Orders Confirmed

Well, Folks, the word is in: my orders are confirmed for another two years. Last week I went to a planning conference in Tampa (FL) and was not able to check email, and when I got back from the trip on Friday, my orders had hit the system. This effectively puts bread on our table for another two years, and pretty much guarantees another year in Iraq during 2008.
In the meantime, this means I plan to take leave (it should be approved) from June 27th through August 1st. The plan is to take a road trip with my family (Route 66 and then some), I figure 30 some odd days stuck in a vehicle together is bound to provide more intimacy than we really wanted... During July we'll cross the US to Tennessee, head up to Chicago, and then mosey on back to California.
I don't know how much access we'll have to the internet while on the road trip, but I'll do what I can to keep you informed of whether or not we drive each other crazy. In the meantime, thanks for your support.

Semper Fi, JarHedJon

Charting a Course

Again it has been two weeks since my last post, it is difficult for me to keep up with this when I get to interact with many of you in our community so often. Additionally, I am aware that I will not be able to blog as a method 0f staying in touch with you all when I next deploy, so I'm sort of in limbo here, trying to decide what will be the best way to keep folks current.
As Sheryl has said in her blog, we have a new mode of transportation now, which will make our upcoming road trip much more enjoyable (and allow us more flexibility, with added room). Sheryl and Joshua are co-conspirators in the planning of our Route 66 vacation, and we are looking forward to spending a lot of time together and with friends along the way. It will be tough to stick with my marathon training plan while on the road, but I intend to give it the old college try.
Thank you so much to the many of you that were able to make it out to San Onofre Recreational Beach on Saturday to celebrate with us. There are still areas in our family that remain zones of unfamiliarity, but thanks to God's grace we are learning to include the others more and more into all our reckonings.
I have not yet heard whether my orders request has been accepted, but the expectation is that there will be NO problems. I'll keep you posted.

Semper Fi, JarHedJon