Michele's Comments

I'm not sure what part Evan stayed in. I do know it was the worst group of kids. lol I'll ask him. If you put up an Army video I would hope no one would care. One of my best friends has been in the Army for 17 years. I as everyone should respect all of the branches of military. I'd love to see it. ttyl

Michele that photo of Wes at the end is priceless. They did a great job getting that one by the river. I'm glad you liked it.

o'tay Michele!!! I started a disucssion on Shellbacks and found some photos of Kat's Wog Day in April and set those up as an album on my page......Paul

I thought I'd send you an email! The chat line is down, that's where you gave me your email address.

Michele ~ I haven't forgotten! Weekend got really busy, and I haven't been feeling well. Took yesterday off. I'll contact you on yahoo.

Hi Michele,,It has been awhile. Jason is doing fine.He just passed his 12th test at corpsman school last week.He called yesterday and told me he got his orders. His graduation is October 22nd..Then he is headed for Camp Lejune in NC.for FMTB training. He is attached to the 2nd marine Logistics.Iam very proud of Jason. He has accomplished so much already. Keep in touch..Jon

Hey Michele, How is the family? Mine is good. Evan is now on the Ronald Reagan he is very excited. I am sorry I have not wrote back been very busy.. Evan did have some issues at a school not alot, I think Wes is in a different part they were not that tough on Evan I wish sometimes they would have been more. He had alot of leverage. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! I just got a call from Evan he is there.. He is with one of the guys from a school so he is ok.He will be on the flight deck working on the catapolt.. ttyl Cindy

I'm sure Morgan will get some practice in. I texted him early this evening and asked how he was doing. He said he was stressing a little about the test tomorrow. I told him not to overstudy and pray. Wes is really in a tough position. This guy shouldn't be doing what he's doing, and if I ended up trying to trust him to watch my back, I don't know if I could that. You're a brave Mom to tell Wes not to call you for a few days. Talking to your or not, I hope he's out there meeting other sailors. I wish I could tell you about fantasy football, but I can't. I had to change my password, and can't find my team now. I'm hoping Luis can help, we'll see. If I can't I'll just sit on my couch and watch NFL and my BSU Broncos. God Bless you too!

Michele....asa matter of fact, I have lost your number. I keep forgetting to put it in my cell before I erase all my calls. You'd think I'd learn....nah. Our kids grow up so fast don't they? For me, it really didn't happen until the boys reached jr. high. When that happened, the years flew by. I'm so sorry to hear about Wes. He can't seem to get a break can he. I'm guessing that he still has room inspections, so it wouldn't help if he just plunked the roomie's stuff on his bed. Morgan seems to be doing ok his class. His first test is Wednesday and he knows he needs to pass it. He's been studying for it before they classed up, so I hope he does well. His knee does okay if he doesn't do a lot of running or anything like that. They had a lot of rain from Hanna, so didn't do much PT stuff. One of his friends found a couple of bars which Morgan realized he can use as parallel bars. He was so excited about that. Said as soon as he saw them, he got up and did a hand stand and a piroet (spelling?!), but lost his balance because he had his boots on. Made is day. He's never lifted weights in his life, so was happy to see there was a way he could start conditioning and getting his muscle back. Now he just needs to be careful. I'm relieved to know that the storm didn't hit you. I've been talking to a mom on N4M's who lives in CA. I've never had to worry to much about hurricanes before meeting all you Mom's! Send me your phone number again and I'll be sure to call you. I've got to get Cindy called, too, so I'll have to set aside a night just to chat with you both!

Hey Michele, I hope everything is good.I hope Wes will be safe in Pens. with Ike coming keep us posted on how he is.. We will all be praying for his safety along with all the others there.. well EG just turned on the tribute to America Awesome I will write later..Take care

PIR is pretty amazing to see and experience. Unless you've gone through it, it is difficult to explain to non-Navy folks just what it means. More to the point though, I've told many people that is a reaffirming event that has givien me hope for the future. I've had the honor of attending two graduations at RTC: my daughter Kat in Oct '05 and my son Eric in Mar '07. And in both events I felt blessed to see that our Country IS in good and trustworthy hands. Every time I hear someone despair about where the youth are going and what the future holds I simply nod to myself and think back to seeing all those sailors stand at attention and recite the Sailor's Creed- I feel much better then...............

It changes not only your children- but it fundamentally changes you as well.......besides it made me laugh to see all those newly minted sailors strut while on liberty around the Chicago area!!!!!!!!!

And I've found other changes in myself as well. With all that is going on in the world I was worried about the "what-if's" when the kids would go on cruise to the Gulf. I recently had an e-mail from a Vietnam Navy vet that I've never had the honor to meet in person. He was trying to re-assure me about the improved firefighting skills and other imrpoved safety issues and I realized...I wan't worried about that anymore because I've understood that all of our sailors are professionals- they are trained to handle those things and they are part of a team that is committed to looking out for one another.

