Superheros-protecting Ashley Ave.

Robin- Jacob, Spiderman-Noah, Red Ninja-Jalen, Batman-Micah

Micah's first day in class

Ready for his first day
Micah and his teacher, Mrs. Kaneshiro
Working at his desk
In his classroom

Nine years and counting!

Today is our anniversary, wow 9 years. It has gone so quickly. About 5 minutes after I got home from work today, a florist delivered a beautiful arrangement of roses, lilies,and daisies-it is beautiful and smells so good. We got cards and some really nice emails. I wish we were together so we could celebrate together

I love you Darrick and I love sharing my life with you! Happy Anniversary Honey!

She's works hard for the money...kind of

Today was my first day at work! It was different for me to get up and get ready and then leave the house without the boys! They stayed with my mom and dad today. I have always loved school so much. There is just something about walking on campus and seeing all the kids and going into the classes that ignites a little spark in me. Today I went and helped out in all 3 of the 3rd grade classes. It was easy, and it is hard to realize that I am getting paid for it. I love interacing with students and getting to know them.

Tomorrow Micah will have his first full day of kindergarten! He is excited.

Where in the world is Matt Flint?

Matt, Darrick and I were both so excited that you responded to our blog. Darrick has been wondering how to get in touch with you.

Matt Flint was stationed with Darrick on his first ship and he is a great guy. They were best buddies on the USS Supply and I met him when I moved to New Jersey after we got married.

Matt, we would love to have you come visit. We are stationed here with Sonya Haught. She is still in contact with Bryan and he is coming out to visit the 1st week in October. Is there anyway you could make it too? It would be so fun for us to all be together again.

Please let us know how we can get a hold of you!

Today Micah had his first day of actual kindergarten. It was a half day and only half the class. He did great and said that he loves school. Praise God!

Tonight we went to the Hale Koa for a Hopper swim party but the weather was weird and it rained off and on. But the boys had fun in the pool and my parents enjoyed relaxing by the pool and walking on the shore of Waikik Beach.

All Hail the Chief!!!

Yes! Today Darrick called me and asked if I knew who it was...and I was like "yea, it's Darrick my husband" and he said, "It's DCC Selectee!" which means Damage Controlman Chief Selectee! Yes, Darrick made Chief! Throughout the entire US Navy 240 damage controlman first classes were eligable and 70 were chosen. Only 4 people on the Hopper made it. Now starts the 6 week initiation which is very intense and time consuming, but it is all worth it. So congratulations honey, I am so proud of you!

A Perfect Day

Mom and Dad

Today we had the best day. We got up and had a very yummy breakfast at the Wright Bros. Cafe. It was a beautiful morning and we were able to eat outside. We saw one ship leaving and one ship coming in which my parents really enjoyed seeing. From there we headed up to Shark's Cove. The sky was so blue today with a few big white puffy clouds. The temp. was 87 degrees with a warm wind blowing. The water was so warm it felt like a bath tub! We all got in and went snorkeling. My mom and I went out the farthest and saw so many amazing and beautiful fish. None of us wanted to get out of the water. Even Jacob got in and snorkeled for the first time. After a few hours there we stopped at the General Store in Haleiwa to get Shave Ice. Mom and I got ice cream in the bottom, which is the best way to have it. I think that we will all sleep really good tonight and I hope my parents can get out of bed in the morning!
Mom, Micah and Jenn
Micah and Jacob

Jenn and the boys
Nana, Jacob, Micah and Papa

Kindergarten Kamp

Today was Orientation Day at Lehua Elementary School. We started off the morning at Kindergarten Kamp. There are three kindergarten classes and Micah is in C2 with Mrs. Kaneshiro. He has two neighborhood kids in his class. My parents went to Kamp with us. We had a tour of the school, met with his teacher and other staff members and got to see his classroom. Tomorrow starts testing where each kindergartener is tested one on one with their teacher for 20 minutes. It was an exciting day!

