures from our time in Yosemite.

We arrived mid-day on Monday, August 28th. We got settled in our wood cabin in Curry Village, went for a swim in the cold pool and then took a ride around the valley in the free shuttle. We got off and hiked to the foot of Yosemite Falls only to be shocked at the lack of water. We have only been to Yosemite twice and both times were in May when there is water everywhere. There are waterfalls on every cliff in the valley, but at the end of the summer, it is a different story. That evening I got this shot of Half Dome at sunset. That was our view from Curry Village. Pretty awesome, huh?

Tuesday was our day to hike the Mist Trail (without the mist) up to Nevada Falls. Joshua and I have hiked to these falls twice before but always on the John Muir Trail which is longer but not as steep. The Mist Trail has many, many granite steps that seem to go straight up the side of the cliff. But Joshua and I have discovered that if we make up stories together (one of us starts and then we take turns adding to the story), we can distract ourselves into climbing much further than we thought we could. Here we are on that trail half way to Vernal Falls, which are the lower set of falls.

Tuesday evening after the climb the pool at Curry Village felt very refreshing. And amazingly enough we ran into friends from Joshua's school. They had been inner tubing on the Merced River that day and were preparing to hike the Mist Trail on Wednesday. So I gave them a little advice and they loaned us their tubes.

Wednesday Joshua and I started off with a little shopping in the village and then a bike ride. Of course I had to get the shot of him with Half Dome in the background. But the topper for the ride was right at the end. We had about 5 minutes to get our bikes back and as we buzzed past one of the meadows we saw one of the tour groups stopped and everyone pointing to the grass. We screeched our brakes and there were two stags relaxing in the shade. They just sat and allowed us to take our pictures. It was a wonderful treat for us.

I don't have pictures documenting our afternoon float down the Merced, but I promise you we did it. I think the water was just a few degrees above freezing. My legs and hands finally got numb enough to kick and paddle. The river was quite shallow in places and there was a breeze blowing up the valley, so at times we floated up stream. After a couple hours we had floated about half a mile and met our friends who had arrived back from their day of hiking.

All in all, it was a fabulous vacation. Of course we missed Jon a lot, since the outdoors is such a huge part of who he is. But I was proud of myself for taking Joshua on this adventure by myself and for having a great time. Our return trip wasn't nearly as fun as the train ride up the coast. We took a small van ride from Yosemite to Merced, following the river, which was a beautiful ride. Then we caught the train to Bakersfield. But there is no train over the Grapevine, so we got packed into a bus with less leg room than a airline coach seat for a two hour ride to LA Union Station. We had an hour and a half wait at Union Station, which was an interesting experience in itself. Finally caught the Surfliner back to San Juan, where we arrived at about 9:30 p.m. Thanks to our friends Pam and Cory, our car was waiting for us and we were home and in bed at a decent hour.

So now you are all caught up on our trip and I'll go back to posting current news.

Sheryl

Dealing with Frustration

I have been frustrated by my blog service in the past week. For a while I couldn't gain access to post a blog. Then when I final got access yesterday I couldn't post any pictures. But of course that is nothing compared to Jon's frustration right now at not being able to keep up his own blog. He sent me another message to pass on to you who are reading.

"One of the Marine Corps’ 11 Leadership Principles is, “Know yourself and seek self improvement.” This is a lifetime process, of course, and from a Mission Accomplishment perspective, the ease with which one’s self knowledge is increased is inversely proportionate to the number of relationships one has outside of the mission. When attempting to accomplish a series of tasks in the pursuit of a larger goal, relational involvement can consumes energy, distract focus, contribute to indecisiveness, and weaken resolve. Consciously disengaging from or avoiding relationships in the pursuit of self knowledge and self improvement, however, can be proven to be equally ‘crippling.’ We are deprived of the very context that makes self knowledge and self improvement essential to the maturing process. We have no social context in which our own priorities can be reflected, mirrored, or shown in the more universal light of benefiting or detracting from the advancement of our universal physical, mental or spiritual development. This is sometimes how I feel over here: perhaps I am learning more about myself and able to apply this knowledge to more ably accomplish the tasks I’m assigned; however, I feel more and more disconnected from the very persons, community, and culture that give meaning or provide the necessity of accomplishing those tasks. Finding balance is not easy, as the tasks ARE HERE and the contexts that give them meaning ARE NOT. Posted for JarHedJon by Sheryl"

