Category: kate~n~kel

Frank got some time off to go see his baby brother graduate high school. Kate is neck deep in school and clinicals so it was just Frank and Parker on the road to Florida. Its about a 10-12 hour drive, so rather than do a marathon drive, they decided to break it up and camp over night about half way there.  Frank scoped out about where they needed to be on the map and found a camp ground where they could spend the night.

Here are a couple of pictures that Frank sent. First one is the happiness to finally be out of the car (and carseat after a 6 hour drive. 

Then Parker made dinner while Frank set up camp. 

All that work makes you thirsty!

After dinner – time to Reflect

Nothing like a sippy after a night in the sleeping bag hammock with dad

Double duty bed heads!

And ready to start the day!

Kelly is in North Carolina this week and she is feeding us a steady stream of grand baby content!!

One of the great thing about doing a blog for ten years is the ability to look back. The news around the Flaherty house yesterday was that it was 5 years ago that Kate graduated from boot camp and became a Marine. 

 Relive the memories by clicking here

And visit the full archives by clicking here

Couldn’t ask for a better day yesterday. Early EARLY morning bike ride with John Downing. Dark at 7:00am when we met at the courthouse to begin our ride. It started to lighten up a bit when we got on the creek trail but there was NOBODY out there with us. Had the trail to ourselves.  Did our usual ride down the trail then off into Coyote Hills. The sun was just now starting to climb up behind Mission peak. Stopped in the middle of the tules and took a rare sunrise bike ride pic.  No Heart attack hill this morning since I was on a schedule. Cruised out to the “bus stop” and took a break. ZERO wind, calm waters and total quiet. I mean so quiet that we could hear the traffic on the dumbarton bridge. So quiet that a flock of birds taking flight sounds like a car  driving by on a road. So quiet that a great blue herron let us get within about 10 feet of him, which is oh so rare. Check out the video by clicking here.

Home by 9:30, showered dressed and off to root Barb and Marie on in the Dirty Girl Mud Run held at the Alameda Fairgrounds. 6000 girls getting wet and muddy on a 5k obstacle course that wove its way around the fairgrounds. All in the name of breast cancer research. 
When Barb said there would be 6000 women participating I was skeptical, but when we got to the fairgrounds I realized this was a big deal. The girls checked in and made there was to the starting gate. They had set it up so people started in “waves” every 15 minutes. Our girls went off at 11:15. Down a long stretch then back towards us where they climbed some huge inflated pyramid thing. 
I guess it was “photo op” time because all the girls were climbing up then sitting and letting people take pics.
Then the girls were off and around back to the first mud pool that they had to walk or crawl through (or I guess some girls just walk around if they want). Then they disappeared doing the rest of the course. Ron and I got a brewski, Talked to old St. Leonard’s dad Lance Vivet who we met there (his wife Terri was running), and waited for our girls to bring it on home.
The last two obstacles before the finish line were a rope ladder climb and a final (low crawl) mud pit. Then the finish. Normally it would be hugs all around, but these girls were MUDDY! The plan was to have the girls shower at the shower tent then hang around for the music and atmosphere. Did I mention that it was about one of the MOST beautiful days of the year?! 80 degrees on late October day. I LOVE CALIFORNIA!!!

Anyway, the shower line was a mile long, so we just headed back to Marie and Ron’s (three blocks) so the girls could get a real shower. We were all starving so then it was off to Main Street  Pleasanton for lunch at Boci Bistro. Grilled Artichoke, steamed mussels, steak sandwich , shared cheesecake and lemonchello tartufo for dessert!  WOW! Another cool thing during lunch was that we both got calls from our kids! Kate (and Parker) did a quick “tango” call with us, and young Dr. Ron called Marie and Ron. We talked about how nice it is that our kids call US while we are living the dream.

So far, this is a pretty great day, Bike ride, Mud Run 80 degree weather, fantastic lunch.   Can life get any better?!    Yes!!

A leisurely ride back to Marie and Ron’s and just in time for the start of World Series Game 3!!  When the Giants went up 2-0 I knew it was going to be a good night!  Grilled hot dogs with kraut during the 7th inning stretch, then watched Lincicum and Romo come in, to close the Tigers down!  I’m happy for those boys. WOOHOO!!!

A handful of halloween candy (go to this Marie’s house, they give the best!) and it was time for us to go home, but what a great day it was!! Started off with peaceful, rare, sunrise ride. Mid-day surrounded by 6000 wet and muddy and wet women, great food, great friends, Giants win and all is well in the world!! I slept great last night too!

