Highlights

Highlights from the last few weeks! First off, one Sunday afternoon when Tom was busy with meetings I took the kids for a walk and we enjoyed some fun and picnic in a nearby area we call "Habu Canyon."



HAYDEN scored his first goal in his soccer game on Saturday! He is usually the goalie so this was one of his rare opportunities and he was awesome! The team has only scored a handful of goals all season (you know how those little 5-6 year old teams are.) We are really proud of him and he is loving soccer and wants to practice all the time!
DANICA got her haircut and sat so nicely in the chair like a big girl. She was very serious and wouldn’t smile for the pictures (she was too focused) but then she would flash me a shy smile. She was even willing to tell the woman “Arigato” and gave her some yen as a tip. (This is a big step for the child who previously wouldn’t talk to adults she knew, let alone strangers! Also, you don’t actually tip in Japan,however, the salon is on base where it is still customary to tip even though the employees are local Japanese women.)
ALYSSA gets excited to see her sister every time she wakes up and runs around pointing and saying “Danica.” She has a best friend, a little boy named Oliver and they follow each other everywhere playing together nicely and pointing and calling out each other’s name in excitement. Today she was walking up the stairs at the park and I heard her counting each stair, she only got to three but I was impressed!

TOM and I had a phenomenal experience last week. Elder David A. Bednar came to speak to our district! He is in Asia visiting branches and missions and we were fortunate enough to get him and his wife for an evening. Along with him was the Area Authority of the 70 with his wife and the mission president and his wife. It was from 7-9 so we got a babysitter and went to listen without distractions. (That alone was a treat!) Elder Bednar opened the meeting to a question session and let people ask him things they have always wanted to know about General Authorities or about the church. We learned a lot, the spirit was strong and it was great having him so close and so candid.

TOM recently did his fitness test for the Navy and was able to max out on everything, running, push-ups and sit-ups. He wouldn’t tell you all this but I am really proud of him and his perfect 300! After the test his clinic had a work retreat and went to the Forest Adventure Park and enjoyed the zip-lines and fun! Check out the ocean view you get while soaring down the sip line!


TRACEY (me) turned 30!!!! I figure I’m still young enough to admit my age. I had a fantastic birthday and was truly spoiled by my friends and family. I slept in and woke up to Hayden saying “Happy Birthday!” After taking him to school I dropped the girls off at my friend Joy’s house and had the morning all to myself! It was beautiful weather so I went for a long run (10 miles), showered with no one bugging me and then did a little shopping. I decided I wanted to go out to lunch and didn’t want to go alone so I picked Hayden up from school and he was my lunch date! We had a great time together. Then I picked up the girls and we had nap time and such. Then at 5:00 I took all the kids to my friend Tatyana’s house and she took them for a picnic dinner and soccer practice while Tom and I went out to dinner! I chose to go to Kabaab’s an Indian Restaurant. They have this chicken karma that I just love! It’s a white curry and is delicious. It’s ironic it took moving to Japan to get me to like Indian food, but hey, when you can’t pick Olive Garden or Red Robin you have to go somewhere! After dinner we picked up the kids and enjoyed a nice Key Lime Pie with candles as my cake, it was great! Then we watched American Idol and put the kids to bed. It was a fantastic birthday! I decided that some things really do get better with time. My 20th birthday was miserable!!! I was home from BYU for the spring/summer semester living with my parents, I had a lousy job, no friends nearby and my boyfriend was in Jerusalem for the semester. My journal doesn’t even mention the fact that is was my birthday, it just talks about being depressed! And to top it off, I am quite certain I could not have run 10 miles back then, especially not “just for fun!” Hooray for being 30!!!

FAMILY Camping! Last weekend we went on the branch camp out and slept in a tent with the whole family for the first time. I can’t say the sleeping was great but the trip was a blast! It’s called Okuma and is a resort run by the Air Force. It’s right on the beach, has a playground, mini-golf, bikes, go-carts, and my personal favorite Wave Runners!!! This was a fantastic weekend. I think Hayden’s favorite part was the s’mores, he was a master marshmallow roaster!

Happy Birthday Tracey

You are an amazing mother and friend. Happy Birthday.