Thank you for praying for Jon and remembering him. If you want to post a comment to my blog, he should be able to read it.

Sheryl

First Soccer Game

I tried to post this blog on Saturday, but I had trouble opening my blog all weekend. Fortunately this morning I remembered a different way to gain access and here I am, back with my blog and notes from Jon. Welcome to those of you who have only read Jon's blog. You will find a completely different writing style, shorter blogs and more pictures. Enjoy! :)

Saturday Joshua had his first soccer game as a member of a U8 (under 8 years old) team. He is on the Might Tigers team and he got to play goalie for part of one quarter. He loved it. After two years in the U6 (under 6 years old) league, he seems to be getting the whole concept of soccer. It was fun to for me to watch him -- he runs around the field with a smile on his face.

For those of you waiting for the pictures from Yosemite portion of our August trip (I'm sure that hundreds of you) :) -- they are coming.

Sheryl

Prayers are Being Answered

I’d like to thank everyone for their prayers regarding the potentially damaging issue I mentioned the other day. There may be a few vessels off course, but after a couple of key meetings with the right people, I believe the flotilla that ventured forth some time ago is back on track. Keep praying, we need to insure those few remaining ships get back with the flotilla—thanks, and I’ll keep you updated as I learn more.

I’m not sure, at this point, how I’ll be able to field any comments you post to Sheryl’s blog (it’s the same blogging network as mine, so if you created a profile to post to my blog, you’re good to go to post to Sheryl’s blog), hopefully between the two of us we’ll figure out some way to respond if you take the time to sound off.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Part Two of the Train Trip

After two great days in the Bay Area we headed to Sacramento Friday (9/25) evening. That was a fun train ride from Emeryville (near Berkley) along the eastern coast of the Bay and then east to Sacramento. We arrived at 9:00 p.m. and were met by Jon's Aunt Lori.

Our time in Sacramento was much warmer than the Bay Area, but since Lori had a pool, we were able to stay cool. We enjoyed touring the great train museum in Old Sacramento. After viewing many trains we walked a few steps to the bank of the Sacramento River where we watched a bridge turn 90 degrees to let a boat go down the river.

Monday (9/28) morning Lori took us to the Amtrak station where we caught our first bus (Amtrak connection) to Stockton. Joshua rested on our luggage while we waited about 30 minutes at the Stockton train station for our train. We were only on the train for 30 minutes before getting off in Modesto and hopping on our second bus which took us to Yosemite in about 2 hours. It was our first time to enter the valley through that route and it was a nice change of pace.

The next entry will be the Yosemite pictures.

Sheryl

First Day of School

Just took Joshua to his first day of 1st grade. It was a very different experience from last year. He already knows at least 1/3 of the kids in his class as well as his teacher. Sra. Hamidi was his English teacher last year. She is now teaching 1st grade Two-Way Immersion. I had a great time seeing the parents of Joshua's friends who are my friends as well. It was a fun morning. Joshua barely waved good bye to me as he walked to his class. Ah, he is growing up.

Now to all my projects that have been on hold during my busy summer.

More pictures from our trip to come next time.

Sheryl

First Part of Our Trip

Joshua and I had a great time on our train ride up the coast on Wednesday, August 23rd. We left San Juan Capistrano on a chilly morning at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get into San Jose until 9:00 p.m., but it was a lot of fun. We read, Joshua listened to a Harry Potter CD, we took walks around the train, ate in the dining car and found ways to entertain ourselves. My favorite part of the trip were the hours we drove along the coast. Joshua and I sat with our noses pressed against the window staring out at the beaches. It was awesome.