Check out the videos here

Check out the pictures here

What can I say?  Its been a crazy month.  A whirlwind.   A blur.   A month full of surprises,  joy, euphoria  and heartache  Well,  maybe not heartache,  just a bit of empty nest sadness.    : )

I guess you could say it all started at the middle of last month. Kate  got herself  engaged to a fine young Marine stationed in Camp Lejune. Kate and Frank became friends at Marine Combat training (the stuff romance novels are made of! ) and have been friends ever since.  Their long distance ( North Carolina vs Okinawa Japan) relationship flourished and they decided to become engaged!  Congratulations you two!  It was a big surprise, but who better to take care of our little girl than a United States Marine. Frank seems like a great guy and I really look forward to getting to know him.

Around this time too, Kelly was wrapping up her census job and getting ready to move to SoCal. Its been in her plans since she graduated, but the census job (and money) was too good to pass up. The Census job really worked out because she also met a new and bestest friend in Eve. Eve was Kelly’s boss. Kelly made her self indispensable and then worked the old Flaherty charm.  We all  know that no one can resist the Flaherty charm!  Either way, they are friends and both are moving to SoCal once the census work is done.

 So Kate is engaged and Kelly is moving out.  Our babies are all grown up!!

So end of July, Barb was down in Vegas visiting Melinda, I was working,  when who shows up at our doorstep but Kate!!  She (with Kelly and Staci’s help) surprised the hell out of me. She just walked out to the home office yelling  “DAD  I’M HOME ”   I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised and happy in my life.    They really pulled a good one over on the old man this time.  I had NO clue that she was coming home, and neither did Barb.  Apparently EVERYONE  else knew she was coming home on leave.  Either way it was a great surprise.

On super special side note, this was also the day that Staci told us that she was expecting a baby!   Due in march, we couldn’t be more happy for Staci, her real parents, and us!  At this point the emotions are just too much!  Don’t know if we could handle any more good news!

We had a great first week with Kate. We pulled out the old home movies and watched hours and hours of old soccer games, birthday parties, vacations and just goofing off around the house. Seems like we were always doing something back then.  Its been years since we watched some of those movies. Great to see all of our animals !  We had some good laughs watching some of those old home movies!

The second week Kate was home  she flew to North Carolina to see her fiance. On August 7th we got a call from Kate saying that her and Frank got married! Wha WHA WHAT?!?!  Yes, Kate and Frank were married at  the chapel on Camp Geiger. Its where they met and went to church while they were stationed there. They were married by a Navy Chaplain in a very VERY small ceremony.  What can we say but these two are in love and know what they want. We wish them the best and hope for a long happy life together.  For me, I was just trying to get a handle on my baby girl being engaged, but now she is a married women. After the shock wore off I was somewhat euphoric. I mean its every fathers dream to have his daughter married off to someone she truly loves.  Here is Kate, an adult and a Marine, telling us that this is the “THE ONE”.  I believe her!  Now that they are married, They will be stationed together in February when Kate finishes her overseas deployment.  That’s a good thing!  Hey, this guy Frank is the real deal. Always good to have another Marine in the family!

Now Kate comes back a week later a married woman.   We got  6 more days with the new Mrs. Lee before we had to take her to the  airport  for her  flight back to Japan.  And then she was gone.  Was it all a dream?!?! 

With the whirlwind of Kate’s super-duper-surprise-filled-leave   behind us, it was time to focus on Kelly and her move to Pasadena. She spent more than a few days packing and cleaning.  Fortunately she was moving into a furnished room and  only had to bring clothes and personal items.  All packed into her “new” honda civic. It was packed solid!  It was a nice final week with NorCal Kelly.  Last friday Staci came down and we all went  out to pizza. Saturday it was a “goodbye brunch” with our first born. What parent wouldn’t be proud?  Kelly has done everything a parent could ask for. She grew up into a fine young lady and has  graduated from college!!  Words cannot express how proud I am of her.  Now she is  following her dream to live in Southern California.  And Sunday she was gone.

Whew!  The six week roller coaster ride is over, and things have settled down around the house this week. Kelly made it safely to her new digs,  Kate is back in Oki and keeping in touch via facebook , text and skype. We are hearig from our new son-in-law too.  All getting to know each other via technology!    We are officially empty nesters.   Its all good and pretty cool.

Last night, Barb Kelly and I were over at Camp Parks in Dublin volunteering at a “going away” party for a group of Army reservists who are deploying to Afghanistan tomorrow. The event was held at the community center on base.   A mix of volunteers were there to make sure these troops had a good old fashion American meal before they head off to “the sandbox”.

