Merry Christmas (almost)!!

I got to see Santa today! We had our Family Readiness Group Holiday Party in downtown San Diego and Santa made a special trip there! I'll be headed home again to spend the holidays with family. I'm very excited to see them but kind of dreading the weather...I'm getting spoiled out here with 70 degree weather in December!! I was able to speak with David today!! He's doing well but is very, very busy! He's such a hard worker, I'm so proud of him!! There's not much down time at all so I appreciate any opportunity I get to receive a call or email. It sounds as if it's looking a lot like Christmas on the ship with all of the decorations...several trees, lights, and cards are displayed throughout. Well I hope everyone has a very wonderful and relaxing Christmas filled with laughs, love, and lots of yummy food!

Love,
Lisa

BHR Pics!

Here are some neat pictures of the BHR! The snowmen are some we made and sent to the ship...if you look closely you'll see one winking...that's the one I made for David :) Also, the banner is one my school made and sent to the ship along with our holiday cards; it's displayed in the mess decks!!

Hope all is well!
Lisa

Turkey Day!

Hello everyone! Communications have been down on the ship but I'm happy to report that I finally started receiving emails from David again!! He tried calling on Thanksgiving day but the connection was not strong enough and the call was dropped. He did send a nice long email after that attempt so it made it all better :) David is doing great and they just finished celebrating Thanksgiving. Due to logistical reasons, they had to celebrate a day late but they celebrated nonetheless! Here is a fun fact the ship provided us about preparing a Thanksgiving meal for the ship "in order to feed everyone, our Food Service Division is preparing 900 pounds of turkey, 400 pounds of ham, 600 pounds of mashed potatoes,250 pounds of stuffing,50 gallons of gravy and 4,000 dinner rolls." Crazy huh? Below are some pictures of all of that food being prepared.

I was able to go home for Thanksgiving and it was a wonderful time! I was able to see just about everybody including visiting Chrisman for a few hours. They made me the most thoughtful gift, it's a bouquet of handmade flowers and pictures of David and I. There are quotes on the pot about love and missing a loved one. It is so neat and is proudly displayed on my nightstand. Not only did they make the gift, they catered a luncheon of yummy mexican food! It was a blast. I had dinner with David's parents, visited the Moberly gang, and spent lots of time with my mom in her new, beautiful house. It was really great to see everyone and the good news is, I get to do it again in just about three weeks :)

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!
Love,
Lisa

Hellooo Thailand!

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you doing wonderfully! David was able to get a once-in-a-lifetime experience exploring the cultures of Thailand. This was their most recent, and much needed port visit. He had an amazing stay and really took advantage of his time there. He and several fellow officers, rented a house there...it even had an infinity pool on the roof!! They were able to kick back, hit the town, and really have a good time. They also went elephant back riding and white water rafting! My favorite part of his time in Thailand was when I got to see him via Skype!! Luckily, the house they rented came equipped with wireless so he was able to connect to Skype and give my computer a ring. Due to the time difference, it was about 1:00am my time and 2:00 pm his, but I didn't care at all. I enjoyed every second of getting to see his handsome face and hear his voice. After a few days in Thailand, they packed up and headed back out to sea. Unfortunately, they seemed to pick up some kind of bug and everyone got quite sick when back on board but it sounds like everyone is finally starting to get over it!

I'm happy to report that David has finally started receiving my care packages!! I was starting to get very discouraged as his first package took over a month to get to him but it seems they're more on schedule now taking approximately 3-4 weeks to reach him. I'm getting his Christmas package all ready to ship on Monday so that it has plenty of time to get to him!

Everything here in Cali is going great. The weather is still beautiful and school is still keeping me crazy busy...thank goodness for that. I miss David terribly and couldn't be more proud of him!

Stay tuned for more updates :)
Lisa

Weekend Update

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all doing wonderfully! I got to talk to David last night, it was so wonderful to hear his voice! Things are continuing to go well for them, David says he is so busy it's hard to keep track of what day it is. I told him that's a good thing, it'll make the months fly by :)

This past week, David and I got to do a video conference for about fifteen minutes. I went to base where everything was all set up and David went to a room on the ship that was all set up ready to go. It was great to finally see him; it was overwhelming but in a good way. It had been just about a month since I last saw him. I am very thankful we had that opportunity and hope we are able to do it again soon!!

David was able to upload some pictures from the deployment so far. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! I find myself looking at the pictures of him over, and over, and over :)

Happy Halloween week!
Lisa

Another Update!

Here's the ship's update for today :) Also, the pictures you see here were taken by David. I'm so glad that even with his busy schedule, he's able to capture such great images of this journey!

USS BHR's Status Update
"Today we hosted a reception onboard the ship in honor of the President of Timor Leste and the US Ambassador. Continued support of the Marines ashore with flight ops. Meanwhile, Sailors visited two orphanages in Dili and we presented four pallets of medical supplies to two local clinics through the Project Handclasp program. Strengthening partnerships and building friendships through community engagement!"

Deployment Update!

