Oh Barb, I know that! Its a gradual process to letting go and not internalizing all the ups and downs of their journey. We realized it was just too stressful for us, my husband would probably have a heart attack. I find some peace in prayer and living my faith. My husband keeps busy with his projects. This career path our LOs have chosen will have many highs and lows, we are here to support and love. If you need to, personal message a Navy4mom, I've always felt better with all the lovely moms support.
Thanks Nancy, I learned a lot from that post. Hope all works out well for your husband.
Leslie, I had to laugh reading about your sandal comment. I've been wearing either rubber boots or shoes all summer. Actually, the pair of Bogs shoes are more comfortable than my sneakers.
Happy weekend moms! DH and I are on our way to a Navy for Moms gathering at the Southcenter Cheesecake Factory in Tukwila, WA. Should be lots of fun. Also have my shopping list for after lunch. Have a great weekend.
Hello Everyone! I don't post much but I read it all. It's so heartwarming and comforting to know there are other moms out there who understand and care so much about our children and each other.
To those with health issues I feel your pain. My husband was diagnosed with MS last year and has trigeminal neuralgia from it which causes severe and crippling facial pain. He has his ups and downs but we get through it with lots of prayer. The hardest part is having to tell our DS what's going on. It was worse before he winged. We didn't want to distract him from the training.
To all those who were promoted and/or winged congratulations. My DS's winging in Norfolk was truly inspiring. The NFO E2C Hawkeye community is quite amazing. He told us our family just thought his graduation/commissioning from USNA was impressive but in reality the two years of training and his winging was a much bigger and more impressive accomplishment. Thanks to all you ladies for understanding and allowing me to be so proud of him. I know you are just as proud of your children as well.
For those whose DS's are much further along in their careers congrats to you too. I love hearing what the next chapters are like.
On a lighter note. FitFlops are great...unless you have plantar fasciitis. I developed it in my right foot about two years ago. If you have it or are worried about developing it try Orthaheel. They saved me lots of pain. They are a pricey but well worth not having to have injections in my heel or doctor visits. I have literally walked miles in them. And living in Louisiana (like Florida) you have to have flip flops and sandals.
Anyway enough rambling. Again thanks to all of you for your support.
Congratulations Suzie! How excited he must be. What and where is El Centro?
My DS classes up tomorrow in Kingsville. He did the centrifuge on Friday. All we heard was the text. "it sucked...but was successful." His wife had to start the move-in process while he was gone as the apartment wasn't ready til Friday. Hopefully he got back in time to help with the heavy stuff.
Oh my its been a long time since I posted but I enjoy reading what everyone is up to.
JudyM: I was at a horse show on Whidbey Island this weekend and there were two Growlers flying around all day. It makes for a very exciting horse show! I wondered if one was your DS? You know it takes 20 minutes to get to the Whidbey Island ferry from my house so the next time you are up this way I expect a visit!
I got to see my DS last month when I went to the Sierra Nevada mountains to do my first triathlon. We got to camp together for three nights and had such a blast. The family missed my daughter & I coming across the finish line together because they were waiting for us at the bike transition zone. I guess they didn't think we would have a respectable finish... We hiked in Yosemite for two days afterward and then DS got to fly over Yosemite the next night. He said that Half Dome looks a lot smaller from the air.
I have admired the friendships you gals have made. I love how you help one another. I have held all your prayer requests up continually. Your posts are touching and exciting. I know you do not know me well but I am hoping you can help. My son has a house close to Whiting Field that is nice but his roommate selected P3s and he has Helos. So, he has found himself alone in a house. He needs a roommate. If anyone has (knows of) a male student aviator heading to NAS Whiting Field for training (now or in the near future) and is looking for a good place to stay, this is a nice opportunity. The house is really nice and the bedrooms are of good size. It is only a few minutes away from the base. Please let me if you know of someone looking for a good place to live that is reasonably priced. Alex is easy to live with and his roommates from school and in training said he is really great to live with. Thanks so much!
gonavymom, not sure if it was my son, though he seems to be flying quite a bit. It is so exciting. Not sure when our next visit will be, but you and I need to get together. He actually lives in Anacortes. DS and girl going to her family in Dallas for Thanksgiving, so hopefully they will come here or us there for Christmas. Depends on if big brother is home from Japan for the holidays.