Mom, Micah and Dad at the USS Utah Memorial. It is sticking out of the water on the right, it is all rusty.

First Tooth

Last Wednesday while Micah was brushing his teeth, he came to me and said his tooth hurt. When I looked at it we discovered it was loose. Well after a whole week of wiggling it, it came out this afternoon! And it was pretty soon after we got back from looking at the class lists...I feel like Micah is growing up before my eyes today. It is exciting but sad because Darrick is missing it, but I guess there will be more teeth to lose and more first days of school. So tonight the Tooth Fairy is coming to our house...does anyone know how much teeth are worth these days?

Getting ready for Kindergarten

Today Lehua Elementary posted the class lists for school. So Mommy, Micah, Jacob, Nana and Papa went to go find Micah's name on the list.

Papa and Micah riding the waves!

Dad and Mom swimming in the ocean

Yes, we're still here!

Since we picked up my parents it seems like we have been so busy.

Thursday: my parents watched Jacob while Micah and I went to VBS. Then Thursday night we had Bible Study at our house. Dad and Mom joined us and we all had a nice time.

Friday: my parents watched Jacob again while we went to VBS. Then they met us at VBS to see Micah sing in the VBS finale. He did such a good job Mom and Dad treated us to Dave's Ice cream. At night we had movie night and watched "High School Musical".

Saturday: my dad edged and mowed the grass!! And he got the edger started right away, Sam-we must have been doing something wrong! Then in the afternoon we went to Haleiwa and hung out at the beach. I was really surprised how much time my parents spent in the ocean. It was warm and they just played in the waves and dad even body surfed, kind of. Some of the waves knocked him over and dragged him to the beach and then pulled him back, it was pretty funny. Then we had dinner at Killer Tacos.

Sunday: was church in the morning and then a restful day. We watched a movie and the boys swam in our pool in the front yard. In the evening we walked to the minimart to check it out and get an after dinner snack.

Monday: Mom and Dad babysat the boys and our neighbor Loretta. I had my first day at work. It was called Lehua on tour. The staff toured Pearl Harbor, Ford Island, military housing and a historic hawaiian church. It was very interesting and I learned a lot.

My mom and dad have been such a great help! They are doing laundry, cleaning up, helping with the boys, giving me back rubs, taking care of the car, watering the lawn etc. I am so thankful they are here!

And the guests are...

Papa and Nana Gutierrez! Yes, they were here a few months ago in the spring and are now back-they are really living the retired life! They came to visit us and give me help and a break while Darrick is deployed as well as help with transition as I go back to work.

After dinner tonight we all took a walk to enjoy the warm breeze and smell the plumeria. Once we got down to the crabs we all were taking our time looking around. All sudden Jacob started screaming like I have never heard him scream before. I turned around and there was about 10 wasps swarming around Jacob's head. My maternal instinct just took over and I started hiting them away with my hands. My mom and dad came running and helped and we got them away. I got stung once but poor Jacob had 2 on his hand, 3 on his ear and a few on the back of his neck.

We started searching the near by bushes and found a large wasp nest. Jacob walked by and bumped it with his head and they came out and attacked. Praise God he is alright!

Darrick called me late last night and they are now in Singapore. It had been weeks since we talked so it was extra good to hear his voice.

Vacation Bible School

Yesterday was the first day of Vacation Bible School at our church. The theme is "Fiesta-where kids are fired up about Jesus!"

I am doing the Crafts and it went really well yesterday. I also helped decorate with my friend Mayra. I met her a few months ago at church. She is from Oaxaca and is newly married (5 months) to Livingston. If you have been here to visit then you know when I say that she lives in Brother Towers on the 26th floor. She invited me and the boys over to see the view, which is amazing!

Micah, Charlie and another friend Joey are all attending VBS and they loved it!

Tomorrow our next visitors fly in...we can't wait!

Hip Hip Hooray-we made it halfway!

