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

A birthday party

Today Joshua had his 8 1/2 birthday party. Since his actual birthday is December 23, he gets to have a party with his friends in May each year. Once again we had a Tae Kwon Do party at the Black Belt Academy where Joshua does Tae Kwon Do each week. Master Rafael put on a great party with a brief class, breaking boards and lots of games. I provided the pizza, watermelon, cake and pinata full of candy. The 19 kids provided the energy, noise and fun.

My dad and mom are watching Joshua's cousins Evan, Emma and Elena while their parents, Steve and Sandi, are on an Alaskan cruise, so they all came for the party and stayed to go to our pool afterwards. The weather cooperated with the sun coming out and the kids enjoyed a couple hours in the water. Then Evan and Joshua got working on the various Lego kits Joshua had gotten for his birthday.

All in all, it has been a great day.

Sheryl

Awesome news

First a great update from Jon today, "Folks must have really been praying for me, my cold symptoms are gone, after feeling that they might be getting worse just this morning." He went on in his message to give an update on the weather, "Oh, it finally hit the 100's, it was 106 today and is forecast to be above 105 every day this week. Of course, I'm digging it" :) Thank you so much for praying for Jon's health. When you don't get any time off, it is very important to stay healthy. He has now been working over 4 months without a day off.

The other really awesome news is the announcement of the arrival of Sean Daniel Portacio to my sister Sandy and her husband Sonny. They have been in the adoption process for about 2 years and today they are taking Sean home from the hospital. He is one week old and already has his own blog: http://adventuresean.blogspot.com/. You may also want to check out his parents' blog (http://theportacios.blogspot.com/) since that includes great pictures and videos.

We are thrilled to welcome Sean to the Portacio/France family.

Sheryl

Notes from The Front

I got this e-mail from Jon on Sunday:
"The temperatures here are remaining in the 90's, which seems amazing to me, but part of it is due to the dust, which tends to moderate the temperature."

I received this e-mail from Jon today:
"I think I'm coming down with a cold, I woke up this morning with the symptoms, and they've been getting worse all day. Could you please pray for me, I'd appreciate it."

Nothing else to report from The Front. Jon works long hours and probably doesn't get as much sleep as he needs. He definitely doesn't get as much sleep as he wants. Thank you for keeping him in your prayers.

Sheryl

Holy Moses

This past week Joshua participated in the production of "Holy Moses" at our church by the children's choir. He had a short solo in the song "Plague of Plagues." He did a great job during the show and I was so proud of him. A number of parents made videos so I am hoping to get a copy to send to Jon and share with any who would like to see Joshua's dramatic debut. Some of his friends from school came and watched the production as well -- Thanks for coming, Mandy, Dalton, Cole, Rhett, Rebbecca and Eliza.

Sheryl

Mother's Day

Well, the week was busy and time got away from me, so I am just now finishing up my report on Mother's Day last Sunday.

Joshua fixed me a bowl of cereal and brought it to me in bed on a tray. Then he presented me with some wonderful hand-made gifts that communicated not only his love for me but also Jon's, God's and my friends. It was very sweet.

We went to church and then headed to Escondido to my brother Steve's house to meet them and my folks for the beginning of my mom's Mother's Day surprise. We had a delicious lunch that Sandi and Steve fixed for us and then headed to San Diego for a Padre's game. We met up with my sister Sandy and her husband Sonny along with his mom and brother. My sister-in-law Sandi's brother and family were there as well, so we took up a couple rows in the outfield section. It was a nice cool, overcast day, so perfect for sitting outside watching a baseball game. We were a bit late and missed a few scoreless innings, but the rest of the game was quite exciting and we saw the Padre's beat the Colorado Rockies, so that was a great topper.

Jon was unable to call Sunday morning because the phone connection from Iraq is completely blocked due to the heavy calling here in the US that day. But he did get up early Monday morning his time and was able to call me Mother's Day evening. It was a great way to end my special weekend.

