USS Essex Navy Moms

ONE MORE DAY!!!!!   Jesse will get back that day he lost a year ago. LOL..

Sharon - very nice;)

Mary, starting to count down the hours yet?!?!!

Thanks everyone for sharing this excitement with me! It is so strange to be in the place I have seen some of you in before counting down the hours till you see your son/daughter. (all the while trying not to think about how fast a 10 day visit will go!). If all goes well with his flights, we will be with Jesse after dinner tomorrow evening (don't really want to post the exact time on here LOL).  I'll be in touch soon, and will post a picture of my soooo excited to be home kid! (he stayed up all night and has called several times today). Oh - I'm off work till January 3rd!!

HOOYAH Mary!  I'm wishing you and yours, and Jesse, a wonderful holiday and I will pray that your days drag on very slowly!!!  Looking forward to see a picture!

Mary, enjoy every minute of your visit.  I am guilty of starting the countdown until he leaves, one day after he arrives. Are you taking time off work?   I used to sneak in when he was sleeping and give him a hug or kiss.

This is the first year that I won't see my son over the Christmas holidays.  Funny how things work out.  I can't compete with his wife coming 2 days after Christmas.  She is in Tokyo right now.  Her appointment is Monday.  Please keep your finger crossed.

Kim, is Heidi your youngest?  My youngest is 21 today.  My middle son went up to Penn State yesterday by bus to celebrate and bring him home.  His bus arrived 5 minutes after youngest last exam.

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THis evening we went to our youngest's (15 yr) son's Christmas Concert and when we walked in to the lobby.......KATIE was there!!! She is here until the 26th;)

Jesse (Mary)  knew....and so did Armando (Ingrid)!

Great surprise Marianne.  Where you expecting her for Christmas?

KIm - No I wasn't.  She told us that she couldn't come home this year and we would see her after her tour was up in Japan.

NO, she didn't wear her uniform home.  You are not suppose to wear them when you are flying internation. Guess you can change once you are over US soil.

Yes, I hear that Jesse was sworn to secrecy. Fun to hear who else knew.

Enjoy Marianne.  Where is she going after her tour is up?

Wow Kim, Jonathan is also 27.  He just turned 22 when he went to boot camp.  He had a 6 year commitment (schools) that was extended to 6 1/2 so that he is 2 years on his new ship.

Joe (our 20 yr old) picked Katie up from the airport in Detroit (about 20 min away) and they went to one of Katie's friend's Mom's home for the afternoon.  She spoiled her and mader her dinner.  Katie napped a little and showered before the concert.

Tomorrow we are going to Thomas's wrestling tournament.

marianne-enjoy your "surprise!"  i can't imagine that feeling when you see your sailor unexpectedly.  hope your son does great at the wrestling tournament! 

Sharon - just love the 'cards'

Today katie and I spent the day at Thomas' wrestling meet.  At one point he was sitting on her lap - he is 4" taller and 40+ pounds heavier.  I metnioned to this one Mom(who I had never met before from another team) 'this is what happens when you don't see each other for almots a year! katie told her she was in the Navy in Japan....the Mom thanked her for her service and such.  Then when we told her how she surprised me she started to get tears in her eyes and then told us about her nephew serving in the Air Force...It was wonderfully heart warming.

sharon, love love love the cards! i'm going to attempt to copy them to my fb page.  :)

marianne, that is so sweet.  i would tear up as well.  hope you're enjoying your time, as i'm sure you are. 

Thanks for sharing, Marianne.  That warms my heart too :-)

Hi everyone!!  Our homecoming was perfect!!!  (sitting here now with Jesse on the couch with our laptops). Wanted to come on and check to see if Marianne posted about her special surprise!!  Jesse and I have been sooo excited for Katie and Marianne!! (and Kyann too LOL!!). My kids are here, and they might just put up our tree today. My husband Jeff put in our new living room carpet the night before Jesse came in so we havent had time to decorate yet. Having a great cozy day so far. (It snowed quite a bit yesterday and it's sunny today, and sooo pretty to watch from in here!) Jeff is making us brunch and Jesse did a load of dishes!!!  Have a wonderful day friends!!

Mary, thank you for sharing your homecoming pictures!  Beautiful!

Sitting here with my hubby sharing all of the homecoming stories....with tears of joy!

I cryed at Mary's picture of hugging her son and Marianne's story.  Enjoy your time with your sailors.

sorry if I wasn't clear, was just saying that Jesse and Kyann and I were all excited for Marianne.

