Boy does time fly

Hello-

We are tardy in keeping our blog up to date. I apologize. The month of Feb and Mar flew by pretty quick. Not too many super exciting things during the winter. We had the chance to go to the circus with the kids and brought grandma and grandpa along. While they were visiting, we also got underway on one of the Station boats for a tour of the harbor. I ran the NYC half marathon in March. We went into the city the day before and did some sightseeing with the kids. We went to build a bear (the largest in the world), dylans candy bar, FAO schwartz and to the observation deck at the top of Rockefeller center. It was a great day. The run went really well. My last half marathon was in 2006 and i improved by 19 minutes since that one.

Anyhow, i have attached some pictures for your enjoyment.
Talk to you all soon
Jason

The "Big" Piano

Build a bear NYC

Update

Good afternoon-

It has been a while since my last post, so here is a little update.

The holidays were nice this year. We hosted Christmas for my extended family. I think the final numbers at the house were around 24 adults and 11 kids. We fit surprisingly well. We then went to CT and visited with EK's family for the New Year. It is so nice having a short commute to visit family now.

After the New Year, I remained in CT and attended a training at the Coast Guard Academy. It was a 2 week long course that I had to cut a few days short due to one of my crew members being in Haiti when the earthquake happened. The long story short is, he is back in NY and ok, but it was a very tense 3 days..especially since we had no communication with him and didn't know if he was even alive. I ask that everyone still pray for his family who remains homeless and living on the streets of Port-au-Prince.

The rest of January was filled with exciting Sundays rooting for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets. As many know, we got Manning'ed. Oh well, it was a great run. Cub Scouts has also been a lot of fun...including the infamous Pine Wood derby. Collin designed and did about 90% of the labor on his car. He went 9-2 and came in 2nd place overall. He was very excited and proud of his "Red Racer".

EK is training for the Boston Marathon which is in April and I am training for the NYC 1/2 marathon which is in March. The video below shows you how EK's training is going...Enjoy

Jason

Christmas 2009

The Beer fridge for Christmas

The thumb suckers..

Collin and his friend Nathan

The Red Racer winning again

Mya was so excited to watch the races

Our backyard

I am glad i bought such a nice treadmill....

NYC Shows

Good evening everyone-

Well this week has been a lot of fun. Last week, through the USO, I was able to get 2 tickets (for free which makes it even better) to the NYC premier of the new Disney movie "The Princess and the Frog". On Monday, Erin-Kate and Mya journeyed up to the Ziegfeld theatre for the show followed by a Disney party. Mya got to meet ALL the Princesses. I have attached photos of her with the ones she didnt meet when we went to Florida. The girls had a wonderful time and it makes me proud to report that EK did the Staten Island Ferry to the Subway and then walked a few blocks to the theatre all by herself.

Then on Thursday, the whole family went to see the Radio City show. It was a blast. I remember being a kid and seeing the show...some of the acts have stayed the same (the toy soldiers), but many were new and GREAT. After the Radio City show, we walked around and saw the tree (which was lit Wed. night) and then we went to the M&M store in Times Square. Of course, the M&M store wasn't enough when Collin saw the Hershey store on the opposite corner...so we went there as well.

Anyhow, it has been busy, but a lot of fun and i really think the Radio City show hit it on the head in one of their songs...there is nothing like Christmas in New York.

MULAN

Little Mermaid

The newest Princess...Tiana

YANKEES

Hello-

Today Erin-Kate, Mya and I went into Manhattan for the parade. The nicest part of it was our transportation. I had a crew from my station take us and other folks from my station over to Manhattan and drop us off about a 5 min walk from the parade. It was great...

Anyhow, it was absolutely packed. We only got to see a little bit of the parade b/c of how far back we were, but the coolest thing was the "vibe". Everyone was just cheering and partying. It was pretty awesome.

Here are some pictures and Mya's video. She loved sharing her cookie with the NYC Pigeons.

Matsui!!

Mya was overwhelmed with excitementPizza after...My Yankee Princesses

Halloween

Hello-

Last night was Halloween and what a day we had. In the afternoon, my station held a family Halloween party. We had inflatables for the kids to jump on, facepainting, popcorn machine, and many other activities for the families. It was a great event and i was really proud of how it came together.

last night we did trick or treating in the neighborhood. The base has "policy" that everyone comes outside and hands out candy to all the kids. This way, they dont go in and out of all the buildings and up and down the stairs. it was really great. The CG Police dept were out patrolling and it was great. I am not exaggerating when i say hundreds of kids were out.

Collin was a bat for Halloween and Mya was Ariel. Here a few pictures of the evening.

Well, hope your Halloween was great and talk to you soon
Jason

Tiger Cubs

Hello all-

Just figured I would get a couple of photos up of Collin and his Tiger Cub den. He joined Pack 43 on Staten Island. It is made up of kids from the base, so he really likes it and he is getting to know more of the neighbors this way.

Anyhow, enjoy and talk to you soon

Jason

Change of Command

Good morning-

Just wanted to share some highlights from the Change of Command.

Yesterday, I assumed command of Coast Guard Station New York. I came up on Sunday the 4th. I then had a week to go thru the relief process. Erin-kate and the kids stayed back in VA for the week. The movers came Wed and packed the truck Thurs. EK and the kids then came to NY on Fri and the Change of command ceremony was Saturday...the 10th.

It was a great ceremony and i was fortunate to have most of mine and EK's immediate family in attendance.

Below are a bunch of pictures from the ceremony as well as some general station "shots".

We move into our house on Wed the 14th. It is 1.2 miles from our front door to the station, so i am very excited i dont have the commute like i did in DC.

Well, if you are on Staten Island, please let me know....we would love to have you to the house and/or station.

Love to all...
Jason

The basin

View from my office

The "relief"