UNM Sean's mom - my son is just a few months ahead of yours. He has been in Corpus since June. Things are going well except they are really delayed because the planes are not being maintained and they miss 2 out of 3 scheduled flights.
September 21, 2013 from 9am to 2pm – St. Marks Lutheran ChurchAnnual Wound Warrior Pillowcase Service Project Hosted by Jody Groves Several years ago a number of us Navy Mom’s got together to make pillowcases, to be sent out to sailors deployed at sea over the…Organized by Paymaster | Type: service, project, to, benefit, wound, warriosYou are attending.
Hi to all you lovely Navy4moms! I have a very cool link to a video of carrier quals of a group out of Kingsville, VT21, from 2010. its really interesting to see what our LOs experience. The link is: vimeo.com angle of attack excerpt1. I hope you are able to view this.
Some weeks are just awesome. Last night got a call from my son in Japan (not Navy). Nick has been there for six years and he is moving home!!!! He got a promotion and asked to move to Long Beach. Just an hour or so by air. Love it!
Seeing DS in a couple of days. He comes into Fallon for Tailhook and I am going to pick him (and a buddy) up and bring him home. Then we are all off toTailhook. So good knowing one son will be stateside soon and the other I will see in a few days. Also having both and their ladies for Christmas. Does not get much better.
Hello all...home again after a delightful visit to my daughter and sil in Santa Cruz CA. Temps were perfect; beach walks and seafood wonderful; lots of fun activities. Now back to Dallas with temps in the 100's. I was made for beach living!
Lots of posts while I was gone...love the carrier qual video. Knowing that someday soon my DS will do that very flight. Excited and nervous at the same time.
Flyboymom: praying for your son's SO. So glad they have pinpointed the trouble. Praying that the surgery solves her problems.
Chris:so glad your pilots got to make the dual flight. How very cool!
Leslie: glad Conor got the assignment he wanted!
It's back to work for me; gotta earn the money to pay for my trips to see my kids. We will get to see DS and DIL in two weeks as they will join us for a football game. It's halfway between here and Kingsville. Even tho' they are still 8 hours away we should get to see them several times this year.
Hi moms! We are back from HOT HUMID San Diego. Excellent weekend, our son's friend from way back when they were Ensigns pinned on Commander on Sunday. Really neat ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial on the Amphib base on Coronado. He's starting this week at NMCSD as a Manpower planner for Medical Services. Yesterday we all went to the roof top deck of HSC-3 to see our DS have his O-5 pinned on. It was very cool overlooking the Tarmac with helicopters spinning up for ops. We could see the new hanger off to the side where he will work through his XO/CO tour. Deputy Commodore, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing U.S. Pacific Fleet administered the oath. Wetting down at the I-Bar, classic historical Naval Aviation. That's our son.
Ladies I found a vendor for aviator wing cell phone cases for $15 here at Tailhook.Contact Dave Garcia at dbgarcia@mac.com. I will try to attach a photo of the case if I can from my phone.
Thanks moms! It was a very neat weekend. Our DIL has often referred to the events of the last year as a Christmas miracle. DS originally commissioned as a Navy Nurse so this has been quite the twisty ride for sure, the Deputy Commodore commented about it during his remarks. When DS graduated from flight school and had first pick of helo types, he chose to take one of the last CH46D slots available instead of the 60 variants which was the helo of the future. He chose a part of history and figured he would catch up in the future. As the Deputy Commodore said, he caught up and passed them.
Here is the picture of the cell phone case I found at Tailhook. What an impressive situation. Yesterday all of the pilots walking around in their flight suits. Brought tears to my eyes. I was so fortunate to be able to see my DS over the past few days.
CheriH: There are NO stupid questions here, remember?
Tailhook is an organization for aviators who have flown from carriers. It's named after that large "hook" that catches the plane when they land.
My DS went to one of their gatherings in Reno last weekend and said it was great to catch up with people from NROTC, flight school, and even someone who had left his current squadron in Japan. There's lots of partying, as you can imagine, but there are also vendors and even some companies were there looking ahead to recruiting when people get out of the service.
Conor had a blast, but since it is the last week of Top Gun, they had to make up the day off with a class Sunday afternoon. I can only imagine how wiped out they all were!
Thought we could use a lighter moment - My DIL shared this on Facebook today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtrkZgo00TU&sns=em. I just sent to my office group - 2 former sailors, one ex-navy wife, a retired Air Force guy and my boss. She's an Air Force/Army mom.