Glad you enjoyed the pics, I'm thinking about all of you and your sailors

mary

Great pics Mary - so glad Jesse is home with you.

Katie and I went to see my Mom after church today. 

22 years ago today we were blessed with an early Christmas gift!  This year she surprised us for another wonderful early Christmas present!!

Katie when she was 1....dress knit by her Grandma and wearing shoes I wore.

awwwww....how adorable!!!  Happy Birthday Katie!!!

May the Blessings of Christmas be with you today and always.

How adorable Marianne.  Enjoy your visit and everyone else who have their sailors home. 

Kayo received her visa yesterday.  Her flight is Wednesday.  Jonathan has duty all day Christmas.  He comes home to an empty house the next day.  I am sure he will be busy.

メリークリスマス - Merry Christmas in Japanese.  Just sent that to Josh as he is celebrating with his buddies :-)

And Merry Christmas to all of my Navy Mom Friends.  You have all become part of my life and I am greatful for all of you.  From my heart to yours...

skyped with hunter for 2 hours last night!  it was wonderful!  he watched us open gifts he sent and we watched him open ours we sent.  he showed us it was snowing.  he was going to skype more today, but...don't know what happened to him-probably didn't wake up before he had to go on watch.  :( 

hope you all are having a Blessed and Merry CHRISTmas! 

Kyann - that's wonderful that you were able to skype.  I saw that it was snowing in Sasebo.  Christmas Eve morning we had just a dusting.  Can't remember the last time we had a 'brown' Christmas (actually our grass is still pretty green).  It was wonderful for traveling though for just about everyone around MI.

Today we h ave to say 'goodbye';(

Nice, Kyann!!

Ooooh, Marianne, those darn goodbyes...thinking about you. 

Hi everyone and Merry Christmas! Well, we took Jesse to the airport this morning. I did much better than last year, I didn't "lose it" until they started to board the plane. Glad you got to have your girl home Marianne. We didnt do as much as (Jesse) and I thought we'd do. With 2 days being travel days, there really isn't time for much since seeing family and friends is what we ended up focusing on. Since it was Christmastime, there were family parties and stuff going on, so we just tried to get him as much "face time" with everyone he loves and who loves him. So in that respect, it was a great success! My kid likes to party too so he got a lot of that in there! We had a big get together for him at the corner bar/rock hall and I actually convinced him to stay sober and he did! He was glad that he was, and he ended up being the one to drive several of his friends home that night. Thank you all for your support, it means so much. Glad you got to see or talk with your sailors for the holiday.    Mary

Yes that is my kid at the airport wearing a christmas tie, a "rapper" t-shirt, and 3D glasses! what a goof.  Too bad you can't see in this picture that he is also wearing slippers (left his shoes by the front door at home).  LOL

Sounds like you all had a nice time, Mary!  Love Jesse's outfit  :-)

Great pic Mary!  Think Katie would have not been happy with me if I got the camera out 'one more time' at the airport.  Think she had enough of picture taking.  But...we did go to Sears this AM to get a family picture taken.  Katie's flight was to leave at 3:30, but they had to change planes and wait for one to come over from the hangar....left at 5:40 p from here.  Don't think that she will be meeting her connecting flight.;/

Oh no Marianne! There are so many variables with them taking multiple flights, and then the bus  etc. Keep us updated. I was surprised Jesse let us have one more pic at the airport! He even took my camera from me and asked some lady there to take the pic!

So sorry to hear about all your goodbyes. I know it is tough.

Jonathan missed a connection on his way back the first year.  He had to wait for a morning flight.  His command was good about it.  The tough part was that it was his connection in a small airport in Japan and there was no uso, so he slept on the floor.

Haven't heard yet from Katie, but Thomas's surgery went well this AM.  He didn't just fracture his thumb, but it was 'twisted' as well.  Two pins inserted.

Katie and Alicia, with their cousin Pat sneaking in.

Katie w/ Alicia and 2 of her favorite cousins.

Thanks for sharing your pictures, Marianne.  Beautiful!  How did Thomas injure his thumb?  Glad surgery went well!  Hope you hear from Katie soon.

We pick up Josh at the train station in 50 hours  :-)

cathy - he was doing 2-man rollovers at wrestling practice on the 21st.

Hope I hear from Katie soon too - I won't be surprised if she missed the last flight and had to stay over.

50 hours....but who's counting ;)   I know exactly how you are feeling.  Last year I new she was flying home over New Year's and we waited to celebrate with her.

Great pictures.