Spring Break and Easter Updates

Holidays are meant for family and when you don’t have any nearby (or even in this hemisphere) you have to find a temporary family. We have been tremendously blessed to form a group of friends here we lovingly call our “Okinawa family.” We can count on them for anything, the kids run wild like they are cousins and we truly have a great time when we get together. The group is large, as a good family should be, and we love it. Last week we had the first family move away, it was sad but we are excited for them and their new adventure. We all enjoyed a fun Easter gathering before they left. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together after church, broke up for nap time and then the kids had a good time searching for eggs. I long for the days when we can go to grandma’s house on Easter but in the meantime, I am thankful we could go to the Ball’s and the Peterson’s.
The Group, our Oki FamilyAlyssa was so excited to run around finding eggs!
Yes, that is her Easter basket on her head.

The week before Easter was spring break and we had tons of fun exploring the island while Hayden was home from the school.
Monday was rainy so we went to the indoor Discovery Museum at the zoo. I think the kids could stay their all day exploring and playing with everything oblivious to the fact that everything was in Japanese.
Above: this display really made you feel small, Hayden is making a face to pretend he's a mouse. Below: this was Alyssa's favorite attraction. You dip the cup in the water and pick up these digital images floating on the water, Japanese characters, and once they are "in" your cup they turn into the object the character stands for like an animal. It was amazing and Alyssa would just say "wow!" and get so excited! I don't know how it worked!

Above: Hayden's favorite thing was this center where you made a design with the blocks in a little box, then you put the box in the drawer of the tower behind Hayden. When you close the drawer a video of the tower appears on the screen on the wall, in the video the drawer opens and your design comes to life and moves around the screen. He could have done it all day. Below: they had a fun toddler climbing and playing area.

Tuesday we went to a place called Bios on Hill, it was a beautiful garden area with farm animals to feed, unique slides and climbing areas, stilts to walk on, grounds to explore and a boat ride to look at lilies and other plants and water buffalo.
It was all very enjoyable except for the drama on the boat ride when one of Hayden’s friends dropped Hayden’s lego Star Wars character into the water and Hayden started screaming. I couldn’t quite reach the toy without climbing off the side of the boat and I had taken my friends three small children with me that day because she just had a baby and her husband is deployed so I was already struggling to keep them from jumping off the boat. To say I had my hands full is an understatement. It was only possible because I had help from some of the other friends who had come to the gardens. Anyway, I was trying to figure out how to get the toy as Hayden is wailing and I try to talk to the guy driving the boat but he speaks no English and I speak no Japanese. I try to ask if I can climb off and get it he says something that makes me think he means no and he begins to move the boat away...yes it was just a toy, but to Hayden is was so much more and I still get a sick feeling watching us drive away from it while I was frantically thinking of what I should have done...needless to say, we survived the day, luckily no children were left floating in the river (given that I had taken 6 children, 5 of which were 4 and under, that says a lot) and after spending way too much on an Ebay auction and we managed to replace the precious Star Wars guy, so all is well.4 of the 6 kids, with Alicia, our most beloved babysitter. My girls adore her and she was nice enough to hold Alyssa on the boat while I held the other little toddler. We've never before had a regular babysitter and it's great. I look for excuses to hire her to watch the kids. Hooray for Alicia!
Wednesday Hayden was supposed to have golf lessons all day at the local course but it was cancelled due to rain. So instead we had over two of his best friends from church that were moving soon. They had a blast playing together all day.
Thursday we went to our favorite beach, Maeda Flatts and enjoyed a day of digging and exploring. It ended up raining and we got a bit cold but still had a fun morning. That afternoon we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the theater. It was the first time I have taken the kids to a movie since Danica was 2 weeks old. Hayden has been and Danica was so cute about it, on the way she turned to Hayden in the car and asked very seriously “Hayden, is the movie theater far away?” It’s right next to the Exchange, post office and the food court that we go to nearly every day. We walked in and she said “Mom, what is that smell?” The popcorn. During the previews she kept turning to me and saying “This isn’t the movie, mom.” She enjoyed her trip to the theater, Hayden loved the movie and I learned that having Alyssa skip her nap in hopes that she’ll fall asleep during the movie doesn’t work, she was so wiggly and crazy I missed half the movie...we won’t do it again until she’s older... and by then there will be another wiggly little baby... hmmm... I suppose that is why I didn’t go to movies much as a kid either!
Friday we left on our trip to IE Island and the half marathon that I already wrote about. It was a really fun spring break and it was hard to have Hayden go back to school and go back to our mundane routine... :)

Rocking Out

Don't forget to pay attention to Alyssa doing back up!

The 17th Iejima Marathon 2009

(The island with the volcano in the middle)
Well, race day has come and gone and we had a phenomenal time. “Ie Jima” is Japanese for “Ie Island” (pronounced E-A), an island significantly smaller than Okinawa that was a 30-minute ferry ride from a port that was about an hour from our house.