Enjoy!
Adding my prayers for you NNMSheila. The Navy has invested a lot into these aviators and they prepare them well for SERE.
Big favor Navy moms: my DS and four of his naval aviator buddies made it into the Red Bull Flugtag (flying machine) contest in Long Beach CA to be held tomorrow. Read their great story here and please vote for their team: http://redbullflugtagusa.com/page/teams/view_team/1032/flying_pizzas
You can vote 10 times. The friendships they formed while in flight training are so meaningful to them and they wanted to do something to honor a buddy who was almost completely through with his training when it was discovered that he had a lung tumor. You can read about it on the link. Thanks for supporting our naval aviators!
Another successful day of sewing, by the best group of ladies!! You ladies rock, thanks so much for all your help on completing over 100 pillowcases. It was wonderful to spend the day with you!
Northern CA Navy for Mom Sewer's. Another hard working group of mom's making pillowcase for our loved ones.
Heavy heart with the news regarding HSC-6. Two brave souls sacrificed. Prayers for their families, the families of HSC-6, and all of us as we are all touched by this Navy tragedy. To my fellow mothers in the helo community, I have no words... This hurts.
ulua
Oh Barb, I know that! Its a gradual process to letting go and not internalizing all the ups and downs of their journey. We realized it was just too stressful for us, my husband would probably have a heart attack. I find some peace in prayer and living my faith. My husband keeps busy with his projects. This career path our LOs have chosen will have many highs and lows, we are here to support and love. If you need to, personal message a Navy4mom, I've always felt better with all the lovely moms support.
Aug 8, 2013
Michelle
Thanks Nancy, I learned a lot from that post. Hope all works out well for your husband.
Leslie, I had to laugh reading about your sandal comment. I've been wearing either rubber boots or shoes all summer. Actually, the pair of Bogs shoes are more comfortable than my sneakers.
Aug 9, 2013
Helomom
Aug 10, 2013
ulua
Congratulations to your DS Suzie! What a great day for you. On to the next level of training for him.
My husband has been on weight watchers for the last 6 months, there is nothing good to eat in our house....cheesecake sounds fabulous!
Aug 10, 2013
AnnfromLouisiana
To those with health issues I feel your pain. My husband was diagnosed with MS last year and has trigeminal neuralgia from it which causes severe and crippling facial pain. He has his ups and downs but we get through it with lots of prayer. The hardest part is having to tell our DS what's going on. It was worse before he winged. We didn't want to distract him from the training.
To all those who were promoted and/or winged congratulations. My DS's winging in Norfolk was truly inspiring. The NFO E2C Hawkeye community is quite amazing. He told us our family just thought his graduation/commissioning from USNA was impressive but in reality the two years of training and his winging was a much bigger and more impressive accomplishment. Thanks to all you ladies for understanding and allowing me to be so proud of him. I know you are just as proud of your children as well.
For those whose DS's are much further along in their careers congrats to you too. I love hearing what the next chapters are like.
On a lighter note. FitFlops are great...unless you have plantar fasciitis. I developed it in my right foot about two years ago. If you have it or are worried about developing it try Orthaheel. They saved me lots of pain. They are a pricey but well worth not having to have injections in my heel or doctor visits. I have literally walked miles in them. And living in Louisiana (like Florida) you have to have flip flops and sandals.
Anyway enough rambling. Again thanks to all of you for your support.
Aug 10, 2013
CheriH
Congratulations Suzie! How excited he must be. What and where is El Centro?
My DS classes up tomorrow in Kingsville. He did the centrifuge on Friday. All we heard was the text. "it sucked...but was successful." His wife had to start the move-in process while he was gone as the apartment wasn't ready til Friday. Hopefully he got back in time to help with the heavy stuff.
Aug 11, 2013
gonavymom
Oh my its been a long time since I posted but I enjoy reading what everyone is up to.
JudyM: I was at a horse show on Whidbey Island this weekend and there were two Growlers flying around all day. It makes for a very exciting horse show! I wondered if one was your DS? You know it takes 20 minutes to get to the Whidbey Island ferry from my house so the next time you are up this way I expect a visit!