Today is the official halfway point through the deployment. Halfway down-halfway to go! We celebrated with a kids halfway party. I was in charge of this event and it went really great. We had face painting. Micah got spiderman and Jacob got a bat on one cheek and a lightning bolt on the other. We had a balloon man come-who was amazing, he could make anything. Micah got a spiderman and Jacob got an alien (I have no idea why he picked that) and a sword. We also had a craft table where kids could make a card to send to their parent on the ship. We also made a kids handprint banner to hang up at the homecoming. Then we had cake and pretzels and cookies.

Next week Thursday is the Adults halfway party!

Thanks

Wow, thanks for all the responses. It seems to be a pretty hot topic and all of you brought up good points. It all really comes down to style choices. My friend prefers preppy and traditional clothes (www.garnethill.com) and I like our boys in relaxed surfer, skater style clothes (Old Navy). She loves the jeans and is keeping them and insists they will look good with a red polo and tennis shoes.

Today the boys and I all went to the dentist. Jacob and I have 0 cavities. Micah has one little one on his last right upper tooth. So he will need a filling. The dentist also had to have a big talk with me about Jacob's mouth. He recommends that Jacob start seeing the orthodontist around 6 years old. He has a very small jaw and his teeth do not fit. He will need head gear to stop his upper jaw from growing outward to let the bottom jaw catch up...he kept going on and on. It made my head spin. Forget college, we have to save for braces first!

We need your opinion

In our neighborhood we have a debate going on and we would like some more opinions. A mom (who shall remain a mystery) bought these jeans for her 4 year old son to wear. Please comment on your thoughts and please be honest! Thanks!
Back of jeans have a little red bird sewn on the pocket
Front has alligators and little red birds

Close-up of back pocket

Cheese Burger in Paradise

Tonight we got together with Mr. and Mrs. Hamiliton. They are friends of my Grandpa and Grandma Vanderbilt and they go to the same church. When my Grandma heard that they were coming to Hawaii she insisted they look up her grandaughter and say "Aloha!" The boys and I picked them up at their hotel and then we parked and walked to Cheese Burger in Paradise for dinner.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July Everyone! We hope that you had a nice day! We celebrated by attending the 2006 Block Party and Fireworks Spectactular on Pearl Harbor. During the day they had activities for the kids and we also walked around and looked at the booths. We met up with some other Hopper spouses and kids and sat together by the stage. At night before the firework show they had a comedy show with Bert Kreischer, Alonzo Bodden and Jay Mohr. They were pretty funny and told us how much they appreciated what the military is doing and how much the appreciate the families. We all got teary eyed and shed some tears when we stood to hear the National Anthem and then we saw a beautiful firework show. Jacob ended up falling asleep before the fireworks and missed the whole thing. I was so thankful that I borrowed my neighbors wagon because I just loaded Jacob in it, asleep, and was able to get him and all my stuff to the car very easily. The boys both fell asleep on the way home but I was prepared and changed them into their pajamas before we left the parking lot so I could put them straight to bed when we got home!

This night also bring backs a lot of memeories because it was 11 years ago on the 4th of July that after watching fireworks by Upland High School that I said goodbye to Darrick and he left at 3am to go to San Diego to fly out to Boot Camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. Darrick, I am so proud of you and all the sacrifices you make for us and our country. Only 9 more years-we can do it!

RIMPAC 2006

Right now RIMPAC is taking place here. RIMPAC 2006 brings together military forces from Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. This year's exercise is the 20th in a series of RIMPAC exercises conducted periodically since 1971. More than 40 ships, 6 submarines, 160 aircraft and almost 19,000 Sailors, Airmen, MArines, Soldiers and Coastguardsmen are participating. RIMPAC is intended to enhance the tactical proficiency in a wide array of combined operations at sea. RIMPAC stands for the Rim of the Pacific and helps to promote stability and enhance interoperability.

It is so amazing to see all the different ships here as well as the different flags and uniforms. Needless to say the exchange and commissary are places to avoid with all the added military people. Tomorrow the bases are having huge celebrations to celebrate the 4th and to host all the countries-should be fun!

