Herschel's Last Patrol and Emma's 1st Birthday

Good evening from lovely monterey, Ca.

I'm sitting here alone...Family is on the road heading to GA.  I still have a few weeks left here and I'm trying to fight off boredom and loneliness by writing on this blog for once...I feel like I'm just starting to sleep after a fun-filled weekend of duty (I had the privilege of handling arrested sailors and not sleeping among other things) and a day of immersion in Arabic...oh, yeah...packing out.  I have to tip my hat to the movers----we haven't had a bad military move yet, and this was no exception. Very professional.  Very quick.  Very helpful.  Joy did a great job organizing, too, so I'm sure that will pay off on the other end.

Anyway, I guess I don't have much else to say right now, so I'll just get to the pictures:

Here Aiden and Emma have some Daddy time in downtown after hot chocolate and and a muffin at our favorite little Italian cafe downtown.

Aiden just being Aiden---and Emma loving every bit of it.  Her hero.

Aiden is very sweet in his instruction of Emma. He's always happy to show her how to do something.

Play time.

Aiden helped his Mama make some special cookies.  He loves to cook, too.

Still a ham. "CHEESE!!!!"

This is Aiden getting caught red-handed, or cookie-handed as the case is here.

Enjoy the naked time while you can, I guess. The kiddos and mama enjoy an afternoon in the sun.

Waiting for Daddy to get home from work.

"Is he here yet?"

Two of a kind..

Aiden takes a pause during a recent hike to examine a rollie pollie up close.

Taking it all in...Aiden at Lover's Point eyeing BIGGER rocks to climb...seriously. That's what he was requesting.

Super-Aiden!!!  All boy...all the time.

We found a nice area of wildflowers along the rocky coast near Lover's Point just south of Monterey proper...the kids are doing their best to appease their parents' incessant badgering for a super cute picture...

Aiden simultaneously cheeses and pulls Emma's arms back like Gumbi.

My little princess.

Aiden and Mama share a tender moment during our hike.

i'm not sure what he's up to, but he manages to pull it off well...

i'm sorry if this is boring...i'm totally uninspired right now...I guess it's obvious I'm just pushing through this...I'll try to pull it together.

So I was walking Herschel the other day and I almost walked right by this abandoned lot with a horse...between the deli and the japanese hair salon...I have no idea. It was there for 3 days. Aiden even went and petted it.

H-bomb obliges me with a pose on his last patrol through the old neighborhood, stopping to greet his fans one last time, pee on a few of his favorite fire hydrants, the usual...

And...it's nap time. wa shukran.

Emma's 1. can you believe it.  By comparison, Emma is leaving monterey at the age Aiden was when we arrived...wow.  Aiden can be a little shy for the camera.  Don't know where he got that gene from...I for one was never shy from the camera when i was a little boy... but anyways, Emma looks for the camera ALWAYS.

YAY! weird, block thingies...ahh, whatever...she loves them.

goofy.

The pink blocks were a small attempt to prevent Emma from always stealing Aiden's "boy" blocks.  

The Hancock Girls.

Daddy's little girl.

Aiden always wants to hold her now...he's doing well so far.  He's a great big bro.

As always, Joy did a marvelous job with the cake.

Aiden is asking to help blow out the candle and Emma is going for a handful.

"Yummy."

"Dad...DAAAAAADDDD...DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDD....I want a Star Wars birthday."  Oh, really, Aiden.  I just didn't know that.

Yeah....she got kinda messy.

Messy girl.

And now we rub it in the eyes...that can't feel good.

Ahhh...this got out of order. Oh well...

"Daddy...I need a bath."

Emma is ALMOST giving me smoochers.  love her.

Look at that smile. Beautiful.

Ok, like i said, not the most impressive or inciteful or imaginative post ever, but i'm just uninspired right now.  Joy and the kids are in Colorado staying with friends.  Herschel is at the tail end of a long week of travel across the country to my parents' house.  I'm trying to get my request for early graduation approved.  I'm trying to mentally prepare for taking the DLPT again as well as the Oral Proficiency Interview, both requirements for graduation from DLI.  I'm living out of a Honda Civic, crashing at various friends' houses.  I know it could be worse.  But it's somewhat taxing, still.  I'm just ready to be done.  You could see the visible relief on Joy's face as she pulled away from Monterey.  I feel just as done, but I have to find a way to put my game face on and go perform at a high level on a few more very big tests.  So, pray for that.  Tentatively schedule is as follows:  July 10, OPI (speaking test) July 16/17  DLPT (Defense Language Proficiency Test-Listening/Reading).

This summer will be crazy, for me at least.  I'll drive across the country end of June or beginning of July, get a few weeks in Augusta with the family before reporting for 2 months of duty in Dahlgren, VA...after that, I'll fly down to Augusta, drive the family up to RI.  We'll be in Rhode Island from October - May.  Finally, Jax.

Well, that's about it for now. If you'll be at Edward's wedding, we'll see you there.  Looking forward to seeing everyone, especially Steve, Amy and the kids.

Daniel

here and there

That's Aiden about 2 years ago...oldie, but goodie.

anyway,

I'm extremely busy...haven't been on here much.  Our family is in an extreme state of chaos and turmoil amidst great stress at work, a man-child, a needy baby, a PCS move across the country, a wedding, decisions about our dog...it's just been a whirlwind.