I got to see my DS last month when I went to the Sierra Nevada mountains to do my first triathlon. We got to camp together for three nights and had such a blast. The family missed my daughter & I coming across the finish line together because they were waiting for us at the bike transition zone. I guess they didn't think we would have a respectable finish... We hiked in Yosemite for two days afterward and then DS got to fly over Yosemite the next night. He said that Half Dome looks a lot smaller from the air.
Enjoy these last few weeks of summer everyone!
Aug 13, 2013
USNA Mom
I have admired the friendships you gals have made. I love how you help one another. I have held all your prayer requests up continually. Your posts are touching and exciting. I know you do not know me well but I am hoping you can help. My son has a house close to Whiting Field that is nice but his roommate selected P3s and he has Helos. So, he has found himself alone in a house. He needs a roommate. If anyone has (knows of) a male student aviator heading to NAS Whiting Field for training (now or in the near future) and is looking for a good place to stay, this is a nice opportunity. The house is really nice and the bedrooms are of good size. It is only a few minutes away from the base.
Please let me if you know of someone looking for a good place to live that is reasonably priced. Alex is easy to live with and his roommates from school and in training said he is really great to live with. Thanks so much!
Aug 15, 2013
JudyM
gonavymom, not sure if it was my son, though he seems to be flying quite a bit. It is so exciting. Not sure when our next visit will be, but you and I need to get together. He actually lives in Anacortes. DS and girl going to her family in Dallas for Thanksgiving, so hopefully they will come here or us there for Christmas. Depends on if big brother is home from Japan for the holidays.
Aug 15, 2013
jamielss
UNM Sean's mom - my son is just a few months ahead of yours. He has been in Corpus since June. Things are going well except they are really delayed because the planes are not being maintained and they miss 2 out of 3 scheduled flights.
Aug 21, 2013
ulua
SusanW- What nice photo of your pilot! Congrats
Aug 23, 2013
Paymaster
Meet and Greet - Pillowcase project for Wound Warriors
September 21, 2013 from 9am to 2pm – St. Marks Lutheran Church Annual Wound Warrior Pillowcase Service Project Hosted by Jody Groves Several years ago a number of us Navy Mom’s got together to make pillowcases, to be sent out to sailors deployed at sea over the…Organized by Paymaster | Type: service, project, to, benefit, wound, warriosYou are attending.
Aug 27, 2013
ulua
Hi to all you lovely Navy4moms! I have a very cool link to a video of carrier quals of a group out of Kingsville, VT21, from 2010. its really interesting to see what our LOs experience. The link is: vimeo.com angle of attack excerpt1. I hope you are able to view this.
Aug 28, 2013
ulua
oops, try: vimeo.com/31549908
Aug 28, 2013
Paymaster
Flyboy...too cute!
Aug 29, 2013
Paymaster
nancyw....Sure you can. Just open a new discussion and put the information your want in and drop the link to the site you want there.
Aug 30, 2013
Paymaster
Nancy W.....Good job! See you could do it.
Aug 31, 2013
JudyM
Loved the carrier qual video. Thanks, Nancy.
Some weeks are just awesome. Last night got a call from my son in Japan (not Navy). Nick has been there for six years and he is moving home!!!! He got a promotion and asked to move to Long Beach. Just an hour or so by air. Love it!
Seeing DS in a couple of days. He comes into Fallon for Tailhook and I am going to pick him (and a buddy) up and bring him home. Then we are all off toTailhook. So good knowing one son will be stateside soon and the other I will see in a few days. Also having both and their ladies for Christmas. Does not get much better.
Aug 31, 2013
CheriH
Hello all...home again after a delightful visit to my daughter and sil in Santa Cruz CA. Temps were perfect; beach walks and seafood wonderful; lots of fun activities. Now back to Dallas with temps in the 100's. I was made for beach living!
Lots of posts while I was gone...love the carrier qual video. Knowing that someday soon my DS will do that very flight. Excited and nervous at the same time.
Flyboymom: praying for your son's SO. So glad they have pinpointed the trouble. Praying that the surgery solves her problems.
Chris:so glad your pilots got to make the dual flight. How very cool!
Leslie: glad Conor got the assignment he wanted!
It's back to work for me; gotta earn the money to pay for my trips to see my kids. We will get to see DS and DIL in two weeks as they will join us for a football game. It's halfway between here and Kingsville. Even tho' they are still 8 hours away we should get to see them several times this year.
