- Screen Savers
- Jay C Winter Photography
- 1 January 2011
- Pvt. Nathanael E. De Pretis
For the third and FINAL time, the De Pretis Family is proud to announce that our son has Sworn-In to The United States Military!
On July 21st, Nathanael Ernest De Pretis officially became a Private and Future Soldier of The United States Army!
Nate will be leaving for his Basic Training on January 4, 2011 to join his brothers in the ranks of military service. He has chosen to be Airborne Infantry and will do his training at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Hooah!
The De Pretis Family
- Lcpl Marc De Pretis Homecoming
On July 13, 2010 we welcomed Marc back home to 29 Palms from his first deployment!
Marc left for Okinawa, Japan on January 8, 2010 to serve on the 31st MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit). He was at sea aboard the USS Denver for about 3 months touring the Western Pacific. During his time at sea Marc visited Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. They did training operations in Thailand and the Philippines where they trained with the Thai, Korean and Filipino Marines. While in The Kingdom of Thailand, Marc completed Operation Cobra Gold, which was a joint training operation with the Thai and Korean Marines. During this operation, they caught and killed a cobra, drained it's blood and drank it. They do this so that they learn jungle survival, learning to safely catch, skin, kill and eat their prey. Drinking the blood is more of a ritual or right of passage - if you drink the cobra's blood you supposedly gain the strength or qualities of the cobra. While in the Philippines he participated in Joint Task Force Balikatan in which he conducted training operations with the Filipino Marines. He also completed a basic Filipino Martial Arts Course.
In Okinawa, Marc was made a Jungle Warfare Instructor at the Jungle Warfare Training Center. He also received a certificate of completion for doing the SWET and IPHABD Passenger Ditching Course (which means he now knows how to ditch an aircraft while under water).
6 months of being overseas was just enough to make Marc homesick - even for the desert at 29 Palms! Our family was thrilled to be able to be on base to welcome him home and are looking forward to Monday, July 19th when Marc will come home to Pleasanton for his post-deployment leave.
Semper Fi!
The De Pretis Family
- Thanksgiving 2009 - No one likes Ruby much
- Trip to 29 Palms & Palm Springs
Matt and I got to go see Marc over Memorial Day weekend. What a treat! We drove down to 29 Palms on Friday the 22nd and arrived just in time to watch Marc's platoon get into formation, get their liberty briefing and be dismissed for 96 hours. Marc showed us his barracks and around his base and then we just hung out at our hotel for the night. He was most excited about getting a chance to go into the pool! It is sooo hot out there and there are no pools for the grunts!
Saturday, we went out to Palm Springs where we had a terrific weekend. We went up tram San Jacinto State Park, we spent time at the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, we hung out at the pool at our hotel and had some fantastic meals.
Both Chris and Marc's birthday is on June 6th so we had fun celebrating Marc's 19th birthday a little early (Chris will be turning 21 in Guatemala, but Matt is going out to visit him the week after his birthday so they will get to celebrate a little late).
We are so grateful for a wonderful visit! Hope you enjoy the show...
Cindy
- The "DE PRETIS DAILY" Newsletter
This is a newsletter only - sorry, there are no pictures to share at this time.
For those of you who have been asking... Marc FINALLY has an address!
Marc is stationed at Twentynine Palms down by Yucca Valley and kind of by Palm Springs.
He is in the 1st Marine Division
2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (aka 2/7) - Mascot: War Dogs
G Company - Mascot: Gunfighters
3rd Platoon
2nd Squad
2nd Fire-team
Automatic Rifleman (aka SAW Gunner - just like his big brother)
PFC Marc De Pretis
P.O. Box 6119
29 Palms, CA 92278
As of this time, there is no word about when or where they will deploy but we will keep you posted.
The news on Christopher is that he is currently living in Guatemala in Xela.
He is in a full emersion Spanish program and is hoping to be fluent by July. He will be coming back to California toward the end of July.
Chris is going to attend Santa Monica City College this fall with the hope of transferring into UCLA in two years into their film school. Ultimately, he wants to become a director.
Nate and Tess are still pluggin' along in high school. Nate is still not certain what route he wants to take after he graduates in 2010 so we are in the process of exploring the possibilities.
That's life in a nutshell. Look forward to hearing how things are with all of you!
Semper Fi,
Cindy
- Marc's SOI Graduation
On February 4th Marc officially completed his Marine training by graduating from the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton.
My Mom, Dad, Matt and I attended Marc's graduation on Wednesday morning. We were able to spend a small amount of time with Marc (we had lunch in the Mess Hall) before he was bused off to 29 Palms where he is now stationed. Just before Marc left to get on the bus, he surprised us by letting us know that he had received a promotion and is now a Private First Class.
