Petty Officer Leadership Academy, Lemoore, CA - 2015

Elbow Woes

I paid a visit last week to my favorite orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Grafe.  He concurs that I correctly diagnosed myself with lateral epicondylitis, otherwise known as "tennis elbow".  It has been bothering me so much for the past couple months, just the most aching and nagging pain, and I needed some advice on best treatment or remedies. I'm a pretty tough chick, and I was finding myself almost in tears, especially at work.  Even lifting a pot of coffee would cause shooting pains so bad that it'd catch my breath. We discussed my options, and I ended up letting him give me a cortisone shot in my elbow.  It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do 5 hours before work, but I made it through.  And after the soreness of the injection wore off, I have to say that I have had NO pain!!  Miracle shots, those cortisone treamtments!!  I stayed home that morning and logged into our 0730 staff meeting online in my pajamas from home instead of dragging myself into work for it.  I truly could get used to that.

Navy League Cadet Corps Orientation, July 5-11, 2015

 Ma-lak and Rea spent the week in Alameda, CA for Sea Camp last week!  They spent the week on the USS Hornet, a WW-II Navy carrier ship which has been docked at the old Navy base in Alameda for several years.  We had NO contact with them while they were gone, except for pictures that the officers posted on the website page a few times that week.  (It was kind of a long week for us!) But we knew they were in good hands, and they had a great time.  Below is a picture of a B-52 bomber plane taking off from the Hornet during WW-2. 

 I think it was called the Doolittle Raid, when they attacked Japan in retaliation for the Pearl Harbor bombing.  They had to strip down the B-52 bombers to make them light enough to take off from the carrier - it had never been done before.  Remember that scene in the movie with Ben Affleck?! 

 Anyway, we barely got them there in time on Sunday - tons of traffic on 101 - but they made it just in time for chow and to get checked in.  After we dropped them off, Daryle and I took Ya'shar and Ni'ke out to eat, and Ya'shar looked around the table, all happy and chipper, and said, "Well, looks like it's just us!"  It was pretty funny - I think they enjoyed having us all to themselves for a week. :)

 So these pictures are from Graduation day on Saturday.  They had a little awards presentation ceremony and the parents and families were invited to come.  Ma-lak got the highest test scores out of anyone there (almost 80 Cadets!) and Rea received the highest overall award/citation of the Honor Cadet.  Be sure to watch the video below of Rea getting her award!  (I think I have finally gotten my videos to post correctly....)

Happy 4th of July!

 We spent the day in Petaluma at the bowling alley parking lot, working the fireworks booth!  It was a great fundraiser for the Sea Cadets, and they raised a lot of money - good job, guys!  No one likes to have their picture taken, can you tell?....  :)

Happy Birthday, Ya'shar!

 Ya'shar turned 9 years old this past Friday!  His sisters and I were in Baltimore, so we had to celebrate a little late.  And where did he choose to eat dinner for his special celebration?  None other than, you guessed it - Red Lobster!!  Again.  I fear that I may never be able to eat another bite of my favorite lobster pizza again.  :)  This was a day that could have had a much different ending.  Yesterday Daryle dropped off three of the children at the pool, where they have been volunteering this summer for community service hours in addition to doing their practices there.  He went on to the gym, and after working out, came out to the car only to find one of the back windows had been smashed in and his work bag/briefcase had been taken, including his credit card holder.  He called me immediately and a flurry of phonecalls ensued.  We stopped all of our credit cards, called the bank, etc.  He called the police who said, "Sorry, we don't really respond to these calls anymore -there are so many of these cases, so just fill out a police report online."  There were no security cameras in the gym parking lot either. 

We prayed.

And amazingly enough, an hour later, Daryle gets a phone call on his cell phone from a man and his wife who found his bag lying in the parking lot at Safeway.  He gave Daryle his phone number and address to his house nearby, and much to my concern he and a friend went over to the guy's house to get it.  The guy, Mike, had found Daryle's cell phone number on a receipt for car repairs that was in his bag.  EVERY SINGLE THING WAS IN THE BAG!  The only thing missing was a $1 bill and a $2 bill that he keeps tucked in a pocket of his card holder.  The big steal of the day, $3.00.....  We can only pray that whoever took his bag got a blessing and maybe a change in heart after looking through the contents of his bag, which had his Bible, sermon notes, and other Christian books!  We called our insurance and our window was replaced a few short hours later.  And on we went to celebrate with our children, very humbled and cognizant that God's protection was on us today.

Ma-lak and Rea's 6th Grade Promotion, June 5, 2015

 OK, I have no idea what is going on with the pictures - pulled a bunch from Daryle's phone and apparently I got all the "camera roll" titles with them, too!  Ma-lak and Rea are officially middle schoolers!  On the last day of school, there was a promotion ceremony, in a very small gymnasium, with standing room only, and it was so hard to see and hear!  Rea was asked, along with 2 other students, to give a speech, and it was so great - I have a video somewhere, but I'm obviously having some technical difficulties....  Congratulations!  We love you and are so proud of you!