Spoiled in the U.S.A

We made it. After three amazing years in Okinawa Japan we left on Saturday June 18th and flew back to the U.S. for the last time. Life was really busy and we packed in tons of last minute fun while dealing with all the packing and checking out. I tried not to think things like "oh, this is my last bike ride" or my last run, last time going here or there... but it happened anyway. It was really hard to say "see you later" to our friends there because they were so much more than friends. Moving away from family is tough, moving to a foreign country is even tougher and our friends truly became our family and support network. It was hard to leave when we don't know when we'll see them again. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Everything went fairly smoothly with the packing out and prepping. I'd have loved to go on one more dive and a few other things but we left with no regrets and tons of great memories. We were spoiled by our friends there who helped us out so much as we got ready to go. Our next door neighbors, who were some of our best friends, went so far as to even move at the same time as us so we could stay in the on base hotel together! It was awesome because Hayden could still walk to school with his best friend, they would just leave from the hotel together in the morning!! Other friends spoiled us with meals, child care, cars to use, game nights and a great last night at the beach with everyone together. One of our first nights in Okinawa 3 years ago was spent at Araha Beach, so that is where we went for our last night.

Our flights went well, the kids were good and aside from the crying baby and loud flight attendant who kept waking us up it was great. Once we arrived in the U.S. we have continued to be spoiled by our great friends the Ball's who picked us up at the airport. They are some great friends we were with in Okinawa until they moved a year ago. Happily, they picked us up in our very own new (to us) car!!! We knew we wanted an Odyssey like the one we sold before moving to Okinawa and found the one we wanted on Craigslist. So they went and test drove it for us and took the check and picked it up. For three years I was dreaming that when we moved back someone would pick me up at the airport in my new Odyssey, hand me my iphone and drive me to my new house. That almost came true as Saturday afternoon we went and picked out our new iphones. We are staying here, near Seattle, with the Ball's for a few days while Tom's does his final check out from the Navy. The Ball's are the best hosts ever, truly spoiling us with great food, good company and fun. But most of all they gave us the gift of sleep, the most precious thing you can give a jet-lagged traveler. The kids slept upstairs and we were downstairs with a loud fan on so we wouldn't hear the kids in the morning. Melanie said she'd grab the girls if they had to go potty and we figured they'd sleep all night because we kept them up all day. But jetlag doesn't always work that way and they woke up at midnight and couldn't go back to sleep until 4! I had no idea until the next morning because Melanie stayed up with them getting snacks and movies and such. WAY TOO NICE TO US!!

The kids stayed jet lagged the next night but finally last night they slept through the night. Hopefully tonight they'll do the same and we'll be back on schedule. We're having a blast here on vacation with them, it's a good transition into our new "real" life in Washington. A little taste of Okinawa right here. We were freezing for the first few days but have finally warmed up and enjoyed the sunshine today!

I'll post more as our adventure in the US continues and once I get the pictures!!

Typhoon Songda and Our Bucket List

Well, if we had put “experience a tropical typhoon” on our bucket list we would now be able to check it off. This past weekend we had yet another typhoon warning, we got the yard ready like usual and didn’t expect much since nothing usually happens. But this time, the storm actually hit and made for a crazy night! It started around 9pm and the wind kept picking up and was so loud! Things just kept blowing by and tree branches were going everywhere. We were having fun watching the shed shift around until it started actually lifting the roof off and we realized the shed was going to blow apart!! We had some friends over so they dashed out with us and just as we got to the shed the back wall pieces fell to the ground! We grabbed them and put them in the house and started unloading everything from the shed into the house. We were dragging the bikes, hoses, shovels and everything else as fast as we could because the wind was picking up and it was just crazy outside. We pulled all the pieces of the shed inside as well. Crazy.Sunday morning church was cancelled because the base was still locked down with the typhoon mess and we went out to assess the damage. Trees and debris were everywhere. So many big trees just completely uprooted and large tree branches just hanging down everywhere from where they had been simply snapped off. We put our shed back together and only a few minor things were broken so it still works. Thankfully no one was hurt, we all live in cement bunkers that could survive anything and on that night, I was really thankful!

The Bucket List:

**Ride the huge ferris wheel in American Village- complete with tiny cans of beloved Fanta Grape that came with the ride! Alyssa was nervous for everyone and kept telling Hayden to sit down so he wouldn’t die but we all survived and had a great time!

**Alyssa’s last day of ballet with Ms. Debra.
**Danica got a “real” haircut. I paid to take her to my hair lady, she loves it!
**Karaoke with the Kisers...we love Big Echo. The hit song of the night was “The Sweater Song.” Who knew we all loved it?
**We hosted our last “see you later” party for friends who are moving. We said a sad good-bye to the Kisers, friends we’ve known since dental school! Now we are the next move....
**Took the girls to ride the monorail after telling them for over a year that we would do it. We did it for letter T day of home preschool: We learned all about transportation and then rode the train to the airport to watch the planes! They loved it and there were some tourists on the train who just couldn’t get enough of the little American girls and took a dozen pictures and gave them chocolate and candy. How said that it won’t be long before they aren’t celebrities anymore.
**Pedicure at Cocok’s. A wonderful island treat I will really miss. I got my toes painted with a scene of Okinawa in the color of the water here. A great souvenir complete with IE Island, a palm tree, flower, clouds, sand, etc.


I went with my great friend and neighbor Tatyana. We spend all our time dealing with kids and helping each other run our households and NEVER take time to just be together. It was great, we got lunch and then relaxed. I truly don’t know how I’ll survive without her as my left hand picking up the slack on everything I do. I rely on her for everything and the rare time she isn’t home I don’t know what to do! My kids practically live at her house. Any service or help I am able to give to others is the direct result of her serving and helping me. She is moving the day before us. At least we get to go together!
**Biking: I've enjoyed two great bike rides this week with my great friend Megan. I'm convinced I "prayed" her to the island. I was wishing I had a friend who liked to bike and run and had kids my kids could play with and "tada" here comes Megan. It's been so awesome and I wish she could move to Washington with me. I will continue to insist that today was not our last bike ride, it will simply be a while before we have another one. We rode out to Kurishihi Dam on Monday morning and had a peaceful, relaxing time. Today we rode out to the lighthouse at Cape Zampa. Nice. We even got my favorite Okinawa Salt Cookie Ice Cream!


**Beach Trip: Spent Memorial Day out an yet another new beach on the coast of one of the small islands connected by bridge. It was a great day!
The Move Prep
Speaking of the move... things are moving along well as we get ready. I've got a "to do" list clipped to my calendar and packing/sorting list stuck on the desk to keep track of what goes with the express shipment, what goes in the suitcases and then everything else. We've been selling all the outdoor equipment like sheds, playhouse, and swingset. We were going to sell the trampoline and the day before someone came to look at it the boys were out jumping and the pole broke. It simply rusted all the way through and snapped. Only Okinawa could have weather extreme enough to destroy a brand new trampoline in only 2 1/2 years!! So we dismantled the trampoline and threw it in the trash.
My thrift store pile keeps growing and I enjoy the purge of useless stuff. We have the movers coming next Friday the 10th to pack up our goods and we move into the hotel on the night of the 12th. We fly out on the 18th, landing in Seattle and staying with some of our Oki friends, the Balls for a few days while Tom does his check out from the Navy.... I hope I'm emotionally ready to leave by then because I'm not ready yet!!!