Here the good news:  First, I want to state for the world publicly and repeatedly that my wife is amazing. This has been such a difficult tour for us in many regards, but largely with her support and leadership of the homestead, we've made it/are going to make it through to the end.  She's amazing.  Secondly, I passed the big, bad DLPT 5 with a 20% pass rate among Arabic students at DLI.  kicked its rear.  DLI started offering the DLPT5 after semester 2 because of the low pass rate in the end, but 3 of 5 remaining students in my class passed.   So, I'm getting paid for my language now and I have every reason to be optimistic for long-term retention.  It's kinda sticking now.  Things are going well.  I'm understanding a lot.  I'm speaking at a high level.  I'm nailing the reading...Now, barring a miracle, I'm going to have to turn around perform again on June 23/24...and take the DLPT5 again....But, I'm confident I can and will do well...better than before...get paid for this horrible year.  In the end, we, as a family, have checked a block if we're meant to serve as a family in the FAO community.

Next, we have a long stretch of separation. Never easy.  It's almost like a little deployment. Starting May 22nd, we'll be apart, for the most part, until we rendezvous again in Newport in early October...I have another year of schooling ahead of me, ranging from weapons systems, doctrines, administration, to Engineering specifics...all preparing me for some real hard work as a Department afloat aboard USS FARRAGUT.  It's an exciting challenge, but it's a challenge.  Pray for this next period in our lives, that we can collect ourselves, recover from DLI, and prepare to be effective both as an officer and leader aboard a ship and as a wife among the other families.  Furthermore, I think it will be a crazy transition for our children, who basically think daddy just goes to school all day.  Underway is a difficult term that they'll have to become too familiar with fee mustaqbel.

We'll try to do our best to keep you posted of the move.  Joy has quite the adventure ahead of her next week with a cross country move accompanied by our children and her "little" brother Will.  I'm sure she'll post pics.  I'll just be studying...And Sir Herschel will be traveling across the country to spend the summer with Mom and Dad.  thank you, Mom and Dad.  Herschel is special to our family and we really didn't know what we were going to do with him for a while.  Wa Shukran.

And of course we're thrilled for Edward and Claire, and looking forward to returning to the homeland, Georgia, soon.

Service has benefits.  Service has sacrifice.  No matter what, we bear the burden together, as a family, and we're proud to bear the colors. We thank you for your support.

Dan(iel), for the Hancocks

Snack Time

Recently Aiden and Emma got to share a snack of chocolate bunny grahams out front.  I can't believe how quickly this year has passed, Emma is going to be one next Saturday!  She's not my itty bitty baby anymore and I'm not sure where the time has gone.  I didn't get much accomplished this week to prepare us for moving.  I think I will eternally be a procrastinator but when there is a time crunch I manage to get things done.  I'm so appreciative of people like Jessica to go out with to blow off some steam, of Susan to keep me level headed and accountable and to lend a hand with organizing, and of course, having a nanny too has helped.  Emma, being super clingy and needy doesn't always go with her but it's been great for Aiden to have a buddy to play with three mornings a week.

We still have 12 days before the kids and I take off, I find it hard to believe that my time here at least is almost done.  As quickly as this year passed as far as Emma growing it's been mighty slow at times when it comes to the requirements and stresses that being a success at DLI takes.  I don't want to bail from this last bit of the "race" but it sure is tempting.  I feel like every last bit of reserve I have is burned up and yet I'm still being asked to give 100% when it's not there to give.  This is exactly how I DIDN'T what this time to end.  This feeling of defeat and overwhelming exhaustion coupled with the emotions of saying bye to friends and being separated geographically as a family for most of the summer and it's a recipe for tension and high emotions.  I'm believing that God doesn't set us up for failure and that there will be grace and redemption in these last days in Monterey.  One thing has proven correct though, mom said that we'll look back and reflect on this time.....and be glad it's over.  No kidding.

Baby Buns and Other News

Ok, so it's been nearly two months for our last post for which I apologize.  As we prepare for our move things are getting more and more chaotic.  We seem to get something settled and then it changes, sometimes in really big ways.  For example, we were all gonna fly at the end of this month for a wedding and I was going to stay with the kids in GA while Daniel finished up here.  Well, I'm still gonna stay in GA, but now I'm driving cross country in our new van with Aiden, Emma, and my "little" brother Will. (He's along to offer protection and to help drive. We're also going to have deep conversation and bonding time and see some really cool stuff.)  One of the many things keeping me busy this past month was the kids having the stomach flu for a full week.  I won't say anything else about that.  

Ok, here are a few pretty recent pictures.  The quality isn't the best because they're all from my phone.  Oh, and to those of you who couldn't view the blog due to password issues that's been fixed and everyone should be able to view again.

Emma, post bath, looking out the window.

Recovering from the stomach flu. 

Fun in the sun.

Cuddles.

Talking to a gopher.

I need to get Emma, she's up from her nap.  We'll be in Monterey for a couple more weeks so one of us will try to post again before we leave.  I will be sure to update after our cross country trip. There should be some good pictures from that!