Sep 4, 2013
Helomom
Sep 4, 2013
CheriH
Sounds wonderful helomom! How proud you must be...that's quite an accomplishment!
Sep 5, 2013
Paymaster
Helomom....sounds like a dream come true! Congrats.
Sep 5, 2013
JudyM
Sep 5, 2013
Helomom
Sep 6, 2013
JudyM
Here is the picture of the cell phone case I found at Tailhook. What an impressive situation. Yesterday all of the pilots walking around in their flight suits. Brought tears to my eyes. I was so fortunate to be able to see my DS over the past few days.
Sep 7, 2013
JudyM
The contact information is below for the cell phone case.
Sep 7, 2013
Paymaster
Thanks for sharing Judy!
Sep 7, 2013
Paymaster
Sep 8, 2013
CheriH
Ok Judy...I just have to ask. What is Tailhook? I mean, other than what a tailhook is? I hope it's not a stupid question...
Sep 8, 2013
Marianne
CheriH: There are NO stupid questions here, remember?
Tailhook is an organization for aviators who have flown from carriers. It's named after that large "hook" that catches the plane when they land.
My DS went to one of their gatherings in Reno last weekend and said it was great to catch up with people from NROTC, flight school, and even someone who had left his current squadron in Japan. There's lots of partying, as you can imagine, but there are also vendors and even some companies were there looking ahead to recruiting when people get out of the service.
Conor had a blast, but since it is the last week of Top Gun, they had to make up the day off with a class Sunday afternoon. I can only imagine how wiped out they all were!
Sep 9, 2013
Barb
Shelia, That's a whole lot to absorb all at once! I'm sure all will go well...hugs to you to get you through.
Sep 10, 2013
CheriH
Marianne: Thanks for the info. Sounds like it would be great fun to attend!
Shelia: That first deployment looms large in all our minds. I'm thankful for the Moms here who let us know that we can get through it. SERE too!
Love the cell phone case JudyM. I got one from Zazzle that says Navy Mom. It feels like it keeps him close by! Even if he rarely calls. ;)
Sep 12, 2013
CheriH
So glad to hear that flyboymom!
Sep 13, 2013
AnnfromLouisiana
Sep 16, 2013
Paymaster
Sep 16, 2013
Barb
Sep 17, 2013
ulua
thankyou for posting that photo Paymaster, very sad day.
Sep 17, 2013
NOAM
Hi all. My LO is winging in a few weeks in Meridian. Anyone have info they would like to share on what we should expect? Appreciate any insight.
Thanks
Sep 17, 2013
Paymaster
Ulua....sometimes words don't seem to be enough or to little.
Sep 17, 2013
Helomom
Enjoy!
Sep 18, 2013
NOAM
Prayers are with your family NNMSheila.
Our LO soft-winged today, so SERE will be in our near future.
Sep 20, 2013
gonavymom
Adding my prayers for you NNMSheila. The Navy has invested a lot into these aviators and they prepare them well for SERE.
Big favor Navy moms: my DS and four of his naval aviator buddies made it into the Red Bull Flugtag (flying machine) contest in Long Beach CA to be held tomorrow. Read their great story here and please vote for their team: http://redbullflugtagusa.com/page/teams/view_team/1032/flying_pizzas
You can vote 10 times. The friendships they formed while in flight training are so meaningful to them and they wanted to do something to honor a buddy who was almost completely through with his training when it was discovered that he had a lung tumor. You can read about it on the link. Thanks for supporting our naval aviators!
Sep 20, 2013
CheriH
NNMShelia...praying for him and you!
Sep 20, 2013
Dawn
Sep 22, 2013
Dawn
Sep 22, 2013
CheriH
Navy helicopter down in the Red Sea...praying for all involved. http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/22/20639120-navy-helicop...
Sep 22, 2013
Paymaster
Welcome Navymom2!
Sep 23, 2013
Paymaster
Another successful day of sewing, by the best group of ladies!! You ladies rock, thanks so much for all your help on completing over 100 pillowcases. It was wonderful to spend the day with you!
Northern CA Navy for Mom Sewer's. Another hard working group of mom's making pillowcase for our loved ones.
Sep 23, 2013
Helomom
Sep 23, 2013
Paymaster
Yes, Helomom this hurts and their are no words to express the sorrow. Just prayers for understanding.
Sep 23, 2013