Marc is in the 1st Marine Division, 2/7 (War Dogs), G Company (Gunfighters), 3rd Platoon, 1st Squad. As many of you know, rumors are par-for-the-course in the military and plans change constantly, but for the moment... Marc has been told he will be going to Iraq in September (yes, this is already a change from Afghanistan in August so who really knows?)
We do not currently have Marc's new address, but if you would like us to email it to you when we get it, please drop me a line to c_depretis@pacbell.net and I will make sure to send it to you.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Blessings and Semper Fi,
Cindy
- Captain Sullenberger's Homecoming
- Our Hero is Home!!
He's Home!!!! Settle in - this is a LONG one... (the narrative is long-winded and slideshow runs about 12 minutes)
Thank you all for your prayers and support over the past 14 months! On November 16th, Spc. Christopher De Pretis landed safely at the 101st Airborne, Ft Campbell, KY! Matt and I didn't know for sure what day Chris would be arriving home as the dates changed minute by minute. We changed our flights 3 times to try and be there on the day he landed! Finally, we just decided to throw our hat over the fence and leave on Friday the 14th. This meant that we had to leave Marc early during his 12 day post bootcamp leave, but thankfully, he was so understanding and even watched Nate and Matteson for us until he left to go back to Camp Pendleton for his Infantry Combat Training. When our plane landed in Nashville, we turned on our phones and got the greatest message ever! We were told that Chris would be landing in Kentucky in just two days!
On Sunday evening, we headed on to the post and were shuttled to the airstrip. We spent about an hour inside the hanger with a few hundred very excited families. It was such a privilege to watch as the little children were running around the hanger floor, most dressed in their jammies, twirling around in shear excitement to see their daddies! We observed so many young women holding new born infants that you knew would be meeting Daddy for the very first time! One woman was highly pregnant. During his mid-deployment leave she had gotten pregnant so her husband had never seen her very expanded belly before.
About every 15 minutes, a female soldier would go to the podium and announce "Ladies and Gentlemen... Flight 12345 will be arriving in approximately 1 hour". They crowd would go nuts! Finally, she announced "Ladies and Gentlemen... Flight 12345 will be arriving in 10 minutes, please make your way to the airstrip barricades". Everyone happily made their way out into the freezing cold night.
Outside, we were instructed to stay behind the barricades. The General came by and shook hands with as many families as he could. Then, he stood watching the sky. When the plane came into sight, the crowd cheered! Chris later told me that when he looked out the window, he could see a million flashes of light coming from the ground as the families were taking pictures. I cannot tell you the emotions that I felt when that plane touched ground! Home safe!! It was surreal. The plane taxed around the runway to meet the stair-car. When it made it's turn around, the pilots had opened their windows and put out their flag poles displaying the American flag. The General and his entourage made their way out to the plane to greet the troops. Then, the moment we were all waiting for.... The men began to disembark! Of course, they filed to the holding area to a hero's welcome! Everyone was cheering and screaming and trying to get a glimpse of our own soldier. I can't say that saw Chris. They really all looked alike in their full gear. We tried to pick out the men carrying an M249 to narrow it down, but it didn't matter - we knew he was one of those young men.
We were asked to go back into the hanger and wait for the men to come in to greet us. After a short wait, the hanger doors opened. In came marching our soldiers - WOW!!!! There was a short ceremony, then men sang the 101 Screaming Eagles Battle Song and then we were given about 15 minutes to find our man. When Chris saw us, he face lit up! He thought we weren't going to make it because the plans had changed so many times. This moment was one of the best in both mine and Matt's life!
Our 15 minutes ended much too quickly and then the men marched back out to take care of business. Chris was released to go with us around 1am on Monday morning. Because officially they had "worked" on Monday, they were given the entire day off. Chris went back to our hotel and slept with us. We got to spend all day Monday, half day Tuesday, and half day Wednesday with him. It was a fantastic trip!!
Chris had to go through a re-integration program so they were not given leave until December. On the evening of December 10th, Chris came home to Pleasanton to another hero's welcome!