The race on Saturday afternoon so we left early Friday morning, caught the ferry and spent the day exploring the island and our beach resort. We arrived at our resort before check-in time but that didn’t stop us from unloading and diving in the pool (which was actually freezing cold) and then walking down to the beach (which was gorgeous!) After a few hours of that we headed off to explore the island where we found lots of sweet potato farms, some caves, beach cliffs, lilly fields and drink machines dropped in the middle of fields (here in Okinawa you can find drink machines on every corner, I don’t even know how they had power cords running out to the machines on the edges of the fields! Imagine seeing a Coke machine on a rural farm and you get the idea. We joked that we would take yen in our running shorts in case we needed more water on the run)




There were no other hotels or restaurants but luckily we found a fabulous dinner at the country club. We were the only people there so it didn’t matter that we had a ton of kids. They were so nice to cook for us. I do wish we knew more Japanese but we squeaked by and the food was great. Hayden had real Japanese food for the first time and actually liked it despite the tantrum he threw when he realized there was no Burger King on the island. Then we went back to the resort, struggled threw putting the kids to bed and then played cards on the balcony. The resort was great, but in true Japanese fashion everything was really small and it’s hard to really say it was a “resort” other than the high price but we had a great time.
(The view from the hotel room)
The next morning we spent more time swimming (well I say “we” but the adults didn’t get in the pool because it was too cold!) While the kids swam the adults ate breakfast at the resort restaurant. Fortunately they had a few American choices like fruit, pancakes and scrambled eggs because I don’t think I would have been ready for the race based on the Japanese choices of salad, tofu, fish, pickles, spring rolls, and tons of stuff I didn’t recognize. We have very different ideas of breakfast! After breakfast we checked out and drove to the starting line of the race to get checked in. Then we drove to the volcano in the middle of the island and “hiked” up to the top. It probably wasn’t the best idea prerace but Danica actually went up all the stairs by herself so how hard could it have been? She was sooo proud of herself and kept declaring “I did it! My legs are so strong!” The view from the top was phenomenal!


From there we went down to some cliffs and explored the tide pools. We saw tons of crabs, brittle stars and fish. Toward the end an octopus was spotted and we had fun watching it swim around. By this point I was starting to get nervous for the race. It was HOT and late in the day when we went into the little bathroom at the cliffs and changed into our race gear. We made up PB&J for lunch and headed over to the start line. I ate a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares on the way over because that is what I eat every morning right before I head out running so I figured I would try to keep things as routine as possible. The kids played on the playground while we lathered in sunscreen and energy bars. Our group was Tom and I, Rick and Randy. Melanie and Wendy, the wives of the other two runners were so awesome and watched all of the kids while we ran. They even had to go and park the cars down at the port and then walk back to the race since the roads would be closed during the race and we had to catch the last ferry right after the race so we could be home on Saturday night. Okay, back to the point: we got ready, lined up and waited for the guy to fire the gun. It was easy to spot Tom and Rick at the starting line because they were so much taller than the Japanese runners! We didn’t see very many Americans but there were a few.


The shot was fired and we started down the road. The race went around the entire island and was beautiful! They called it a marathon but it was only a half marathon, about 13 miles. There were lots of people sitting outside their farms cheering us on and pounding Japanese drums, lots of water stations with ice cold water and cold wet sponges that felt great. They also offered salt and brown sugar cubes for energy. It was a fabulous race and I felt great. My foot was sore at the beginning and I over compensated and got a side ached but both pains were gone by mile 3. Tom felt sluggish and tired and his iPod died so he had no music (he used mine for a few miles but it didn’t work very well) but he manage to power through it. There were a few more hills than we had anticipated but I think that’s always the case!! The late hour and the heat took it’s toll on us but we did really well and had a fabulous time.

(The finish line was lined with flowers!)
After the race the offered big bowls of hot Soba (noodle soup!) I opted for some water and sno-cone! We didn’t have much to linger since we had to hurry to catch the ferry but it all went really smoothly. The kids fell asleep on the drive home and our great adventure came to an end!

(The runners after the race, on the ferry again!)

I just decided I am running the Deseret News Marathon in Utah on July 24th, anyone want to join me?

What's New?

So what’s new around here? Let’s see... Hayden has started playing soccer and is having a blast. He has decided that he wants to be goalie and is pretty good at it. He didn’t take to well to t-ball or karate so I was getting worried that he was just a perpetual quitter but soccer seams to be a real winner!
He’s thriving at school and is just flying with his reading skills. He spends every afternoon playing with his friends outside and exploring and creating all sorts of wild adventures. He still lets me give him a hug before he goes in the door to school but I can sense those days are getting fewer. I will just hang on as long as I can!