Our time in the Bay Area with my Aunt Judy was fun as well. We enjoyed a day at a children's museum at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. On our second day we made the drive out to the Jelly Belly Factory. That was a great tour and of course we loved the free samples.

Friday evening my aunt dropped us off at the train station in Emeryville (near Oakland) and we enjoyed a 2 hours train ride to Sacramento. The conductors enjoyed asking Joshua for Jelly Bellys since he was still wearing his hat from the tour.

Pictures from our time in Sacramento and the Yosemite trip will follow in the next post.

Sheryl

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He's Home!

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

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

The Waiting Begins

Had a call from Jon this morning, since Sunday I was busy with the Y Malawi Steering Team. It was great to hear his voice, especially since I anticipate having his voice connected to his whole body next week. So the waiting begins. Still a few days till he leaves his current location and then it will be a few days before he can call and let me know when he will be arriving in my location. Got it? :) Don't want anyone trying to hinder this trip. But, Lord willing, by next week at this time our family of three will all be together.

The weekend was very productive for our Y Malawi team. We are getting more organized and I always appreciate time with this great team of folks who come from numerous churches. Our meetings were from Saturday lunch through Sunday evening this time and so the team joined me at the 8:00 a.m. service at San Clemente Presbyterian. It was wonderful to worship with our Y Malawi partners at my church. The meetings also went well because I had four women who volunteered to help serve and clean up our meals. Thank you Debbie, Lisa, Rosalis and Peggy. You were a blessing to all of us, but especially to me.

This week Joshua and I will be having play dates with friends, hanging out at home, going to the Circus (first time for Joshua) and waiting for Jon.

Sheryl

More fun this summer

We returned from our two weeks of vacation and Joshua participated in a week-long Spanish Tae Kwon Do Camp. He loved it and I was glad to have him immersed in Spanish for a week. I don't want him to forget what he learned during the school year. The kids were supposed to speak Spanish to each other as well as to the teacher, although Joshua told me the trick was to whisper. If you didn't get caught speaking English, then you didn't get a time out. The time outs involved standing outside until the next student got caught speaking English. The day Joshua got a time out he told me that he hadn't even gotten to the door yet when someone else spoke in English, so he didn't have to take a time out. :)

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a Faith Academy 50th Celebration. Faith is one of the mission kid schools I attended while growing up in the Philippines. They celebrated their 50th anniversary by having small gatherings around the US and the world. We were honored to have 5 staff members who have worked at Faith over 25 years each. I connected with my 2nd grade teacher Miss Fox, who I haven't seen since 1969. I also saw my Home Ec teacher from 7th and 8th grades. No one from my class ('79) was there, but there were older friends and friends from my sisters class ('81) that I was able to reconnect with. It was awesome to hear and see what God has continued to do through that school. For more information on the school, check out their web site at http://www.faith.edu.ph/.

This week Joshua is with my brother Steve and family. Joshua is attending a sports camp with his cousin Evan and I am sure they are having a great time. When I took him down Sunday evening, I could barely get a "good bye, Mom," out of him before I left. It is such a nice gift from my sister-in-law Sandi who has three kids of her own and has to keep their house clean as they are trying to sell it. :(

I am getting various things done at home. I'm also having fun. Went to see "The Devil Wears Prada" yesterday and had a great, cool time. For those of you not in Southern California, it has been almost as hot at Iraq this past week. Our little mobile home does not have AC, so I have been finding other places to go to stay cool. Today I am meeting a friend at the Cheesecake Factory in Irvine for lunch and then a group of friends are going to Las Brisas in Laguna for dinner before viewing the Art-A-Fair.