So ... to all you parents out there that still have youngsters in DEP or at RTC....don't fear. When you see your son or daughter walk through that door in the drill hall you'll feel the same pride and joy that we've felt. May you all have fair weather and following seas.

Hey Michele, I am sooo glad I made it home before the storm hit we are all ok. We are just having alot of rain we will take the rain instead of the hurricane..I had the best time on our trip I am so glad I had the chance to go we had so much fun on the trip..It was very hard leaving him I was all alone it was very hard I was never more happy to see the rest of the gang at the airport..How is Wes? did he make it to Penns? Hope the rest of your children are doing well.I really hope you will be safe with Hanna on the way up.. I do have pics. I need to put them on we took most of them of the travel not many of ourselves we were so amazed at the ride..ttyl

I have posted some pics of Joshua, and of our visit with him this past weekend. His sub school is only a few weeks, and I'm not sure about the A school. He really has no preference for where he'd like to be stationed yet. He's still getting oriented to it all, I think, and sub school hasn't even started for him yet, but maybe this week. We do plan to go down for his graduation. Can't wait!! It sure is nice to see how he has matured and seems so proud of where he is at, as we are, as well!!! I hope that it will be possible for him and his twin brother in the Air Force to come home for Christmas, so we can get some photos done of the two of them together. That would be great! But it's a long shot at this point.

Michele we should be fine. We are about 150 miles north of New Orleans. We felt Katrina like we were sitting on the coast. This one doesn't look near as strong as Katrina.

Hi Michelle!
Yes, Josh graduated on Aug 15th. His division was the only one to win the Hall of Fame! His commander has brought every one of his divisions to the hall of fame. Josh was very p;eased about that honor. Anyway, he is now at sub school, and we just got back from visiting him. He looks great in uniform! We took lots of pics and had a great time! We plan to go down for his graduation from sub school. We got to tour the Nautilus at the museum while we there. Wow, it's amazing how tight the subs are. And they say the new ones have the same size living quarters or smaller! Josh thinks it will be fun, and I ENVY HIM!!!!! We hooked up with one of the Navy for Moms moms while we there, and we all went to lunch together. That was fun, too.

Hi Michele, just wanted to tell ya I'm holding up. Mr Mom has done a fine job in my opinion. I haven't lost a kid yet, house is still standing, kids were feed, what more can my wife ask. Like I just told Cindy it looks like a repeat of Katrina just not as massive. Katrina hurt and Gustav looks like it will to. My bet is it will put New Orleans underwater again. That's a shame we visit there a lot and love it. We will get a lot of rain and maybe some tornado's. Wes will probably be on hold but once the storms pass he will be on his way to the beach. HooYah! All in all I'm prepared for what comes of this hurricane. I've been busy getting ready and Cindy comes home this afternoon! HooYah! Hope all is going well with you and your family. ttyl

Michele ~ You and EG's family have been in my thoughts much today. Please let me know how you are doing once it's over and, of course, I will keep you all in my prayers. This must be a scary time, again, especially since Katrina is still so fresh on everyone's mind.

We talked to Morgan tonight. When I talk to him again, or maybe I'll text him, to go see the physical therapist. We have the best military in the world, why wouldn't they let someone who really has a problem, go see the dr. they need to go to. That's like having someone come to me and I ask them if they'd like their money to go into their savings or checking acct! PT's should not be looking at a sailor who has a knee injury before the sailor's seen a dr. who's had the training to know what the problem is. Ggggrrr! I feel your frustration, that's for sure.

Once again, let me know how you're doing after these storms.

Must be nice to be able to pick and choose when you work! So with the humidity, what's the temp like? In talking to EG, it sounded like Gustav was headed more their direction....maybe that's towards you too? I'm horrible with knowing where states are. You'll have to tell me whether or not there's much difference between Florida and where you are. I'm guessing it might be cooler in Fl, but still humid. I'm thinking Morgan will be in a-school forever! Not really, but it sure seems that way. He hasn't started school yet and his knee is killing him. He went to siq call today, told me that they didn't do anything but give him some stretching exercises and take it easy. I found out, if they're not sick, they are sent to a physical therapist! How crazy is that? His only option left is to talk to his commanding officer to get the ok to see a md. I know he's hurting when he wants to see a dr. I'm just glad he's done with bc.

Hey Michele. Hope all is going well. Evan and Cindy arrived in San Diego today. They have put in a long haul. Cindy will fly home Sunday. Hope Wes makes it to P'cola before the storm comes in. It has be crazy around here. Everyone is acting like it has already hit. It is what it is. Hurricanes and tornados are things we must deal with in the south. ttyl