Catch up time!

Well, girls camp is over and the house is a mess and there is a ton to do but I sprained a joint in my foot during the half marathon and only made it worse during girls camp so I am trying to take it easy today and will sit and blog instead of cleaning. So here is what we've been up to:

The biggest event in our lives the past month was the fact that we had visitors!!!! Tom’s parents came to visit and we had such a fantastic time with them! They flew in late on Saturday March 27th and stayed for a week. For days leading up to Saturday Danica would wake up and start asking if it was Saturday yet! I wish we had taken more pictures of everything we did but we just get so busy with things that we forget!!! They survived their flight and were able to attend church with us on Sunday morning. After church we rested for a while and then went to a nearby shrine and explored a sacred cave. Then we drove out to a lighthouse on the coast and tried to ignore the raging wind while we enjoyed the view of the vast ocean that surrounds us.

Monday we packed up and drove to Okuma, the Air Force beach resort about 2 hours north near the tip of the island. On our way there we stopped first at a Japanese McDonald’s and then at Mt. Nago, a mountain in the large city of Nago. There are two main cities on the island, Naha, where the airport is, and Nago up north. We enjoyed a great hike up Mt. Nago, although it was a bit steeper than we’d hoped with tons of stairs! We didn’t make it quite to the top but the view was nice and the greenery was beautiful!

Then we played at a really fun playground for a while before finishing our drive. We checked in at Okuma and unpacked in our beach suite rooms. The kids were dying to go for a bike ride so we rented some 4 person bikes and rode around the resort. It wasn’t quite warm enough for beach activity but we still had fun and BBQ’d dinner and played some games before going to bed.
Tuesday we relaxed, got up and played some miniature golf, and then went out on a glass bottom boat. It was awesome, we were able to look down at the floor and see all the fish swimming below us. We even saw 4 sea snakes and 2 jellyfish. Very cool. Then we ate lunch and Kenn and Barb stayed with the girls while they napped. In the meantime, Hayden, Tom and I went and hiked up to Hiji Falls. It was a beautiful hike and pretty falls. The whole time Tom kept saying “I can’t imagine being the guys who had to haul the wood up here to build these steps and bridges!” After our hike we all walked over to the beach and rented a wave runner. It was a bit chilly so we were the only people out there and enjoyed racing that thing all over the ocean. Then we hiked around the coast enjoying the views before going to the restaurant for dinner.

Wednesday we packed up and drove up to the point of the island. After enjoying the view we drove to the Ocean Expo Park, a HUGE aquarium. We had a great day marveling at the fish, eating japanese ice cream while watching the whale sharks and dancing to the annoying music during the dolphin show. The kids drank so much Fanta grape soda during the trip I thought they might turn purple. We got home from our trip late in the afternoon. We settled on Pizza Hut for dinner and Kenn and Barb graciously offered to watch the kids so I could go to the youth activity that night where Tom had been asked to be a judge for the “Standard Works Idol” activity. We had a good time and enjoyed being out.

Thursday, Hayden went to school and we went to Ryuku Mura, an attraction to celebrate Okinawa heritage. They took traditional homes from villages around the island and brought them to this one location. They also did a parade that incorporated elements from many different festivals. We got to see a traditional sugar cane press that uses a water buffalo. We enjoyed Japanese treats and I even got to try a real coconut. She used her machete to open it up and just put in a straw for me, it was awesome! In the afternoon we went to the beach and did some snorkeling! It was a bit cold but we managed and Tom actually encountered a dangerous lion fish while swimming through a cave. Yikes! That night we BBQ’d in the backyard.