We found out about this event from Denise, a Marine mom from Pleasanton who also has a daughter stationed in Okinawa. 

Denise found us when we posted pics on a Marine family website. When we were at Parris Island for Kate’s graduation, we took and posted many pics of female recruits in training, so folks back home could see their girls. All the while Kate was in boot camp, I scoured the site for picks of Kate, but found none.  Anyway, one of the pics was of Denise’s marine, who was still in training.  She emailed us her profound thanks, and we found out she was local.   Her and Barb struck a email friendship, sharing information and feelings that only a Marine mom can have.

Anyway, Denise was instramental in putting together last night’s function.  Organizing volunteers from VFW, American Legion, and Pleasanton Military families, (and two marine moms and their families).  The menu was  tri-tip, chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, scalloped potatoes, beans, salad, cake and ice cream, soda, water and coffee. The soldiers really seems to enjoy themselves.  It was really cool to see these old guys from VFW interacting with these young men and women.  There is a special bond that they share. All in all it looked like a successful night. God bless our troops!

So Kate’s been in Okinawa for just only a couple of weeks and already got a promotion! Hard to believe that Kate has been a Marine for  nine months now. Needless to say, we are so proud of her. She knew that she had a promotion coming and sent us email saying “I’m getting promoted in a few minutes”.  Then about an hour later we got this picture, of her new rank. So Lcpl Kate gets a few more bucks in her pocket every month, and a little more respect from her peers. I should mention, that during the promotion ceremony, they called her “Flattery”, just like they used to do to me in the Army!

Communication is limited to email and skype, and with the 16 hour time difference, we can only “connect” late night or early morning.  Either way, its amazing to me that we can connect at all.  I love technology!!

Congratulations Kate!

In the world of Marine Corp recruit training, no news really is great news. We have’nt heard from young Kate so its assumed that all went well with Crucible, she has earned the title of MARINE, and is in her final few GLORY days at Parris Island.  At any given time there are probably a few thousand recruits at Parris Island, in various phases of training. They ALL want to be where Kate is now. No longer a recruit. A Marine.  They get to strut their stuff around base for 6 days as the “seniors on deck.”  Family Day on Thursday, Graduation on Friday, then we bring her home for a much deserved 10 day leave.  Its all good.