Sheryl

The beginning of a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend

I have had a fabulous Mother's Day Weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day in Southern California and Disney's California Adventure was a fun place to be. Since our tickets were a gift ($122 value), it helped take away some of the feeling of urgency to "get the most for my money." We had only been to the park one time before and it was many years ago so we weren't sure where to start or what to do. We wondered around, found a few rides that both Joshua and I wanted to ride on, toured the tortilla factory and bakery, had lunch and then discovered the Animation Studios. We attended four sessions where different artists taught us how to draw Disney Characters. Here is Joshua's sketch of Pooh. We also sketched Donald Duck, Goofy and Tigger. Joshua couldn't get enough of it so we just kept going back. The Animation Studios also had other interactive activities like doing a voice-over for a cartoon clip. We sang with Baloo and Mogli, the Seven Dwarf, the Lion King characters -- it was a blast. We ended the day at the Alladin live performance which is quite a show -- in true Disney style. We were at the park for about 10 hours and we both had an outstanding time together.

There's more to come...

Sheryl

Military Spouse Day -- May 9, 2008

I just got this message (below) through my Marine Corps Key Volunteer. I didn't know there was such a thing, but this week it is a bit encouraging to think the President George Bush took a few moments to recognize and honor the spouses' part in the military service. Joshua has been sick again. Tuesday I kept him home from school because he complained of a headache, nausea and had a stuffed up nose. I figured he'd be back in school on Wednesday, but that afternoon he started rubbing his eye and by bed time I realized he had pink eye. Both eyes were red and stuck with discharge in the morning. Fortunately we got an appointment with his doctor and started eye drops and antibiotics by midday. Oh, and while at the check up the doctor discovered that Joshua had an ear infection. Oops! He had complained about his ear Monday night, but said it hurt on the outside. I couldn't see anything on the outside of the ear so chalked it up to sleeping on it funny. So Joshua will be home one more day from school so he doesn't pass this infection on to his friends. This week was pretty slow for me (only had to miss 4 appointments) to stay home with him for three days. Hopefully we'll celebrate Joshua's health by going to California Adventure (the "other" Disney amusement park in Anaheim) on Saturday. A woman in our mobile home park gave us 2 free passes that have to be used this weekend. It should be a fun change of pace after being home most of the week.

Sheryl

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Military spouses embody the courage, nobility of duty, and love of country that inspire every American. On Military Spouse Day, we pay tribute to the husbands and wives who support their spouses in America's Armed Forces during times of war and peace.

The legacy of military spouses began when colonial Americans were fighting for independence. Martha Washington boosted the morale of her husband's troops by visiting battlefields and tending to the wounded. Since then, members of our Armed Forces have served our Nation accompanied by the steadfast love and support of their spouses and families.

While our men and women in uniform are protecting our country's founding ideals of liberty, democracy, and justice, their spouses live with uncommon challenges, endure sleepless nights, and spend long periods raising children
alone. Many military spouses are also committed volunteers, serving other military families and local communities. Our Nation benefits from the sacrifices of our military families, and we are inspired by their courage, strength, and leadership.

On Military Spouse Day and throughout the year, we honor the commitment spouses have made to freedom's cause. To learn about ways to support our troops and their spouses and families, I encourage all Americans to visit www.americasupportsyou.mil.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 9, 2008, as Military Spouse Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities and by expressing their gratitude to the husbands and wives of those serving in the United States Armed Forces.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

A clear day

Check out the contrast from my last entry, "Here is a picture taken in a similar location as the picture of two days ago, just to show the difference... I'm actually about twenty paces further down the road than I was on the dusty day, you can tell by the speed limit sign behind me (which you can see easily on the clear day, but you need to zoom in quite a bit to see on the dusty day). Anyway, I think the difference between the two days, only 48 hours apart, are pretty startling."