WOW! What else can I say?! From the moment Chris's plane hit LA to OAK, he was in for the ride of his life!! On board, the Captain made an announcement to the passengers that Chris was on board and returning home from Iraq. He gave the passengers a full synopsis of Chris' life and duties over the last 14 months which was met by a round of applause. When they landed in Oakland, Matt, Nate, Tess and I were at the gate along with about 40 TSA officers ready to cheer and welcome him home. When we went down to baggage claim, there were about 25 Patriot Guard Riders standing in a flag line. They saluted him as he walked through (PGR is a national organization over 100,000 strong. There mission is to guard a patriot safely home. Many of them are vets, some have children in the military and some are involved because "it is just the right thing to do"). It was incredible! He got a chance to shake their hands and then they left. While we were waiting for his bags, Channel 2 News showed up! We didn't see it, but we heard the kids were on TV that night. When we left the airport, we drove past the PGR on the side of the road. Chris suggested we wave and honk at them. He was so confused when we pulled into their line up. At that point we explained that he would be riding home in a motorcade. That was a total kick! There were two Harley's in front of us and a pack behind us - that's a once in a lifetime kind of deal! When we got into town and closer to our home, they started the show. They were revving their engines and honking and making sure that the whole city of Pleasanton knew they were there! When we turned the corner to get to our home, we were greeted by hundreds of people, cheering and waving their flags!!! It was the most unbelievable sight!! (BTW... I know I am using a lot of explanation points, but believe me, there is no other way to punctuate this evening) We were so overwhelmed and blessed by what had to be more than 300 people who came out to show Chris their love and support! You'll see in the pictures that there was a giant flag over our garage lit up with a big 'ole light. Our friends in the Pleasanton Military Families had decorated with Welcome Home banners and flags - again, AMAZING! Each organization represented that evening came up to speak and give Chris a commemorative item. Our family cannot express how grateful we are to our friends, our neighbors, The Pleasanton Military Families, The VFW, The Lafayette Flag Brigade, The PGR, OpSam, our community as a whole and anyone else I am forgetting (yes this does feel like an Academy Award speech - kind of felt like that to tell you the truth) for making this evening one that will be forever burned in our memories and one that honored Chris so deeply!!
Thank you again!
Cindy and The Whole De Pretis Family
- Marc's Marine Corps Graduation
It's FINALLY here!! Marc's Marine Corps Graduation Album - it took me long enough!! Thank you for your support and prayers for Marc as he went through bootcamp. He is so happy to be finally called a Marine. We are so proud of Marc and are excited to share this experience with you all.
Semper Fi
Cindy and The De Pretis Family
- AVHS Homecoming 2008
On October 11, 2008, Nate and Matteson attended Amador Valley High School's Homecoming Dance. This was Tess' first dance. Sadly, my photography skills were lacking while taking pictures of Nicole and Tess getting ready (they are pretty blurry). Matt and I had another function we were racing to get to that night so we got very few photos of the group and none at all of Nate with his "date". When the professional pics from the dance come in, we will scan them and add them to this album. We are also hoping that we will be able to add photos that other parent's took at some point.
- The "DE PRETIS DAILY" Newsletter, Marine Corp Graduation Edition
Hello to all of our family and friends!
We can hardly believe it, November is almost here! This is going to be a very exciting month for our family. Barring any unforeseen setback, Marc will be graduating from his Marine Corp Boot camp on November 5, 2008! As you know, you are all welcome to attend Marc's graduation ceremony (children are welcome as well). If you are able to come, we would love it if you would let us know in advance. We are sorry, but we will not be able to save seats (it is bleacher seating) so we suggest getting to MCRD early to get a good spot. We believe the bleachers will be marked so that we will know which area to sit in. Marc is in 2nd Battalion, Echo Company, Platoon 2105.
According to a brochure we were given, the following is the itinerary for Graduation Day:
6:30 -9:00am Breakfast Buffet at Bay View Restaurant on the MCRD campus (Our family will not be going to this - it is optional and Marc will not be included)
8:00-8:30am Colors Ceremony Bldg 31 (Our family will be attending this, but Marc will not)
9:30-9:45am Graduation Seating at the Parade Deck (Please note that the Parade Deck is considered sacred and is not to be walked on by civilians)
10:00-12:00pm Graduation Ceremony at the Parade Deck
It is our understanding that after the ceremony, Marc will be free to leave MCRD.
There are restaurants on campus, but we have heard that they are very crowded. We are looking into different options as to where to eat after the ceremony. My wonderful friend, Michelle, gave me a list of restaurants near MCRD that we are considering. Mark and Nansea have also graciously offered to have everyone meet back at their house in Carlsbad for lunch. We were thinking whomever wanted to join us could pitch in for pizza's or something of the kind. We will give this some more thought and get back to everyone as soon as possible. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to give us a call.
