Christmas has come and Christmas has gone and the memories endure like a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter night. Jennifer made it home and we had a short, but fun-filled visit. As her military career has drawn out...she is now in her third year...she has appreciated the comforts of home so much more and she is quick to let us know how much she appreciates us. What a blessing it is to have a child show appreciation for the simple things in life.

Jennifer split her time between our house and her Mom's and we even let her two worlds collide on Christmas Day when Diane hosted us for a Christmas brunch. Jennifer was late arriving on Christmas Eve, her flight circling the airport for 45 minutes as the ground crew worked on a disabled plane in their arrival gate. Why they couldn't land at an alternate gate must have to do with some obscure FAA rule, but it was a bit irritating as the crowds in the arrival area waited for their loved ones on the last arriving flight of the night as it did wide loops of downtown Sacramento waiting for room to land and disembark. Finally fifty minutes after their scheduled arrival, the passengers began to arrive in small groups and then a steady stream. Darla, the boys and I waited and finally saw a tired and dishevelled Jennifer riding down the escalator, weighed down with packages and carryon items. It had been a long day for Jennifer. Not only was it 2:30 a.m. her time, but she had pulled a 21-hour shift on guard duty the night before at work. She was a trooper, though and had been able to catch some sleep on the drive to the airport in the morning (no worries, her roomate drove) as well as on two of her three flights.

She woke up bright-eyed and raring to go on Christmas morning, even breaking into her brother's rooms to wake them up from a sound sleep. We ate breakfast together and opened presents. My Dad called and talked to Jennifer and then we were off to Diane and Bill's house for fritatas, mimosas and sugar-free ketchup.

Darla and I took Jennifer, her ex-boyfriend, Jason, and Darla's sister, Alicia, out to dinner on Saturday night at the Zinfandel Grille, a new restaurant in Rocklin. We all enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of laughs. It was nice to have Alicia join us. She is a good role model for Jennifer, as she is an independent and successful woman. Jennifer told me how much she appreciated having Alicia join us for dinner. Jason is a great guy, who is getting his life together at age 24. He still holds a burning torch for Jennifer and is one of her greatest fans and greatest friends. We all retired back to the house and played pool and watched the movie, "The Pirates of the Carribean."

Jennifer slept through the second half of the movie, which was fine as she had to be up at four a.m. the next morning. We had her to the airport at shortly after five a.m. for her 6:35 a.m. flight to Salt Lake City. It was hard to see her go, knowing that she was back to Fort Gordon, only to prepare for her departure to Afghanistan on January 7th.

Jennifer was suffering from some after effects of all of the shots that she's been taking in preparation for her deployment. She had some flu-like symptoms, which were a result of her smallpox vaccine. She also had a nasty blister on her arm from the same shot. You may have heard that the military now has to allow their soldiers to opt not to take the Anthrax vaccine. True, but if they do opt to not take the vaccine, they will not be deployed and will basically end their advancement in the military. Some things never change.

We had a great Christmas, made even better by the gift of having Jennifer with us. For those of you who didn't get a chance to talk to Jen on her visit, you can still call her. Her cell phone number is 310-927-6311 and she is available this weekend or at night. Call her, she'd love it.

Lastly, please continue to pray for Jennifer's safety on her mission. She will be insulated at her military base, but will be living in tents with no electricity and little in the way of creature comforts. It is brutally hot and the sand is omnipresent. She saw pictures of the base and the tents are yellow because of the shifting sand. The soldiers all have respiratory problems because of the fine sand and Jennifer will have to wear a mask when she does tower work on the base. Happy New Year to all and God bless.