HES HOME!!!!!

Its official!! JOSH IS HOME!!!! The ship pulled into port this morning and we were there to welcome it home! We were waiting on LPD-17 USS San Antonio to watch it come to the piers. Afterwards, we were escorted on board. Josh got a nice surprise since I didnt even know it until it happened. He wasnt expecting us till later in the day, but he got to see us early. Both of the kids were soooo excited!!! He has duty until 8 am and then he will be home with us until the 27th, when he had duty again. I will get some pics uploaded and post them here soon. Thanks for listening to all my troubles while he has been gone!


Here is a piece from a local news station wtkr.com:

We've had a Navy homecoming every day this week.

But Friday, the sailors were not coming home from deployment.

Instead they were coming home after building the newest ship in the Navy.

It's USS Mesa Verde, the third in a new class of ships that's seen it's share of problems.

Built in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Mesa Verde's trip to its homeport in Norfolk was delayed a year and a half when Hurricane Katrina hit the shipyard there. Nine construction-crew members lost their home.

Making its way past the other ships tied up at the piers at Naval Station Norfolk, Mesa Verde definitely looked different. The masts are enclosed on the ship giving the ship a sleeker look and protecting radar and communications antennae from weather and reducing the ship's vulnerability to detection by the enemy.

The trip was a long time coming for families, many who have lived here alone while their sailors worked on the ship in Mississippi for the past three years.

While the Mesa Verde is the third in the new San Antonio class, it will actually be the first of the class to deploy. That's because those first two ships, USS San Antonio and USS New Orleans, had millions of dollars worth of design problems. They're still working out the kinks now.

The $1.3 billion dollar Mesa Verde is apparently having fewer problems.

"All of the ships are getting better all the time, and each ship continues to improve and to be better than the one before," said Cmdr. Shawn Lobree, Commanding Officer of USS Mesa Verde.

"It feels great," said Senior Chief Robert Hill. "It's been three years building it and it's been a long time. It's really good to be back here in Norfolk."

The sailors get to settle into their permanent home station over the Christmas holiday. It will still be another one and a half to two years of testing and training before mesa verde can deploy.