Darrick called last night and said he is not able to post on our blog right now, the computer guys are trying to figure out why. But he is in Kota Baharu which is in Malaysia.

Shirts Darrick sent the boys from Japan

Neighborhood Night at North Shore last week

Update from the Big Blue

Hello,
I know it has been longer than I had hoped to update again but we are a little busy out here. After my last update I got to go on a little adventure. I got underway on a Thailand navy ship, something that not a lot of US Sailors get to do. It was a very interesting experience for sure. There were four sailors from the Hopper, 2 Chiefs, 2 officers and me. We got there and they were ready for us with a place to sleep, but after they showed us were we would be sleeping they left us. So I wondered around until I found someone. I ran into a guy that had spent some time in Los Angeles so he could speak a little English. His name was JJ and he said he missed Wendy's, Taco Bell and Foot Locker. Then the ship got underway. That seemed to go pretty smooth but a couple of hours later I was walking around and I saw smoke. So what do I do? What most Damage Controlman would do I went to find out where it was coming from and then I took some pictures and helped secure the area. Turns out it was a washer that caught on fire. The thing is they do not do things like we do. They did not put on breathing apparatus or protective gear they just went in there like John Wayne. After the fire about eight of them were outside coughing up lungs. So that was that and it came time for lunch. We had rice with every single meal, and some kind of soup and chicken. But they did have Coke or Pepsi so I was able to survive. I was there three days and two nights and it was good except for the roaches, tons of them, like when I went to get a cup there would be about ten roaches on the dishes.

I never thought I would be so happy to see the Hopper.

Pictures from Thailand

They have these shrines everywhere. I don't have the beliefs they have but I do find these shrines interesting. I hope it is okay that I took a picture in front of one. That is a Pepsi I have, it cost me about $.25 at the Seven Eleven. Seven Eleven is something I think they have everywhere.

Anybody Hungry?

Well I am now in Thailand.

It is interesting to go to all these different countries. I know that some of you have been to other places besides the US but I know a lot of you have not. In that way I guess I am fortunate to have these opportunities, like seeing the way different people live. Like the different food carts we see in the different countries. I am willing to bet that almost none of you have never seen a food cart like this. There was a man pushing this cart around selling his food. Just incase you can not tell those are grasshoppers, beetles, grubs and there were frogs and lizards to the left. No I did not try them but only because I had already eaten.
That is it for this one but I am going to add a few more pictures.
Darrick

Will you forgive me?

Our church is going through an awesome series of sermons about relationships. Last week was on husbands and this week was about wives. The three main points were "Three things every husband wants his wife to say". They were 1. "You Da Man!" 2. "Yes we can!" and 3. "I was wrong, will you forgive me?" If you would like to hear what those are about you can listen to this sermon or the whole series at www.hcwo.com

One point that Pastor Mike said was that no one says "I'm sorry" in their family. They ask one another for forgiveness. I really liked that and had many opportunities today to have the boys ask one another and it was powerful. Give it a try!

Girls Night Out!

Last night Jocelyn and I got together for another girls night out! Her husband watched their daughter and my friend Margaret watched Micah and Jacob. She picked me up and we went out to dinner at Chili's. It was so yummy. We spent so much time laughing and talking that before we knew it it was time to leave for out next event.

We were off to Livingstone Cafe to hear Stacey play. Stacey works with the youth at our church and leads worship on Saturday nights. She played her guitar and one guy played another guitar and the other guy played this drum box thing. Does anyone know what it is called? They were so good. They played some songs by other people but then they played a few songs that Stacey wrote herself. They were very beautiful and touching. Jocelyn and I shared a yummy dessert called a Choco lava flow-because on girls night it is a requirement that you must consume some chocolate. After Stacey played, we stayed a little to hear the next group but they were kind of silly. Way to go Stacey, God has blessed you with a beautiful voice, thank you for sharing it with us.

Hanging out with new friends-Kierra and Mika