It's been awhile...

His flight has arrived
Seeing Dad for the first time
Lots of hugs for dad
It has been awhile since my last post. Joe came home for his R&R for 2 weeks in Nov. He was able to spend Thanksgiving, Hunter and my birthday with us. The boys were very excited to greet him at the airport. The boys hung on him the entire 2 weeks he was home. Joe and I went to Forest Adventure. It is a zip line course 120 feet above the ground. I am not thrilled with heights but we had a great time. It was a work out climbing all the ropes but worth it. We did take pictures but unfortunately they are all on Joe's camera. I forgot to transfer them to my computer. So the pictures will have to wait.

Rock Band with Dad

All the boys did the Distance Dare. It is a distance event. The swimmer has 2 hours to complete 5000M (3.1 miles) or as many laps as they can do. Brody and Joe were competing to the first time. Brody completed 2400M in 2 hours. He wanted to get out at an hour but I kept giving him "power pellets" (fruit snacks) and he felt he could finish the swim. Hunter completed 5000M in 1 hour 39 minutes. He set the new record for 8 year old boys. Joe completed 5000M in 1 hour 45 minutes. Yes, Hunter is faster than him but he also hasn't been swimming for 9 months. For the Distance Dare, the Galvins hold the record for either time or distance in 6 and 8 years old.






The last swim meet was this weekend (12/11). Brody got his first blue ribbon in the breast stroke. Both boys did great and are happy to take a break from swimming. Flag football has started and the games will start in January. We were lucky to get on a team with some friends so the boys knew someone on their team already.

Joe returned to Afghanistan and will be there until March. He thought he was going to be able to come home the end of February but it isn't looking that way. He now is coming back around the middle to late March. He is staying about 2 weeks longer than expected due to a change of command. I guess we have already done a year, what is 2 weeks more???






The boys and I will celebrate Christmas in the morning on the 25th then it is off to the baseball field across the street for a neighborhood kickball game. After the game we are going to Trina's house for drinks and food. I think the boys will be so excited about kickball (we usually play once a month in the hood when the weather is nice) that they won't be too bothered that Joe is gone. I will post pictures from the big game, so be looking out for that.

Swim Again

The boys are back in the pool and have already had one meet. Hunter is not very thrilled with swimming but is doing it until football starts. He swam the 50 freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly. He did very well in all 3 events and was able to place 1st in all three. Although he hates butterfly, he is pretty good at it.





Brody swam in his first swim meet. I guess it doesn't matter if he is swimming or not...he was ready to go home half way through the meet. He swam the 25 freestyle, backstroke and kickboard. He was able to place 4th, 6th, and 8th place. I don't remember what stroke he got what place but he was very excited to win some ribbons. Unfortunately, the boys are in the same age group so Brody will have to beat his brother but so far they have not competed in the same event.





The Marine Corps birthday was Wed, Nov. 10th, the boys had the day off of school for conferences. We went to see the parade of Marines through the years. They have people dressed in the uniform that Marines would wear during that war. Hunter was having a good time guessing what war it was and Brody was counting the flags in the background. Brody did lean over half way through and ask me if Dad was a Marine. I said yes and he turned and said "okay". They also had no school on the 11th for Veterans Day. According to Brody, it is Ventrance Day! It was funny to listen to. No school again on Friday for conferences.
A rare photo of me before bunco!

I had Bunco at my house on Friday. It was a hunting theme. All the ladies came dressed in orange and played bunco. It was fun and even the boys got into the spirit of things. Joe should be home this weekend. I will let you know when he gets here.

Rocky and Ryan

Hunter and his new shirt.

Well, after Typhoon Chaba came through it was time to get ready for the weekend. Chaba hit on Thursday which cancelled school for the boys. We had strong wind and lots of rain. We didn't have any damage to our stuff but there were a lot of downed trees on base. The boys were back in school on Friday and then our busy weekend began!

On Saturday, the boys were suppose to have a swim meet but that got moved to this weekend due to the storm. I had planned a surprise 40th birthday party for my friend Chris that evening. Chris's husband deployed just after Joe (but he went to Iraq) and he is also gone for a year. Saturday happened to be their wedding anniversary too so we were able to celebrate both of them. She was very surprised and everything went very smoothly. I started getting a sore throat Sta. evening so my appearance at the party didn't last long.
Allison, Gretchen, Carol, Michelle, Tanna, Trina, Carol,Rebecca, Gina, Chris (sitting in chair)

Sunday was the day to trick or treat on base. He boys both dressed up. Hunter went as Rocky Balboa and Brody went as his cousin, Ryan Klahn. Ryan plays football for Kalamazoo College and both boys were sent a t shirt. I put Ryan's number on the back of the t-shirt so Brody dressed up as a football player. As I was standing on the sidewalk, I could hear this man talking to the boys. This is how the conversation went:
Man: "How's it going Rocky? Have you won any matches lately? And who are you? (looking at Brody)
Brody: "I am Ryan."
Man: "Well, Hello Ryan!"
Showing off his number


Brody insisted on wearing a hat for the picture because that "is what Ryan does!"