Thursday evening I'll drive down to Escondido and meet Sandi and the kids. We'll take them to the Wild Animal Park and have a picnic dinner. It should be great to see the animals in the cool of the evening. Friday I'll get to hang out with my sister Sandy for a while as well.

The coming weekend is another Y Malawi Steering Team meeting which I am hosting at San Clemente Presbyterian. Fortunately I have a great team of volunteers helping me and plenty of time this week to prepare. I am looking forward to productive meetings.

Well, now you are caught up on Joshua and me. Of course the news that Jon will (probably) be coming home for his R&R soon, if very exciting. Although I must admit that part of me is wary -- you never know with the USMC.

Sheryl

Pictures from Franklin, Michigan

Our time in Franklin, Michigan, was very active, as you can see from these pictures. Joshua loved bouncing on the trampoline. Here he and Riley showed off for the camera. All the kids enjoyed the two days at the pool. The day at the lake was perfect. The water and the air were just the right temperature for swimming and building sand castles. Joshua got to go bowling for the first time to celebrate Baker's 10th birthday. He posed after getting his first strike! What an experience. Yes, we had an awesome time with our Moran relatives. Thanks, Greg, Sharon, Baker, Regan and Riley for your hospitality for 9 days.

Sheryl

Pictures from Lanesboro, Minnesota

Here are some shots from our excellent time in Lanesboro, Minnesota. We enjoyed our time with Ann, Bob, Nathan, Kimberly, Ethan, Karen and Mike. It was an awesome vacation. If you are ever in the south-eastern corner of Minnesota, I highly recommend the Cozy Quilt Cottage owned and operated by the Weavers. I'll have shots from our time in Michigan in a day or two.

Sheryl

Home Sweet Home

We're home. We arrived at our own doorstep around 8:15 p.m. My folks had dinner for us and a few necessary groceries for the morning. Joshua fell asleep on the drive to our house, which was to be expected since his body thought it was 11:00 p.m. (we just came back from the Detroit area).

We had an awesome vacation. Our 5 days in Lanesboro, Minnesota, with the Weaver clan were relaxing and fun. Our 9 days in Franklin, Michigan, with the Greg and Sharon Moran clan were full of lots of time for Joshua to play with his cousins and for me to enjoy time reading, relaxing and conversation with Sharon and Greg. We even got to see Jon's brother Matt, when he came up from Indiana for a day and a half. We were so blessed by all those who hosted us these past two weeks.

I'll post a few pictures in the next few days, but wanted to let y'all know that we made it home.

Sheryl

Vacation

Joshua and I head to the Midwest on Saturday for two weeks of vacation. I hope to be able to check e-mail while on the trip, but don't know if I'll post to my blog or not. We'll be visiting my relatives in south-eastern Minnesota for about a week. We look forward to seeing my cousins who recently returned from Bolivia. I am hoping they can help keep Joshua's Spanish fresh. We anticipate innertubing down a river, some fishing,and just relaxing. The second week of our vacation will be spent in the Detroit area with Jon's younger brother's family. Joshua is excited to see his three Moran cousins and we hope some of the other family members will be able to visit us while we're there. After this exhausting week of VBS I look forward to a couple weeks of just relaxing.

Sheryl

Vacation Bible School

What happens when you take 200 children ages 5 to 9, toss in a hundred teenage and adult leaders for three hours at church? You get an exciting, exhausting, fun Vacation Bible School -- VBS. I have a "small" group of 13 children who will be starting 1st grade in the fall. Joshua is one of my group members and so far we are having a great time together -- all of us. I started off a little stressed by the initial chaos, which is the Monday of VBS. But today was a little better, although we had to improvise when it rained during our outdoor snack time. The kids are learning about the treasures hidden in God's Word. Yesterday they learned that God Loves Us and today that God Knows Us. It is awesome. I am ready for a nap most days when I get home, but that's okay, it's a good kind of tired. :)

Sheryl

Harry Potter

After returning from camping, my cold did get worse and so Joshua and I have not done much. We have spent a lot of time hanging out at home listening to the recording of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- book 4 in the series. We are completely addicted and loving it. :)

Yesterday I had the amazing honor of being installed as an elder at my church. I was first ordained as an elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church about 16 years ago, when I was an even younger elder. This experience was meaningful in a different way. I am so loved and cared for at this church and I am humbled to be called to serve in this way.

