Hello!
It has been a while since I have posted an update. I have been pretty busy with work and the holidays, but I want to catch up!
Josh has been doing well. They have stopped in several ports and he has been able to get out and off the ship and relax a little but he has been pretty busy. Right around Christmas he earned his Engineering Officer of the Watch qualification, which is an important milestone for him, and I am really proud of him. I have included a picture of Josh and the khaki (officers and chiefs) from his department for your viewing pleasure. They also recently had a change of command onboard GERMANTOWN, which means a new set of policies to get used to and a new command attitude, but he reports that things are going pretty smoothly. Joshua also recently bought a rug at a "rug flop" while in Bahrain. He described the experience in a recent e-mail: "The best way to describe this is a Tupperware party that features hand-made rugs rather than plastic containers. It was a very fun experience. A salesman comes in and
starts “flopping” the rugs down while describing each one in detail. They start out small and get bigger. Prices range from 35 Dinars up to 800 Dinars. The current exchange rate is $2.67=1 Dinar. After he is done flopping, people start negotiating with him. I decided I was going to buy a rug, but my tactic was to wait until he was just about done in order to get the best deal. I helped some of the JOs (junior officers) negotiate and I think we got some good deals. I ended up offering a price and not budging. The salesman came down to what I wanted and I got the rug. Of course, he probably still made a good penny, but the event was worth the price of the rug." So, even if it is mostly work and very little play, at least he gets to have some great experiences with good friends along the way.
Things have been pretty good for me here in San Diego. I was able to take a little time off of work and travel to Reno, NV to celebrate Christmas with the Cavins. 
My parents both flew up for the holiday, and Otto and I took a road trip up through the desolate parts of California and Nevada to join them at my grandparents' house. Otto is a pretty good travel buddy; we recently aquired a puppy car seat, and he just hangs out in the back seat and watches the scenery go by. We arrived on Christmas Eve and it was great to see everyone. Otto had never met my parents, so he had a blast getting to know them. Christmas morning I went to mass with my parents and then we opened presents with just us and my grandma and grandpa. Oh, and Otto of course. As you can see, Otto got some pretty good loot, and he has already made friends with my dad. It was nice and cozy. Christmas dinner however was a much larger affair - I believe the head count for Christmas dinner was 30!
Don and Barb hosted the affair, 
and we had to clear out the living room to set up tables so we all could sit. We had a fabulous feast of homemade ravioli, sausages and meatballs. It was delicious, and it was so great to see so many member of my family.I don't get to see them often enough, but luckily we will have another chance to see each other soon, since my cousin Jim got engaged over the holiday!
After Christmas I spent a few more days in Nevada before driving down and preparing for the imminent arrival of Josh's parents. For the past several month, one of Josh's brothers, Jacob, has only been a 10 minute car ride away, but I haven't been able to see him, since he was going through his basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot here in San Diego. Well, the time for graduation finally came at the beginning of January, and I was happy to have his parents stay with me for the occasion. Josh's Nana, Aunt Judy and cousin Tiffani also came down to attend graduation, and they stayed with cousin Tisha and her husband Brian. 
We all gathered early at the parade deck and waited with tons of other eager and enthusiastic family and friends. In fact, Lonnie and Julie got there so early they were able to save us front row seats, so we had a great view of the graduation. It was a really neat experience, they had a live band there playingmarches as the new Marines marched in and we all caught our first glimpse of Jacob. He did a great job while at boot camp, and was one of a select few who graduated as a Private First Class.
It was so good to see him, and after graduation, he walked us around the Depot and gave us a tour of the museum there. If anyone out there is interested in ANY information regarding the United States Marine Corps, please let me know and I will get you in touch with Jacob. He has all the "good gouge," and would be more than happy to fill you in on it! After graduation, it was back to my house for pizza and presents. 
Since Jacob hadn't gotten to celebrate in boot camp, I kept the tree up a little longer so that he could have Christmas with us. It was a fun afternoon, capped off with dinner out with the whole family, where Jacob taught us the entire history of the Marine Corps. It is great to see him so excited about something, I am sure he is going to have much success with the positive attitude that he has.Well, I guess that is about it from here, Otto is doing fine, just hanging out being himself. He certainly got spoiled there for a while, having so many people around to pet him and play with him, but now we are just back to him and me. I think he has finally readjusted. He spends alot of the day up in the loft, where he likes to sleep on Josh's motorcycle blanket. OK, I guess I am done!
