Golf Tournament Results

Monday Josh enjoyed playing in his first competitive round of golf as an amateur for the Florida State Open Qualifier! Although I wasn't able to be present, Matt was a great caddy for him. Last week, as Josh was practicing he was shooting scores in the high 60's and low 70's- however, on Thursday, he snapped his driver in half just a few days before his tournament! He continued to have a great attitude about his potential performance and shot a 74 at the tournament using Matt's driver. Out of roughly 50 competitors (many of them professionals) Josh ranked in 7th place and earned a spot as the "first alternate" for the actual Florida State Open!

We are still unsure how the "alternate" system will work (i.e. will he need to show up on the day of the tournament in case someone else does not come or will he have more advanced notice). Regardless, he is thrilled with his performance and I am VERY proud of him!

Josh hopes to play in another qualifier on the weekend of the 18th, which happens to be the weekend the of the Florida State Open, so we will wait and see where he plans to play. More details to come!

Sea World Adventure!

Saturday Josh and I met up with a few friends from Officer's Christian Fellowship at Sea World!

We had a blast, but I am embarassed to say that after only 5 hours I was spent and ready to return home!

The guys enjoyed the two roller coasters, while the girls enjoyed watching the Manta Ray exhibit. One of the roller coasters had the guys on their stomachs (I suppose like a Manta Ray, as the ride was called "Manta")! After all of the excitement, we spent the rest of the day at various live exhibits and shows.

Sara and baby Piper

The Shamu show

I felt like the animals couldn't possibly be real based on what they were doing! It was truly surreal!

John, Sara, and Piper

One of John and Sara's friends from TX was in town visiting as well and came along

The sea lion and otter "Pirate" show was a huge hit!

Scary ;)

...even scarier!

VP-45

Soooo...Josh got "verbal" orders today that he will be staying in Jacksonville and will be assigned to the squadron, VP-45 (the pelicans)!

Although these orders will need to be confirmed in writing (hopefully soon), it is nice to have a better idea of what is to come. We are surprised that Josh will be in this squadron, as he had many people asking for him to be in Matt's (his brother) squadron, VP-10, however, we are certain that God is sovereign over this too and knows what is best for Josh (and I)!

Similar to Matt's squadron, VP-45 will also deploy in June of 2011 (however, Matt will no longer be in that squadron at that point). It is likely that VP-45 will deploy to Japan, whereas, VP-10 will likely deploy to the desert again. (I put a strong emphasis on likely here, as you never know in the Navy!)

We hope to hear soon regarding specific dates in which Josh will attend survival school and begin life at the squadron- more to come :)

Here is a link with information about VP-45:
http://www.vp45association.org/vp45history.htm