If you read Jon's blog, you know that we had an hour-long video conference call yesterday. It was rather strange sitting in a huge conference room with two large TVs at the end of the table. One showed Joshua and me sitting at a microphone and the other was filled with Jon sitting in a small room in front of a desk. I think Joshua enjoyed watching himself on TV. It was good to be able to see Jon even if it was a bit unusual setting.

This week is Vacation Bible School and I'm a small group leader for the 1st graders. Joshua still loves to have me involved with him so how could I turn down this great opportunity.

Sheryl

Camping

As most of you probably know, Jon is a BIG camper. One summer he camped at the beach every other weekend for the entire summer. I, on the other hand, would rather leave the camping to Jon and Joshua. But being a "good mother" I thought I should take Joshua camping at least once while Jon is gone. Maybe I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.

Fortunately, my college friend Lauri was able to join Joshua and me this week and so we were able to set up our new tent. Joshua gave encouraging comments as we went along like, "Mommy, I think you need Daddy." But Lauri and I were able to successfully raise the tent and I have photographic proof. I was even able to start our evening fire with just newspaper, wood and a lighter -- even Jon usually uses fuel to give his fire a boost.

Now I'm home trying to fight off a chest cold. I am so grateful to friends Sergio and Wyndi who took Joshua for the afternoon so I could run a couple errands and just rest. Joshua and I are looking forward to our first video call with Jon on Sunday afternoon. We'll let you know how it goes.

Sheryl

Happy Father's Day

Kindergarten Graduate

Thursday, June 15, 2006, Joshua officially graduated from Kindergarten. All the parents joined the students and Sra. Unzueta for a fiesta and diploma presentation. The kids all look so grown up compared to August 2005 when we took them to school for the first time. Joshua along with the other English speaking kids are doing quite well with their Spanish.

We are both looking forward to a fun summer but we have started off with colds. Joshua has had a runny nose for a few days and started coughing this morning. My throat is bothering me and I feel kind of wiped out. Maybe it's just from all the craziness of the past few weeks.

Jon has been gone for 4 months and we are counting down -- hopefully a little less then 7 weeks -- till he comes home for his 2 weeks of leave. Yipee!

Sheryl

14th Anniversary

Fourteen years ago today I woke early with excitement and anticipation for a great wedding celebration. Little did I know what the next 14 years would include. Ahhh! Isn't that the way of life?! This week I read through my scrapbook that chronicles the years between our meeting and our wedding. The book is very thick with many pictures and stories but since then, the books are thicker and the stories are many and varied. I have come to believe that one of the reasons God created marriage was to help a man and a woman learn how to become whole people, healthy people, the kind of people God created us to be. And that road is full of beauty as well as hardship. It is full of immense and deep love as well as anger and hurt. It is a road I am so honored to be traveling with my best friend, my son's father, my lover, my husband Jon.

Happy Anniversary, Jon.

Sheryl

Family Time

Sunday afternoon my family celebrated my nephew Evan's 6th birthday on a beautiful day in San Marcos. Here is a picture of the family who was able to attend (minus the kids). From left to right are my brother Steve, mom Helen, sister Sandy, dad Joe, sister-in-law Sandi and brother-in-law Sonny. The kids must have been off playing.