I know the man thought that his name was actually Ryan so after I explained to Brody what he needed to say, he was telling people "I am Ryan. He is my cousin. He plays for Kalamazoo College. He gave me his number."
Rocky Balboa
The boys before they went out. Isaac Anderson (Chris's son), Brody, Hunter


That isn't exactly what I told him but that was what he was repeating the entire night! They both got lots of candy and for the first time since we have been here, it didn't rain. More later.

Fall Festival

Brody throwing a sponge at the Principal at the Fall Festival

Another busy weekend in the Galvin household. The boys' school had the Fall Festival on Friday. I was there from 11:30-6:30. I worked Health Promotions from 9-11 first then went to the school. The PTO had a dunk tank and I had to work that. It was fun but ended up being a long day. Brody and I went around and played games for the first 2 hours then I worked the booth the last hour. Hunter was off with his friends.
Brody's winning cake
The boys doing the cake walk

Brody finally won a cake at the cake walk. I think it took him a good ten minutes to pick out a cake. He played one of the first rounds so he had so many to chose from. Hunter played the ring toss and ended up winning 13 drinks (if the ring goes around the neck of the drink, you win it) I don't even buy Mountain Dew, let alone like it, but now we have 4 bottles of it. It was a long day capped off by drinks at Trina's with some of the other neighbors.
Completing the obstacle course

Baseball Saturday took up most of the day. Brody had his last game and party after. I must say, I was glad to see this season end. There is something about watching T-Ball that gets to me. Of course, Brody did a great job. He played first and pitcher, danced in both positions (maybe I should stop watching Dancing with the Stars with him). He got up to bat, after a little on deck booty shake, and then hit a home run (okay- it really went like this, he was the last batter and and everyone hits and scores, so he tells everyone he hit a home run!!)Dancing at the pitcher's mound
Dancing on first

Hunter's team was in the tournament today. They ended up losing the game but it was a very close one. Any loss is hard to take but this one was especially hard on Hunter. He didn't have a great day batting, the ump was inconsistent in calling balls and strikes but Hunter also wasn't swinging his bat. He had a few balls hit to him but the runner was safe at first. Hunter wears his heart on his sleeve and takes error personally. I found myself giving the pep talk through the fence to him throughout the game. He is an emotional athlete (I wonder where he got that from???) so I am hoping that this is just a phase and he will grow out of it.

After the obstacle course
Doing the ring toss

Swim also started for the boys. Brody loves it. He is actually pretty good (considering he is only 6). He has green goggles so he looks like a frog in the water. He went to swim this morning at 7:30 without complaining. Hunter, is a different story. He doesn't want to swim. He has the talent but just doesn't have the drive for this sport. We are giving it 2 weeks and then he will decide. I wanted to get through baseball season and the first swim meet to decide. I think once he sits out a swim meet, he will miss it. HE doesn't want to go to Tokyo, if he qualifies, and that is fine. It is just hard to watch someone sit out when they have the talent to do well.
Brody's home run

Hopefully our fall will slow down. Flag Football will start in November for the boys so we will be on a 6 week break from sports except for swimming. More later....

Swim Season

Swim season is upon us and I am happy to announce the newest Galvin on the Okinawa Dolphin Swim Team.....Brody Galvin. Yes, Brody tryout out and made the team. He will be swimming in the Dolphin group and Hunter will again swim in the White group. Both boys practice on the same day but not at the same time. Brody celebrated the tryout with dinner at Pizza Hut (okay, it was just an excuse because I didn't want to cook.)


Football (flag) sign ups are next week. Both boys want to play so our Mondays,Wednesdays and Saturdays will consist of Football while Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will be football. I might regret the schedule later but right now it doesn't seem that bad.