For more information and directions to MCRD copy and paste the following address into your browser: www.mccsmcrd.com
There is A LOT of information on this site so it can be overwhelming. Look at the left hand margin and click into Graduation Events. You can find which gate to enter, driving directions, the graduation itinerary, dos and don'ts plus a whole lot more.
That's about it for now, we will update you as soon as we have anymore information.
Thank you all again for your prayers and your support!
The De Pretis Family
- The "DE PRETIS DAILY" Newsletter
Hello to all! The De Pretis Family has three updates to share with you regarding Christopher and Marc.
We are so excited to tell you that beginning October 2008, mail service to Christopher's unit in Bayji Iraq will be terminated. Why is this exciting? The 101st is making preparations to come home!! We do not have any specific dates yet, but Chris has told us that the last mail we can send will be in the month of September. I know that many of you have been writing and sending packages to Chris and I cannot tell you how much of a blessing that is to both Christopher and to us! We will send out more information as it becomes available - but what we have come to realize with the military is to never completely hang-our-hats on any of the info we get. Plans can change at any time.
Our second piece of news is that Cindy made a mistake in saying that Marc will be at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside. In fact, he is at MCRD (Marine Corp Recruit Depot) that is based right next to the San Diego airport. For those of you who are planning on attending his graduation, we have had conflicting reports of November 5th and November 7th as the date he will graduate. We'll let you know when we know for sure.
Many of you have asked for Marc's address at boot-camp. His address is included with this update along with a list of "what not to do's". If Marc's letter's draw any attention, then it is tradition for the Drill Instructors to "smoke" the recruits. We don't know what all that includes other than extra rigorous physical training, but whatever the case, it's bad! So, if you would like to send a letter, please use only a plain white envelope. Please do not draw on the envelope (this includes children) and please do not put any decorative stamps on it either. Just the address, return address and the mailing stamp. Please do not send Marc anything other than a letter and possibly picture. We heard a story of a recruit from Hawaii. His family included a small amount of sand in his letter. It cost him hours of P/T in the sandbox. Although we don't anticipate this happening as Marc is currently without a girlfriend... just to be on the safe side... please do not use scented paper. All that said... we know how much Marc will appreciate hearing from you. It can be very lonely and difficult and getting words of support can make all the difference in the world. Please understand that it may be impossible for Marc to write back as their time is strictly regimented.
Rct. De Pretis, Marc D.
2nd Bn Echo Co. Plt. 2105
36001 Midway Ave.
San Diego, CA 92140-2105
Thank you all for your support!
The De Pretis Family
PS... Sorry for sending a Newsletter out on Phanfare, but it was the easiest way for me to communicate with everyone at once. My email only lets me send to a few addresses at a time. Maybe one of these days I will get with the times and learn how to blog.
- Ten Little Indians
Well, our family is really starting to resemble Agatha Christie's book, Ten Little Indians. And then there were two...
This last week has been packed to the gills as we were preparing for our second son, Marc, to fly the coop. On August 3rd we had Marc's going away party. We had a wonderful time and know he felt very honored. A couple of days later our Pleasanton Military Families had a BBQ that Marc briefly attended. We celebrated Matt's birthday a few days early so that Marc would be able to join us as he was scheduled to report to duty at 5:30 a.m. on August 11, Matt's actual birthday. Marc made sure to spend some time with his friends and he took each one of his family members out on a date.
On Sunday, August 10th, Marc went out to breakfast with his best friends. He spent the rest of the day hanging out with the family and working-in a little alone time with Nate and Tess. Our friends and pastor, Dan and Sue Mitchum, came by to give Marc a blessing and pray over him and then we got in some final family pictures. We took some time out alone as a family and went to Linner (Late Lunch/Dinner). When we got home, Marc made his final preparations and all too soon we were off. He said goodbye to Nate, Tess and Sadie at home, then Matt and I had some private time with him at Foster's Freeze. Chris had called earlier from Iraq to say goodbye and asked me if we would be taking Marc to Foster's (the same place we took him before he left for bootcamp). Chris laughed and said that the De Pretis boys would forever dread that particular ice cream parlor as it is kind of like the last meal for the Dead-Man-Walking. At 5:30 p.m. Matt and I dropped Marc off at the Marine Corp Recruiting Station and said a hasty goodbye. Marc was taken that evening to MEPS (Military Entry Processing Station) at Moffet Field where he would spend the night in preparation for his flight on the 11th to San Diego where he will report for duty at MCRD (Marine Corp Recruit Depot).