Hello faithful followers! So I know I haven't posted since deployment day but now that things are starting to settle into a routine, I thought I'd update you on the latest and greatest of this deployment. The ship has an awesome team of sailors who provide updates on what they are doing so from here on out, I will post these updates here :) I have spoken to David a couple of times and each time, he has sounded really great! His days are crazy busy which is good, because they make them go fast! He's getting to see and experience some once in a lifetime things; all of which I'm very excited to hear about when he comes home!

Recently, David became a Shellback! This is also known as the "crossing the line ceremony." Here's a little information I found that explains what this means. The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and other navies that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. Originally, the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs. I haven't heard from David yet as far as how his initiation went but from what I'm hearing, it was pretty brutal! The good news is, he survived and is no longer a "slimy wog" - yay!!

I hope everyone is doing wonderfully!
Lisa

BHR ARG/11th MEU Arrives in Timor-Leste for MAREX-09
By Bonhomme Richard ARG Public Affairs






Posted: October 14, 2009

SAVU SEA – USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), the flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), arrived Oct. 14 in Savu Sea to conduct a multi-lateral exercise in cooperation with the government of Timor-Leste.

During Marine Exercise 2009 (MAREX 09), ARG Sailors and embarked Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are scheduled to participate in Theater Security Cooperation programs and training ashore with the Timor-Leste and Australian militaries.

“We’re excited to work with our Timor-Leste and Australian partners,” said Commodore Rodney Clark, the ARG commander. “The ARG/MEU team hopes to build upon a strong relationship with this new country and make a difference in the community.”

Bonhomme Richard displaces 40,500 tons and features a 2.2 acre flight deck that will enable medical and dental personnel to travel ashore and assist local healthcare workers in providing care to local residents.

“The scope of the medical, dental and preventative medicine services the Navy harnesses afloat is an awesome capability not only for our own Marines and Sailors, but to those unfortunate few or many that may have suffered hardship,” said Commander, Amphibious Task Force Surgeon Cmdr. Steven Gabele.

In addition to offering medical and dental assistance, ARG/MEU personnel will partner with local government and education officials to repair the roof of a secondary school as well as construct desks and chalk boards.

Bonhomme Richard Sailors and Marines have also volunteered to participate in local sporting events and visit children in orphanages in the country’s capital city.

“It’s a great thing. These projects not only meet needs [in Timor-Leste] but also meet the desires of Sailors and Marines to help people. One of the last things people remember is our ability to make a positive difference in the communities that we visit,” said Cmdr. John Shimotsu, Bonhomme Richard’s senior chaplain and community service coordinator.

“The community service projects are on a smaller scale, but they are important because they are an expression of the good will of the United States Navy,” said Shimotsu.

The ARG’s other two ships, USS Cleveland (LPD 7) and USS Rushmore (LSD 47), are participating in the other portion of MAREX-09 in neighboring Indonesia.

The ARG also consists of the command element, Commander, Amphibious Squadron 7; the ready group’s flagship, USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6); Tactical Air Control Squadron 12, Detachment 1; Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23, Detachment 3; Assault Craft Unit 1, Detachment B; Assault Craft Unit 5, Detachment F; Beachmaster Unit 1, Detachment B; and Fleet Surgical Team 9.

The Bonhomme Richard ARG is transiting the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations and reports to the Commander, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, Rear Adm. Richard Landolt, who is headquartered in Okinawa, Japan.

Deployment Day

Well today was the big day, David got underway at 1130 this morning after a slight delay. Lucky for us, that meant having him home just a few more days which I was grateful for!! After David checked onto the ship, he headed up to the flight deck to give me a call and wave goodbye. Look carefully at the last four pictures, that's David waving and standing up on the left hand side of the flight deck. It was awesome to see him up there, I am so incredibly proud of him! Myself and some fellow officer spouses, hung out at the pier to watch them man the rails and get underway, it was an amazing sight to see. Thankfully, David will be able to communicate with us often via email, which will make this entire thing much more bearable. I will update this blog as often as I can to fill everyone in on how he's doing! Enjoy the pics from today's deployment.
Lisa

The Rents Come to Visit!

Harold and Nancy headed out our direction to visit for a few days before David deploys; it was a wonderful time had by all! While I was at work, David showed them around some of the post popular attractions such as Hotel del Mar in Coronado, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, and La Jolla shores. They also toured David's ship and came to see where I teach! We walked along the beach, ate lots of yummy food, and took a ferry from Coronado to downtown San Diego! We were sad to see them go but so excited that they were able to come for a visit!

Our Weekend in Wine Country!

Saturday morning, David and I packed our bags and headed to Temecula (aka "Wine Country") for a weekend getaway before he deploys. We absolutely had the best time! Saturday we went wine tasting at Thorton Winery and ended the evening with a very nice meal at Baily's Fine Dining. Sunday morning we got up bright and early and took our first ever hot air balloon ride! It was amazing, we didn't want our flight to end! If you ever have the opportunity to do this, you must! Later that day, we went back to La Cereza for more wine tasting and live music. After that, we headed to The Gambling Cowboy for another very nice meal of bruschetta, salad, chicken and steak, and creme brullee for dessert! Monday we walked the streets of Old Town Temecula browsing lots of neat antique and gift shops. We were sad for our weekend to end but can't get over how great it was. We will never forget our weekend in wine country.