Baseball will be done for Brody the weekend of the 16th. We have this weekend off due to the holiday. Hunter has one last regular season game on Tuesday and then the playoffs for him start the 16th. His team is not as strong as others and it is very frustrating to Hunter. He is very competitive (I have no idea where he gets it from) and wants his team to win. There are only 4 kids who know what they are doing and they rotate between pitcher, catcher, shortstop and third base. The team would do fine if the batters would hit it to those players but that doesn't happen. It is a good experience for Hunter and he has been able to improve his pitching. It would be nice to live next door to the Shaws again so Mark could help Hunter in Joe's absence but I am doing my best.



The Fall fundraiser started at the boys school and I am in charge of it (cause I have nothing else going on!!) They are doing recycling bags, check out the website, they are pretty cool- www.mixedbagdesigns.com The fall festival is coming up in the middle of the month and then at the end of October I am planning a surprise party for a friend's 40th birthday (her husband is deployed too but not with Joe). That is pretty much the schedule for the month of October. I sure hope November isn't quite as busy.

Time Flies

This is the BIG typhoon that never made it big!!

I can't believe that it is almost October. It has been awhile since my last post and we have been busy. I'll give you a brief update on the Galvin.

Hunter: Baseball continues for him. We have been dealing with a lot of crazy weather so he hasn't played in about a week. We have been having lots of rain which soaks the field making it unplayable. HE is always going outside to throw the ball on the wall and practice his fielding. He has constantly played shortstop with a few innings at pitcher. He has a good coach and Shea (from flag football) on his team. School is going well. He got his first project due for the year. He seems to be adjusting to the increase in homework well. It helps that most of it is online.
The boys sportin' hats that dad sent. Brody- Boston Hunter- Yankees

Brody: HE isn't liking baseball. Unfortunately, he has a coach who shows up when she feels like it. Most practices, if she shows up, she is 15 minutes late and only practices for 30 minutes. He is one of the older ones on the team and the younger ones are just goofing off. He told me Sat. that he didn't want to go to the game. I told him he made a commitment and he had to go, he said "My coach doesn't go, so why should I?" We went, his coach didn't show up. One of the dads has taken over the team and youth sports is going to be calling the coach. He will hopefully enjoy it more with the new coach. Brody is not liking the increase in homework. Everything is boring to him when it comes to school. He is looking forward to Deployment Buddies (Elementary kids get paired with a HS kid who has a deployed parent and they do activities together. Hunter wants nothing to do with it.) which will be starting soon.
The baseball rivalry is already starting in our house!!

Joe: He was in CA for the death penalty case that he has had forever. He spent 2 weeks at Camp Pendelton. He "won" his case- if you can call it a win- his client got Life WITH Parole as opposed to death or just life. He is glad that the case is done but will miss the frequent flyer miles that he has acquired in the 4 years on the case (I guess I should be thanking Jesse for sending the boys and I home for the summer.) Joe is back in Afghanistan and will be coming to Okinawa the end of November for his 2 weeks leave. He should be here for Thanksgiving.

Gretchen: I am still working with Health Promotions and subbing at the elementary school. When I am not working, I am doing something for PTO. I am at the school all the time! Our fall fundraiser is coming up which I am in charge of. We use to do Sally Foster as the fundraiser but I found a company who does recycling bags so since I found it, I get to be in charge of it. It is called Mixed Bag Designs. I am excited to start the fundraiser.

Other than running to school, practice, games or meetings, nothing else has been happening here. We are having more typhoon warnings, I wish one would just hit and get it over with! I did get to see the ND/MSU game on Sunday morning. Of course we had to go to church so I missed the ending but am happy with the end result. Better luck next year ND!

First Day of School

It was the first day of school on Okinawa today and as you can tell by the picture, my boys were thrilled. Hunter is going into 3rd and has Mrs. Delaney and Brody is going into 1st with Mrs. Goodwin. I got called to sub for the first 2 days of school so right off the bat I am earning money!! We are currently in TC- 2. Which means a storm is coming our way. I got everything strapped down outside and now we are just waiting for it to hit. Apparently it is coming towards us but all we will get is a lot of rain and wind gust. We haven't had a typhoon in 3 years so we are about due. I got my fridge stocked with the necessary items for us, food, water and beer. If I am going to be stuck inside, I might as well be happy!!



Baseball continues for the boys. Last weekend, Hunter had a game that lasted 2.5 hours. They ended up winning but exhausted all the pitchers. It was very warm and humid so it was not fun to play in.





Brody also had a game. That boy kills me!! He hit the ball into the outfield, ran to first and the coach told him to go to second, he looked at the coach and said, "No, It's too hot to run!!" That's my boy! He played a great game at first and pitcher but was really looking forward to the snack at the end.