Friday we finally had a moment to relax! Tom went to work, Hayden to school, Barb went running and we just hung out. That afternoon we did some shopping at the souvenir mall and then hit the 100 yen store (dollar store) before going to the barrel restaurant for dinner. I’m sad we didn’t take any pictures of our dinner. The restaurant looks like a huge barrel. We had fried octupus as our appetizers and then just a nice assortment of japanese foods for dinner. The kids all ate soba (noodles) and enjoyed the atmosphere.
Saturday we started off with some long runs, Tom and I had to run 12 and Barb had to run for her training as well. Then we all went to watch Hayden’s soccer game. He did great and Papa took us all out to Burger King for lunch afterward! The kids were thrilled! We did some errands that afternoon, dyed Easter eggs and then had a babysitter come over so we could go out to dinner. We met up with a dentist here that Kenn used to work with in the Navy and enjoyed a fantastic sushi place.
Sadly on Sunday they had to leave and flew up to mainland Japan to stay with Kenn’s roommate from BYU. They had a “real” Japanese experience with him. We loved our visit and the fun times we got to have with them. The kids can’t wait until we can go to their house in the summertime! Sunday was Easter and we got together with our Okinawa family and had a nice Easter dinner and egg hunt.
Other than that it seems like church is just keeping us soooo busy! I was just released as primary chorister and asked to serve as 2nd counselor in the Relief Society presidency. I’m excited for the change but have been so busy with girls camp I didn’t really have time to think about it! When I agreed to be in charge of girls camp I knew it would be busy but I had no idea just how busy!! They do it over spring break because it’s too hot to camp in the summer and so many people move and travel in the summer. Most of the things we planned worked out great and the girls really enjoyed them. The second day we woke up to tons of rain, the buckets of water coming down kind of rain and that sort of threw a damper on the days activities. We told all the girls to just get the flip flops they had brought for beach day and we just trudged through the inches of water that covered the ground! It was crazy. Luckily everyone survived the wet and cold, they survived the strange blisters from some sort of tropical bug bite, and managed to have a great time. I’ve never worked so hard for so many days in a row but managed to survive. I was gone from Tuesday to Saturday and my amazing friends all stepped up to take the kids while Tom was at work and even overnight while he fulfilled the priesthood responsibility one night. I was so consumed with keeping camp running and all the work there that I didn’t even have time to think about the kids. There was no cell phone coverage so I was truly just out of touch and had to just rely on my friends doing it all. And of course they did, they even took all three of my kids along with them as they went to the zoo one day and a hotel water park one day. My kids had a great time. I feel so lucky that I have friends I could rely on who were so willing to help.
I’m grateful to be done and home and clean....although I’ve washed my hair three times and it still smells like smoke. The kids were happy to see me and I couldn’t get enough hugs. Danica has accidentally called me a dad a few times, it’s pretty funny. I am so lucky that Tom is the type of dad that I can leave for 5 days and it’s okay. I’m very glad to be back home with him.
So what’s next.... we decided we are going to start speed training to try to win some up coming 5K races. They have them once a month and they aren’t really competive but they have good prizes and it’s feasible that we could win. I am hoping that now that I am home and off my foot the sprain will heal up quickly. I am going in to see a podiatrist on Wednesday. Life is now full of all the normal things like soccer and gymnastics, RS activity Wednesday night, a branch campout Friday night, the single marines over for dinner on Sunday, etc. Right now, I am going to put the girls down for a nap and try to get things ready for Hayden to come home to do homework! Two last pictures.... the girls enjoying the swings and Alyssa eating a piece of broccoli left on her plate after dinner instead of the ice cream cone in front of her....if only they were always so health conscience!

IEjima Half Marathon

You may have noticed the lack of blog post in a while... I've been way too busy. I'm in charge of girls camp and it's this week, maybe I'll have time to write after that. In the meantime, here is a copy of the post Tom wrote for his family's blog, enjoy!

Alright, so, we have been out of touch for a while, at least as the blog goes. We had a wonderful time with Mom and Dad here which deserves its own post. However, I am just going to post about the half marathon that we completed yesterday. It is a run that we did last year also because it is on a saturday. We luckily had great friends that were willing to watch the kids so this time we elected to just ride out to the island the day of rather than spend the night on the island. We were not very impressed with the expensive accommodations that we had last time. Also, it seemed like last year we just did too many things the day before and the day of the half marathon. For some reason the Japanese schedule a large amount of their races in the afternoon. This is stupid. Who wants to eat lunch then go out for a long run in the toasty sun. So, the morning as we left our house was awesome. It was like 65 degrees. There was a little sun but there were a ton of clouds in the sky to make it cool. So, we were really looking forward to the race. We dropped the kids off and were off to the ferry. All went fine with the ferry. The water was calm so it made for a really beautiful ride over to the island with beautiful views.