On Tuesday the 12th, 1:46 a.m., we received a phone call from Marc. He informed us that Recruit De Pretis had arrived safely at MCRD and was in good condition. He also informed us that he would be graduating on November 7th (providing all goes as planned). It was fun to hear him rattle off his pertinent information. We are sure that he was required to read it from a form letter and he was absolutely NOT allowed to veer from the script. He already sounded like a Marine :) From this point until November, we will have very little contact with Marc. When we are given an address, we will e-mail it out for those of you who would like to write. We would really appreciate your prayers as Marc begins this new adventure. We know that this is going to be a very difficult and stretching time for Marc, but we have great faith that he will do wonderfully. He is finally fulfilling what has been his dream for at least 6 years. As a matter of fact, when we were driving him to the recruiting station, Marc made the comment that this was all surreal. It has been his dream for so long, one that he has had actual dreams of, that it just didn't seem that it was truly happening (I'm guessing when those drill instructors are yelling into his face, he is going to feel more like it's a nightmare).
Thank you again for all of your support! Our family has been so blessed by each and every one of you!
Semper Fi
Cindy, Matt, Nate and Matteson
- Saying Goodbye...
- Tess' Baptism
On Sunday, May 18, 2008, Matteson Aliece De Pretis (aka Tess) got baptized at Shadow Cliff Park in Pleasanton, California. We are so proud of Matteson and her decision to publically profess her belief in Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The day was gorgeous and the park was packed!!
Blessings to you all,
Cindy
- PMF and VFW Armed Forces Day Support Our Troops Gala
- Christopher's 18 Day Mid Deployment Leave
Spc. Christopher De Pretis (Yey! He got an early promotion to Specialist!) came home from Iraq to Pleasanton on Thursday, February 7, 2008. The army gives one 18 day leave during deployment. We were so excited for Chris to come home to spend his leave with the family! We had a very nice visit with him. It was surreal to see all four kids together (as many of you know, when you have four teenagers that doesn't happen much - even when you have them all living at home)! Chris looks good (albeit thin - they don't eat much when they are on missions) and was in very good spirits.
During his leave, our family and Chris' girlfriend, Mackenzie, spent the day in San Francisco, Chris joined me at my Pleasanton Military Families meeting, we all went 4-wheeling at Carnegie and celebrated Mackenzie's 19th birthday. Chris tried to get in every movie he could (particularly any one that was nominated for an Oscar) and he and Marc spent the night out with some buddies at a friend's hunting cabin. We were blessed to have our friends loan us their lake house over one weekend and then Chris and Mackenzie headed down to Southern California to visit mine and Matt's parents. Chris was excited to show Mackenzie "home" (Huntington Beach) and he took her to Disneyland for her birthday. It was a stroke of luck that Chris' leave landed just in time for the Oscars (Mackenzie's family had him over for a wonderful dinner and Oscar night) as that is as big (if not bigger) as the Super Bowl to him. We topped off the leave with a family dinner and game night.
It was a very busy 18 days, but Chris did leave time to just "be still" and to hang out with our family (for a record amount of time). We pretty much kept his being back home on the down-low as it really was difficult for Chris to socialize. We are so looking forward to the day he really comes home - there will be nothing quiet about it!
Understandably, Chris was not really looking forward to heading back to Iraq, but is happy about the extra "Combat Pay" that he gets while he's there! Chris is diligently saving everything he makes so that he can move to New York, where he plans to go to school when he gets out of the army in March '09 (it's his dream to become a director). Sadly, Chris had to return to Iraq on Tuesday the 26th - he had a 6:00 a.m. flight out of Oakland- yikes! From Oakland, Chris will stop in Denver, Atlanta, Europe (probably Ireland) then finally Kuwait where he will be processed for a couple of days while he waits for a flight to Iraq. All-in-all he should be traveling for several days to a week before he gets back to his FOB in Bayji, Iraq.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Cindy
- Marc Joins The Marines!
The De Pretis Family is proud to announce that on Monday, January 28, 2008, Marc Daniel De Pretis joined the United States Marine Corps. Marc joined in the delayed entry program and is currently scheduled to "ship-out" to basic training on August 11, 2008 (his daddy's birthday). Leaving for basic training a month earlier is Marc's best friend, Chris Book (who joined us for our family celebration dinner on Monday night). Please keep both young men in your prayers.
This slideshow is accompanied by the USMC Band playing The Star Spangled Banner.
- Thompson & De Pretis Open House
Thompson & De Pretis' Open House on January 24, 2008. Catered by Julianna's. Truffles by Bibiane's. Flowers by Bloomies.
- Chris' Christmas Album
PMF Pack Out, Tess' Winter Concert; Mackenzie Opening Her Christmas Gift; Christmas With Papa and Aunt April