Sheryl

Dust Storm

At noon (Jon's time) he wrote, "Here is the reason I'm glad I didn't go out running this morning. Yesterday at this time the day was clear, bright, and climbing through 90 degrees F on the way to over 100 degrees F. Today, same time of day, it was maybe 75 degrees F on its way to a high of 85, it was very windy, and obviously not clear due to the dust. Since taking the picture its gotten a little worse, but not that much worse. Inside the building its better, but there is still a dusty haze EVERYWHERE, which makes for interesting conditions. Running in this stuff clogs up your nose and coats the inside of your mouth (and lungs?) with dust, it's not a pleasant experience." Then three hours later he sent another quick note, "Well, the percentage of dust in the air is getting worse as the day progresses, it's a little after 1500 here and pretty miserable outside. Of course, I'm not outside, so not too big a deal, but for those that are..."

Sheryl

A budding photographer

I want to show off a few of the 100+ pictures Joshua took while we were at the San Diego Zoo last Friday. You've gotta love digital cameras. We even got some videos on that one chip. Some of his shots were great, so I thought I'd post them for you animal lovers out there. Can you find the Meerkat, Polar Bears, Cloud Leopard and Lama?

Sheryl

The Geese Grow Up

Here's an update on The Geese. You can check them out in May 2006 by going to the archives of Jon's blog and scrolling down to May 6. http://jarhedjon.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html.

"When I arrived here in February, 2006, there was one duck, three adult geese, and 13 yellow fluffy baby geese. Two of the 13 didn't make it, but the rest seemed to double in size every week. When I left in February 2007, there was still one duck, three adult geese, and 11 pretty big (2/3 of the way to full size) "kid" geese. When I returned in January, 2008, there was still the one duck, and there were a total of 13 adult geese. RUMINT has it that a desert wolf managed to get one of them during the 11 months that I was gone, but I've been unable to confirm the veracity of this report. Semper Fi, Jarhedjon"

Sheryl

Bougainvillea in the desert

A note of some interest from Jon,

"The bougainvillea that I was caring for (not a lot, but sometimes watering it) during 2006 is doing well. Before I left I had "found" a steel structure to provide a support for the bougainvillea, and it seemed to be doing pretty well. Since coming back, where I work is real close to my hooch, so when I clean out my Freedom Press every morning, I walk over and do my cleaning with a water bottle over the plant. That way the bougainvillea gets the grounds and the water. It's doing pretty well now, though when I arrived it was obviously barely alive, those guys were too cheezy to take care of it."

Notes and pictures of the geese coming next.

Sheryl

Spring Break

Joshua and I had a wonderful time at The Ranch, what the France family calls the farm that is owned by my Uncle John, but was where my dad and his 8 siblings were raised in Porterville. It was a dairy farm way back when and now the farm is an organic fruit farm -- oranges, grapes, nectarines, walnuts (are they considered a fruit?) and more on other property. There aren't a lot of animals any more, but we enjoy the ones who do live there -- Fred the cat, Max the dog, Joe the donkey and three horses that recently came to live (Blue, Sancho and Rocky). Oh, yeah, and the Canadian geese who have been coming back to the pond year after year for a long time now. Here are few pictures of the animals we enjoyed visiting. Of course, that doesn't mean that we don't also enjoy John and Cindy. We had a great time celebrating John's birthday -- he's only about 7 years older than me, so I have often think of him as a big brother (not that my mother is old enough to be his mom). And Cindy is just a lot of fun to talk to. I've been enjoying conversations with her ever since she married into the crazy France clan right before I started college.


We were also able to get to the snow up at about 7,000 feet, 40 miles outside of Porterville on Tuesday. It was cold (for us) but I found a sled, took a few rides and then we had a snow ball fight until Joshua's hands were too wet and cold. All in all, a great part of our Spring Break.