What a great, fantastic, motivating and all around generally positive trip to Parris Island SC to see our youngest daughter, our baby, our little Kate, graduate from Marine Corp boot camp.  We arrived in South Carolina Wednesday night in preparation for Thursday Family Day and Friday Graduation. We were up at 5am (2 am west coast time!) and driving onto the base around 6:30 for the 7am “moto run.” The motivational run is pretty cool.   When we got there, all the graduating platoons (534 graduates this time) were lined up by platoon on the main parade deck. All doing stretches and warming up. We found Kate’s platoon and were trying to eyeball where she was amongst the group of look a like Marines. We gave her a HOOTIE-HOO!!!!  Then found her. SHE WAS SMILING! So we saw her and she saw us and all was good in the world. After 13 long weeks, we got to see young Kate. We could tell she was slim and trim, standing tall and looking good!   Then they started their  final 4 mile run around Parris Island.  All singing cadence loud and clear. They all made one pass on the parade deck (so all of us can get a closer look, and cheer our heads off!!)  then proceeded to run to each of the 5 training battalions on base.  There is a bell in front of each Battalion. When the group runs by, someone from each platoon rings the bell, signifying to the other recruits on base that this group has completed recruit training, and are now Marines.  All the parents line the street outside the parade deck with signs and stuff and cheer again when they run by. After that the platoons are marched back to their squad bays to prepare for the Liberty Ceremony. We had about 2 hours to kill, so we got a cup of coffee, and went to the visitor center, then made our way to the all weather training facility where we would finally be reunited with Kate. This place was huge, big enough to hold all 534 new marines and maybe 3 times as many family and friends, with room to spare! So we are all sitting there , they play some really good and informational videos about all they had been through. Then at one end of the building a huge door opens and in marches all  the new marines. We picked out Kate right away, she looked so great. It  was an emotional moment in all of our lives.  She looked like a Marine. She was a Marine. After a short introduction and ceremony, the Marines were granted a 5 hour on base liberty and then dismissed. Me and Kelly were sitting up in the bleachers, while Barb and Melinda were in the handicapped section (Melinda is in a wheelchair after some recent surgery).  So we got to see Kate go up to and hug Barb. I could see that Kate had tears in her eyes. What an emotional moment for all of us. Indescribably wonderful.  So we all hugged and hugged and hugged some more. To be able to tell Kate in person that we loved her and that we were sooooooo proud of her and that she looked so good, was something we had been looking forward to since December.  Kate was a  lean, mean fighting machine.  Transformed.  A Marine!  I couldn’t stop looking at her. She had military bearing!  She introduced us to a couple of her Drill Instructors.   I asked for a picture and it turned out to be my favorite. Kate in the middle of two of the DIs that molded  her into the Marine that she is today. Anyway, a great picture! So we had a five hour visit with Kate. We had brought a picnic lunch with all the trimmings. We brought a few of the things from Kate’s many food lists. She was in heaven!   We walked and drove all around the base, all the while Kate was telling great stories of her 13 week adventure.  We went to the MCX (store), the Marine Corp Museum, and even to the squad bay where her and the girls of  platoon 4006 lived.  All around us on base there were other Marines in various stages of training.  All very cool. At 3pm we had to say goodbye. She had to report back to her platoon because they were all going to do a graduation run through on the parade deck. We stuck around and watched that too! It was cool, because it was an express version of the grad ceremony (no music, no speeches, just practicing the march in, the pass and review etc).  We had to leave to get ready for the meet and greet later that night. It was a dinner at a restaurant in town where all new Marine families (that’s us!)  got to meet and eat. We met some nice people and had a nice meal too. Then it was back to the house to try to get some sleep before another long day. Grad day we were up early again and on base by 6:45 for the 9am graduation. Lucky we got there early. The troops were lined up for one more early morning practice! Too funny!  All the new Marines were in cammies, with the exception of  the honor grads. So they did a run through then marched back to change into their dress uniforms. We were golden because we had good seats, dressed warm, brought blankets and had coffee (thanks Kelly Fraley!). We just sat there and watched the place fill up. It turned into a standing room only event and many of the late comers were relegated to standing on the far ends of  the parade deck.  Our seats were great because Kate told us where to sit and we knew because we had stayed for practice. The Ceremony was awesome. Filled with all sorts of Marine tradition and history. The Marine band performed and then the new Marines marched in. All 534  of them. It was another emotional morning. This graduation ceremony would make any American proud.  But to have a daughter in there was something else.  Kate looked so good out there.  The ceremony lasted about an hour, then the PA annoucer said, “the Senior Drill instructors will now dismiss their troops, this is the last and possibly most welcome order they will ever receive.” FUNNY!  And then they were dismissed. Everyone rushes onto the parade deck to congratulate their new marine. Another very emotional moment. More kleenex please!! Hugs all around, then, surprise! A lady came up to Kate and hands her a bouquet of flowers, from a Marine friend stationed in Armenia! She was totally surprised by this nice gesture. We had known about it because he had emailed me (via facebook) to let us know to expect the surprise. Another nice gesture. After a few more pics Kate was, “lets get off this island!” We drove over to her squadbay, she picked up all her gear, and we were off. But wait!  Kate and I had mailed back and forth and we both knew that we wanted a picture of her, standing on the yellow footprints. These are the same yellow footprints that every new recruit stands on when they first get off the bus at Parris Island. It was a fitting end. Thirteen weeks before, Kate stood on those footprints as a raw recruit. On this day she stood on the same footprints as a Marine. And we couldn’t be happier! So then we  were off.  For the first time since December 8th, Kate got to use a cell phone! Texting like a mad woman!!  HA HA!   We made our way off the base. First stop?  Taco Bell!  Loaded with an assortment of Taco Bell fare, we made our way back to the rental house for lunch. Kate changed out of her dress uniform into sweats LET FREEDOM RING!!!!  All was good in our world.  We were bringing Kate home for a much deserved 10-day leave.  All our time with Kate was precious. We asked a lot of questions about anything and everything. We caught her up on all the goings on at home and she continued to tell us great stuff about her boot camp experience.  What a special moment in all of our lives.  Memories that I will cherish forever. We are blessed.

One thing that is apparent from Kate’s letters home is that her and her fellow recruits spend a lot of time talking about food.  About all the food that they can’t have and really really REALLY want. This is the second (or third) food list that Kate has sent home with her letters.  It obvious that her and her girls are sitting around rattling off favorite candy bars, ice cream flavors, cookies, fast food, you name it, they cover it. Kate was even joking that they could write a boot camp recipe book with all the crazy stuff they dream up.  So here is just a taste of what Kate is looking forward to when she gets her 10-day leave.  We will see how far she gets!!  You can click on these lists for a better view. Bon Appetit!