When we got to the island we retrieved our shirts and saki and just rested in a shady part of the port building until around race time. We did notice that on the promotional poster for this race there is a picture of the starters from last year and we are in the group so I snagged one for memory sake. We then walked up to the race and by this time the sun was really beginning to shine down on us. It still was only about 76 but that is warm when the sun is coming down hard on you. So, we started the race at 1510. That is just stupid, let me say that again. This time I actually had my ipod functioning, not like last year when I got to the starting line only to find the ipod on and drained of all power...Where is Taylor when I need him? Anyway, this time I had a back up shuffle in my pocket of my shorts and a backup set of headphones in my shorts also just in case anything happened. We started off quick. The first 3-4 miles were at a really good pace and Tracey had determined prior to the race that she was going to stay with me the whole time if she could, and that woman has some serious will power so I was convinced she would. She says that for the first 6 miles it was really tough to stay up but that after that she felt really good. I on the other hand was really having trouble. Tracey tried to leave me a few times and I caught up with her each time because I was not going to have my pride hurt. Every long run we went on during this training schedule has ended with me leaving her at the end because I was going to fast and now it was race day and I was going to let her just go ahead? No way. But, I can only do what my body lets me do. So, we ran as hard as we could, walking through water stops only. The last 5K seemed like forever even though I have been doing 3 miles in my sleep. It seemed like each Km, and they mark each one, lasted forever. I hate that it is listed on the side. This does not help. I have a watch for that.

So, toward the end of the run there is a long hill, so I headed up the hill as fast as I could. I past up Tracey and just kept going hard into the finish. I was feeling completely drained but I had already missed my target so I just wanted to do as well as I could. Tracey stayed very close behind but the fact of the matter is that my legs are twice as long as hers. So, I finished hard, passing up 6-7 guys on the hill and into the finish.



Yeah, I beat yellow guy.






And then, I lost it. As soon as I crossed the finish line I was dizzy, I felt like I was going to fall down. I managed to make my way to a chair in a tent as multiple japanese people crowded around me. I requested an IV because I felt drained but they did not understand me. They gave me water and this brown sugar square that I immediately threw up. I made my way to the ground and my shoes were removed. I apparently asked them for a foot massage which was not granted. I just remember being very delirious and just wanting to go to sleep. I tried multiple times to get up but just could not do it. I have never felt this way. So, I sat on a chair eventually and threw up another load of water. I guess all of the water that I was consuming during the race was not making it past my stomach.

So, I had to be moved over to another area to free up room in the tent I was in. They kept wanting to send me to the hospital but I refused. After being moved, one of our friends saw me and immediately identified it as heat exhaustion and instructed people to pour cold water on my body. She said I looked like death. My pulse was very fast even 30 minutes after the race and I was pale. I got cramps in my legs and feet over and over again. It was very painful. So, in the end, we made it home. I threw up another time on the way home out the car door. It was all the water I had drank during the race. I must not have had anything in me. I am fine now. Frustrated at the whole thing and what it took out of me to not reach the goal we had. But, we did well. Both Tracey and I finished around 1:42. So, it is my PR, but Tracey has a more amazing PR so she had to settle with me. I am not sure why this race has my number, but it does. I could go out any other day and run 13.1 at 6 in the morning and get my goal. I did it every time we did the long runs. But, something about the rolling hills of the run and the heat, you are virtually exposed to the suns rays the whole time, it makes it really difficult. So, we are done. On Garmin we were actually very consistent pace wise. It did not feel like that. Here are some charts if you care and some pictures. I guess we just have to always have interesting experiences with races. We will continue to because we are not going to stop running.