Today was a first for both Joshua and me -- we marched and picketed over the issue of budget cuts to education. Joshua was so excited that even when we found out that the governor wasn't going to show up, so there might not be a march, he insisted we take our signs (that he helped make) and go anyways. Turned out the governor skipped his scheduled afternoon visit to a private school in San Juan but showed up for the fundraiser at local restaurant around 5:30. We were making signs, marching, waving our signs and adding to the traffic jam in San Juan with the other 300 or so people for about 3 hours. Quite an experience. Joshua was proud because he made a sign in Spanish "Salva las Escuelas" and said that next time we need more signs in Spanish. We'll be marching next Friday with the teachers from our school, so hopefully then I'll get some pictures. Although it is possible that Joshua's picture may be in the paper and on the local TV news. We'll see.

Tomorrow we're probably heading to the San Diego Zoo, one of our favorite places to spend a day. We'll be back to school and our busy schedules next week, so this week we are enjoying our Spring Break.

Sheryl

Helping to lead in worship

Jon was able to send me this little bit of news that can be shared.

"Well, I made it to church this morning, which is a good thing--I was tempted to sleep in a little, which has been reality on Sundays since they moved the service to 0815 (it used to be 0915). Actually, the last two weeks I've been a part of worship. The chaplains put a sign-up sheet on the table where the bulletins and hymn books are so they can be picked up prior to the service and returned following the service. This was the same way it was in 2006. Now, as back then, I signed up to help. However, last year, the sign up sheet was set up for specific Sundays, where you would sign up to read, help with the music, or help with communion. I helped with communion once last year, and read scripture on at least three separate occasions. This year the sign up sheet is just a generic volunteer list. Last Saturday I received an email from the chaplain with the Scripture (Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament) that would be a part of the service as part of a graphic slide (like a program slide in power point for San Clemente Presbyterian Church), but no instructions, and I thought, "Oh, a nice side benefit from signing up is that the Chaplain has my contact information and can send me advance information in preparation for worship." However, when I arrived last Sunday, the chaplain asked me if I had received his message, and I said, "Roger that, I appreciated the heads up," he started telling me when the scripture would need to be read. I realized that he was relying on me to read, so I went with it, though the only Bible I had to read from was a small print NIV from the bookshelf at the back of the chapel. This week, the other chaplain was running the service, and he actually sent me an email with the scripture printed in it, along with a request that I participate in leading worship. I was able to recommend replacing the version that was being printed in the bulletin with the NLT, which was much more readable, and though I couldn't change the bulletins, as they'd already been printed, the Chaplain approved the reading in the NLT (which I announced preparatory to the reading). Anyway, there are only three people signed up on the volunteer helper sheet, so I've a feeling that we may get called on a lot. The Marine who's been on the list from the beginning of the deployment has participated in worship almost every Sunday since we got here. Semper Fi, Jon"

Sheryl

Getting caught up

Sorry it's been so long since I posted to the blog. Jon is doing fine, just very busy. I'll try to get something from him in the next couple days that I can post.

Joshua and I have been enjoying the beautiful Southern California spring weather. Over Easter weekend we thought summer had arrived and enjoyed lunch on our patio with my parents. Since then it cooled down again and we kept our jackets handy. Of course it is nothing compared to the weather most of the rest of the country has endured this winter and spring.

On March 29 we enjoyed the Swallows Day Parade in our own San Juan Capistrano and then spent that evening and Sunday with Steve, Sandi, Elena, Emma and Evan in Escondido. Joshua and his cousin Evan are 6 months apart and good friends.

This week is spring break for Joshua and so we drove up to Porterville, to the France Ranch, where my dad grew up and where my family used to come "home" to when on furlough (my parents were missionaries for those who don't know my family history). I lived here two summers during college and love visiting my Uncle John and Aunt Cindy, who now own the farm. Joshua loves to come up and see them as well as the dog Max and the donkey Joe. It is nice to be out of the city and enjoying the country, especially now while it's cool and not 100 degrees, like it can be in the summer.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. We've almost hit the 3 month mark, which means only 4 months till we hopefully can be together for a couple weeks when Jon gets his R&R.

Sheryl