Danica is hiliarious these days, all done being shy and totally full of surprises. She loves to manipulate me by giving hugs and kisses to get out of being in trouble. She loves to laugh and do silly things while saying “Mom, look at me I”m soooo silly!” My calling as primary chorister is fun for her and she loves the songs. They listen to a primary CD before bed and she’s never tired so she listens to a lot of it and knows the songs well. She’s one of my best sunbeam singers, although she’s a little too loud a lot of the time- yes I just said Danica is too loud! Can you believe it!??? Last night Tom and I went out on a date and dropped the kids off at the on base daycare for free babysitting (offered the first Saturday of the month if you sign up early.) Anyway, she used to cry when I would leave her places but she marched right in and had a great time at “preschool.” She is best friends with our next door neighbor and I am currently trying to teach her that she can’t just leave and walk over there whenever she wants! I am also trying to convince her that she’s not Alyssa’s mom. I have found her changing her diaper (and yes, Alyssa was holding still for her which she never does for me!) she gets her out of the high chair (with out washing her hands or face) and insists that Alyssa sit on her lap all the time (which only makes Alyssa scream, especially during church.) It drives me crazy now but I can see how they are going to be great little playmates eventually. Danica LOVES gymnastics and is so coordinated and flexible she is quite good at it. Her Friday morning class is the highlight of her week!



Alyssa is a little mimic and wants to copy everything she sees. She will copy any word you ask her and loves to model the behavior of the other kids. Hayden thinks it’s hilarious to act silly and watch her copy him. She talks gibberish non-stop and loves to play with her babies or the doll house figures. She is very social and often wants my friends to hold her and she’ll snuggle right into their lap leaving me all alone despite my begging her to return to me! If she ever sneaks out the door she walks herself over to the neighbors house to play and to see their kitty. I’m working on making sure she is constantly supervised! But like I said, nothing is safe since Danica will get her out of the high chair and walk to the neighbors while I”m in the shower... it’s frightening and hopefully I instilled some fear in her the last time she tried it and got in trouble for it!
Her pacifier is now gone and she was only sad for one day! (That’s a whole year sooner than we got rid of it with the other kids.) We were hoping getting rid of it would clear up the rash on her face but doesn’t seem to be helping...






Alyssa is still in physical therapy for her walking skills, just 1-2 times a month to give me new ideas on what she needs to work on. At first she was favoring one leg so I worked on her stairs for a long time. Now she needs to work on center balance, she can’t stand on one leg, kick a ball, etc. Overall she is fine but it’s nice to have these ideas on how to help her be even better! She is the most smiley kid I’ve ever seen and will take any chance to catch your eye and flash you her big grin. She dazzles all the Japanese people with her smile and then says "bye" and waves just to make their hearts melt.

The holidays have been fun. We enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day and had a party here with lots of friends after school. April Fool’s Day was a ton of fun trying to trick each other. Hayden was planning for days and told me I should probably just wear my swimming suit all day because I’d never know when a bucket of water would fall on me. My jokes were all simple things like a plastic spider in his cereal, rubber snake on the way to school, fake ants in his sandwich, etc. The best was when he got home from school my dad was on the phone and pretended to be his principle saying he was in trouble. Hayden has a great sense of humor and there is nothing more gratifying than making a joke and having Hayden say "Good one mom!"


Tom is busy working and serving at church. He enjoys the dentristy but sadly couldn’t be our dentist so we recently went into the clinic here on base. I’m happy to report the kids all did really well and were cavity free! We are running our half marathon this coming Saturday and our training has been going well. We are ready and should do well. We’ve had fun taking the family bowling (Danica and Alyssa won, they were a team and it was so cute! Danica would help carry the ball to the rolling stand and then they would push the ball off and clap and cheer as they watched it!) We still enjoy the parks although it’s rained every Saturday for several weeks. I am busy and happy and lately have found myself spending a lot of time trying to help out neighbors, friends and strangers which leaves me feeling richly blessed. At the end of the day I look back and know that I have the time and energy to help someone only because my life is going so well right now. There is a part of me that thinks perhaps if I pay my dues and help enough people then my life will stay good and happy- I hope that’s true.

Well, the kids have succeeded in getting out every cardboard box in the house (of which we have a lot since most of our shopping is done online.) They are working to make rockets, houses and tents so I better go help!

Take care!