Snowcation 2010

Don't hate us because we loved the snow. I am well aware that playing in the snow for 2 days and then flying back to your tropical island is much more fun than back to back snow storms leaving you stranded for days. But WE LOVED THE SNOW!!! In the words of Alison after arriving to Sapporo "EVERY THING'S MADE OF SNOW!!!" We had a fabulous trip. Lots of snow, sledding, hot cocoa, fellowship, competition, ice skating, and family time. It was so fun to take a snowcation. When you are used to living in warm climates you forget how fun the snow can be. We even went ice skating outside. The kids loved it! Watch out Luke and Brady, Owen may just show up ready to play hockey in a few months.

Sapporo was beautiful. One afternoon Owen went with our friends to sled and while Jeff and Alison napped I enjoyed a cream puff, hot chocolate, and watching the snow fall out our window. Such peace.

It was a great vacation. I'm thankful for having had the opportunity to see another part of Japan and for having a break from the busyness of life. Hope you enjoy the pictures. And hope you enjoy your snow as much as we enjoyed ours. (would you kill me if I told you we are having a thunderstorm and our A/C just kicked on?!?)

Snowmobile ride

Snow slides

After the ice slide "that was so fast"

Alison is the little pink thing on the 4th ice slide

Mickey and Minnie

Before the snowmobile ride

Zoo animals, the detail on this sculpture was amazing!

Pulling the kids in the sled. Our friend Buddy provided the sleds for the kids. Pure genius!

Ice sculptures

Airplane ice sculpture

Car ice sculpture

Jack on the seal pup

Alison trying to mount the seal pup

Sledding. Buddy found us the best hill ever!

Jen with the popular Japanese pose

Owen ready to go down

Snow Angel

Trying to get back up

I love this stuff!

Owen down but not out

Go Owen go!

Alison and Daddy skating.

Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

Saturday we traveled to Nago for the Cherry Blossom Festival. We had great weather and enjoyed climbing all the stairs this year. The last time we went it was a little rainy and Alison was about 18 months, needless to say we didn't make it to the top. This year the kids had no excuse seeing as how they climbed The Great Wall back in April. They did great and it was such a beautiful walk amongst the cherry blossom trees. I've never been to D.C.'s Cherry Blossom Festival, but I feel like I've seen the "real" thing since our trees were a gift from the people of Japan. Maybe next spring we'll get to go to the festival in Washington D.C. since we'll be close. We are trying to soak up all things "Japan" with our 5 months left. On Thursday we head to Sapporo for the Snow and Ice Festival. It should be great fun. I don't think either of our kids really remembers what snow is like. Thankfully GramZ and Baba sent us some snowsuits to borrow from their stash in Michigan. We should be toasty warm as we slide, tube, and snowball fight. Our friends, the Rathmells, are also going to be there. We look forward to some great fellowship and competition. :)

Enjoy the pictures. Sorry if they make you long for spring. Next year we won't be living on this tropical island, but for now we'll enjoy the 70 degree temps!

What We Do On Christmas Break

Dress up Day. The Prince and the Princess

Santa at the O club

Pirate Ship Park

December 23, 2009 74 degrees. Happy tropical Christmas!

Decorating Cookies (We also made those snowmen chair covers one day)

There's a reason we only do this once a year.

Yum-O

Success!

We've also been to the III MEF band Christmas concert, AWANA cookie decorating, Round1 indoor sports/arcade fun place, out to dinner with friends and the Air force Tops in Blue concert. It's been a full week!

Tokyo 2009

A picture by a purple Christmas tree for Miss Erin

For Thanksgiving we were able to travel to Tokyo again. The vacation away from Okinawa was certainly a welcome one. I never thought a little island could be so busy. We arrived on Thanksgiving day and enjoyed lunch and a little sight seeing in Roppongi before our turkey feast at The New Sanno.

Friday morning found us up bright and early. There was no doubt we were going to meet the mouse. Since Jeff doesn't embarrass easily I took it upon myself to order us matching Mickey shirts. They made me happy. (Secretly I think Jeff liked them too :)) We spent the day riding rides, watching parades, eating overpriced treats, and loving every minute of it. My favorite part was definitely the electrical parade. However, Alison totally stole my heart during the daytime parade. She sat on her daddy's shoulders and screamed her heart out at Minnie and the princesses. It would not have helped to tell her they couldn't hear her. She was convinced they were waving to her. I loved hearing her little voice yell "Minnie, I'm here. I'm wearing you. Hi Minnie!" "Cinderella, Cinderella, Hi Cinderella! Cinderella". It went on and on for every princess that came through. I'm happy to report that Disney is still the happiest place on earth.

Saturday and Sunday we mastered the Tokyo subway system and explored the city quite a bit. We made it to the Imperial palace and gardens, Ginza (a shopping district), Asakusa (temple and pagoda), The Meiji Shrine, another shopping district, the Tokyo Tower, and Roppongi for dinner at Outback steakhouse. Tokyo is quite an amazing city! I have really come to love Japan. I think my favorite parts of our sight seeing were the imperial palace gardens and Asakusa. The gardens were beautiful. Many trees and fall colors. I haven't seen fall colors in 2 years. Asakusa was a more traditional part of town and it was beautiful too. The temple and pagoda were similar to those we saw in China. But the best thing we did was a rickshaw ride around the town. Our rickshaw "driver" showed us all around the business district of Asakusa. The kids really loved the ride.

We also managed to swim at the hotel and get some yummy baked goods at a local pastry shop. We flew back to Okinawa on Monday night. We were able to see Mt. Fuji from the plane. Maybe we'll head back to Tokyo in the summer to climb it. Or maybe I'll enjoy the hotel while Jeff climbs it. We'll keep you posted.

Preschool Program

Alison's preschool class had a Christmas program yesterday. I'm not sure there is anything cuter than the videos of these 2, 3, and 4 year olds singing. I hope you enjoy them. The loud voice is the boy I focus on one time in the green shirt. Also note that Alison needed something to do with her hands so she chose to pull up her dress. At least she is in the middle row so not too many people got to see her hello kitty underwear. We're working on being a lady. I know I'm biased but I do believe she is the most beautiful girl in the performance!

Walkathon 2009

tug of war after the walkathon

Getting ready to go

Registered and ready to go!

Saturday November 14, 2009 Owen, Alison and I walked 9km for OCSI's walkathon. Owen had pleaded with family members and at least one neighbor to sponsor him walking. I must say he did MUCH better this year than last year. I only heard two complaints of him being tired and those were easily squashed by my positive pep talks. If you've seen Facing the Giants then you'll recognize my spiel, "Don't quit Owen, your very best, don't quit" "one foot in front of the other buddy, one foot in front of the other" "God gave you two strong legs" etc. Then on the last hill Alison got out of the stroller and ran up the hill with her brother. So cute! She stopped for a minute and said "mommy I need some water" and then trudged her chubby little thighs the rest of the way up. I was so proud of my kids. I was so thankful the rain held off. Our weekend was busier than I hope to ever be again. We're still tired, Alison was in bed at 6:40pm tonight, but I'm thankful for a good weekend.

Typhoon Schmyphoon

So the typhoon passed us by. I'm kind of glad, but it would be nice to get one out of the way. It seems inevitable that we will have one while we live here. The anticipation is starting to get to me. It moved past Okinawa during the night and morning, making for an interesting workout today. I just kept singing "against the wind, I keep running against the wind". 

Just before we left for school Owen said look there is a rainbow. So we ran out and took a quick picture. We see lots of rainbows in Okinawa but this is the first one we photographed. It was gone as quickly as it came, but it was beautiful!