Sheryl

Anniversary Date

This Tuesday, June 13th, Jon and I will celebrate 14 years of marriage. Unfortunately we won't do that together. To help ease some of the loss, my dear small group took me on an anniversary date Saturday evening. They arranged for a babysitter -- that was maybe the best gift. Then Steve and Claire picked me up and brought me a corsage. The rest of the group -- Terry, Cindy, Nanci, Brad and Cory (missed you Pam) -- met us at Sarducci's in San Juan. Then we enjoyed a fabulous meal with appetizers, a delicious dinner and desserts that we all shared. Here I am posing with my "dates" for the evening. We also took a picture of the "girls" but that is on someone else's camera. Thank you all, dear friends, for the best "date" I've had in about 4 months.

Sheryl

Another Tooth Bites the Dust

Joshua has had a second loose tooth for over a week. The big tooth was coming in right behind it, but he didn't want to pull or have me even touch the baby tooth. Then in the middle of the night I get a call, "Mom, Mom, come here, I've got my tooth." Not sure how it happened but it came out and he had it on his finger. We agreed that the tooth fairy had probably already been by so we'll see if she remembers to visit tonight. :)

Sheryl

June Gloom

If you live in Southern California, this posting may not be very interesting to you, especially if you, like me, live within 2 miles of the ocean. It is an awesome place to live, but the weather during May and June have become known as May Gray and June Gloom, for obvious reasons. A note to any tourist, if you want to see Disneyland in the sun, don't come till after July 4th. This week the clouds and fog have been so thick that we have had drizzle. It is amazing. For proof, I offer these pictures taken at 10:00 a.m. from my porch and by the side of my house. We have hills on either side of us -- within half a mile -- but you wouldn't have known it this morning. I must say this is nice jogging weather. And kids don't even notice it.

We have lots of fun things planned for the weekend. Joshua will get to see Cars (the new Pixar movie) this afternoon as part of the birthday party for his friend Alex. Saturday, my dear friends in our church small group are taking me out for a special anniversary dinner -- Jon and I celebrate 14 years of marriage on June 13th. Sunday after church Joshua and I will head south to celebrate cousin Evan's 6th birthday with family and friend. Then next week will be the final week of school and summer will begin. Have lots of things planned -- hopefully the weather will clear up soon, but even still, we are blessed to live in this beautiful place.

Sheryl

Donkey Tales

Wednesday night Joshua performed in his first musical. Donkey Tales was put on by the San Clemente Presbyterian Church Children's Praise Choir and Youth Club. They did a great job and the parents and friends in attendance almost filled the sanctuary. Joshua got to sing and/or dance in three of the songs. I say "and/or" because I noticed that if there was some choreography, he was concentrating on that and not singing. If they were just singing, then he managed and sing most of the words to the song. It was great fun and a wonderful way to share the message of the love of Jesus through stories about donkeys in the Bible. Here we are at the performance.

Sheryl

Joshua visits the Midway

On Sunday Joshua was able to join about 30 dads and kids from our church on a train ride from San Juan to San Diego to visit the Navy Aircraft Carrier Midway. Good friend Jim was "dad" to three boys -- thanks, Jim. Here Joshua is with his good friend JT in a helicopter on the Midway. He had an awesome day. Thanks to all the dad who helped to make it a great day for Joshua.

Sheryl

Being Cared For

This morning I was able to experience one of the best sensations known to humans -- a body massage. I have a good friend who does this professionally and she offered to give me a great discount on a massage at her home. I still feel like I just might float away two hours later. Ahhh... Enough said.

Yesterday the San Juan Seniors once again sent Joshua and me a card along with a generous gift. That gift helped to cover the cost of my massage and Joshua and I have not yet decided how to enjoy the rest of the gift.

What a blessing to be surrounded by so many friends and neighbors who go out of their way to care for Joshua and me while Jon is gone.

Today is June 1st and in case you didn't know, two months from today we anticipate Jon starting on his journey home for 2 weeks of leave. We are so excited and every night Joshua prays that "Daddy will come home in August."

Blessings to those of you who shower all three of us with your love and prayers. God is using you whether you know it or not.

Sheryl